B5 Rewatch: "Soul Mates"

[icepixie]

First, a macro I made for rivendellrose:

Now, the episode: Soul Mates
I'm terribly fond of this episode, mostly because of Timov. She's just so cool. And as Londo notes, he'll always know where he stands with her--too bad she didn't stick around, or maybe she might've been able to intervene in his downfall.

I'm also fond of the episode because it steals so shamelessly from King Lear. (Though I'm glad we didn't get a naked Londo ranting in a field during a thunderstorm.) Luckily for Londo, he is not taken in by the Reagan and Goneril figures' false affection, and it all ends rather more happily for him than it did for Lear.

I don't have much to say about the Talia/Stoner plot. It's interesting that Talia plots commonly (read: "for the last two episodes") involve audience fakeouts of some sort. And I do wonder what would be left of her if she could magically rid herself of her telepathy. So much of her identity is wrapped up in being a telepath, even if she's re-evaluating her relationship with Psi Corps. Would it be like losing a sense? Would the ability to fit in with normals and hide from Psi Corps be worth it? Also, logic question: why was she so shocked by the PC breeding program in the last episode if she was part of it? (I guess she was more horrified at the forced conception and the baby being taken away. Which makes sense.)

The Susan/Delenn stuff is maybe not the greatest way of passing the Bechdel test, but I love it anyway. (I love anything Susan/Delenn, really.) Of course Delenn would go to Ivanova for help--not only does Ivanova have great hair (I covet her hair, although I could never deal with long hair again), but she's someone Delenn knows well enough to trust with the secret that she's not really so confident about this change she's made. I still want to write the missing scene between them where Susan teaches her about human hygiene. One day, one day.

I wonder if the Minbari belief that souls travel in packs has any bearing on what happens in "Deconstruction of Falling Stars." Would any of them have been reincarnations of our characters? (Aside from Sheridan, who...apparently gets to hang out in limbo beyond the rim?) Or is it just the Minbari who get reincarnated?

Susan seemed to be having an especially good time at Londo's party. I get the impression she either really enjoys parties in general, or there's something about Centauri celebrations she likes. (Lots of booze?)

Comments

[aria]

I MADED YOU A FLEET <33333

I know we don't see them together a lot, but I suspect that it's that Ivanova enjoys parties but also enjoys Londo -- like, she's having the time of her life with him back at the Centauri party first season. (I just want Londo to have friiiends.)

[mylittleredgirl.livejournal.com]

OH GOD THIS EPISODE. YOU COULD SUM UP MY FEELINGS WITH NOTHING BUT EXCLAMATION POINTS AND THE LETTER E.

The question is: would I love Talia and Garibaldi so much if Their Love hadn't been explained with Peter David wittiness? PROBABLY, BECAUSE IT ALSO INVOLVES TURBOLIFTS.

*eeeee!*

And Londo's wives are awesome. And Sheridan is ridiculous. I love Londo being all "No rly, for your own good, don't hook up with my wife" and Sheridan's like "uh...? are you going to punch me? I was just standing here probably thinking about oranges?" and Londo's like "Let's have a drink later." HILARIOUS. I also love the moment of Franklin just watching Timov give her big speech of operatic theatricality and he just goes with it. HA.

And Sheridan being like "Can I be BFF with you?" to Talia was so funny. HE IS A GOLDEN RETRIEVER. God love him. Can't decide if he just genuinely wants to be BFF (or, you know, my theory that Everyone Loves Talia At Least A Little), or if he's exercising his conspiracy love by plying her for Psi Corps breeding program secrets. It seems weird to me that neither he nor Garibaldi seemed overly surprised by the idea that the Psi Corps is breeding people against their will with the express purpose of creating MOAR STRONGER TELEPATHS. I mean, come on. Someone go to the news with this shiz!