EpDis: A View From The Gallery

[Joseph DeMartino]

Some particulars would be nice. A hint. A rumor. A legend.

Why? Who cares? The story isn't about them.

OK, let's say "some particulars would be nice." But that isn't what you're saying. You're saying "This episode sucks because it is missing those particulars." I would submit that this need to have every "T" crossed and "I" dotted is your problem, not the episode's. There is nothing dramatically invalid about what JMS did, you just don't find it personally satisfying. And "This is not to my personal taste" is not the same thing as "This is objectively bad".

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jan]

And "This is not to my personal taste" is not the same thing as "This is objectively bad".

:beer: AMEN!

I gave it a D (Poor) and I thought that was being charitable. It was pure filler, like they had to crank out an episode and nobody could think of anything, so they threw together this padding piece.

Uh-huh. Like a story with both JMS and Harlan Ellison's names on it was because nobody could think of an idea for an episode?! Yeah, right.

It's common to read sentiments like the above with the stand-alone stories and with the off-format stories and this episode is both. Generally, you hear it from the arc-addicts who think that anything that doesn't further the arc is 'filler'. Not saying that's your stand, KoshN, just that its something I read regularly.

I love it for the characters and for the different point of view. But then, I generally love the off-format episodes. I like when JMS tlits things sideways.

Jan

 

[KoshFan]

My only objection to this ep is that the aliens came out of nowhere, in sufficient force. The show was so great at foreshadowing otherwise that this exception rankles me far more than it otherwise should. They couldn't have mentioned some missing ships somewhere, the ep before? Or alluded to clean-up afterwards?

In any other sci-fi show, this wouldn't matter in the slightest... but the standard for continuity had been set very high, so something like this seemed a little flat. B5 occasionally suffers from its own greatness.

But as I said, that was the ep's only weak point.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Really, they're just throwaway aliens, an overall background/overall event to tie together the "Mack & Bo wander about the station." episode.

Or, as I said, generic aliens, as a backdrop for Mack and Bo. That IS the point. It doesn't matter who they are, and where they came from, it's all the same to Mack and Bo, it's always the same to Mack and Bo, and this ep is their view of the station. The details you want don't matter, would be out of place, and alter the intended focus of the ep. If you don't like what the ep was trying to do, or don't think it succeded, fine. But changes that run counter to its purpose would be pointless.

 

[hypatia]

I wonder how many people don't like this episode because it's not focussing on "the important characters".

And again, that's what I liked about it. But I know it's not to everyone's taste.

I think the season 5 EpDis's are going to prove a bit more argumentative than they have in the past.

Which is fine: season 5 is a controversial season.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

I have always thought that this episode works better because we know nothing about the aliens. If the attack had come from a source that we already knew, our viewpoint of it would be "tainted" by that knowledge ... this ep is about, and written from the point of view of, two guys who don't have any of that knowledge. This puts us in the same mindset as them in working through what is going on.

If it had been the Drakh, for example, we would already have an idea of what their motivation was, who they were, where they came from and what their agenda might be. Mac and Bo wouldn't know that.

By introducing new, one-shot, aliens for this episode, it helps us to view this episode from their point of view ... which I always assumed was the point.

And as has already been pointed out, we didn't get any foreshadowing, or aftermath, about the probe in 'A Day In The Strife' - the introduction of one-shot aliens is not even new.

 

[KoshN]

I have always thought that this episode works better because we know nothing about the aliens. If the attack had come from a source that we already knew, our viewpoint of it would be "tainted" by that knowledge ... this ep is about, and written from the point of view of, two guys who don't have any of that knowledge. This puts us in the same mindset as them in working through what is going on.

If it had been the Drakh, for example, we would already have an idea of what their motivation was, who they were, where they came from and what their agenda might be. Mac and Bo wouldn't know that.

By introducing new, one-shot, aliens for this episode, it helps us to view this episode from their point of view ... which I always assumed was the point.

It doesn't have to be an alien race that <u>we've</u> heard of before. It could have been about one-shot aliens that we've never heard of before, but that <u>the main characters</u> did know something about.

And as has already been pointed out, we didn't get any foreshadowing, or aftermath, about the probe in 'A Day In The Strife' - the introduction of one-shot aliens is not even new.

The difference is that 'A Day In The Strife' had one small probe. 'A View from the Gallery' had an attack fleet. Which do you think is more likely for somebody on the station to have heard of, one small probe or an entire attack fleet?

