B5: Season 3, episodes 5-8
Mar. 26th, 2009 12:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieSo when last I spoke of B5, I had just been introduced to Marcus Cole and was rather unsure about him. He was only in one episode, and I was holding his internet fangirls against him. I was probably also holding the fact that he looks like an over-hairsprayed Aragorn wearing a cross between a cloak and a trenchcoat against him, but at least that's something he has control over and so is worth holding against him. (Seriously, man, the hairspray. Enough already.)
However, in this set of episodes, Marcus vaulted to second place on my list of favorite characters from this show. (Nothing can displace Ivanova.) Who knew he was so freaking charming, not to mention hilarious? And Susan is so flummoxed by him. So flummoxed that he makes her a flow chart. Which he then compares to the Ottoman Empire.
I THINK I'M IN LOVE.
And...I think I'm truly multishipping for the first time in my life? Because Marcus and Susan are surely going to prove to be amusing and adorable, but I still totally ship her and Garibaldi (and am oh-so slowly working on fic to that effect). Huh. This is kind of weird. And kind of sad, because I know what I know about her and both of them. *sigh*
Anyway. Episodic comments:
Voices of Authority
- Well, I'm glad the "political officer" didn't stick around. The actress was terrible.
- "Normal humans shouldn't be able to do that!" Oh, when is Susan's secret going to get out to everyone?
- Uh...isn't Sigma 957 the location of Za'ha'dum? Or am I mixed up?
- ZOMG Clark was talking to Morden!
- I think the scenes on the White Star where they were waiting for the nameless alien race to show up were where I started falling in love with Marcus and Marcus/Ivanova. HEE! She's going to kick his ass for impertinence someday soon.
- So where are they keeping the White Star, anyway? (I see "Messages from Earth" partially answers this. Keeping it a jump away is probably a good idea...)
- "The Vorlons must owe them money." "Who knew they were French?" *snort* And here was where I fell completely in love with snarktastic Marcus.
- Uh, what is the name of that alien race with the ship that looks like the demented Chuck E. Cheese game? If they have to "call it," then shouldn't they know it?
- Garibaldi and G'Kar developing a friendship should be interesting. Poor Garibaldi, getting woken up at night by special delivery of the Book of G'Quan. :)
- I don't quite buy all the EarthGov paranoia/censorship/recreation of the HUAC and Stalin-era Communist Party stuff. I mean, I buy that it's happening, obviously, but not that people would've stood for it without a clear and present danger of invasion/terrorism/etc. Yeah, there's Mars getting its freedom, sure, and things are awkward between the Centauri and the Narn, but that's not enough, IMO, to make people accept this kind of reaction. And come on, "we must keep Earth ideologically pure?" Please. A few people will buy that. If Nightwatch is so widespread, they can't be peddling that kind of stuff and not be laughed out of the room.
I dunno. Maybe I'm wrong. But it doesn't seem entirely plausible to me at the moment. Of course, our perspective is cut off from Earth, and things may be different there, but in that case I would still need to be shown in some way that the atmosphere of fear has been ratcheted up to levels where the populace would be accepting of this. Who are the Communists in this neo-HUAC scenario? What kinds of ideology are they rooting out?
Dust to Dust
- "Bund meeting." Yeowch.
- "Can we wound him? Just a little?" Susan, you're still number one in my heart.
- And then she not only tries to wound him, but kill him. Nice! Shouldn't Sheridan, you know, discipline her a little for that? Just a bit?
- Bwahahahaha! Minbari telepaths!
- "Once she was debriefed and dissect..." ZOMG. I...guess we won't be seeing Talia again?
- That is a big-ass needle. Wow.
- You know, I actually think Bester is a better person than all the governmental folks they've shown us. He's more transparent, anyway. Yes, he's evil, but he's unabashedly evil. And hell, he's pretty funny now. Those government drones are so humorless.
- Speaking of which, Delenn obviously sees the stain on Londo's soul. (There's a literary reference there I'm making, but I can't remember to what. Possibly Adam Bede? I remember something about staining there. Hmm.) But Vir is convinced that he will surprise us all. We shall see.
- ...I'm not even going to touch all the things that are wrong with the "science" behind dust.
- If Bester were right about the PsiCorps actually being useful at protecting people at some point in the series, that would be an awesome twist.
- Oooh, burn. Bester has you on the intimidation factor of your uniform, Garibaldi.
- "So you think of me as something bright and colorful, full of candy and toys for children. Thank you. That makes me feel much better about our relationship." See, I told you he was funny.
- Random Narn dude in G'Kar's vision who turns into Kosh: "Blah blah...Narn versus Centauri...blah blah cycle of death...blah blah blah endless..." Me: "All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again."
I'm tempted to write my thesis on ways to connect these two series.
- Also, the guy turns into Kosh? Or G'Quan? I'm still very confused about what happened there. G'Kar told Garibaldi he was "closer to the source now," which indicates he thought it was G'Quan, but of course Kosh was there all ominous-like, so I guess he's trying to make peace between these two races so everyone can concentrate on the Shadow War? (Did the Vorlons go around pretending to be religious figures when the new races were just evolving religion? Somehow I think that might be the answer...)
