EpDis: Comes The Inquisitor

[Alioth]

We also see G'Kar having to prove his leadership to his fellow Narns, although in not near the same way. And the scene between him and Vir in the elevator was one of B5's great moments.

 

[GKarsEye]

Watched this one last night, and I dunno maybe it was the mood I was in or whatever but I enjoyed the pants off of it this time. Sebastian was just being such a dick; a tremendously enjoyable performance.

The final stretch of season 2, with this one and Centauri obliterating Narn and the not-really-a-cliffhanger ending, is just great.

Still love this damn show after all this time.

 

[RW7427]

Sebastian was just being such a dick

Being a big Sheridan fan, I used to watch this episode and be all pissed off at Sebastian for what he was doing to him.

 

[Bab5nutz]

Slightly OT here.

Last year, we adopted a little rescue cat. His name? Sebastian - he had been named that by his previous owner. "Inquisitor" was so impressed on my mind, that I tried to persuade my mother that we had to change his name - Sebastian as a name really creeped me out. In the end, as his fosterer had been calling him Zebby, we called him that. He is nothing like the Sebastian character BTW - he is a sweet, crazy, very bright little cat.

I am curious. Did anyone twig to the fact that Sebastian was Jack when he first came onto the show? When he said that he had come from London in 1888, I thought "They have got to be kidding! The Vorlons are using someone like that?" After that, I never quite trusted the Vorlons.

 

[rjb]

My guess is that since the Victorian character in question has become a part of British (especially London) folklore then a fair number of those who live there (in the UK) did indeed guess his identity in advance - especially because of his nastiness, arrogance and self-righteousness.

(But JMS has always said that some plot twists could be guessed in advance, if the guesser happened to have the right `background`. To balance this I readily admit I was astonished at a certain revelation at the end of a certain 2-parter - possibly because I don't have even a smidgeon of a Minbari background.)

 

[hypatia]

Also, there was no reason to really think about "now, who is going back in time to become Valen?"

Valen didn't have to be part-human. If so, he didn't need to have been one who travelled in time. There was no missing puzzle to solve, who was looking in that direction until very close to the big revelation in that glorious 2-parter.

My favorite plot twist, ever, in anything. :bolian:

 

[RW7427]

When he said that he had come from London in 1888, I thought "They have got to be kidding! The Vorlons are using someone like that?" After that, I never quite trusted the Vorlons.

No one ever said the Vorlons "played nice" when they interferred with the affairs of the younger races. It kinda doesn't make any sense for them to grab Jack the Ripper from 1888 London, but they didn't always do things that we would consider right or to our advantage as a race. I guess it was a part of their "mysteriousness" and wanting to further their own agenda regardless of what it meant for the younger races.

 

[Alioth]

When he said that he had come from London in 1888, I thought "They have got to be kidding! The Vorlons are using someone like that?" After that, I never quite trusted the Vorlons.

No one ever said the Vorlons "played nice" when they interferred with the affairs of the younger races. It kinda doesn't make any sense for them to grab Jack the Ripper from 1888 London, but they didn't always do things that we would consider right or to our advantage as a race. I guess it was a part of their "mysteriousness" and wanting to further their own agenda regardless of what it meant for the younger races.

It's not like they endorsed what Jack the Ripper was doing--they did make him understand somehow the error of his ways. That was the point--if the wrong kind of person tells himself he's taking up some "righteous cause", the results can be the total opposite of anything righteous. They just plucked up one of the most extreme examples of this they could find, I guess.

 

[Deseret]

I found the plot incredible that the virtually omniscient, and certainly telepathic, Vorlons should have "doubts" or even need confirmation after all they had done to set up Sinclair, Delenn and Sheridan to maintain the order of the universe as they saw it.

jms said, "...the test was in some ways (most, actually) more for Delenn's benefit than Kosh's...."

That makes sense in alot of ways.... Even though JMS is an atheist, I've noticed that he uses a lot of religion in his stories. Many religions teach that progress is unattainable without sacrifice. A good example was Abraham when told to sacrifice his only son Isaac to be killed on the alter; God knew Abraham's heart but he still needed Abraham to know the same and could not push the man to greater things without first having "proven" him to himself that he was capable of all obedience.
I think JMS did the same between Delenn and Kosh.

One point though, Lyta suggests in "Thirdspace" that not all the Vorlons were telepathic. She made a big point of all the thirdspace aliens being "telepathic, all of them". Also with Talia Winters Kosh had some robot brained telepath make a copy of her mind for "the future" instead of doing it himself. He seemed to have a certain type of telepathy but maybe not fully. So it is possible that Kosh didn't fully know about Delenn and needed some more proof before continuing.

Also in the episode I noticed that the characters did react to Sebastian according to their own knowledge and culture. Sheridan reacted repulsed by the idea of torture because of his naivety in being human. Honestly, he did tend to react to it almost the same way one might expect a Star Trek Federation citizen to respond. Delenn was no stranger to torture and the view point that all progress required that something be given up. She'd done it plenty of times as a member of the Grey Council and was willing to go through it herself since she'd seen the cost of incorrect decisions in the past. Lenier only fretted because it was Delenn and he undoubtedly loved her even at this point and so reacted out pain and concern for her well being, much as Sheriden would react later when she left to fight the Drahk in season 4 (wanting to protect her, nothing more).

lol well there went my two cents, I hope it made sense.

 

[deaded]

I know!

I love getting answers to questions I didn't know I had

Also, there was no reason to really think about "now, who is going back in time to become Valen?"

Valen didn't have to be part-human. If so, he didn't need to have been one who travelled in time. There was no missing puzzle to solve, who was looking in that direction until very close to the big revelation in that glorious 2-parter.

My favorite plot twist, ever, in anything. :bolian:

 

[SkeleTony]

When I first saw this episode(back when it originally aired on TV) I thought it was ingenious. Watching it just days ago I still found it to be very good, but not one of the best. Nothing really wrong with it(acting was very good, script was fine, etc.) but now I cannot escape feeling that this was a leftover Star Trek script from the 1960s show or something. Also I keep thinking why would the Vorlons take Jack the Ripper for this job and ignore Mengele, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, etc.? The only reason I can come up with is the mythological power of Jack the Ripper over more modern psychopaths. Which is not a bad thing necessarily but still...

I give it a B+.

 

[vacantlook]

If I remember correctly, jms had a particular personal investigatory interest in Jack The Ripper, so that's probably why he specifically was used for the story.

 

[Lennier's Tears]

Wow, this episode thread is pretty long! Over the years I've gone from REALLY liking this episode, to having some issues with it, to liking it again. When I watched it last night, I liked it a lot.

What I like most about it is the aesthetics. I love the late 19th century suit with the hat and the cane. It works well in this episode. The lighting is great too. Wayne Alexander looks creepy in that harsh light. He does a fantastic job.

Aside from the main storyline, I really like the scene in the elevator with G'Kar and Vir. G'Kar is of course an amazing character, but over the years I've really come to appreciate Vir. He so genuinely cares but is unable to do anything about it. For now.