Five by Five

[selenak]

From fannish5:

Name the five scenes that make you melt in True Fannish Love. Every. Single. Time.

I had to separate this by fandom. There was no way of doing it otherwise.


Babylon 5

a) The Londo, G'Kar And Vir Show

1. "And what are you getting, Adira? A washed-up old Republican, dreaming of better days?" Born for the Purple was when I fell for Londo anyway, but even upon the nth reviewing, his scenes there, especially this post-coital one with Adira, have me gushing in the most unbecoming manner. It's Londo in his wistfulness, middle-agedness and romantic-plus-cynic endearingness.

2. The Bar Scene from Coming of Shadows. G'Kar has just decided to usher in a new era of peace with the Centauri. Londo has just started a new war. Londo knows, G'Kar does not. G'Kar invites Londo for a drink. And I go to pieces. It's the whole impending tragedy personified, and such great, great acting on the parts of Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik.

3. Speaking of great acting: Vir's entire drunk scene from The Long Night. Stephen Furst is always good, but never better than here. And I can't think of another show in which an unquestionably monstrous character like Cartagia getting killed would be shown to have such ramifications on an unquestionably good character like Vir. This is Vir's loss of innocence and his desperate attempt to come to terms with the knowledge that yes, he can kill. Peter Jurasik is his usual superb self as well as Londo goes from impatience to comfort with Vir, offering a lacerating bit of self-analysis into the bargain.

4. The Best Scene Ever: aka Londo and G'Kar in The Fall of Centauri Prime. "You understand that I can never forgive your people, don't you?" "Yes." "But I can forgive you." And the building up to this climactic pronouncement is just as powerful, as the mixture between teasing, even at this darkest hour, and Londo attempting to say goodbye without revealing just what awaits him, sums up the incredibly strong emotions between these two men. You can interpret the relationship any way you like, but I defy anyone to watch this particular scene and not call it love.

5. Londo accepts the Keeper, same episode. The montage before is already designed to kill me, but this almost silent scene, consisting solely of one man standing there, eyes open, while a horrible parasite crawls up on him and another creature watches, is so great and so devastating that I'm emotionally pulverized. And filled with horror and admiration for the bravest thing anyone ever does on Babylon 5. (Just imo, as always.)


b) Those Other People I know Exist On the Show

1. The climax of the first season finale Chrysalis, intercutting between the assassination of President Santiago, and a half-dead Garibaldi trying to warn everyone in time. Chrysalis gets overshadowed by later season finales, but it's a great favourite of mine, not in the least because of this scene. Recent cinema-going experiences lead me to say that this more than holds his own against movies like the 2004 version of The Manchurian Candidate.

2. Sheridan interrogates Morden/ Sheridan discovers the Shadows for a split-second; both in In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum. It's a draw between those scenes for me. Arguably the best Sheridan episode which deliberately shows him in an ethically questionable light and does not expect the audience to approve of his actions wholeheartedly. Sheridan's desperation and ruthlessness were never greater, and when he says "you'll wish you had died on the Icarus", you know he means it, and that this isn't a good thing. Conversely, the moment where he actually does see the Shadows is a show-stopper, because you catch your breath with him every time.

3. Brother Edward/ Charles asks Brother Theo how he can atone for something he cannot even remember. There is a reason why Passing Through Gethsemane is my favourite one-shot-guest star episode. Brad Dourif is great, and so is the writing. The questions it raises about identity and memory and forgiveness are never made easy, down to the end when Sheridan and the viewers are both bitch-slapped in a good way. But as good as the ending twist is, my favourite scene is the earlier one between Edward and Theo.

4. "He is behind me. You are in front of me. Be elsewhere." Delenn has the coolest calvary-to-the-rescue moment on the show. Okay, so the odds are decidedly in her favour with those Minbari ships, but nonetheless, this is Delenn at her don't mess with me best, and I love her.

5. "On a scale between 1 and 10, Mr. Garibaldi, how stupid do you think I am anyway?" Ah, Bester. The term "magnificent bastard" is made to describe him. The great revelation scene between Bester and Garibaldi in Face of the Enemy is more famous, but their confrontation in Phoenix Rising (fifth season) is what reduces me into fannish putty. And guilty admiration for Our Al. One of JMS' excellent decisions was to break the "Bester comes to the station, makes trouble, is thwarted, leaves" pattern as early as season 3 by awarding Bester the occasional victory, and this pays off by making his appearances much more unpredictable - and making him truly surprising here. Poor old Michael Garibaldi. He never had a chance.