- Ooooh, PSICORPS is behind the dust! ...Of course they are. At least their intended result of it makes more sense than what actually happens when someone takes dust. (I'm pretty sure that once switched on, a gene will stay on until further notice. Also, the proteins that the new gene expresses take time to be useful in the brain!)
Exogenesis
- So this was TNG's "Conspiracy" with a slight twist, then? Oof. That bug is going to be in my nightmares tonight.
- Marcus quotes from Macbeth and gets told he reads too much. I love this man!
- Oh, Corwin. You poor, deluded man. Ohhhhh dear.
- "Where I come from is a far more interesting place." I'm sure it is, Marcus. Okay, what's the deal on MarcusMath? Was there an explanation for "three minus one leaves one" that I missed?
- The criminals on this show are generally kind of dumb. Then again, so are the security officers, so I guess everything's even.
- And now Marcus thinks Susan gave him flowers. Corwin, you don't know what you started. Shakespearean mistaken intentions hijinks ahoy!
Messages from Earth
- Oh, Marcus. One day Susan is in fact going to kill you. (Oh, hell, I just realized that that has a literal meaning too. Damn.) Although right now you're doing a pretty good job of getting killed yourself...you and your should-be-on-Xena staff-fighting skills.
- Now that Ivanova and Garibaldi have been left in charge of the Rangers for now, does that mean they get to play Aragorn and Arwen? Sorry.
- Ahhh, I've read of these uncomfortable Minbari beds. Poor Sheridan.
-Aw, Delenn will watch and catch him if he falls off the bed. I think I'm on my way to buying their relationship. Definitely with her; still less so with him, but I'm getting there.
- Sheridan had a very nice, if not terribly environmentally-conscious, dad. And the White Star is AWESOME!
- "I have fifteen wild badgers living in my trousers. Or would you prefer ferrets?" Whyyyyyyy will we only get Marcus for two seasons?
- At least Ivanova's honest with you about why she hates you...
- Ahhhh, I was wondering if "Shadows" referred to either the ship or the race that operates them. I guess they're one and the same, with one person linked to each ship. I wonder if the Shadows have a world somewhere with other beings of their race, or if they're all connected to ships.
- YOU DIDN'T TEST YOUR SHIP?! *headdesks* Religious caste. Oy.
- I just figured out what the White Star reminds me of--a chameleon. Or a gecko. Some kind of lizard, anyway.
- Aw, Marcus just wanted to make her laugh with the flowchart! THIS CAN ONLY END IN TEARS. *sigh*
- Martial law? Seriously? See above for my disbelief, although since people are thinking the White Star was some new alien race, I can buy it a bit more. AND YET.
However, in this set of episodes, Marcus vaulted to second place on my list of favorite characters from this show. (Nothing can displace Ivanova.) Who knew he was so freaking charming, not to mention hilarious? And Susan is so flummoxed by him. So flummoxed that he makes her a flow chart. Which he then compares to the Ottoman Empire.
I THINK I'M IN LOVE.
And...I think I'm truly multishipping for the first time in my life? Because Marcus and Susan are surely going to prove to be amusing and adorable, but I still totally ship her and Garibaldi (and am oh-so slowly working on fic to that effect). Huh. This is kind of weird. And kind of sad, because I know what I know about her and both of them. *sigh*
Anyway. Episodic comments:
Voices of Authority
- Well, I'm glad the "political officer" didn't stick around. The actress was terrible.
- "Normal humans shouldn't be able to do that!" Oh, when is Susan's secret going to get out to everyone?
- Uh...isn't Sigma 957 the location of Za'ha'dum? Or am I mixed up?
- ZOMG Clark was talking to Morden!
- I think the scenes on the White Star where they were waiting for the nameless alien race to show up were where I started falling in love with Marcus and Marcus/Ivanova. HEE! She's going to kick his ass for impertinence someday soon.
- So where are they keeping the White Star, anyway? (I see "Messages from Earth" partially answers this. Keeping it a jump away is probably a good idea...)
- "The Vorlons must owe them money." "Who knew they were French?" *snort* And here was where I fell completely in love with snarktastic Marcus.
- Uh, what is the name of that alien race with the ship that looks like the demented Chuck E. Cheese game? If they have to "call it," then shouldn't they know it?
- Garibaldi and G'Kar developing a friendship should be interesting. Poor Garibaldi, getting woken up at night by special delivery of the Book of G'Quan. :)
- I don't quite buy all the EarthGov paranoia/censorship/recreation of the HUAC and Stalin-era Communist Party stuff. I mean, I buy that it's happening, obviously, but not that people would've stood for it without a clear and present danger of invasion/terrorism/etc. Yeah, there's Mars getting its freedom, sure, and things are awkward between the Centauri and the Narn, but that's not enough, IMO, to make people accept this kind of reaction. And come on, "we must keep Earth ideologically pure?" Please. A few people will buy that. If Nightwatch is so widespread, they can't be peddling that kind of stuff and not be laughed out of the room.
