{"id":7262,"date":"2019-04-15T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T20:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7262"},"modified":"2019-04-09T15:41:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T22:41:42","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-the-river-of-souls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/04\/mark-watches-babylon-5-the-river-of-souls\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: The River of Souls"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Babylon 5 <\/i>film \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The River of Souls,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Garibaldi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s business dealings bring about chaos on the station. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of consent, sex work, and mental illness<\/b>.<\/p>\n

All right, friends, WE ARE HERE! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made it to the first of the post-series films, though I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know if this aired after the show was done or during it? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing it had to air after the series finale because… well, it clearly takes place after \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Objects at Rest.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We know that Sheridan has settled on Minbar with Delenn, and both Garibaldi and Dr. Franklin are gone. Regardless, there was one major reason I enjoyed this episode: it truly addressed how fucked up the Soul Hunters are. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to suggest that the show never knew that? Clearly, JMS had written this species knowing that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d all be terribly uncomfortable with what they did.<\/p>\n

But this movie examines<\/i> that. And it does so through both Ian McShane and Martin Sheen? HOLY SHIT, WHAT. Are the other films going to have guest actors this amazing? Because the two of them certainly helped elevate this film, which had the feeling of just a more bloated episode. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a bad thing, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say anything more than the run time made this feel like a movie, you know? Anyway, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all that interesting to discuss because I really want to dig into the Soul Hunter culture, as well as that other subplot for… reasons. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GO.<\/p>\n

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

So, the obvious starting place for me is that the Soul Hunters are despised and hated for a reason: their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153noble\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mission is very much theft to pretty much every other culture. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a while since they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been on the show, but their return here is so much more detailed than I expected. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good thing! I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t initially figure out what that gallery was that Dr. Bryson had discovered, and I assumed this episode was going to focus on the Minbari. But there are two real character studies that unfold on either side of this: there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dr. Bryson, who is obsessed with the notion of immortality. His discovery of the vessel with the Ralga souls triggers a real<\/i> intense reaction, one that is based on this obsession of his. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an issue of perspective and why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so easily manipulated by the souls inside of the vessel. (Which I kept calling the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153glowing melon ball\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE.) He saw their existence as proof that life could continue forever. But at what cost? What sort of quality of life did those souls have while encased in that vessel? Dr. Bryson couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t conceive of that, though; it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even on his radar. All he saw in them was a means to an end, which is ironic, given that many of the souls also saw him<\/i> as a means to an end. In this case: revenge at any cost.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In that sense, Dr. Bryson fills a very particular role in this story, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an archetype we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve probably all seen at least once. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the arrogant, obsessed archaeologist (replace with scientist or researcher or whatever) who continually makes bad decisions that negatively affect themselves and practically everyone around them because they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just STOP. There were so many points in which Bryson could have… not done this!!! Like maybe when that soul was crying out in anguish and telling him to leave them alone!!! Perhaps that was the time!!!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got this messy, absurd archaeologist who is unleashing souls on the station, all of whom are eager to get revenge on anyone because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trapped in a glowing melon ball for TEN THOUSAND YEARS. And literally, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anyone they come across. Some guy dies for HITTING A PHONE. Or communicator. You know what I mean! Another is just… sexiled??? Is that what we can call that scene in the holobrothel? Because he basically got sexiled from his own holo fantasy. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not much sense to the escaped souls beyond rage, but I feel like that was the point. How are they supposed<\/i> to do anything but lash out at anyone they encounter?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The point being: once that vessel makes it to Babylon 5<\/i>, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not long before the unnamed Soul Hunter played by MARTIN SHEEN arrives, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the second character study here. We get a Soul Hunter\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153young one\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at that, which is vital to the story\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho arrives on the station, ready to reclaim this vessel. And to him, this all makes sense: the vessel was stolen from a gallery of whispers that the Soul Hunters had, and thus, they needed to get it back. Easy! Very simple, just a case of stolen property, everything will be fine\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

EXCEPT IT WON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T. Because in their initial dealings with this Soul Hunter, the staff interrogates him, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first of a number of scenes in which this cultural practice is called into question. If these people were going to die anyway, is it immoral to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153capture\u00e2\u20ac\u009d their souls and preserve them? Does that deny them the chance to move on, or is it moral to allow those lives to exist for as long as possible? Does the universe suffer from having these lives snuffed out forever or is that just the way things should be? And is it fair to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153trap\u00e2\u20ac\u009d souls as the Soul Hunters do without ever consulting them about what they<\/i> want?<\/p>\n

That last question\u00e2\u20ac\u201dposed in a different form by Zack Allan\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis honestly what ends up undermining and collapsing this whole belief system. So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the character who believes in heaven; it allowed him to think about these souls in a different way. What if his soul was trapped in a vessel and he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pass on to heaven? That would be the most immoral act imaginable! Lochley herself plays a large role in how this unfolds, too, and its her connection with the Soul Hunter that helps him to question his upbringing. And it might be weird to say that, but I feel like making him a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153younger\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Soul Hunter was intentional, too! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often the youth who question the systems of their elders, and once Lochley enters the vessel herself and gives the truth of the Ralger to the Soul Hunter, how can he not<\/i> challenge what he knew?<\/p>\n

Well, the truth is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very easy not to when beliefs and faith override reality. And in this case, the Soul Hunters do not believe that they made a mistake with the Ralga. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what they do! And that damning, terribly circular logic of it all is ENRAGING. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the whole problem! You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe<\/i> you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make mistakes and use that as a justification for any alleged mistake. THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NOT HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s telling to me, though, that Zack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s point unravels this so quickly. If the Soul Hunters had just consulted<\/i> the Ralga before imprisoning them, they would have discovered that they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dying, but evolving. EVOLVING. SO THEY WERE STILL 100% ALIVE IN THAT VESSEL AND TRAPPED FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS. Hi, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get over how messed up that is. And the solution here is one of empathy and intent, and I liked that the script didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fix things in an instant. The Soul Hunters have to do YEARS of work to make things up to the Ralga. Plus, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know how they might change their entire culture. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not for this movie to answer, though. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something the Soul Hunters need to examine and interrogate, but I do hope that they stop taking souls in the meantime. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S AWFUL.<\/p>\n

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

If I squint at this episode, I can kinda see the reason why the holobrothel exists as a means of addressing the notion of souls and bodies and humanity. I have appreciated that this show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t present a sanitized version of life. Babylon 5<\/i> had crime, an underworld, drug use, and sex work. So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad we get to see these aspects on the show! And there is<\/i> an interesting conversation to be had about consent and free expression when it comes to holograms. Is it legal to produce an exact likeness of another person for the purpose that Mayhew does here? If no actual bodies or people are harmed with the holobrothel, is there a moral reason to object to the place? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that this script necessarily answers any of the questions that it brings up. Even in the case of Captain Lochley, who is repeatedly sexualized with the use of her holo avatar, the script seems to be equally condemning this and ogling her at the same time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s super uncomfortable! Plus, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the whole subplot with Mayhew using a sleezy lawyer to attempt to sue the station, and the whole thing felt real damn weird. Like, I get that the holograms provided some plot help, but if you take out the holobrothel story line, is this episode made worse? I would not say so.<\/p>\n

And look, I did<\/i> like that we got another canonical mention of queerness, but why wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we see someone taking a woman into one of the holochambers? Why is that part spoken and related to us, but we have to see all the dudes utilizing the holobrothel? GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT.<\/p>\n

All in all, this was pretty great! I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get over Martin Sheen AND Ian McShane in the same movie??? I was NOT ready.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The River of Souls\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $1.99<\/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":"