Buffy the Vampire Slayer

a) Buffy

1. "Close your eyes." Sue me. But Buffy sending Angel to hell in order to save the world still works its magic for me every time, and I'm not even a 'shipper. This wasn't just tragic and inevitable and all those things, and a great thing for the show, but it was also crucial for Buffy the character. It scarred her for good, and she arguably never quite recovered from it.

2. On a similar morbid note: Buffy finds Joyce dead. The entire Body, really, but Buffy finding her dead mother and her confusion and helplessness in the face of this natural death, the suddenly child-like voice and her sweaty, unmade-up face as she throws up - it pushes all kind of buttons for me in its stark emotional honesty.

3. Buffy going to kiss comatose Faith on the head, then going to tell the rest of the gang her plan in Graduation Day. The thing with Faith brings their season-long arc to a (preliminary) end and besides illustrates something about Buffy - she's not good verbally expressing her muddled feelings about Faith (or later anyone else), so she tends to express herself in action. Going on to the others in her not-so-good state shows her resolve as the more famous "me" scene from Becoming does - life is awful, things are going to hell, but she's there when it counts.

4. Buffy tells her English literature professor she's dropping out of college to take care of Dawn in the teaser for Tough Love. This is a small scene, not one of the big scenes, but it breaks my heart every time for her, because that is truly when Buffy gives up that dream of a normal life she has held on to despite everything, and it's as big a demonstration of her love for Dawn as her literally giving her life at the end of The Gift. Besides, her haiku joke - "maybe one of those" - is lovely grace-under-pressure.

5. That final close-up from Chosen. Just as I loved the way AtS ended, I thought this was perfect for BTVS. She's got a future again, and a choice. And so does every other Slayer on the planet. To me, that tiny smile after the earlier stunned expression, in response to Dawn's and Willow's "what are you going to do?" question was exactly how I wanted Buffy to go out.


c) Other Neat Characters

1. The entire Giles-finds-Jenny sequence from Passion, with Puccini in the background. Wah. And also, beautiful. Angelus is a sadistic bastard, but his arrangements pay off. ASH is sublime in his transformance from joyful expectation to emotional shutdown.

2. Xander gives Buffy the Yoda-esque (not!) pep talk in The Freshman. This would be my great "hug Xander now, want one of my own!" moment.

3. The Fool for Love alley scene between Buffy and Spike, intercut with Spike's fight against Nikki in New York. This is Spike both at his most dangerous (not just in terms of fighting power in the flashback, but in terms of mind-messing in the present) and - at the end - his most vulnerable, his obsession with Slayers and the entire Slayer/Vampire theme brought to the fore. The sexual tension between him and Buffy is tangible. I survived eight years in the Jossverse without becoming a partisan in the Spike Wars - he's an interesting, sometimes downright fascinating character to me, but not my favourite or even second favourite - but if I had to pick just once scene epitomizing why it was good to have him in the show, this would be it.

4. Dawn leads the nearly-autistic Buffy back to the house and tries to reach her in After Life. This would be one of several "Hug Dawn Now!" moments for me; she is so much trying to cope and doing the best she can in a horrible situation, and the guilt, love and tenderness in Michelle Trachtenberg's performance just slays me, to use a bad pun.

5. Andrew rewrites the scene between him, Jonathan and Willow from season 6 in the season 7 episode Storyteller. I happen to consider the Trio the best villains since the Mayor anyway, and I love what the show did with Andrew in season 7. This particular scene shows him at his denial-ist and fanboyish worst, but it's adorable and makes me smile in fannish love every time.



Angel the Series

a) My Darling Girl

1. "God doesn't want you - but I still do". Thank Joss Marti got to rewrite that scene and add that particular line. (I've read Greenwalt's original.) Darla and Angel square off in Dear Boy. Both so very good at hurting each other emotionally, and obviously obsessed with each other. That was when I decided this particular relationship was my favourite "romantic" (sexual? Mythic?) one in the Jossverse.

2. "Maybe your life would have been more interesting because of it." The woman who would become Darla on her dying bed, like in a medieval morality play, trading barbs with a priest who is really the Master, her killer and saviour, in disguise. Some people like Angel's siring, other prefer Spike's; me, I'm putting Darla's on top of the list. As opposed to the other two, she does know she's inviting hell, and she's unapologetic for her life.

3. Angel finally offers to make Darla into a vampire again, and she declines , only to be forced a moment later by Drusilla. I'm awed and sad and thrilled every time.

