{"id":7048,"date":"2018-10-30T13:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T20:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7048"},"modified":"2018-10-24T09:21:56","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T16:21:56","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e05-the-long-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/10\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e05-the-long-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E05 – The Long Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifth episode of the second season of Babylon 5<\/i>, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of PTSD and trauma<\/b><\/p>\n

Holy shit, what??? The Shadows take different forms? Is this the same species we saw when Morden was meeting with the Shadows? Do I even know what the fuck I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m talking about? NO. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t! And that uncertainty is what makes this episode such a fantastic creepfest. All by itself, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure if \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Long Dark\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would have been this satisfying. A lot of us have seen or read stories involving an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153abandoned\u00e2\u20ac\u009d space ship that actually contains some strange, deadly force or species that is unleashed once it makes contact. Hell, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen variations of that story over multiple shows just for Mark Watches.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But this felt different because it appears to be tied so heavily to the ongoing mythology of the Shadows, of the ancient Darkness that was once defeated and is now returning, of the stories and tales of the mysterious evil that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lurking out on the Rim. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fucking brilliant<\/i>, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what sets this apart from the expected aspects of this particular trope. And there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a parallel here, of course: the Copernicus<\/i> is a ship from the past, one that Earth mostly forgot about because they coincidentally made first contact just years after it was launched. For Amis, history is the trauma he suffered while deployed at a listening post during the Earth-Minbari War, and for him, the past is unearthed all the time<\/i>.The past is coming back to haunt the galaxy, and while Mariah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is deeply personal, as is Amis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indicative of where this season seems to be heading.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to say that I like everything<\/i> here. I do feel that, in general, Amis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trauma is treated with sympathy, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mostly because of Garibaldi, who knows what it is like to have PTSD due to warfare. Without Garibaldi in this script, Amis would have felt a little bit like the mentally ill person who is cast as the prophet. I felt like the episode avoided that, though, by grounding the character in his PTSD. Rather than seeming mystical, Amis was real, and Garibaldi helped to provide the context to be able to empathize with him. In particular, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking of that incredible moment where he told Amis that he believed him. A gesture that simple meant the world<\/i> to Amis, who had spent his life being dismissed and mistreated because no one would listen to him. Look to that one guard for a great example of that: he told Garibaldi that all Lurkers should just be spaced. Maybe that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not specific to Amis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental illness, but it probably played a huge part!<\/p>\n

Of course, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even addressing the other component of this story that makes it so unnerving. Before Amis was rescued, and before Mariah was freed from her cryogenic chamber, both these humans had been fed<\/i> on. But unlike those who did not survive this horrible creature, they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fully digested. So, they have an existing connection with this thing that calls to them, that reminds them of the horrible trauma they went through, and THAT IS JUST SO FUCKING CREEPY, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. They both escaped this thing, but it left mental and physical scars behind, then called<\/i> to them when it was close to remind them that they were unfinished business. HI, THIS IS PURE HORROR, I HATE ALL OF YOU FOR THIS.<\/p>\n

But the whole romance between Dr. Franklin and Mariah? Oh, no. Hard pass. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so<\/i> fast, and while the characters openly discuss that, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that makes up for the fact that, relative to Mariah, her husband died TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO. Okay, maybe a few days? One of the things that this episode largely skips over is Mariah re-orienting herself to the 23rd century. There are very few moments here that address that. She balks at a couple aliens, and she has a very emotional reaction after Dr. Franklin tells her that her husband died, but I feel like she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have a much, much longer readjustment period. Basically? I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t buy the romance at all and found it to be a clunky addition to the episode.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my only nitpick here. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the way this show keeps warning me about the Shadows and the Darkness is A LOT. As of the day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this, the review for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chrysalis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has just gone up, and I can barely fathom how much new information I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve learned in just five episodes<\/i>. Which scares me! What the hell else does this show have up its sleeve?<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Long Dark\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"