{"id":7056,"date":"2018-11-08T13:00:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T21:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7056"},"modified":"2018-10-29T21:32:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T04:32:09","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e12-acts-of-sacrifice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e12-acts-of-sacrifice\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E12 – Acts of Sacrifice"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth episode of the second season of Babylon 5<\/i>, this is REAL sad. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of imperialism, genocide, police violence, bullying<\/b><\/p>\n

So, again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard for me to talk about this because I really don’t<\/i> know the full history of the conflict between the Narns and the Centauri. Do I need to? Sometimes I feel that way, and the events in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Acts of Sacrifice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were, at times, confusing or frustrating. Many times by design! I can tell that this episode is supposed<\/i> to fill us with an immense sadness over G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attempts to resolve things in as peaceful manner as he can. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfortunate to watch him try so hard, only to receive almost nothing in return. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thankful for that, sure, but is it enough<\/i>?<\/p>\n

So I still found it striking, then, that the vast majority of the ire and frustration is directed at G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar rather than Mollari. His people are, in this specific instance, the aggressors. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones who destroyed the listening post, and here, they clearly attacked a civilian ship, then tried to manipulate the truth in order to justify their attacks. The skirmishes aboard Babylon 5<\/i> are because of Centauri aggression, too. Those Centauri goaded on the Narn, first by being xenophobic towards them, violently insulting them in public, and then when one of them taunted a Narn, knowing that one of the security guards would fire upon them. Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, does Garibaldi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s security have to aim for the head\/chest? WHERE ARE THE DIFFUSING TACTICS? Why is no one aiming for legs or arms? And that part is completely not addressed at all in the episode! Not that I really expected it to be.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the frustration felt so one-sided. There is virtually no sympathy given to the Narn from many of the people in this episode. Now, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of me that wonders if that<\/i> is intentional, too, rather than an oversight. What if this is all a commentary on political alliances and the ways in which they can fall apart? What if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to see the humans as flawed because they have difficulty sympathizing with other species? I actually think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of me that worries that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not<\/i> true. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that line where Sheridan remarks that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care who started this, but oh lord, that context TOTALLY MATTERS! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the same sort of shit that teachers and adults used to say all the time when I was a kid. It was always<\/i> in response to bullying. And in those moments, they smoothed down conflicts, flattening them into the nonsensical claim that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all violence is bad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d including reactions<\/i> to violence. That emboldens bigots and bullies. If their targets can be taken down with them, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth it for them to keep needling away, trying to get them to react. In the end, their actions are protected, and the root cause is never addressed.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I see that flaw in the approach of the humans, even if they mean well and are<\/i> trying as best as they can. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an undeniable tragedy in this episode, one that hints of a dark road to come. Many of the Narn did not appreciate G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approach to dealing with this conflict; is this going to happen again? Will they seek revenge at any cost, and will diplomacy disappear? While G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar does<\/i> win the respect of the Narns on the station, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the end result of that? He stops the fights, but do the Narns gain the support of the humans or the Minbari?<\/p>\n

Practically speaking: no. Neither government wants to get involved, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an unfortunate parallel at work. Both Delenn and Sheridan do not have the power that G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar expects of them. Because of volatile movements and shifts within their own worlds, their own spheres of influence have changed. Yes, they do<\/i> try, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not lost on me\u00e2\u20ac\u201dparticularly once I think about that heart-wrenching scene of G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar in the hallway, sobbing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar needs. It worries me! The Centauri are expanding, growing, and changing, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing so by destroying<\/i> the Narn. Where the hell can this go from here? There are many acts of sacrifice in this episode, but what the humans and the Minbari sacrifice is too little. Is it also<\/i> too late?<\/p>\n

I can read a different interpretation of the title into that other<\/i> subplot of this episode. Looking back on it now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little strange that such a somber and sad episode has one of the most ridiculous plots in it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s jarring, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Because the Lumati are THE WORST. But their politics and their philosophy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 seems a little familiar, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Even if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re part of a comedic plot, the notion of species inferiority plays directly into the horrible<\/i> things that we see perpetrated on this show. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly an element of the insults that the Centauri yell at the Narn, right?<\/p>\n

Anyway, bless Claudia Christian forever, and bless this show for being so openly weird, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I LOVE IVANOVA.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Acts of Sacrifice\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":"