4. Darla 'n Dru on the road. Darla starts by beating the crap out of Dru for siring her and becomes swayed by "I did it for you". Cue slashy clinch, stupid trucker and Darla having her first meal. Ah, Reunion, episode of my heart.

5. Darla kills herself to give birth to Connor. I always said that Darla was the only vampire with, no pun intended, the stomach to actually commit suicide, a year before it happened - ask rozk. (As opposed to certain drama boys who posture on hills or in basements but don't manage go through with it.) As it happens, her suicide as an occasion for life, and a gesture of love, not nihilism, wasn't something I anticipated, and I loved it - still do.

b) Other People

1) Wesley being invited to stay for breakfeast at the end of Parting Gifts. Ah, young Wes with his desperate eagerness to please and belong, and his overwhelming joy when Cordy and Angel do ask.

2) Cordelia versus Dennis' mother's ghost in Room w/a View. "Lady, the bitch is back." Alas, she left us after Pylea, but that was vintage Cordy. Good times, good times.

3) "Do something, Angel!" And he locks the door. Though I'm still a bit irked that the show copped out of the consequences for Angel, Angel (not the overrated Angelus) shutting the lawyers in with Darla and Drusilla remains one of the best, spine-chilling moments ever.

4) Connor and Angel in Home. Next to Darla, Connor is my favourite character, and the tragedy of his season 4 arc makes me misty-eyed each time. The final confrontation between him and Angel in Home breaks my heart for both of them. Arguably David Boreanaz' and Vincent Kartheiser's best acting in the series.

5) The final scene of Not Fade Away. As I said before, this was perfect for this particular series. What do you do when your heart is broken, the gates of hell are opened and all odds are against you? You keep on fighting, that's what. And watch out for dragons!



Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:

1) "So that's what you're going to get. An execution." Quark beats a bunch of Klingons in ethics in House of Quark. I liked him before, but that was when I became his for life. DS9 developed the Ferengi from cartoons into real people, and never is this more obvious than in such a scene, where Quark shows bravery can mean something very different than fighting.

2) "Whatever it is you've done, I forgive you." Garak's victims might object, but this climatic scene from The Wire between him and Bashir reduces me to shippery goo every time, too.

3) Kira returns from the Ravenok to find Dukat silently crying over the grave of his dead mistress in Indiscretion. Kira and Dukat had sexual tension before, but that is the first time she sees him as something other than the monster of her past, and for a brief while (speaking in show terms), they establish a tense but ambiguous relationship.

4) "…and the self respect of one Starfleet officer." Garak and Sisko near the end of In the Pale Moonlight, without a doubt one of the best Star Trek episodes - or Sci Fi tv episodes - ever. As Garak points out, Sisko knew what he was doing when hiring him. And he was willing to go that far. Great scene, great acting by Robinson and Brooks.

5) "Not him - Spock." Trials and Tribble-ations is wonderful from beginning to end, and the best homage one Trek paid to another. But my favourite scene among many, many gems is Jadzia Dax proving her taste by going fangirl not over Kirk, as Sisko wrongly assumes, but everybody's favourite Vulcan. (Jadzia mentioning she slept with McCoy as Emony Dax isn't half-bad, either.*g*)



Blake's 7:

a) Blake and Avon:

1. "Do I have a choice?" "Yes." "Then I agree." Blake and Avon arguing early on in Duel. It's one early instance of Avon's tendency to say one thing (critisizing Blake) and doing another (supporting Blake when the ship gets hit, and not letting go even after the hitting is over). This would be the B/A I'm shipping.

2. Blake falling on his knees in an empty room in Pressure Point as he realizes he's been tricked. Avon kneels down beside him and while hissing "There is nothing here, Blake" puts his arms around him yet again. But slashy goggles aside, this is an important point in the show because it marks the first time (after the pilot) Blake is about to get defeated, leading in to the first cast member to die, because of Blake.

3. "I want to be free - of him." Vicious flight deck argument No.1 in Star One, and my, the intensity. Avon high-handedly assuming that Blake can hand the Liberator over to him without consulting the others is typical. So is Blake actually responding to that.

4. "Can't you trust me this once?" "I have always trusted you, right from the very beginning." Blake in a nutshell. He might be lying. He might be sincere. He's definitely manipulative, because he does need Avon to continue the mission (and that's what he's getting). But he knows his Avon. And, retrospectively, he has just sealed their mutual fate.

