EpDis: Matters Of Honor

Refresher Links:
Lurker's Guide Main Page for Matters Of Honor
Lurker's Guide Extended Synopsis for Matters Of Honor

Yeah its good this one. Thought we were in store for something brilliant with the ending: Mordon, Earth and Psi Corps. And so begins the best season of B5 in my opinion... but I still woulda liked to see more Earth in this series after what we got at the end of this episode.

Worth it for the Whitestar alone. I watched this three times in a row after it was first broadcast on VHS...

Good stuff. Gave it an A.

A pretty solid season opener. Not brilliant, but with a shiny new toy, a cool new character, a fun action sequence -- plus a Shadow ship getting trashed and good dialogue. ("I never get involved in my own life. It's too complicated.")

A very high B from me. Possibly an A.

B the whitestar makes it's first appearance and Morden and the ties to earth and the Psi Corps comes out here as well.

The entry of Marcus. What more can I say?

I thought "Oh no, Aragorn, Rangers... bleh" all that stuff when I first saw him. It took me a few more episodes to appreciate him, and then a certain cargo ship song to set him up to be one of the best characters full stop.
If only they knew ivanova wouldn't come back... we coulda had more Marcus on screen. But thats another story for another time.

I ment to vote A, but I accidently voted C. Oops.

This is when I wish we had something between A and B. Gave it a B.

Reasonable - a nice way to start off the new season - the best Season of the lot in my opinion.

I voted C. It seemed to be lacking something. I always found the season openers felt a little different. Matters of Honour is different to season two episodes, but it feels slightly different to the rest of season three; its sorta in-between. Maybe its just because there is so much that is new in it- Marcus, the White Star, the title sequence, the tone of the show. But Delenn's description of the Shadows ships is pretty scary.

One big beef I have about this episode is that Sheridan seems more bothered about the graverobbers who have been looting the Markab system than the Shadow ship that's chasing him!

Sheridan seems more bothered about the graverobbers who have been looting the Markab system than the Shadow ship that's chasing him!

Click to expand...

I think that offends his sense of decency more.

The Shadow ship is the immediate threat, but I think that at this point he views them more as his current opponent (much like the Minbari had been 12 or 13 years before). With an opponent, he maintains an emotional detachment so as to not cloud his ability analyze a situation and select the best option. With the looters it's different. He doesn't have any reason to maintain that detachment. His outrage at their behavior, which he considers morally and ethically repugnant, is free to come to the surface.

I also think that the way his anger toward the raiding of the Markab homeworld is portrayed that it says something about that situation: that the raiding has been going on for quite some time and that he's been getting plenty of reports about it but that no one in any of the governments has done anything about it. He got angry at his own government at the end of season two for their more or less siding with the Centauri on the Centauri's war on the Narn when he thought that they should be putting pressure on the Centauri to stop. And then there's his inability to trust his government period and how he can't rely on them for support in fighting the Shadows. So, I think it all just pools together into one moment of anger at what he sees as ineffecutality in the current governments of the various races.

Very enjoyable, I gave this a B. While I wasn't blown away, I was quite excited.

Kosh being an asshole in the opening, and the introduction of the White Star were both good to see.

Ah, the usual enigmatic Vorlon answers at the beginning - I rather like those! I also like the dramatic music during the title sequence - which TV show ever changed its signature theme music every year?! Franke does a good job of taking the material we know and changing the feeling of it. The very rhythmic beats, the disharmonic chords, all tell us that we're not in Kansas anymore.

Londo enjoys a moment of fleeting happiness when he thinks he has broken with Morden and the Shadows. What must it feel like to know that they are in direct contact with Refa and don't need him as a go-between anymore.

And I admit it - I am a Marcus fan. I enjoy listening to that wonderful accent, and the guy's pleasant to look at as well! He doesn't say all that much in this episode, but he gets wonderful lines later on - his quiet sarcasm is ... attractive. :alienblush:

I am also a Delenn fan and really enjoyed seeing her action scene!

A solid season opener. I'm a big fan of the Season 3 opening sequence. It's especially exciting in the first episode because it's all "new"! I love the White Star shot in that. It makes me cheer a little

There's a lot of new stuff in this, which is mildly disorienting, perhaps. What's with the new medlab? The creators just wanted a change of scenery? I like the introduction of Marcus and I love the White Star. It's one cool-looking ship.

I agree that there's a bit of weird dialogue on board the White Star as they are being pursued by the Shadow ship. Just having a little chat, sort of thing. I hadn't given much thought to the "grave robbers" comment. It makes sense that if Sheridan was planning on blowing up a jumpgate, he'd try to do it with the one that would be the least missed ... But now that I think about it, he does seem overly angry about the grave robbing thing. It's kind of funny because there's a whole lot of grave robbing going on on this show, although they call it "archaeology" and it usually involves much longer dead worlds (Unrealistic and/or unethical archaeology in movies/tv shows is a pet peeve of mine ).

I too thought Delenn's action scene was neat. I feel it would have been wrong if she had just stood there. She isn't a violent person, but she'll fight (and kick ass!) if she needs to.

And yes, Londo ... Here he thought he was rid of the Shadows!

In this episode, I feel it's clear that darkness has fallen, but there's a ray of hope in there. There's the Rangers, there's the bright and shiny White Star, and there's an actual victory against a Shadow ship!

Looking back I think I was maybe a bit harsh giving this episode a 'C'. The season openers always had a different feel to them and there's obviously lots of new things in this episode that make it feel a little different to season 2. I still feel the White Star scenes are clunky, but the rest of the episode is good. There's definitely a tonal shift: the good guys are starting to fight back.

I think the old medlab was meant to be a pain in the neck to film in, so they redesigned it. To be honest, I think I preferred the look of the old medlab, it felt more clinical.

Ah, that makes sense, about the Medlab set.

I haven't actually rated any episodes on here ... I am too indecisive! I like all of Babylon 5 (well, certainly MOST ) and so I'll want to give just about every episode an A, but then, there are ones that really stand out.. In order for me to express that, I'll have to give everything else a B or less. I just can't seem to bring myself to do that. Also I can't quite decide which ones I really like best of all ...