{"id":7239,"date":"2019-03-25T13:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7239"},"modified":"2019-03-20T21:27:27","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T04:27:27","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s05e14-meditations-on-the-abyss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/03\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s05e14-meditations-on-the-abyss\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S05E14 – Meditations on the Abyss"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of Babylon 5<\/i>, Lennier is sent on a secret mission that becomes something else; G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar and Dr. Franklin bond; Garibaldi descends. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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

You know, this episode didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go where I thought it would, but I liked it. I admit to being drowsy when I watched this, so I do wonder if that affected my sense of the pacing of the story. Still, even thinking about it now and how the story beats unfolded, this is a much more introspective episode than an action-based one. Which is okay! It explores interesting things in G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar and Lennier. I suppose part of why I anticipated something more intense is because of the opening. Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s secretive, late-night meeting with Lennier was so evocative and emotional, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all! And it came right after she broke the finger of a dude who wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop harassing her! (DIRECT ACTION.) The premise given to me was upsetting, too. Delenn wanted Lennier to sit on the Centauri border and obtain evidence that the Centauri were involved in the attacks on shopping lines. The audience knows the truth, and the imagery would be damning. But I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if those ships are piloted by Drakhs, or Drakh-controlled Centauri, or what! So, on the one hand, I was eager for the Alliance to start putting this together; I was also agonizing over it because there was no way Lennier would get the whole story just from observing.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Lennier learns nothing because this episode is not about the Centauri. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a strange choice, especially at this point in the season, where there aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t many episodes left, and the Alliance still<\/i> doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on. While onboard a White Star<\/i>, Lennier works with Captain Montoya (played wonderfully by Richard Yniguez!) and is partnered with Findell. Findell is nothing<\/i> like Lennier, and I admit I did like seeing them paired together. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a neat way of showing us that all Rangers aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t automatically emotionless warriors, but rather that real people, who have complicated, emotional motivations, join this group. And as we see with Findell, some people join because they feel a duty<\/i> to, not a desire. Obligation doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t erase fear, and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always make for a solid motivation to do a lot of things. At least not to join the Rangers, you know?<\/p>\n

But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still a little perplexed about the focus of this plot. Lennier is basically in training here, and I understand why<\/i> that happens, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s well-suited for the test that Captain Montaya sets up. So this ends up being less about Lennier as a student and instead, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about Findell. Does Lennier learn anything here? Is there space for him to grow as a Ranger? Not really, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure this is one of the reasons this episode just felt off to me. I can understand taking Lennier down a different path than the Centauri plot, but once this script does that, it gives the real story to a character I suspect we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never see again. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s… weird! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how else to describe it! Mind you, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dislike it. We got to see Lennier coaching someone else! It was all part of a secret mission for Delenn! But it mostly left me feeling off-base, as if a wrong turn had been somewhere and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite know where we were heading.<\/p>\n

On the complete opposite of the emotional spectrum, G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122KAR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STORY MADE ME SO HAPPY. I love that this was how the show brought up Dr. Franklin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religious beliefs, and in doing so, they were able to stretch across an apparent divide to show us how much Dr. Franklin respects G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar and what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing. And for what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mesmerizing watching G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar do his thing. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got an undeniable energy and charisma when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talking (thanks to Andreas Katsulas, of course), and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a beautiful follow-up to last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s episode. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a bit unsure, and he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always know where a conversation is leading him. (Which is perhaps an unintentional parallel to this experience, since I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where this story was going.) But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so sincere<\/i>. He tries so hard! And damn, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, listen to how he handles questions, how he relates his beliefs through powerful metaphors… UGH, HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO GREAT.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Garibaldi is… not in a great place. The opposite of great. THIS IS FURTHER THAN I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA GO. Oh my god? This is now into a binge, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upsetting??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say that the very last time I ever had any alcohol, it was during a binge. I honestly lost time. There are a couple days in that that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably never remember, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what scared me into never drinking again. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no one narrative for alcoholism, though, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very real chance that Garibaldi will just… keep drinking. And at this rate, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be discovered, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not gonna be pretty either. I just feel so bad for him, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, because this is not an easy thing to go through. SOMEONE GIVE GARIBALDI THE HELP HE NEEDS.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Meditations on the Abyss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/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":"