I like this one alright ... I think it's fairly average overall, but it does have some exciting things in it. The introduction of Neroon, for one. I always liked that character. The conflict between Warrior and Religious castes is interesting, and of course will be very important later on. I do agree with Estelyn that while Delenn sneaking around to make things right for a former Religious Caste leader seems entirely appropriate for her character, it seems weird that she's so willing to let Sinclair and his whole staff take the fall. I also like the "fight" between Ivanova and Talia Winters about the fate of the young telepath although it gets a bit clunky after a while. Still, I like that storyline alright, and the young woman who plays the teenage girl doesn't bother me nearly as much as she does some other viewers
It does seem ridiculous for Talia to mention that her telepathic abilities probably manifested because of the onset of puberty. It's not just that the actor is clearly much older than that, the character is, too. Minutes after Talia makes that comment, it's revealed that Alisa Beldon is 14. Ok, so that's a minor detail
I find it interesting that Alisa gets away from the Psi Corps. Ivanova says to Sinclair at one point that she thinks there might be other options for Alisa as long as they can keep her under their (B5) jurisdiction long enough. How does that work, exactly? Babylon 5 is Earth jurisdiction, isn't it?
The list of random thoughts and things:
- Minbari War Cruisers are gorgeous! Not "big and ugly", but then, I didn't just fight a war against them. It's taken me a couple decades to appreciate that aspect of Babylon 5. Ten years seemed like a very long time when I was young. It doesn't, now.
- I think I say this every time there's a Warrior Caste Minbari on screen, but damn those robes are cool.
- It kind of amuses me that Minbari fold flags at funerals/memorial services. Did they pick that up from the humans they fought against, or did is that just ... parallel evolution?
- Stomach pumping of the Pak'ma'ra. How can this be legal?
- How did Delenn have that body cremated? Is there a cremation facility on B5? Did she take the body off-station?
- I love how Delenn is casually building her tower in these episodes, although because the airing order got switched around, I guess her tower is taller here than it should be. I have never compared between episodes so I can't say for sure
- There's one conversation between Talia, Ivanova, and Alisa where all three are wearing bright shades of lipstick. It just stood out to me because it's all three! Did they just have a makeover or something? Ivanova's lipstick looks way more pink than her usual shade. Alisa is probably experimenting with all the new stuff she suddenly has access to. I guess Talia always wears bright colors, but this seems more pink than her usual reddish shades, no? I wonder if a salon scene was cut, or was implied, or if I'm just making WAY too much out of some pink lipstick
- Sinclair and Neroon stand REALLY close together when they talk to each other. I'm starting to think this must be a Minbari thing, as there's similar conversations in other episodes.