I dunno. Maybe I'm wrong. But it doesn't seem entirely plausible to me at the moment. Of course, our perspective is cut off from Earth, and things may be different there, but in that case I would still need to be shown in some way that the atmosphere of fear has been ratcheted up to levels where the populace would be accepting of this. Who are the Communists in this neo-HUAC scenario? What kinds of ideology are they rooting out?
Dust to Dust
- "Bund meeting." Yeowch.
- "Can we wound him? Just a little?" Susan, you're still number one in my heart.
- And then she not only tries to wound him, but kill him. Nice! Shouldn't Sheridan, you know, discipline her a little for that? Just a bit?
- Bwahahahaha! Minbari telepaths!
- "Once she was debriefed and dissect..." ZOMG. I...guess we won't be seeing Talia again?
- That is a big-ass needle. Wow.
- You know, I actually think Bester is a better person than all the governmental folks they've shown us. He's more transparent, anyway. Yes, he's evil, but he's unabashedly evil. And hell, he's pretty funny now. Those government drones are so humorless.
- Speaking of which, Delenn obviously sees the stain on Londo's soul. (There's a literary reference there I'm making, but I can't remember to what. Possibly Adam Bede? I remember something about staining there. Hmm.) But Vir is convinced that he will surprise us all. We shall see.
- ...I'm not even going to touch all the things that are wrong with the "science" behind dust.
- If Bester were right about the PsiCorps actually being useful at protecting people at some point in the series, that would be an awesome twist.
- Oooh, burn. Bester has you on the intimidation factor of your uniform, Garibaldi.
- "So you think of me as something bright and colorful, full of candy and toys for children. Thank you. That makes me feel much better about our relationship." See, I told you he was funny.
- Random Narn dude in G'Kar's vision who turns into Kosh: "Blah blah...Narn versus Centauri...blah blah cycle of death...blah blah blah endless..." Me: "All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again."
I'm tempted to write my thesis on ways to connect these two series.
- Also, the guy turns into Kosh? Or G'Quan? I'm still very confused about what happened there. G'Kar told Garibaldi he was "closer to the source now," which indicates he thought it was G'Quan, but of course Kosh was there all ominous-like, so I guess he's trying to make peace between these two races so everyone can concentrate on the Shadow War? (Did the Vorlons go around pretending to be religious figures when the new races were just evolving religion? Somehow I think that might be the answer...)
- Ooooh, PSICORPS is behind the dust! ...Of course they are. At least their intended result of it makes more sense than what actually happens when someone takes dust. (I'm pretty sure that once switched on, a gene will stay on until further notice. Also, the proteins that the new gene expresses take time to be useful in the brain!)
Exogenesis
- So this was TNG's "Conspiracy" with a slight twist, then? Oof. That bug is going to be in my nightmares tonight.
- Marcus quotes from Macbeth and gets told he reads too much. I love this man!
- Oh, Corwin. You poor, deluded man. Ohhhhh dear.
- "Where I come from is a far more interesting place." I'm sure it is, Marcus. Okay, what's the deal on MarcusMath? Was there an explanation for "three minus one leaves one" that I missed?
- The criminals on this show are generally kind of dumb. Then again, so are the security officers, so I guess everything's even.
- And now Marcus thinks Susan gave him flowers. Corwin, you don't know what you started. Shakespearean mistaken intentions hijinks ahoy!
Messages from Earth
- Oh, Marcus. One day Susan is in fact going to kill you. (Oh, hell, I just realized that that has a literal meaning too. Damn.) Although right now you're doing a pretty good job of getting killed yourself...you and your should-be-on-Xena staff-fighting skills.
- Now that Ivanova and Garibaldi have been left in charge of the Rangers for now, does that mean they get to play Aragorn and Arwen? Sorry.
- Ahhh, I've read of these uncomfortable Minbari beds. Poor Sheridan.
-Aw, Delenn will watch and catch him if he falls off the bed. I think I'm on my way to buying their relationship. Definitely with her; still less so with him, but I'm getting there.
- Sheridan had a very nice, if not terribly environmentally-conscious, dad. And the White Star is AWESOME!
- "I have fifteen wild badgers living in my trousers. Or would you prefer ferrets?" Whyyyyyyy will we only get Marcus for two seasons?
- At least Ivanova's honest with you about why she hates you...
- Ahhhh, I was wondering if "Shadows" referred to either the ship or the race that operates them. I guess they're one and the same, with one person linked to each ship. I wonder if the Shadows have a world somewhere with other beings of their race, or if they're all connected to ships.
- YOU DIDN'T TEST YOUR SHIP?! *headdesks* Religious caste. Oy.
- I just figured out what the White Star reminds me of--a chameleon. Or a gecko. Some kind of lizard, anyway.
- Aw, Marcus just wanted to make her laugh with the flowchart! THIS CAN ONLY END IN TEARS. *sigh*
- Martial law? Seriously? See above for my disbelief, although since people are thinking the White Star was some new alien race, I can buy it a bit more. AND YET.