5. "Did you betray me?" Finale of B7, how art thou wonderful. Well, for those of us who love tragedy. And obsessive types. Avon shooting Blake three times because he thinks Blake betrayed him, Blake making his way to Avon throughout these shootings, Blake whispering Avon's name while clutching him one last time, Avon completely shutting down after that, not caring that the rest of the gang get shot, just staring on Blake's dead body… guh.

c) Other Stuff

1) Vila and Bayban the Butcher ("my mother used to call me Babe") in "City at the Edge of Forever". Vila is confronting an utter psychopath here, and knows that he's literally talking for his life, but my, does he do it well. The scene is tense and hysterically funny at the same time, and showcases Vila's cleverness and bravery under pressure. My favourite "go, Vila, go!" moment.

2) "But I don't think of you as an enemy, Avon. I think of you as a future friend." Servalan and Avon in "Death Watch" - all of their scenes together sparkle, but if I have to pick one to illustrate that twisted chemistry which rivals the Blake/Avon one, it would be this. Does provide more sexual tension than many a nearly naked scene in other shows, and it's two people with absolutely no illusions about another, with Servalan still at her manipulative best (lest we forget, she not only gets her kiss but wins the game).

3) The showdown in "Rumours of Death", for so many reasons. The Anna tragedy, and Avon shooting someone he loves (the first time). The "that wall is waiting" dialogue between Avon and Servalan before. (You've got to hand it to Servalan: she's beaten up and chained to the wall in her own house, as Tarrant points out, but she's still able to trade accurate barbs with Avon and bargain for her freedom.) The very, very ambiguous event after Avon has shot Anna, because you can't tell me Servalan didn't know what she was doing when ordering him to put his bracelet back on. It's arguably the first and last time in the entire show she shows pity for someone.

4) "Vila weighs 72 kilos." (You just know Orac has it in for Vila.) And Avon, after a beat, decides that killing Vila is preferable to dying. The scene where Avon looks for Vila while Vila, tears on his face, hides away in Orbit, is heartrendering, but I shall always admire B7 for going through with it. See, that's what makes Avon different from the cynic-with-a-heart-of-gold cliché (looking at you, Han Solo). And B7 from Star Trek. If it had been Spock and McCoy in that shuttle, you just know the only argument would have been about who gets to sacrifice himself for whom without admitting that this was what they were doing. Here, though? Avon totally would have done it if he had found Vila in time. "You know you're always safe with me. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

5) "Come on, a woman like you?" "There are no women like me." Damn right. Though there are plenty of Servalan imitations running around (see: Grayza; see: Intendant Kira). But she's the original. In this particular scene from Sand, we see her intimidating a smarmy official who believes he has the upper hand and can blackmail her, by sheer force of personality. That's my villainess. Each time I watch Jacqueline Pearce in that episode, I get gooey as well. Or sandy, to keep in tone with the subject.


Farscape

1) Aeryn and Pilot put the past to rest in The Way We Weren't. The entire episode rocks, of course, but their last scene together is sad and soothing in the best of ways. Much Aerynlove and Pilotlove in this one, and love for the show in general.

2) John and Rygel after Rygel returns in Family Ties. John knows exactly that Rygel wanted to sell them out, but Rygel gets a kiss on the head anyway. My Farscape OTP!

3) John and Scorpius and a blood oath in Prayer. rozk called it one of the hottest scenes on tv, and she's not wrong. For my weakness about two obsessives together, see: B7. It's twisted and intense, and I love it to bits. Though it does tie with my favourite John/Scorpius scene, their last encounter in Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. "We were close. So close." Yes, you were.

4) Crais' (and Talyn's!) death scene in Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. There are a lot of death scenes in Farscape. All of them very effective. But Crais and Talyn starbursting has an awe-inspiring rightness in it that beats all the others.

5) From Terra Firma: John Crichton writing in his diary, finally having arrived, for real, in that landscape which haunted him up to this point of the show, the beach and the sea. It's a quiet scene that sums up John's brokenness and inability to emotionally return to what he used to be perfectly. "What I've done. What has been done to me." This would be my "hug John now" moment, yes indeed.


Other Cult TV

1) "And the sky's the limit." DS9 might be my favourite ST show, but Jean-Luc Picard shall always be my favourite Starfleet Captain. Also, I love the finale of TNG best (it doesn't have the disadvantage of a remarkably stupid fisticuffs scene annoying me which "What you leave Behind" has), and the very last scene, with Picard joining his officers for a game of poker, with its affection and aura of infinite possibilities, sums up what was best about The Next Generation.

