Text 1121, 241 rader
Skriven 2006-06-01 12:03:00 av Robert E Starr JR (1567.babylon5)
Ärende: And the Rock Cried Out, N
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The ramp-up to the season finale begins with this darkly intricate
entry.


THE PLOT

As Sheridan attempts to determine the pattern behind the
seemingly-random Shadow attacks, Brother Theo welcomes several
religious leaders from Earth onto the station. This is not entirely a
religious gathering, however. The various representatives have been
gathering news and information from back home, to deliver to Sheridan
on the station. They assure Sheridan that, despite what President Clark
would like people to believe, there is a resistance in place against
Clark - a resistance that appears to be growing.

Meanwhile, Centauri Minister Verini has arrived on Babylon 5 with Lord
Refa, to settle the feud between Refa and Londo. Having two of the most
powerful families in the Centaurum opposed to each other is disruptive,
and Verini is determined that this feud needs to end. Londo agrees, but
feels it must end "with action," and offers Verini his assurances that
he will solve "an embarrassment" that has plagued the Centauri court
for too long. In return, Verini acknowledges that such an act by Londo
may well elevate House Mollari above House Refa.

Londo's plan involves G'Kar, the only remaining free member of the
Kha'Ri. Under Sheridan's protection, G'Kar is untouchable on
Babylon 5... but if he can be lured off-station, then he will be free
game. Using threats of disgrace to his family, Londo forces Vir to give
G'Kar a message: G'Kar's former attaché, Na'Toth, is alive and
a prisoner on the Narn Homeworld. This, Londo is certain, will lead
G'Kar to travel to Narn to free her.

But Refa is no fool. He knows Londo has something planned, and he
kidnaps Vir and has a telepath scan him to learn of Londo's plan.
When G'Kar arrives on Narn, Refa determines, G'Kar will be made a
prisoner of the Centauri... and Refa will be there personally to arrest
him. He will bring G'Kar to the Emperor, along with G'Kar's
silver plate, "with Mollari's head on it."


THE GOOD

To ramble slightly off-topic (but only slightly) during this review,
I've been watching the BBC mini-series "I, Claudius" over the past
month. Continuing these "Babylon 5" reviews at the same time, I've
enjoyed the parallels I've seen between the one story and the other.
Of course, I always knew the Centauri were loosely modeled after the
Roman Empire; that was as obvious as Emperor Cartagia in Season Four
being modeled after Caligula. But there's an extra bit of fun
watching the two separate series, and comparing characters in one
series with characters in another.

I might loosely compare the character of Lord Refa to Sejanus in "I,
Claudius."  Both characters are not actually of the royal family. Both
characters finagle their way into positions of power and authority
within the royal court, however. And both, by acting as the ear of the
emperor, effectively rule their Empires through their guards and
flunkies. And both create reigns of terror. Sejanus' guards took down
names of political enemies and people who could potentially block
Sejanus from getting more power; Refa did much the same, when he
declared Londo's friend Ursa a traitor in the episode "Knives."
Sejanus had plans to tie himself to Emperor Tiberius' family, and
ultimately succeed Tiberius to become Emperor. We aren't told of any
direct plan by Refa to do the same, but Londo does speculate at the end
of this episode that Refa wanted power, and would eventually have
removed Minister Verini to get even closer to the Emperor and the seat
of ultimate power.

I'm not sure how directly relevant that digression is to a discussion
of "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place."  But what the hell?
It's fun (well, it's fun for me. And these are my reviews... so
there!)


One of the things that marks this episode is the return of Brother
Theo. Ironically, Theo's last episode, "Passing Through Gethsemane,"
opened with a chess match. Meanwhile, the central storyline of this
episode is a chess match, with Londo and Refa using G'Kar and Vir as
pawns in an attempt to deliver a final checkmate to their opponent.

The Londo of the late third season is starkly different from the Londos
of either Seasons One or Two. Londo has become a grim figure. With
Adira's death in "Interludes & Examinations," all the joy for life
has gone out of him. It is appropriate that he now dresses in black,
for his mood is black and his face carries a heavy expression. He has
power and influence that Season One Londo had only dreamed of, but he
no longer has the capacity to enjoy it. Rather than the "women, wine,
and song" that Londo valued and made his password in Season One, Londo
now has only one thing left to him: his duty to his people.

That, and his thirst for vengeance.

This makes Londo a tragic figure, certainly. But it also makes him a
much more frightening one than he was even in late Season Two. This
Londo will literally do anything. The first time I viewed the episode,
when he bullied Vir into acting against his nature by threatening to
have Vir's family "whipped through the streets," I absolutely
believed that Londo would do that. So does Vir - something Vir would
never have believed of Londo as recently as "Dust to Dust" earlier this
season. There, Vir assures Delenn that "someday (Londo) will surprise
you" when he hears Delenn talk of Londo's descent. By the end of this
episode, I'm no longer sure that Vir still believes that. In Season
Two, Londo described Vir as his friend. Vir remains loyal to Londo,
unswervingly loyal even now. But by this point, I don't think he
looks on Londo as a friend anymore. In the final scenes of this
episode, as Vir denounces Londo's actions, I get the impression that
Vir doesn't see that great a difference between Londo and Refa.

Londo's manipulations in this episode are expert, and expertly hidden
from the audience until the very end. He effortlessly uses Vir and
G'Kar both, and ultimately he uses Refa and Minister Verini as well.
To invoke a quote from next season, Londo "plays (them) like a puppet!"
Which is also a stark contrast with Season One Londo. Through most of
Season One, we would never have believed Londo capable of such
intricate manipulations. By the time this episode arrives, however, we
know that Londo is capable of anything.

