EpDis: Conflicts Of Interest

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The whole Garibaldi plot is ok, but it doesn't get me stirred all that much. I do very much love the Ivanova and Zathras scene, and Ivanova's first broadcast of the Voice of the Resistance at the very end, though, but those two scenes aren't enough to bring this episode up beyond average, to me.

I'm the other way around, for some reason the Garibaldi plot resonates with me, while I think the Ivanova/Zathras scene is a bit silly and overplayed.

The more I read these polls the more I think that B5 just can't be seen quite that way.

No offense: it's great to hear people's thoughts about the individual episodes. Your idea is quite a good one.

But can you really break B5 down into episodes? The same problem comes up when debating "how do I get my friend hooked on B5, which episode(s) should be seen first to really sell the series?"



B5 is a slow, steady build-up. This episode is absolutely critical to the "Garibaldi/Judas" angle. But it's thick in background, and slim in explosions, so it's not very popular with most folk.

Hypatia, you make a good point. This ep is essential to what is to come, it is very plot-heavy. I think it is quite a good ep, with lots of action, and plot.

In trying to grade on a B5 curve, I have been stingy with my A's. If I compared B5 to most TV, it would get at least half A's. But, I did give this one an A, an A-, if it were allowed, due to so much of import happening, and having a real impact. But, there are greater eps of B5.

Oh, yea. I guess I'm finding the conversation about the episodes to be more interesting than the ratings, though. But sometimes I get a bit surprised.

It was a good idea, I just think it's a bit like rating a play via which act was your favorite.

It was a good idea, I just think it's a bit like rating a play via which act was your favorite.

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Well said, although I still think it is nice to hear peoples thoughts.

I really like the Garibaldi thread and this is where it really starts to take shape. As others have said, this is very much a background episode, building up the various threads for later on. I think this one of the great things about B5, it's largely about the journey, not the destination

I gave this a B (minus?). I think that the tension between Garibaldi and Zack was well done, and his internal conflict comes out nicely.

Not a big fan of the huge Zathras sequence either... whatever happened to Draal?

^^ Real life, the actor was booked.

Jan

Elipsis said:

Not a big fan of the huge Zathras sequence either....

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Awe. I love it. "That was not Zathras, that was Zathras." Hee hee.

I agree with VL.

But I always did like the lighter moments in B5, though I know many fans despise many of them.

Yes, this episode is more a bridge, or a building block, and can't stand up very strongly all by itself. However, I think what's in it is good.

I did like seeing Garibaldi happy over the task he'd accomplished, and even taking considerably less money for it. The Lise relationship doesn't grab me though, for whatever reason.

I was amused over Franklin's line about Ivanova - "I like her, but she scares the hell out of me sometimes." That whole conversation, with him finding a solution and her picking it up, was fun. I also enjoyed the Zathras conversation - "Zathras never listen to Zathras"!

I do wonder over the reason Garibaldi couldn't shoot the attacker - was it a "normal" telepathic block, or does that have something to do with his conditioning by the Psi Corps?

I quite like it. There is a lot going on here, with the Garibaldi story mainly, but also "The Voice of the Resistance".

I see Wade has switched his cool jacket out for a pretty spiffy vest ... As a side note, I quite like human fashion on B5. Hats are in style, often combined with some sort of one shoulder scarf thing. I like the shiny lapel buttons, too. Anyway. I'm still not a huge fan of Wade, but I do like the Edgars Industries story. Lise's appearance is sort of totally random. What a coincidence! But, it's OK. I always feel so bad for her when she tells the story of her divorce, and how her ex got full custody of the kid, whom she hasn't seen in over a year. Apparently 23rd century divorce court is SERIOUS business. At least, on Mars it is. Since they're all Earth gov courts, I'm assuming it's like that everywhere. Yikes.

I also like how the Garibaldi storyline starts out in this episode, with the desperate guy and the missing woman (daughter?) and how Garibaldi only charges him 1/3 the regular rate. It sets him up as still a nice guy. Then there's that tense bit with him and Zack where Garibaldi doesn't want to give up his gun. Apparently his programming hasn't just made him more paranoid, but also completely unreasonable

It's really interesting to me that Ivanova didn't think to use the Great Machine on Episolon 3, when she's been trying to solve this broadcast problem for days. Is she so caught up in everything else that is going on that she just didn't think it through? It's weird that no one else suggested it, either. They've used it several times. It seems just as obvious a solution as Dr. Franklin makes it seem when he casually saunters in and suggests it.

