{"id":7101,"date":"2018-12-07T13:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T21:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7101"},"modified":"2018-11-29T16:59:30","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T00:59:30","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s03e10-severed-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/12\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s03e10-severed-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S03E10 – Severed Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tenth episode of the third season of Babylon 5<\/i>, this never ends, does it? Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Holy shit. This all happened? In one episode? And we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not even halfway through this season, nor have multiple major plots been resolved at this point? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M STRESSED??? How was this so good yet hurt so bad???<\/p>\n

One thing that hits so hard about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Severed Dreams\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the sheer escalation of it all. At the start of this episode, Sheridan and his command staff are worried about what the presence of the Alexander<\/i> will mean in this civil war. (Oh god, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a full-on civil war now, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?) Certainly, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll complicate things, right?<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the end of this episode. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Babylon 5<\/i> is now an INDEPENDENT STATE, and countless of people were killed in the biggest, most personal battle we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen yet. (I have to add that caveat, that single \u00e2\u20ac\u0153yet,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because I am fully aware that there is probably something bigger and more terrible on the horizon.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like this is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Point of No Return 2: A Bigger Point, More No Return-ier.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d These people were pushed into a corner, and they had to defend themselves, and it means that they had to kill other humans in order to survive. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at now, and it only gave them one<\/i> victory, and one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s small! Relatively speaking, that is. I mean, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s huge<\/i> in terms of the emotional impact; they were able to successfully push back on this unconstitutional attack, and they established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to deny that this is important. But Clark is still in power, and this is just one necessary victory. What else will they need to do?<\/p>\n

I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m jumping all over the place, but this was A LOT. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like a thousand new things to talk about! Oh god, let me delve a little deeper into Delenn, because LOOK WHAT SHE DID. As much power as the Grey Council has, I love that Delenn basically shamed them for not using that power for anything but themselves. Over the course of this show, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen how reluctant they are to get involved. (Unless, of course, it concerns shaming and humiliating one of their own. Wow, they were sure quick to do that!!!) Despite that there are these apparent prophecies (about the return of the Shadows, I assume), they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve committed themselves to inaction. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not new either! Part of the reason they were furious with Delenn was because she accelerated the timeline with her transformation.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, what happens here feels not just like a recrimination from Delenn. Her breaking up the Grey Council is a condemnation, and she knows that without help from the Minbari, the galaxy will lose to the Shadows. Look what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already seen them do! This episode alone confirms that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve basically been quietly manipulating worlds and races to go to war with one another, de-stabilizing EVERYONE in the process. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what the Shadows intended the whole time, and unless these individual races stop fighting with themselves and unite against the Shadows, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all going to be over.<\/p>\n

I say that fully knowing that this episode is about a bloody and violent civil war. This show does not hesitate to show just how awful that reality is. The space battles are intense and frightening, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m particularly thinking of Captain Hiroshi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sacrifice in order to take out the Roanoke<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just SO FUCKED UP. But the battle on the station itself, after soldiers break through the hull, felt so much worse to me. I guess it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to conceptualize death in the fights between spaceships because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a huge explosion, and then everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone. But in those scenes of PPG fire and hand-to-hand combat, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny any of the dying. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right there. Look how many Narn are on the front lines in that scene; many of them rushed into that room fully aware that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d die, and they did it anyway, all in the hope that their work would save others. And it did! Without them, would this battle have been won? If the Minbari did not behave the same way and enter the fray, would this have gone the way it did?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The war is here, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a matter of time before the Shadows make their move, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be even more messed up. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine to appreciate the victory, though, and that image of Sheridan and Delenn being applauded for standing up to Clark… it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powerful. This disaster is no longer unfolding privately either. With ISN finally deciding to broadcast news that had been suppressed, information is finally spreading. Will there be a rogue news broadcaster soon? How will the command staff deal with those on the station who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with what they did? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure there will be folks who are furious that the resistance killed people, but I bet they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really care that President Clark killed people. THEY BOMBED MARS, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. WHAT THE FUCK. Has<\/i> Clark overextended himself? What about Psi-Corps??? Oh, I have too many questions, and I know they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably be answered soon, so: wow. This was… wow.<\/p>\n

This show is Too Much.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Severed Dreams\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":"