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EpDis: Soul Mates

A Distant Star

  • Total voters
    10
Plus she didn't really try and assassinate him. That artifact was sold to the tall guy by Stoner. No one knew it was dangerous.

As far as we know.
 
Mariel knew exactly what she was doing. The conversation between G'Kar and Mariel in G'Kar's quarters reveals this.

Quoting from the extended synopsis:

G'Kar is in his quarters, talking to Mariel. "You know," he says, "the problem with mysteries is that in order to get rid of the headaches, I have to figure them out. Here, we're faced with a staggering set of coincidences. A Centauri artifact, an ancient booby trap, it seems, happens to show up on Babylon 5 just in time to be purchased as a gift for Londo. And rather hide or deny responsibility, the gift giver makes it a point of saying she gave it to him, which neatly avoids any accusation of malicious intent because, usually, when you're trying to kill someone, you hide the attack. And there, you see, my head no longer throbs."

Mariel asks him who he will tell his theory to. G'Kar says he won't reveal it, but that Londo will figure it out eventually. As she leaves, he warns her to not be overconfident -- if he were married to Londo, he'd be concerned right now. "G'Kar," Mariel says as she leaves, "if you were married to Londo, we'd all be concerned."
Click to expand...

Mariel's goal was to kill Londo before he had the opportunity to divorce her and leave her with no money. Londo's death would have enabled her to keep her title of being his wife and a nice chunk of Londo's money.
 
I see the motive and I see G'Kar's line of reasoning. But there is no proof. Just as there was no proof that Lyta blew up Zahadum. Sheridan had a theory that he discussed with Lyta and she looked really scared/guilty, but she never admitted it. Muriel didn't admit it either. As we know from the Centauri trilogy she was quite resourceful but there are just too many coincidences there. Another way to look at it is that Muriel was innocent but when G'Kar approached her and told her his theory she didn't deny, seeing an opportunity to get on G'Kar's good side. He certainly is a good ally and she is all about politics.
 
Theater done well includes the art of implication and subtlety. No, "officially" she didn't plot to assassinate him, but we all know she did.
 
There is no proof that you could make stand up in a court of law.

However, as it is played out by the characters, it is very clear that she did know what she was doing. She tacitly admits as much to G'Kar, while being careful not to actually say so just in case the conversation is being recorded.
 
The day a show has to follow court of law rules is the day I give up watching t.v. entirely.

It was one of the many great scenes in B5. :)
 
Another bit of evidence that she knew what it was was that she pointed to the artifact rather than touching it.
 
Thompson definitely was the better actress .. I still just couldn't help .. not really liking Talia very much. She just seemed so .. cold and distant somehow, even when she was starting to thaw. Lyta on the other hand seemed a lot more appealing in general .. just her acting was .. hmm .. she is the one character that was more believable in the dubbed german version I first saw of the show :D .. I *really* noticed it in the early fourth season .. her handling of Kosh2, her explaining the Vorlon situation .. it felt SO obviousley "I'm reading out the lines that I've memorized" to me that it kind of broke the mood for me at times.
 
I appreciated this episode more once I'd read the Centauri Trilogy.

*MILD* Centauri Trilogy Spoiler Below...






Isn't it confirmed in the books that Mariel did, indeed, try and kill Londo?
 
Isn't it confirmed in the books that Mariel did, indeed, try and kill Londo?
Click to expand...

I don't quite remember, but I think she was either under Drakh influence or she was working for Durla.
 
Strange how this is the only non-JMS episode I can enjoy almost as much as any random JMS episode. If you ignore the Stoner-plotline, that is.

It's strange .. I can't decide if it's really just the quality difference in the scripts, or if there is something psychological in there too. If an episode was not written by JMS, my mind automatically sees anything happening as not that important .. because if it was important, JMS would be writing it, wouldn't he?
 
"Because I don't have a real sword handy." -- Timov

If that line didn't take you to the floor, you need to buy a sense of humor. Timov was an awesome character--stone-cold, witty, and yet very genuine.

I gave this story an A. It's just one of those episodes that makes me really happy. You've got a Londo story (already big points), a continuation of his famous "Pestilence, Famine, and Death" lines, a Talia plotline (scoring points again) and it was all very well-done. I even like the Stoner character--obviously I did't like him--but I drew an extreme DISLIKE of the guy so the actor must have done a good job. Having the character play off Garibaldi, who cared for Talia deeply, was good form. It's a rich character episode and the humor wasn't forced or awkward as is the case in numerous other episodes. This episode does a good job of fleshing out the universe even while not necessarily being overly important to the grander story arc.

To chime in on the Lyta/Talia argument. IMO Andrea is the stronger actress--which immediately gives her character an advantage. It was Lyta's story that was carried througout so I can see how many people would feel loyal to Lyta. I think Andrea would have done just as good if not better job were she to stick throughout the show. Talia had a presence in limited screentime that Lyta doesn't really have and had to work to get. You see mere glimpses in Seasons 3 and 4, and she really comes into her own in Season 5.

All that being said I wouldn't trade Pat Tallman's Lyta for anybody. From the episode "Walkabout" until "Objects in Motion", she makes a monumental ascendance on my favorite characters list. In the pragmatic sense she is the MOST important character in Babylon 5, yet is the one most under-valued and consistently under-appreciated. No wonder she later embraced Byron so quickly and vehemently since he was the only person who'd strike up a conversation without needing something from her.
 
Definitely agreed, Andrea was a better actress than Pat Talman. most of her acting jobs was because she was a stunt woman who could act to a degree, so she got many small "one shot" background parts with a line or two, but, they required a stunt person.
 
I grant this episode a "B"

While I wasn't blown away, I was throughly amused and felt the character development and portrayal of all 3 wives was spot on.
 
The three wives were wonderful and just what a schemer like Londo deserved. I totally understand why he chose Timov, given that he has access to hot Centauri chicks any time he wants them. It was a marriage of convenience, nothing more. And if you're stuck in such a marriage, it must be a relief to know your wife isn't plotting to kill you, isn't it?

Mariel's plotting was very subtle, but very well done nonetheless. One of my favorite episodes. The only weak point was Stoner. If it hadn't been for him, I'd've given this an A.

Lyta and Talia are very different women, and the actors playing them are also very different. I never found Pat Tallman particularly good, but she's not useless either. I really enjoyed the repartee between Talia and Garibaldi, knowing they were married in real life for most of the shooting.
 
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