 

[vacantlook]

Which do you think is more likely for somebody on the station to have heard of, one small probe or an entire attack fleet?

Considering that space is HUGE, it's all a bunch of needles floating in endless black nothingness.

 

[KoshN]

Which do you think is more likely for somebody on the station to have heard of, one small probe or an entire attack fleet?

Considering that space is HUGE, it's all a bunch of needles floating in endless black nothingness.

And there's no communication between races, no IA, no ISN, no remote probes, etc.

 

[vacantlook]

And there's no communication between races, no IA, no ISN, no remote probes, etc.

Not covering and monitoring the complete entirity of the vastness of space, no. Space is just too big for me to be shocked and confounded that they would actually miss something, even something as big as a fleet fo ships. I wouldn't even be surprised if they missed a planet. There are, after all, somewhere between 200 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way spread over a distance of 80,000 to 100,000 lightyears in diameter, 250,000 to 300,000 lightyears in circumference, and 1000 lightyears in thickness outside of the core's area. So, yeah, there's a lot of space out there in space. Lot's of space for things, even fleets, to hide in.

 

[KoshN]

And there's no communication between races, no IA, no ISN, no remote probes, etc.

Not covering and monitoring the complete entirity of the vastness of space, no. Space is just too big for me to be shocked and confounded that they would actually miss something, even something as big as a fleet fo ships. I wouldn't even be surprised if they missed a planet. There are, after all, somewhere between 200 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way spread over a distance of 80,000 to 100,000 lightyears in diameter, 250,000 to 300,000 lightyears in circumference, and 1000 lightyears in thickness outside of the core's area. So, yeah, there's a lot of space out there in space. Lot's of space for things, even fleets, to hide in.

A fleet of ships going through space <u>attacking</u> entire races/systems as they go, isn't exactly <u>"hiding."</u> Now if they'd been travelling radio-silent, in stealth ships, <u>not</u> interacting, like the Technomage exodus to the hiding place, that'd be different, <u>but they weren't</u>.

 

[KoshFan]

And yet again, we begin to bicker and argue over a rather insignificant detail of an old TV show.

Let's just accept that some people don't like the way the alien race was handled, some people don't mind it, and move on to discussing other eps.

 

[KoshN]

And yet again, we begin to bicker and argue over a rather insignificant detail of an old TV show.

Let's just accept that some people don't like the way the alien race was handled, some people don't mind it, and move on to discussing other eps.

It seemed out-of-character for the show, much like "Thirdspace" and "To Live and Die in Starlight," to me. Who knows, if we keeping getting more stuff like that, it'll be "in character" for the show.

 

[vacantlook]

no remote probes

So, just for fun, I decided to actually read through some of the Lurker's Guide synopsis, and what's the first thing it says?

In hyperspace, a probe is destroyed by passing fighters. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Lochley is awakened by a call from Lt. Corwin, telling her of the probe's destruction. "Is it them?" she asks, but the probe was destroyed too quickly to give much information. She gets up and goes to C&C.

When she gets there she informs the command crew that this is probably the scouting party they've been warned about....

So, we've got our probe encountering and being destroyed by the fleet. And Lochley asks "is it them?" and then talks to the command personnel about this being the onese they were warned about. So they've all been talking about and communicating with other governments about the fleet; it's not like the fleet just came out of nowhere. They've been anticipating them. They were warned about them.

So, just because we aren't given some huge endless list of details about this race, it's not as if the people in command hadn't been getting some information on them for at least a little bit of time; the race wasn't some big and total surprise. We viewers get this episode through the perspectives of two plain maintenence workers, so it makes sense that we're not getting some giant military intelligence dossier on this fleet because maintenance workers wouldn't be getting that information either. It fits the story being told in the episode.

 

[vacantlook]

It seemed out of character for the show, to me.

The show's done unusual episodes before; "And Now For A Word" for example tells a story in a different way than most episodes. "A Vew From The Gallery" is another such unusual episode, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't fit in with the rest of the show just because the way it tells the story that it tells is done differently than most of the episodes. It's not like it's the only unusual episode in the whole show.

 

[deaded]

The episode was originally intended for Season 4

Yeah, blah..blah.. blah whatever. Either it worked or it didn't. They filmed it, they aired it, and it sucked! More than even the ISN episodes. This is my very very most unfavorite out of all 110. I've only acquired up to volume 9 of the scripts but I think I still remember enough to trash it. This is where season 5 really bit, and it never got much better IMHO (though there were moments).

