{"id":7151,"date":"2019-01-09T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T21:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7151"},"modified":"2019-01-01T21:26:51","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T05:26:51","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s04e07-epiphanies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/01\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s04e07-epiphanies\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S04E07 – Epiphanies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventh episode of the fourth season of Babylon 5<\/i>, the calm after the storm is ruined. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of consent<\/b><\/p>\n

What the FUCK!!!!! Well, I guess I now have a much better idea of what might happen in season four, but STILL. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the Shadow War JUST ended, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already another disaster. One that makes sense, I should note; it follows that after the Shadows leave the galaxy, President Clark and the other adherents of the Shadow philosophy are aware that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re next. Oh lord, this season is going to be about the defeat of Clark and Psi Corps, right???<\/p>\n

LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK.<\/p>\n

Leaving Home<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Epiphanies\u00e2\u20ac\u009d lurches into new plot arcs while gently hinting at others. The Shadow War is definitively over, but what remains in the wake of such a long and violent struggle? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a power vacuum on Centauri Prime, and I was surprised that no one rushed to fill it. As far as I can tell, the Centaurum genuinely realized that maybe<\/i> they shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t rush to choose an emperor after the last few have gone so… poorly? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an understatement, but you get what I mean. Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minister gets named the Regent, which felt like a nice gesture to reward someone who had been loyal and dutiful during all of this. And so, Londo leaves one home for another, returning to Babylon 5<\/i> and delighting in the experience. Indeed, until we see him in his chilling confrontation with G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar, it was clear that Londo was overjoyed to be back on the station. He missed poking fun at Zack, bartering with people in the Zocalo, and being amongst so very many people who, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing, had nothing<\/i> to do with Centauri politics.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then he has to face G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar, and in one moment, that joy is broken. As it should be! Londo escaped from the Shadow War virtually unscathed, and then, standing before him, is someone who very much suffered great personal loss. Literal and<\/i> metaphorical, I should note! G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reminder is key, too: they are not friends. They are not even allies. For G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar, Londo was a means to an end, and now that that end has been achieved, there is no other reason for them to interact with one another… unless Londo gives them one.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh god, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still on track to much of that possible future, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we???<\/p>\n

Propaganda<\/b><\/p>\n

As I said, it makes sense to me that immediately upon \u00e2\u20ac\u0153winning\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Shadow War, a new threat crops up in the lives of those on Babylon 5<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no congratulations from Earth to Sheridan and his people upon completion of the war. President Clark was complicit, and many of those running Earth still believe in what the Shadows put forth. Thus, the reaction to the Shadows leaving is nearly instantaneous. Earthforce, Psi Corps, and the Ministry of Peace are now going to unite with one goal in mind: discredit Sheridan and destroy Babylon 5<\/i> and what it stands for.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an easy first step, too, particularly when you control the flow of information. Look how quickly the news of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153terroristic threats\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was put on ISN. How do you counter news like that? President Clark can easily say the information is classified; he can easily claim that Earth needs to protect itself; and for those who bow to the authority of the government, why would they ever question the information they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one thing I enjoyed about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Epiphanies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so searing in its use of propaganda and showing how difficult it can be to combat it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-Serving<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not impossible, but even in talking about how the Babylon 5<\/i> team defeats the first round of propaganda, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible not to talk about how that plot is intertwined with Bester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immensely fucked up story of love and dedication. It really does not matter that certain of Bester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choices result in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d conclusions because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re so wrapped up in his need to manipulate the people around him to get what he wants. I figured that Bester wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to play this straight and do as his superiors demanded of him; Sheridan had helped him before and<\/i> they still had Carolyn onboard. And for Bester, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not interested in saving Babylon 5<\/i> because it was wrong to persecute them or to slander Sheridan. He probably would<\/i> go along with it if they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the one thing that he wanted.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, he sets out to defy his orders, and he does so by leaking the black-ops plan to frame Babylon 5<\/i> for murder. In exchange for this information, he asks Sheridan to return to Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum in order to find technology that might heal Carolyn. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a bold twist! Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re done<\/i> with that place! And like I said on video, why test the whole NO ONE COMES BACK FROM Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122HA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122DUM thing twice<\/i>? That just seems like a bad idea. A cosmically bad idea!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet.<\/p>\n

AND YET.<\/p>\n

There are two major developments that come from it, and both of them hint at possible stories to come. Which I love about this show! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just accepted that stories swirl together in these complicated narrative fabrics, and the show will get to things as needed. So: who was evacuating Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum?<\/i> I think the easy assumption is that the same race who left the planet is the same one who appears to have quietly invaded Centauri Prime and given the Regent that… thing<\/i>. WHATEVER IT IS. We know that thing controls a person and violates their willpower, so… is this yet another \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cost\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of winning the war???<\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lyta, who gets a fantastic story that feels alive, challenging, and thrilling, which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy for because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that she got all that much depth outside the Vorlon plot. Hell, this episode kinda calls attention to that? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always existed onscreen to be used for her powers, and no one even goes to see her unless they want something from her. But with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Epiphanies,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a few things are seeded. First, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153secret\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Bester knows that he uses to try to threaten Lyta. Even better, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing this while COMPLETELY UNAWARE of what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually done. LYTA ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T A P-5 ANYMORE. It feels obvious that this is because of the Vorlons, but Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. She was able to block Bester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scan on the station; she was able to send a telepathic probe to Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum in order to activate sensors that would destroy the planet; and she did all of this without Bester being able to read her. HI, SHE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S REALLY DAMN POWERFUL, ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T SHE? So powerful that she actually enrages Sheridan with her actions, and wow<\/i>, was that scene awkward. Sheridan made it clear that she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intervene, particularly for personal reasons, in command decisions like this again. Has that relationship been tarnished? Will he be able to trust her next time, or will she have to work to regain that trust? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW. But season four continues to take a new shape, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m intrigued.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The End<\/b><\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Garibaldi, and I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T FUCKING GET IT. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been operating under the impression\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich I thought was obvious!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat he was a spy for the Psi Corps. SO WHY THE FUCK DOES HE QUIT<\/i>? Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that deny him access to the inner circle of command? Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he be far away from exactly the sort of information that the Psi Corps would want? Even more perplexing is that his reasoning for quitting makes a lot<\/i> of sense. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not entirely out of character, is it? He wants happiness; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tired; he believes that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something more for him outside of being security chief. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a radical notion! And maybe that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I just feel bad<\/i> about this, and I am SCARED.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Epiphanies\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now up for pre-order!<\/a> It comes out on May 7, 2019.\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":"