Londo continues to be uncategorizable, deep secrets are shared among friends and colleagues, and Babylon 5’s A.I. is sassy. Welcome my friends. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2260. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
Spoilers ahead.
1. 2260: A Space Station Oddity
It’s the little things that make this show so great. The small moments of frustration, joy, laughter, and connection. Were it not for these moments, Babylon 5 would be a far drier and more sterile place. The show would lose its humanity and the soul beneath it all. This is why I will now spend the next 1000 words talking about how the A.I. that is accidentally activated upon restart of the station’s computer system is the pinnacle of naturalistic storytelling and tonal bridging. Why the obnoxious voice and the increasing irritation of Garibaldi is vaudeville reimagined for the space age, complete with cartoony sound effects. It deepens our understanding of the world, forcing us to confront ourselves and the things we find distasteful.
In this essay I will. . .
Oh.
Never mind.
2. Paths of Glory
Lord Refa? More like Lord Reefer, if you catch my meaning. Eh? Eh? Wink wink, nudge nudge.
Look, this was a very serious episode, aside from the aforementioned A.I. mischief, and I need to find my fun somewhere. Plus, can you imagine Lord Refa doing anything harder than a shot of hot Jala? Neither can I.
It’s been a hot second since we’ve heard the dulcet tones of Lord Refa’s conniving voice. Last we knew, he was working to whisper in the ear of the Emperor and working with Morden to gain more power after Londo cut ties with him. I’ve missed these political battles of the mind this season. Not that the season is missing something, far from it, but the subtler, smaller scale battles of the mind make for thoughtful fodder between episodes.
Refa being back to have a conversation with Londo allows us to bring these types of movements and machinations back, even if the end result is that Londo straight up poisons Refa. Yeah! Didn’t see that coming, did ya? I didn’t but I’m also not shocked he would. He knows how ruthless Lord Refa is and while he is far more wary of the kinds of politics he plays, Londo knows full well how to play the game. What a power move.
3. Fear and Desire
I talk a fair bit about Londo, for good reason. While the entire cast is complex and worthy of analysis, Londo is one of the more complicated and fascinating figures. He has gone from being an insufferable stuffed-shirt to a frustrating but loveable scamp to a man who bit off more than he could chew in his anger to a calculating imperialist. He appears to be trapped by his choices and the choices of others, feeling unable to change his path despite desperately wanting to.
He made a deal with the devil and worries it will bring about the fall of everything.
Yet he doesn’t regret the outcomes of the deal. He is happy his “Republic” is powerful again, like in the good old days. He is happy the Narn are subjugated, like in the good old days. He is happy he has an emperorship in his future, bringing his family name back to the prominence it was in the good. old. days.
In one scene, he seems to be doing the right thing, getting Refa to stop working with Morden, and in another is refusing to bridge the gap he widened and repair the friendships he torpedoed, too proud and sure of the rightness of his ways that he cannot see the olive branch in front of his nose. He cannot see what he fights for is wrong, even as he knows that a greater evil is out there and it is, at least in part, his fault that evil is so close.
That’s compelling character drama right there.
4. The Acting
I’ll probably say this a few more times before the end of this season but the writing this season is magnificent. I’ve stopped trying to pick the best line of each episode because there are too many, instead picking one or two. Jokes, monologues, scenes, and more flow and mesh into episodes that keep me engrossed and engaged the whole time. This would make for a show worth celebrating on its own but it would be nothing without the performances from the characters.
Continued belowEven the campy villains work perfectly, though I wonder if that’s because the rest of the cast is strong enough to make the camp fit as a foil. Regardless, this feeling that I’m watching people rather than actors is one I don’t get often nowadays. The world has been fully realized, allowing the actors to sink deep into their characters and the three seasons working off each other has only deepened their bonds. I can see the candor between them off set as well. The laughter and caring is palpable in their every word and movement. The anger and worry in their eyes when Delenn is injured spreads to all aspects of themselves.
Every week, it feels like I’m checking in with my friends’ lives, for good and for bad, finding out about their triumphs and trials. It’s a warm feeling and I am grateful for it.
5. A Clockwork Boggsange
The A-plot this week concerns the expulsion of Nightwatch from “Severed Dreams”. There was a pocket of them remaining, hiding on the ship, biding their time until they could remove the Minbari and take the ship from Sheridan & Co. The leader’s name is Boggs and I can’t remember the name of the secondary guy but OH BOY IS HE CREEPY. I was genuinely unsettled by this guy despite his performance making me laugh. They both commit to their roles and if it weren’t about such serious subjects — murder, torture, hate, and all that — then I might find their pairing like Abbott and Costello.
What works best about this plot isn’t so much the continuation of the narrative, though that is important. No, what’s strongest is the way it facilitates the character beats and uses that to form its core driving forces. This is most noticeable with Marcus and Lennier, one with the trauma of his entrance into the rangers and the other with reconciling love, prophecy and duty, but Sheridan and Delenn both have their own struggles, specifically with their caring for each other.
The many arcs, big and small, that move, begin, and conclude in “Ceremonies of Light and Dark” are wonderful to watch. It keeps me invested in the people and, therefore, the world they inhabit. Everything could shift around them but it wouldn’t matter because the characters remain. We would still have to deal with Franklin’s stim problem, Ivanova would still be feeling the hurt of betrayal, Sheridan would still be in love with Delenn, and Garibaldi would still be afraid.
I’m glad we’re with these goofs and here’s to two and a half more seasons with them.
5.5: Harold, They’re Lesbians
That about does it for now. Join me again in a week for dating, faux pas, and marriage??? on the station that, in the year of the Shadow War, became something greater.
This is Elias. Signing out.
Best Line of the Night:
Delenn: Prophecy is a poor guide to the future. You only understand it when the event’s already upon you.