"Matt what are these things for?"
"What do you mean what are they for? You run them over the floor like this... "
"No, I mean what do they DO? They don't clean it or anything."
"Something for the metal, I don't know. Maybe it makes it stronger."
"You mean you don't know what it does either?"
"No."
"Well, then I guess it's time for lunch."

Give me a break. I'm sorry. I love 95% of B5 but this is absolute crap. Also that, "Tastes like chicken," routine. PuhLEASE!

I appreciated the conversation that Franklin had with that maintenance guy (Bo?). I've always identified with Franklin, maybe because I'm an ER doc too, but I've had those types of conversations with medics. Real heart to hearts, where you give up some of yourself, hoping that maybe it will touch the other person enough to maybe prevent them from making your mistakes, or living through your pain. ...Maybe just to let them know that they're not alone in their feelings, that doing the right thing isn't necessarily hopeless, and maybe they are not the only one who wants to go the easy route and give into the system. That was good stuff. Really good imo. But it was just once scene. ... oh and that scene where J’kar talks about growing up in bomb shelters. That was good too.

But then there’s that battle where they’re watching live killing like it’s on wide screen TV. The only thing that was missing was popcorn. Even though they talked like it’s deep, their mannerisms and body postures don’t make you believe that *they* believe that people are getting killed out there. It’s like they are sitting on a stage delivering a speech, not acting in a TV show. More like a demonstration during an acting class or something. It’s just not good. It’s not believable. Not REAL.

Oh yeah, and then there was when Sheridan trusted his wife’s life to two maintenance workers that he had never met before??? Come ON! I just don’t buy any of it.

And then there’s Byron! Meh. Any episode with him automatically loses a grade point. There goes the tiny little boost that this episode got for the Franklin scene. Nothing else redeems it. I mean, I do understand where JMS was going. I understand that there are many perspectives and they are all just as valid as the other. I do appreciate that there are always people around hearing part of what we say and putting things together for themselves without knowing all the facts; just as we do from other’s perspectives’. But it just doesn’t WORK. It’s dumb. It’s silly; almost embarrassing at times. At least that’s how I feel.

ymmv

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Feels real to me.

 

[Springer]

Of all the off-format episodes, I think A View from the Gallery is one of the least succesful, IMO, but it isn't the worst of them. The alien invaders do seem contrived (and look really naff, but I guess they were on a budget) but I guess they aren't that important, they're just a plot device to frame the story around (I just imagine that they are some minions of the Shadows who have got above their station and have come looking for revenge against the station - but we can all make up our own ideas, and I don't think it matters).

Bo and Mack are ok as characters but some of the dialogue (highlighted by Deaded, above) is pretty risable. This epsiode also seems to be the point where the special effects really take a downturn, not just in terms of the quality of the CGI but particularly in how the animators are making the spaceships move and framing the scenes.

Overall I like the concept of this episode, though maybe the execution wasn't that great. There were some nice moments, and of the early run of season 5 episodes its probably one of the better ones.

Oh, and if anyything had happened while they were with Delenn, I imagine it would have beeen her looking after Bo and Mack rather than the other way around.

 

[crazyhorse]

First off I would like to say that I think a fleet of ships could hide very easily in space.You could make an attack and be light years away before any rescue/inspection team get there.Then there is the possabilty that they were hiding in hyperspace.It was known that there was a hostile fleet,it just wasn't known where they were at that moment.

As for people watching the battle like it was a TV show why not?People do it here,the Iraq war being a prime example.You can not expect every alien race to have human mannerisms or body language either.A alien smile could signify fear as much as happyness.

Have to agree with the point made about Byron.Easily the most boring and annoying character ever to grace B5.

I thought the episode was ok but as far as the series goes one of the worst.The thing is that the show was of such a high quality that an episode that is just "average" seems worse.

 

[Lousy_Dodgers]

I think the episode might have been more effective if we had not even seen Sheridan, Lochley, or any of the other command staff. Even though Mac and Bo were just maintenance workers, they seemed to run into quite a few important people and events during the battle.

Also, it might have made the dialogue more interesting if at least one of the two did not like Sheridan or Lochley all that much. Not everyone has to swoon and talk about what an honor it is to serve with the main characters. Now, I like the main characters but I just thought it woud be interesting if Mac or Bo had a more negative view on things.

I mean, there are plenty of people in the military who serve honorably even if they think the president--whether Bush, Clinton, or anyone else--is a sack of crap.