{"id":7215,"date":"2019-03-04T13:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T21:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7215"},"modified":"2019-02-25T18:22:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T02:22:49","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s05e05-learning-curve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/03\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s05e05-learning-curve\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S05E05 – Learning Curve"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifth episode of the fifth season of Babylon 5<\/i>, adjustments are made onboard the station. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed this episode, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paced sluggishly until the final act. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m all for a good build, and I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what this episode tried<\/i> to do. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the multiple threads of growth and how they intertwine with one another. Each story is a learning curve, but it takes a long time for those threads to reach a vital point, and it just felt like a little too late? If that makes sense? LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DISCUSS.<\/p>\n

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

I found this plot interesting more for the worldbuilding elements than the story itself. I assumed that Lennier would play a part in it, given that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d returned to work with the Rangers, so perhaps it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my bad that I expected him to be here beyond the mention of him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little more challenging to care about characters who are brand new than ones we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve known for multiple seasons, so there was already a high bar in place here. Tannier and Rastenn are interesting, but do we ever go into depth with them? Tannier has a sense of humor we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often see in the religious caste, and Rastenn, from the warrior caste, struggles with purpose outside of well-defined missions. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an intriguing premise! But spread out over the three major plots in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Learning Curve,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d these stories end up being a little thin, and we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get a whole lot of screen time with them. (This is why Trace\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story suffers as much as it does, but more on that in a second.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not until we get to the concept of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mora\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that this episode truly solidifies into something concrete. After being brutally assaulted by Trace and his men, Tannier is left with the possibility of terror overpowering him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a fascinating idea, and the cultural practice is akin to a cleansing of fear from one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an incredible scene between Rasteen and Sech Turval that demonstrates a quieter version of this, and Sech Turval delivers a hell of a monologue about purpose and death. So, by the time we get to Tannier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confrontation with Trace, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re grounded. We know why<\/i> Tannier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fear exists, and we know why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important for him, as a ranger, to purge it. He has to know that Trace and his men do not have power over him. Plus, on a purely personal level, it was real satisfying to see Trace get his ass beat.<\/p>\n

Trace<\/b><\/p>\n

I say that while also fully aware that Trace is a one-note character, one who has no real depth, and who kinda doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any sense? I get that he was made so that Tannier would have a chance to deconstruct what a bully was. He needed<\/i> to know that people like Trace were ultimately cowards, that they spread terror to get others to do what they want. But independent of Tannier\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand there a lot of scenes in which they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interact\u00e2\u20ac\u201dTrace is just a cardboard cutout. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know how he arrived on Babylon 5<\/i> or what sort of racket he actually runs. One of the men executed amassed a gambling debt, so… Trace works around the casino? Or everything? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s literally no specificity here, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s odd because Babylon 5<\/i> is all about the specifics. Even when we get his backstory, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a LOT. The dude just murdered everyone in his way until someone agreed with him? And he just didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get arrested or apprehended or anything? That story is hard to believe when the Rangers incapacitated Trace and his men in less than five minutes. Granted, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trained, but surely another force could have done something<\/i>? But they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t? So, his backstory feels thin. And I guess I get it? Like, he has<\/i> to be terrible for him to be a foil for Tannier, but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make him all that interesting on his own.<\/p>\n

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

Oh, lord, THIS STARTED OFF AS A MESS. I actually found this subplot to be engaging the whole time, though it was easy to be captivated when Garibaldi and Lochley were both trying to one-up one another. We get a definitive answer on which \u00e2\u20ac\u0153side\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lochley was on, and she supported President Clark. Which doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprise me! I would have been shocked if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d secretly been part of the Resistance. Rather, this fits the character we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen so far. She cares deeply about rules and regulations, about loyalty and duty, and it figures that she would have stuck with that throughout the struggle against Clark. Do I agree with her? Oh, no, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m too personally biased against the military to ever believe her whole bit about how you have<\/i> to follow the chain of command until an unethical dilemma is presented to you. Like, exactly how much demonic shit did she see, but she chose to ignore it because she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t personally<\/i> given the order to carry it out?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time: GARIBALDI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. I mean… he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being himself! This is what he does! He suspects everyone, and he has great difficulty trusting any<\/i> newcomers. He did it with Sheridan, and now he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing it with Lochley. But now that I know the truth\u00e2\u20ac\u201dLochley and Sheridan once had some sort of relationship\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s any other secret she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s holding. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty big one, and it certainly explains why Sheridan was so willing to trust her. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a BIG OL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 MESS, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I feel bad that Delenn had to find out the way she did. Is this news gonna go wide? Will Garibaldi keep it a secret? Will he use it to try to discredit either Sheridan or Lochley? UGH THIS IS A LOT.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Learning Curve\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":"