tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post7166941712927261546..comments2024-03-27T08:49:38.786-03:00Comments on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: Babylon 5 #64: Grey 17 Is MissingSiskoidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-48957186993687264472014-09-16T22:12:37.405-03:002014-09-16T22:12:37.405-03:00It's not the worst episode, but it may, in con...It's not the worst episode, but it may, in context, be the most disappointing.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-72748942546230242812014-09-16T16:20:29.946-03:002014-09-16T16:20:29.946-03:00I wonder if some of the reason for the hatred thro...I wonder if some of the reason for the hatred thrown at this episode is that it is the last "standalone" episode we get for a considerable amount of time. By this point the fans would have been "arc, arc, arc!" and so a side story about a missing level on the station is probably not what they wanted.LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-64099050928493108352014-09-15T19:10:53.828-03:002014-09-15T19:10:53.828-03:00Some people I knew at the time regularly denounced...Some people I knew at the time regularly denounced Marcus as a Gary Stu, which I really don't agree with. This episode is, I think, the only one where something he does has a major impact on the overarching plot of the series, and it really is something that he, as a Ranger who could convince Neroon that Delenn deserved her followers, was the only person qualified to do.LondonKdShttp://londonkds.dreamwidth.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-78613202323685748432014-09-10T20:40:39.059-03:002014-09-10T20:40:39.059-03:00Hmm. The Lurker's Guide for this episode says ...Hmm. The Lurker's Guide for this episode says (in a tangent) that the Brits uniformly hated the Peter David scripts. That is news to me, and the other Brits I knew who quite liked those episodes. (He also once said that the British fans kept spreading a rumour that Boxleitner was ashamed about his time on the show, when he wasn't. I'm beginning to feel paranoid.)LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-68581891687512832972014-09-10T20:22:28.813-03:002014-09-10T20:22:28.813-03:00I'm quite amused by the fact that Sheridan has...I'm quite amused by the fact that Sheridan has no idea who Neroon is. He wonders if his appearence is "part of the ceremony", and later tells Garibaldi that "someone" got in to the ceremony. Too many shows have the main cast sharing all their knowledge of people, whereas B5 is generally much better at keping some things secret or just not know to some people.LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-28562911110206215392014-09-09T11:09:20.728-03:002014-09-09T11:09:20.728-03:00"It might just be the general raised baseline..."It might just be the general raised baseline quality... a subpar season 3 episode will usually be better than a subpar season 1 episode."<br /><br />Every single episode of season 1 was under par for season 1. That's mathematically impossible until you remember how impossibly bad season 1 was. (At least that's my opinion; I'm elated that B5 hung on long enough to turn itself around, because I never imagined it would get as good as it quickly does come season 2.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-31739883478431588992014-09-09T10:16:47.015-03:002014-09-09T10:16:47.015-03:00This episode is notorious among fans and generally...This episode is notorious among fans and generally held up as the worst in the whole show. Which really says a lot about how bad the title plot is, as everything else in it is pretty great. Which is why I hold that Exogenesis is the true worst episode: that's a story with no redeeming elements at all, while here only half the story really drags things down.<br /><br />JMS particularly beats himself up over the clumsy setup of the literal Chekhov's Gun, showing even a trope as textbook as this can be handled improperly. He notes that having Garibaldi says he doesn't really know why he got the gun out is pure laziness, and he might as well have just said "I got it out because the writer needs it to be established for act four." I should also add that the pipe trick would never work, and it would just blow up in his hands.<br /><br />Jeremiah (and at least there's some amusement to be had in JMS later making a whole show with that name) shows his tendencies for portentous speeches at his absolute worst, though bless Robert Englund for shamelessly hamming it up and delivering these lines the only way they could possibly work. And to even get to that point, Garibaldi has to make the mental leap of the station having an entire secret level absurdly quickly. It probably could have been built to more naturally if the Neroon story didn't take up so much space, but that's definitely a tradeoff I'm happy with.<br /><br />And then there's the one thing that can't really be laid at his feet, at least not entirely: the Zarg. The script specifies several times that it should be kept in shadows as much as possible, thanks to JMS learning from the likes of Infection that they couldn't possibly make a good rubber monster outfit on their budget. The costume designer was even told it didn't have to look very good because of this. So it's anyone's guess why the director (the show's regular DP John Flinn III, making his directing debut) chose to light the scene as brightly as humanly possible, especially since he was usually all about underlighting.<br /><br />One final bit of note: by this time the cast were regularly playing pranks on each other, and this was when Bill Mumy took it too far by convincing Jason Carter that Marcus was going to be killed off, and let him stew about it for an entire day. Carter even broke into the script editor's office, where the latest script she'd received just happened to be a partial version of this episode that ended with Marcus daring Neroon to kill him. Poor Jason naturally didn't take it well, and there was a moratorium declared on pranks from then on.Ryan Lohnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-89786520224614249252014-09-09T09:50:18.470-03:002014-09-09T09:50:18.470-03:00It might just be the general raised baseline quali...It might just be the general raised baseline quality... a subpar season 3 episode will usually be better than a subpar season 1 episode.LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-64389577030787657102014-09-09T07:31:53.792-03:002014-09-09T07:31:53.792-03:00Agree with all of this. Not the best episode at al...Agree with all of this. Not the best episode at all, but I never found it to be as bad as its reputation as Worst B5 Ep Ever seems to suggest.Madeleynoreply@blogger.com