I do like the Zathras character(s), so I'm pleased he shows up again. One of them shows up again. Something like that While watching this tonight, perhaps for the first time I thought maybe that scene of him and Ivanova talking goes on a little too long, with no real purpose. Other than entertaining the audience, which I suppose is a legitimate purpose for a scene in a TV show.

Oh, and the Rangers have a new job! I kinda wonder what they have been doing since the end of the Shadow war. I notice Delenn hasn't worn her Ranger One robe in a while, either.

I love the "Voice of the Resistance" broadcasts.

Lennier's Tears said:

I do like the Zathras character(s), so I'm pleased he shows up again. One of them shows up again. Something like that While watching this tonight, perhaps for the first time I thought maybe that scene of him and Ivanova talking goes on a little too long, with no real purpose. Other than entertaining the audience, which I suppose is a legitimate purpose for a scene in a TV show.

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This is one of the scenes that springs to mind when fans talk about 'condensing' the show to only the arc elements or episodes. I realize that that's popular these days but to me, it's these lighter, character moments that really contribute to making the story great. For example, as good as it was and as much as I liked the characters, the new Battlestar Galactica was too unrelentingly grim and I finally stopped watching it. With B5, even in tense moments somebody might make a quip to lighten things up for just a moment and some scenes exist just to be character moments. I think it enhances our connections to the characters.

Jan

That's an excellent point! I have similar issues when my entertainment is really bleak or just too serious ALL of the time. I can't read a whole serious fantasy series without having to grab a Terry Pratchett book part of the way through, to lighten the mood a bit.

I'm the other way around, for some reason the Garibaldi plot resonates with me, while I think the Ivanova/Zathras scene is a bit silly and overplayed.

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farid said:

I'm the other way around, for some reason the Garibaldi plot resonates with me, while I think the Ivanova/Zathras scene is a bit silly and overplayed.

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Same for me. The Garibaldi plot is one of the highlights of season 4. This episode especially - he goes all lone wolf, bit of action, longing for a woman he can't be with. If I can find fault with the Garibaldi plot in season 4, it's that the arc is truncated a bit towards the end. We see what sets him down this path, we see him doing things that he believes to be right, he finds out the truth, that he's being manipulated, and then we see him rescue Sheridan and help retake Mars, but those acts of redemption feel brushed over a bit, like everything is okay again, when it isn't (if Garibaldi hadn't set up Sheridan, Sheridan would have still been commanding the fleet, so would Ivanova ever have been injured?). In season 5 we see how Garibaldi struggles to deal with what happened to him, but that feels like it is after the fact.

It was an interesting decision to take at the end of season 4 exactly where to leave Garibaldi at would could have been the end of the show. As it is they tied everything up and gave him a happy ending but I'd guess they could have left over some drama to be resolved during Sleeping In Light.

Interesting to consider how things could have been played with ivanova in season 5, I'm not sure her blaming him for her injury leading to Marcuse's death ringing very true, Not only was it very clearly her decision to lead from the front but I think it goes against that plot really being based on her personal guilt rather than blaming anyone else. I think it would have been more realistic to have her mistrust him due to the betrayal of Sheridan.

Just bringing this thread back from the dead – I watched this episode the other night, and I was a little bit confused by the presence of the telepath assassins. They seemed to want to get their hands on the cure and kill everyone involved, which implies they knew at least a little bit about what it was, yet Bester doesn't know anything about it until Face of the Enemy. So how much were Psi Corps aware? Is this a continuity flub, or is Bester being kept out of the loop by others in Psi Corps? That might explain why he had Garibaldi reprogrammed, if he knew people were hiding things from him and he needed an unwitting spy to sniff things out for him.

Springer said:

Just bringing this thread back from the dead – I watched this episode the other night, and I was a little bit confused by the presence of the telepath assassins. They seemed to want to get their hands on the cure and kill everyone involved, which implies they knew at least a little bit about what it was, yet Bester doesn't know anything about it until Face of the Enemy. So how much were Psi Corps aware? Is this a continuity flub, or is Bester being kept out of the loop by others in Psi Corps? That might explain why he had Garibaldi reprogrammed, if he knew people were hiding things from him and he needed an unwitting spy to sniff things out for him.

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Bester's a Psi Cop. The area that would know about the telepath virus would likely be espionage. While telepaths were rare, I'd think since (theoretically) they had most all telepaths under their control, it's bound to be a large and very complex operation.