{"id":7196,"date":"2019-02-13T13:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T21:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7196"},"modified":"2019-02-06T13:07:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T21:07:30","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s04e21-rising-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/02\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s04e21-rising-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S04E21 – Rising Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the fourth season of Babylon 5<\/i>, the pieces fall into place. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of grief<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll repeat what I said after the episode ended: I get there being another season now. Totally! The Drakh War, the Telepath War, this new Interstellar Alliance… there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much story left to explore! And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited about that.<\/p>\n

HOW THE HELL IS THERE ANOTHER EPISODE IN THIS SEASON<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m scared.<\/p>\n

Loss<\/b><\/p>\n

There are some fine performances here\u00e2\u20ac\u201din particular, Beata Pozniak does an incredible job as the interim Earth President\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut Claudia Christian gives the<\/i> performance of THE WHOLE DAMN SHOW in this episode, and I am in continual awe at her talents. I was so happy that the scene occurred in the presence of Dr. Franklin, too, someone who understood the complicated intersection of health and fragility, of grief and celebration. And he has flat-out known her for such a long time! Ivanova crouches on the floor, just feet from Marcus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s covered in a white sheet. Still. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a body<\/i>. And there she sits, alive, life flowing through her own veins, and none of it makes sense. She was ready to leave, to finally pass on, and then Marcus\u00e2\u20ac\u201dstubborn, loving, dedicated Marcus\u00e2\u20ac\u201dpulled her back to life by flinging himself into the void of death.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her reaction here is one of terrible grief. It is made up of lost opportunities: this is now the second<\/i> time that someone Ivanova had developed feelings for is gone before things could ever become more<\/i>. That lost potential is what makes this feel even more tragic. What if she hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> been afraid to open herself up to Marcus? What if she had believed that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been worthy of receiving love? The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153what ifs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153maybes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are extra knives to the heart, piercing and draining her, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing she can do about it besides grieve. It makes sense, then, that she takes a position off of Babylon 5<\/i> for the time being. How can she be on the same station where Marcus gave his life for her?<\/p>\n

HI, WHY DOES THIS SHOW KEEP HURTING ME AND SUSAN IVANOVA.<\/p>\n

Garibaldi<\/b><\/p>\n

So, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got the answer, however brief it is: Sheridan did<\/i> find out the full extent of what Bester did to Garibaldi, and he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to blame Garibaldi for what happened. Okay! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good. I would like to see the two of them interact since the truth was revealed. What is their relationship like now<\/i>?<\/p>\n

As for Garibaldi himself, his role in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rising Star\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is relatively small. I admit that I felt that he and Lise would be reunited, since she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t killed off during the assassination of Edgars. So, as inevitable as it was, it seemed like a fair turn of events. Garibaldi had finally stopped running from his problems, and instead, he had actively<\/i> tried to acknowledge them and fix them. Even after being brainwashed for Bester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use, he still held himself accountable, and he did whatever necessary to save Lise.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

As I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d expected, much of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rising Star\u00e2\u20ac\u009d deals with ramifications and consequences. Which is a great summary of Babylon 5<\/i>! The show consistently deals with the aftermath of what comes before it. So what happens after Sheridan turns himself over to Earth Force? What does the Earth look like then<\/i>? One smaller detail that helps provide a portrait of this is the ISN broadcasts that we get. Honestly, after years of propaganda, it was surreal to see the news report.. not propaganda??? But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a start, and this start continues to grow over the course of the episode. Sheridan is questioned for what seems like days on end, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even confronted by Bester, who has the audacity to threaten Sheridan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life over Carolyn. Like, Sheridan isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a fool! There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way he would have let Carolyn be used for his attack on Clark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forces! But Bester is that<\/i> self-centered, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why he deems it necessary to pay a visit to Sheridan. He just has<\/i> to make sure that his interests are still protected. UGH, BESTER, YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE THE WORST. God, the way that Walter Koenig plays Bester whenever he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talking about Carolyn… it makes my skin crawl.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, enough of Bester. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised by the reaction to Sheridan. It makes perfect sense that Earth Force members would be split down the middle, some seeing Sheridan as a hero, while others saw him as a traitor to be executed. Even President Luchenko, who admits that Clark was out of control, sees Sheridan as an annoyance. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written in such a fascinating way: she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thankful Clark is gone, but she seems irritated that Sheridan did what he did to get rid of him. She maintains that Sheridan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way was the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wrong\u00e2\u20ac\u009d way, but at no point does she ever say what the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d way would be. My guess? She cares about the process. About organization. About institutions of power. And how could she not? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part<\/i> of one, and there are no answers that occur to her outside of those institutions. Sheridan found a solution without the support of any<\/i> of these people or organizations, you know?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, their response is one that protects them. Sheridan will either resign Earth Force and his crew is granted amnesty, or Earth Force will bring them all<\/i> before a tribunal, one she basically guarantees will be biased against him. In that moment, I was furious. This was their reaction? Yes, Sheridan always knew his actions would have consequences, and yes, he was always willing to pay that price to do what was right. But this response felt so cruel<\/i>, you know? They wanted to wash their hands of Sheridan or leave him out to dry. No nuance, no in between.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, the resolution of this is SO GODDAMN SATISFYING because it catches everyone by surprise. It caught me<\/i> by surprise! But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not without its foundation, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the brilliance of the introduction of the Interstellar Alliance. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely true that Sheridan, Delenn, G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar, and Londo have all been slowly working to unite all the races and cultures in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair and respectful. That happened towards the end of the Shadow War, and it was certainly a focus of the middle of season four. Thus, turning them all under the jurisdiction and purview of the Rangers, who are now a peace-building force, is the most logical next step. What if peace isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enforced<\/i> but created<\/i>? What if these nations seek solutions to their problems that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> centered around the military? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a chilling rebuke to what Earth Force gave Sheridan. He resigned, as they had asked him to, ONLY TO BE MADE PRESIDENT OF THE ALLIANCE LITERALLY HOURS LATER. God, what a beautiful joke, and what a beautiful development. Sheridan fulfills his promise not to do what grants him power over Earth, but what is right<\/i>. And in doing so, this universe moves a little closer to an ideal. One that seems daunting and, according to Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voiceover narration, will be challenged in the next year by multiple wars. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a start<\/i>. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all we can ask for, right?<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rising Star\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":"