Of course, one thing has not changed since Season One - indeed, since
Londo's first major scene, his "shark" monologue to Garibaldi way
back in "The Gathering."  That is Londo's patriotism, his utter
devotion to the well-being of Centauri Prime. Even more than his
dislike of Refa, even more than his desire for vengeance for Adira's
death, Londo's driving force throughout the series remains his love
of and loyalty to his people. "Let the rest of the galaxy burn," he
says in "Interludes & Examinations," giving Morden the response Morden
and the Shadows so desperately want from him. But what neither Morden
or the Shadows note is the statement that precedes that one; when he
said there that he wanted revenge, even at his blackest, Londo added
his other concern: "The safety of my people."

As Londo tells Refa in the episode's unforgettable climax, Refa's
relentless warring with other races has weakened the Centauri defenses.
As he tells Verini at the end of the episode, Refa's only loyalty was
ever to himself. Refa's desire is not for the Centauri people, but
only for his own power and glory. "Sooner or later, it would destroy
him or us," Londo tells Verini. "Better it be him." Londo may be
delivering these words as the pretty packaging of a lie. However, the
words themselves are absolutely the truth.

The episode is a fantastic one for Londo, but it is also a good one for
G'Kar. Here, G'Kar is finally given the opportunity to take a
measure of vengeance for the devastation of his Homeworld. But at the
episode's climax, G'Kar does not participate in the act of
vengeance that his people perpetrate. He delivers his instructions,
noting that the face must be preserved "for identification purposes,"
and then leaves his people to carry out the killing. Season One G'Kar
seemed to salivate over the mere thought of killing a Centauri. Here, a
Centauri is delivered into his hands - and an evil one at that, a man
who was more responsible than anyone for the deaths of millions of his
people. G'Kar does not lay one violent hand on the man. And when the
victim is dead, G'Kar shows no glee and no triumph. He simply turns
and walks away, looking disgusted.

Some of his disgust, I'm sure, comes from acting as a pawn in a game
of Centauri politics. But I also suspect that the thought of murder,
even the murder of a Centauri, is no longer something G'Kar finds
himself able to take pleasure in. He's capable of doing it,
certainly, but he's no longer capable of enjoying it.


Of course, any discussion of this episode has to make note of the
fantastic climactic sequence. It's a masterful job of editing, as the
sermon by Reverend Will Dexter is intercut with Londo's own "sermon"
to Refa. Dexter notes that the real enemies are not those who are
different, but those who encourage us to hate and fear... and
ultimately, to fight those we hate and fear. Londo sums up Refa's
sins, which involve encouraging the escalation of the war against the
Narn, and the hatred and fear of the Narn, and the mass executions of
Narns. The sermon climaxes in a singing of "And the Rock Cried Out, No
Hiding Place," a song whose text concerns sinners' inability to hide
from the Lord's judgment... just as Refa desperately attempts to run
and hide from the implacable justice of the Narns, of G'Kar, and of
Londo. Refa has been judged; and the intercutting of a joyous sermon
with an act of horrific violence (admittedly, against a loathsome
character) is stunningly effective. High marks to all concerned.


THE BAD

The scenes involving Londo, G'Kar, Vir, and Refa are unimpeachable.
The scenes with Brother Theo are, as always, delightful (and the most
significant "bad" thing in this episode is that it is sadly Brother
Theo's last).

However, some of the Sheridan scenes didn't measure up to the rest of
the episode for me. I enjoyed the scene where Delenn dragged him to
dinner with the religious representatives; and cheesy though it was, I
confess that I did laugh when, near the end, Delenn yanked him out of
the room to attend the religious services and he reacted very much like
a little boy being dragged away from a particularly exciting video
game.

But the scene where Reverend Will Dexter gave Sheridan "a good
talking-to" annoyed me. Will Dexter is an absolute stranger to
Sheridan. Sheridan doesn't know him, has no basis to consider him a
mentor figure at all. So why does Sheridan so meekly sit and listen to
Dexter's lecture in which Dexter basically calls him "a bad officer"
(something that, for all my intermittent issues with him, Sheridan most
assuredly is not). This scene might have worked for me if it had been
Brother Theo - someone Sheridan does have a connection with - talking
to Sheridan. But Dexter's a stranger. Sheridan should be more
resistant to his words at the very least, if not outright dismissive.
Yes, Dexter's advice is good. But one of Sheridan's defining traits
is that he's mule-headed; mule-headed people do not take well to
constructive criticism by outsiders. With Theo (and a rewrite), this
scene might have worked; it would certainly have worked better. With
Dexter - for me at least - the scene was a flop.

More successful, but still problematic, is the scene where Sheridan and
Delenn finally figure out the Shadows' pattern. It just happens much
too suddenly, and much too easily. Sheridan just calls the pattern onto
the screen and then says, "Did you just see what I saw?" It should take
more than two seconds for him to figure out the solution. Even the old
standby of Garibaldi or Ivanova making an off-hand comment to give him
an epiphany would have worked better dramatically than Sheridan
suddenly just seeing it out of nowhere.

Of course, the events of the next episode require him to see it at this
point; but other than that the arc requires it, I have no idea what
suddenly makes him see what he was blind to before (I know, I know; the
"Godly" power of taking Reverend Will's advice... but I guess I'm
cynical enough to want something more dramatically concrete than that).


Despite my vague annoyances with those two Sheridan scenes, the
Londo/Refa material is incredibly compelling, and the climax is nothing
short of riveting. And "Z Minus 10?" On first viewing, those countdown
titles gave me a feeling of something incredibly ominous moving
forward. And even knowing what's to come, on second viewing that
feeling is still there.


My Final Rating: 9/10
                             
--- SBBSecho 2.11-Win32
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