{"id":7068,"date":"2018-11-13T13:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7068"},"modified":"2018-11-07T13:47:06","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T21:47:06","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e15-and-now-for-a-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e15-and-now-for-a-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E15 – And Now for a Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth episode of the second season of Babylon 5<\/i>, THIS IS A LOT. 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<\/b><\/p>\n

I remain amazed at what this episode accomplished. The documentary\/news format of this episode is one of my FAVORITE tropes of all time, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much fun to be had with it. But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen it used quite like this. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And Now for a Word\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a vital<\/i> episode of this show, one that escalates the Narn-Centauri War to a frightening place. On top of that, the framing device still manages to be interesting on its own, since it gives us a chance to view the conflicts on Babylon 5<\/i> through the lens of people on Earth.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll address that latter point first, since I do want to spend a bit more time on the war in the second half of this. The ISN network certainly tries<\/i> to be a hard-hitting and objective news source, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that this necessarily Cynthia Torqueman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fault. She is an ambitious and motivated reporter, and I often enjoyed that she asked questions that were both necessary and uncomfortable. She rarely seemed as if she wanted to please the people she was talking to, with the possible exception of Earth Alliance Senator Quantrell. I say that because there was<\/i> a subtle bias throughout this: the program really felt as if it trying to show people that Babylon 5<\/i> was disastrous, dangerous, prone to violence, and unnecessary. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do that in the most obvious way, but I found Cynthia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final message\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat this was not a typical 36 hours for the station\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto be a bit trite. True, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t at all, but you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t show much of the rest of that life, did you? So is ISN responsible for the perception of the station that their report brings?<\/p>\n

I also found it fascinating how the framing device allowed the show to explore the inherent absurdity of itself. Out of context, so much of this show is just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 ridiculous. Beautifully so! But that ridiculousness has a purpose, has a meaning, has a context within the greater narrative, so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an inherent flaw in this report because it strips so much of that detail away. Ambassador Kosh seems rude and seclusive to a degree that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just simply not what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen, you know? And what of the council meeting? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easily the most raucous, chaotic one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever been in the run of the show so far, but to an outsider, does that look like peace?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings me to the bigger point that I wanted to make, and this will provide the perfect transition for that. Cynthia asks a lot of difficult questions of the people onboard the station. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m particularly thinking of her conversation with Delenn, which was so brutal<\/i>. We just came off an episode where Delenn felt belittled and freakish because of her own people; in just a few minutes, Cynthia makes it clear that humans are probably going to reject her, too. So, my question is: why wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she harsher with Londo Mollari? She had a chance to redirect his propaganda and his political spin, but she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take it. Did she hope that her audience would realize that Londo was bullshitting them? Was that her intent?<\/p>\n

The story within this documentary is important, though, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the next major moment of this war, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m real<\/i> worried. We learn the Narn have lost six out of the last seven skirmishes with the Centauri. Even worse, the Centauri are now using the space outside of Babylon 5\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/i> to transport weapons of mass destruction. That aspect is undeniable; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proven beyond a doubt. So why doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the documentary focus on this? Why does it allow Londo to spin a tale about how they helped<\/i> the Narn when we know that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the case at all? Hell, even the order of those interviews seemed cruel. Why have G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar talk about how the Narn were in servitude to the Centauri during their occupation, how his father died for spilling a drink, only to have Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s counter be that the Centauri were just trying to civilize<\/i> the Narn?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also the fact that the audience knows more than many of the people in this episode. We know about Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s secret deal with Morden and the Shadows, and we know just how many Narn that have been slaughtered by Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s orders or wishes. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even close<\/i> to being innocent or misunderstood, as he wants to be perceived here. And it makes his scenes in this episode so disturbing to watch because we are witnessing propaganda in action. We are witnessing a government absolutely<\/i> murder others with impunity, but the more important issue is how those being harmed retaliate. Londo wants to talk about the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153innocent\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Centauri killed by the Narn attack, but will he ever come to feel the same way about the thousands upon thousands of Narn that he<\/i> killed?<\/p>\n

WHEW, THIS SHOW IS MESSED UP.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And Now for a Word\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":"