{"id":7202,"date":"2019-02-22T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7202"},"modified":"2019-02-12T11:38:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T19:38:25","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s05e01-no-compromises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/02\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s05e01-no-compromises\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S05E01 – No Compromises"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first episode of the fifth season of Babylon 5<\/i>, changes come to the station. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, god, this season is also<\/i> going to destroy me, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

After the vast majority of storylines were wrapped up last season, I knew that we had at least two remaining threads to address: the oncoming Telepath War and the Drakh War. Still, I love that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No Compromises\u00e2\u20ac\u009d opens in a way to give us a sense of how vast this season will be. In just forty-odd minutes, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s SO MUCH HERE. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discuss!<\/p>\n

Lochley<\/b><\/p>\n

The most obvious change, and the one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take the most Getting used to, is the arrival and instatement of Elizabeth Lochley as the captain of Babylon 5<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sad that Ivanova is not in the opening credits, but I anticipated she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be gone for some time from the show in one form or another. (For the record, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know any of the background info on casting and whatnot, so please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spoil me here. I came to that conclusion about Ivanova because I figured this show would commit to giving her some time away from the station. Generally speaking, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what JMS has done when he introduces plots like this.) So, she could come back! In the meantime, this show makes it ABUNDANTLY clear that she isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a replacement for Ivanova. Lochley is very<\/i> different from Ivanova, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some intrigue around her, too. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly someone comfortable in a position of power in an organized institution like this, and her thing already seems to be efficiency. She wants things to move smoothly!<\/p>\n

Which is going to be a challenge for Lochley, because I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine a more chaotic place in the entire universe than Bablyon 5<\/i>. Look at what happens on her FIRST DAY on the job! An assassin arrives on the station to threaten Sheridan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, and a group of rogue telepaths make contact and seek asylum, hoping to establish a colony. Lochley handles this stuff with thoughtfulness and care, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very much a non-nonsense officer. Does \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No Compromises\u00e2\u20ac\u009d establish every<\/i> aspect of her character? No, and I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect it to. In fact, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most interesting about her is what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left unsaid, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hinted at, and what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re left to infer. I admit that I respected that Sheridan didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to know whether Lochley was on his side or Clark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s during the civil war.<\/p>\n

But that same question at the end of the episode is far more sinister when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coming from Garibaldi and when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coupled with the fact that Lochley and the assassin once served together. It could be innocent coincidence, of course, and perhaps that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what this season will deal with. Perhaps she worked proudly under Clark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regime, and the ramifications of that will be vital to ongoing events on Babylon 5<\/i>. How do these people move on? How do they work under someone they disagreed with so greatly?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

I ask those questions because, like so much of this show, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No Compromises\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is concerned with the notion of what comes after<\/i> major plot events. Season four dealt heavily with life after the Shadow War, and once the Drakh stuff comes up again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll continue to do so. Conflicts don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t end without ramifications in the real world, and I love that this show accepts that. So, what does Earth look like having survived a civil war? Who is disgusted or enraged that Sheridan and his people won? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the space in which the assassin works. His vendetta against Sheridan isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just about being a sore loser, though. As far as I could tell from what little detail we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re given on him, he worked under President Clark at a prison, and I believe we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re meant to infer that he enjoyed this. Okay, maybe he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enjoy<\/i> it, so to speak, but he seemed quite loyal to the old President, and his life wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just ruined. His beliefs were challenged, weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they? I suppose this is just conjecture, though. Did he believe in the prison he worked for?<\/p>\n

I think he did, and I think the destruction of this whole system enraged the assassin, too. It took away more than just a job from him. Sheridan represents something more than just an inept politician, you know? Look at how dedicated the assassin is to accomplishing his goal. He despised<\/i> Sheridan and everything he stood for.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Ah, so I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make a specific prediction about the glimpse of the future we saw in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Deconstruction of Falling Stars.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In that, Garibaldi\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho we now know to have accepted a new position in the Interstellar Alliance\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtries to reason with telepaths who have taken over the station. Is that Byron and his group of rogue telepaths? Did Sheridan just set things in motion by allowing them to form a colony onboard the station? I genuinely don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know! I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the obvious answer here, but how do we get to that point? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I know Bester is gonna show up sooner rather than later, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna fuck up everything<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I do hope we get to learn more about these telepaths. (Including the ones I am pretty sure are in a relationship???? THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE MORE FRIENDLY THAN SISTERS, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s basically that meme of the seal going GAAAAAYYYYYY, okay???) They have a fascinating introduction, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a little mad that Simon had to die. I WANTED TO KNOW MORE! Who was that woman he felt guilty over? Why would you introduce such a great character, only to kill them off like half an hour later??? UGH.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am excited to see where this goes. I miss Ivanova, but still: this was pretty damn great.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No Compromises\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":"