"I have always said this about you: nothing so improves your company like the lack of it. Perhaps you can make some money from this: Ten credits for you not to be there for an hour, a hundred credits for you not to be there for the day. And for you not to be there for the rest of your life, well, they could never afford it."
IN THIS ONE... Garibaldi fails to secure a witness to the mystery raids. G'Kar's book becomes a bestseller.
REVIEW: They didn't wait long to show Garibaldi screwing up from drinking. A string of bad decisions makes him lose the one lead the Alliance had to the identity of the mystery raiders plaguing the shipping lanes (and at this point, the Alliance's political survival hinges on their proper defense). He doesn't bring best bud Franklin around for fear of his drinking habit being discovered (the sponsor is about to get sponsored). He sleeps while his old friend and contact is killed. And the witness he's trying to contact is killed before he talk. The universe throws Garibaldi a bone in the shape of a Centauri uniform button, ripped off a mystery cultist, which momentarily throws suspicion Londo's way, but G'Kar defends his friend and would rather keep him out of the loop lest the Centauri P.M. get assassinated for his outrage and prying. Sound choice. Or it may lead to tragedy, we'll see.
The Garibaldi sequence provides plenty of action, but also our first look at the Drazi homeworld, which is basically the universe's Maghreb, a Mediterranean feel and cramped streets. Not necessarily what I would have chosen for them, but there you go. The talk of traditions that aren't necessarily helpful today is embedded here - the thing about buttons being on different sides for men and women blew my mind, by the way - and takes on more meaning as we go. The palace button Garibaldi finds is part of this (that's some pretty bad covert work, right there), but the G'Kar subplot is too.
While he was away, Ta'Lon started distributing "the Book of G'Kar" and it's become an overnight sensation, to the point where G'Kar has become a religious icon. But are they enamored of the man, or the message? G'Kar refused the political leadership of his people, in part because they were talking revenge as soon as they were free from Centauri, but as a writer, he's had a more positive impact. Now thousands are flocking to his call for peace and tolerance. Ta'Lon has to convince him to heed the call. According to his own philosophy, he should be bringing HIS particular talent to the cause, and that's as a teacher, just as Ta'Lon's is to be a warrior. Despite Londo's claims that the best way to appreciate G'Kar is when he's not there, he soon gets a number of followers. But not everyone has the benefit of having been "touched" by a Vorlon, and we're quickly shown a follower with a literal understanding of the Book, whom G'Kar just as quickly puts in his place. To be successful, G'Kar will have to create a new tradition without it losing all its relevance, as so many do. I think I'm going to like this thread, especially if it's written with this much acerbic wit.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORMHOLE: Seeing cloaked cultists attack Garibaldi sent my mind right back to the pah-wraith monks on Deep Space 9. G'Kar as a religious figure recalls the Sisko, of course.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - Well-written, with barbs pointed at politics and religion alike, while also doing a good job of making Garibaldi screw up.
REVIEW: They didn't wait long to show Garibaldi screwing up from drinking. A string of bad decisions makes him lose the one lead the Alliance had to the identity of the mystery raiders plaguing the shipping lanes (and at this point, the Alliance's political survival hinges on their proper defense). He doesn't bring best bud Franklin around for fear of his drinking habit being discovered (the sponsor is about to get sponsored). He sleeps while his old friend and contact is killed. And the witness he's trying to contact is killed before he talk. The universe throws Garibaldi a bone in the shape of a Centauri uniform button, ripped off a mystery cultist, which momentarily throws suspicion Londo's way, but G'Kar defends his friend and would rather keep him out of the loop lest the Centauri P.M. get assassinated for his outrage and prying. Sound choice. Or it may lead to tragedy, we'll see.
The Garibaldi sequence provides plenty of action, but also our first look at the Drazi homeworld, which is basically the universe's Maghreb, a Mediterranean feel and cramped streets. Not necessarily what I would have chosen for them, but there you go. The talk of traditions that aren't necessarily helpful today is embedded here - the thing about buttons being on different sides for men and women blew my mind, by the way - and takes on more meaning as we go. The palace button Garibaldi finds is part of this (that's some pretty bad covert work, right there), but the G'Kar subplot is too.
While he was away, Ta'Lon started distributing "the Book of G'Kar" and it's become an overnight sensation, to the point where G'Kar has become a religious icon. But are they enamored of the man, or the message? G'Kar refused the political leadership of his people, in part because they were talking revenge as soon as they were free from Centauri, but as a writer, he's had a more positive impact. Now thousands are flocking to his call for peace and tolerance. Ta'Lon has to convince him to heed the call. According to his own philosophy, he should be bringing HIS particular talent to the cause, and that's as a teacher, just as Ta'Lon's is to be a warrior. Despite Londo's claims that the best way to appreciate G'Kar is when he's not there, he soon gets a number of followers. But not everyone has the benefit of having been "touched" by a Vorlon, and we're quickly shown a follower with a literal understanding of the Book, whom G'Kar just as quickly puts in his place. To be successful, G'Kar will have to create a new tradition without it losing all its relevance, as so many do. I think I'm going to like this thread, especially if it's written with this much acerbic wit.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORMHOLE: Seeing cloaked cultists attack Garibaldi sent my mind right back to the pah-wraith monks on Deep Space 9. G'Kar as a religious figure recalls the Sisko, of course.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - Well-written, with barbs pointed at politics and religion alike, while also doing a good job of making Garibaldi screw up.
Comments
Franklin's addiction basically allowed him to do his job, but forced him to take on too much until he made a mistake. Garibaldi's STOPS him doing his job, and as the Interstellar Alliance seems to run it's entire security division around one person, the whole thing just seems ludicrous.
Remember Bastion! (It's a great game and pretty cheap on XBox Live.)
His family has a long history of alcoholism, and so he was quite pleased when Jerry Doyle saw this storyline begin and asked him if they could truly go all the way with it, and show the condition just as bad as it really is, something you can't just get over after a week or two. Of course, that was the idea anyway.
Another bit of reality subtext is that G'Kar's discomfort with his newfound worship is based on JMS' own to seeing fans at conventions bow to him and call him the Great Maker. He'd often have to go online afterward and find someone insulting him to even it out (luckily, the Trek boards were always a reliable source of it).
Here's a tortured reference for you: People don't remember Brian for how he lived, but how he died. How he did die.
I don't have any problems with how alcoholism is portrayed in the show (at least, I don't recall. I can't quite keep up my enthusiasm for season 5 so I'm a few episodes behind. I'll see when I get there.) It's more the plot mechanics. As I said, Franklin's worked for the overal plot, wheras Garibaldi's don't. But season 5 does seem to suffer from tiny cast syndrome anyway.
This comment makes no sense to me. Garibaldi's alcoholism had too many contrivances, but not Franklin's stim addiction? Considering that Garibaldi's alcoholism was first exposed back in Season One, did many believe that it had completely disappeared after one episode? It's obvious that JMS had introduced it four years earlier, with plans to revisit Garibaldi's condition a few seasons later. Back in Season One, it took being framed of attempted assassination for Garibaldi to fall off the wagon . . . within one episode. Yet, his return to alcoholism was stretched out longer in Season Five. More importantly, I believe Garibaldi's discovery that he couldn't punish Bester for literally taking control of himself back in Season Four (something that is really appalling for a controlling personality like Garibaldi) was a very plausible excuse for him to resume drinking. Is it that many fans were upset that Garibaldi's alcoholism had resumed in the worst possible way?