It’s never a good thing when an episode from almost a quarter of a century ago feels, topically, like it could have been written in the last year. I was listening to Good Morning, Nightvale, a talk-show-esque podcast about the fiction podcast Welcome to Nightvale prior to watching this episode and they had a similar feeling with the first episode of Nightvale; that it is unsettling and sad knowing that the same comments are still relevant, perhaps more so now than when they were written. And vaguely knowing where this plot thread leads, it’s scary how much history repeats.
Welcome my friends. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
Spoilers ahead.
1. Menacing Malcom
When discount Richard Dean Anderson, I mean, Malcom, first walked on board Babylon 5, when he first opened his smarmy little mouth, I knew he’d be trouble. Those eyes, that hair, that strange one button robe, all of it screamed problem. Ivanova’s reaction of, “The important thing is…we’re together again,” before taking a stiff drink, summed up his presence pretty well. Lo and behold, then, that he was the head of the Homefront/Earth First movement on board Babylon 5, a xenophobic, racist group of extremists who want to expel all the alien animals, whom they see as “its.”
On the purely technical, the way they introduce the Homefront is kind of hokey, about on par with most of the hand to hand fight/action scenes in the show. It comes off as a little forced on Delenn’s part but that’s because we haven’t experienced the same context as the show’s characters. The attack is the sixth such one on non-humans and when your leadership seems to be showing no sign of trying to rectify the problem, that’s an issue. Thankfully, it is the case on Babylon 5 that the leadership is, in fact, doing all it can to solve the problem without inciting more violence. Although they do have to go undercover and spew some horrible rhetoric to get there.
Perhaps the most chilling statement in the whole episode is Malcom’s statement of we have friends everywhere. It’s not a threat, it’s the truth.
2. Love in All the Right Places
What better B-plot to accompany the Homefront than with a question of tradition, marriage, and choice? Aria and Vir’s cousin, Kiron, arrive on Babylon 5 after running away from home and their arranged marriages because they want to marry for love. To us, in the 21st (or then, 20th) century, the fact that they had to run away is a sign of an oppressive system. To them, this is the case. To Londo and the Centauri people, this is not the case.
What I like about this thread is that we learn more about the Centauri’s practices, mindset and the struggles to live within tradition. Marriage is not a representation of love and commitment, it is an institution meant to bind families together, a tool for power and prestige. Losing face is more important than personal feelings. For what we have learned from Londo about the Centauri, this makes sense as a practice and as a mindset. Which makes the bucking of tradition so important while also being naïve.
History is not something that can be thrown away, it must be contended with and considered to achieve peaceful resolution. As is brought up, Aria and Kiron, were they to run away, would forever be running away, in fear, in hiding. This is a choice but it is not ideal. The other choice Londo originally posits, sending them back, is also an unideal choice. It denies the option of love while forcing these two into situations they do not want to be in. Just because Londo lost most of his ability to love through it, does not mean that these two must as well. We also get to see some more of Babylon 5’s trademark diplomacy and playing of the rules.
3. Much Ado About Vorlon
I realize now that when I made my comments about the ambassador pairings two weeks ago, I failed to mention the final, major ambassador: Ambassdor Kosh. He’s an enigma wrapped in an encounter suit. At this point we know absolutely nothing about the Vorlons except for a few choice, small details. Those who have seen the pilot movie might know a little more but most of the important details from that are repeated in this episode.
Continued belowThis mystery is something that keeps me interested in Ambassador Kosh. What is his deal? What does he know? Why does no one know anything about them? I can’t wait to find out more as the season goes on.
4. Awkward Staging
A really quick one but there are two repeating actions that make a return this week: the awkward, awkward kisses and Sinclair’s arm grab, right hook. The former I’ve talked about before but the latter has appeared in almost every fight scene and it is hilarious to see. This episode especially, as Sinclair does it so slowly, it doesn’t feel like a real punch. I got a good chuck out of it. I also got a good chuckle because it was Malcom being punched.
5. My Shoes are Too Tight and I Have Forgotten How to Dance
One of my favorite scenes in the entire show (that I’ve seen) happens this episode. It’s Londo and Vir’s scene in the gardens, where Londo, via an anecdote about his father, relays his fears and his mindset to Vir. It’s a profound scene that’s the right balance of clarity and mystique. Londo’s words carry all the weight in the world and in that moment, we understand where he is and what he is thinking. We also learn a bit of his history. It’s a fantastic bit of dialogue that is revealing in all the right ways.
He’s discussing what it means to be trapped in one’s ways, to be hurt by the choices of the past and to be chained to those choices. To have forgotten what it means to be young and to realize, through loss and pain, what has been forgotten to the sands of time.
That about does it for now. Join me again next week for kidnappings, backstory, and more mysteries about the life of our dear Commander pre-Babylon 5 on the station that wraps humans and aliens in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal . . . all alone in the night. This is Elias. Signing out.
Best Scene of the Night:
“Something my father said. He was old, very old at the time. I went into his room, and he was sitting alone in the dark, crying. So I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘My shoes are too tight, but it doesn’t matter, because I have forgotten how to dance.’ I never understood what that meant until now. My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance” – Londo