2) Duncan and Amanda dancing on the Eiffel Tower in Highlander. I mentioned it before. So did kathyh. It epitomizes their relationship, one of my favourite m/f relationships on tv - friends and occasional lovers. Nobody but Amanda could have made MacLeod do this.

3) The Jimmy scene between Duncan and Methos. Yes, the slash factor is to the nth degree, but it's a great scene for many other reasons as well. Methos' owning up to his mass-murdering past. The mutual anger. The heartbreak of a friendship. And two actors on fire.

4) Lucas Buck and Caleb in any given scene between them in American Gothic, from the tentative bonding to the confrontation in the finale, but if I have to pick one: Lucas, Caleb and Selena in the episode guest-starring Ted Raimi. The scene where Lucas manages to get to his former mistress while drawing his reluctant son closer at the same time, all by talking about fishing and the way to eat a tuna sandwich. Gary Cole was sooo good in that role.

5) Not tv, strictly speaking: Kirk and Spock near the end of Wrath of Khan. "I am, and have always been, your friend." Doesn't matter that he gets resurrected in the next movie - Spock's death scene reduces me to tears every time. Also one of the few times in TOS where I really, really feel for Kirk. Arguably William Shatner's finest moment as Kirk, too.


Meanwhile, something from a fandom I'm just friendly with.*g*

My Harry Potter Meta Adventure by mctabby
Username
Favorite HP Character
So one day I wrote a rant about	Dumbledore's gleam of triumph
and how this relates to	why the PoA movie werewolf sucked
and I got this many comments:	64
Then along came	vanilla_tiger
who said:	"But JKR denied that in an interview!"
So then I	threatened to leave the fandom
and blamed everything on	swmbo
and	now I'm writing my next rant!
Quiz created with MemeGen!

Comments

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

love these! you are so much better to Darla and Connor than ME ever was.

Also, I love creative ways of circumventing numerical limits on "Top X" lists.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

And I love being creative with this.*g* Thank you. BTW, can't resist asking: did you read a) Thursday's Darla drabble, and b) yesterday's essay?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The Bar Scene from Coming of Shadows.

Oh, yes! Pivotal!

The Best Scene Ever and Londo accepts the Keeper

I totally agree.

My favourite "go, Vila, go!" moment

Yes, he isn't the coward he (and others) thought. I also like when he gathers his courage and does a 'personal investigation' in 'Bounty' and his one-man rescue in 'Games' (after that wonderfully woeful list of bad things which are happening to him).

"Vila weighs 72 kilos." (You just know Orac has it in for Vila.)

It was 73. (I'm so sad.) And I too suspect Orac wanted Vila gone. Perhaps he was jealous of Avon's one remaining friend.

The scene where Avon looks for Vila while Vila, tears on his face, hides away in Orbit, is heartrendering, but I shall always admire B7 for going through with it.

They didn't, not fully. Michael Keating as Vila actually sobbed in his hiding place, but the director thought it was too harrowing and cut the scene to MK's regret. He still managed to get a small sob in later when he gets out though.

Crais' (and Talyn's!) death scene in Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.

Oh, yes, That sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it. The grandeur, the music, the water pouring down the steps--that was magnificent and moving. Beats the meaningless shootings in B7 any day, sorry. Crais and Talyn's deaths achieve something. I'd add Stark's tenderness as he holds the dying Zhaan to my Farscape list though.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

And I too suspect Orac wanted Vila gone. Perhaps he was jealous of Avon's one remaining friend.

At the very least, it's worth noting that he already offered leaving Vila (and Tarrant) to death once as an option that same season. Though in the case of Orbit, one could argue some sense of self preservation (how much does Orac weigh?). Still, I do suspect Orac thought he and Avon would have been better off by themselves. Just shows you that Orac is a lousy judge of character and psychology, considering how unstable Avon was already.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

And poor Vila chose to stay when I'd have bolted. Mind you, he always chose people and danger over safety and being alone, an extreme extrovert. :-(

[kathyh]

"Vila weighs 72 kilos."

Nooooo.... That scene never happened. I can deal with everything else on B7, even the ending, but I *cannot* rewatch that episode.

Apart from that great choices all. I was going to comment on ones I particularly agreed with, but it would have been all of them *g*.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Coward.*g* I watched it four or five times, I think.

[kathyh]

Coward.*g*

You know me *g*. I must have rewatched it at least once but I don't think it's been more than that. The finale on the other hand I have learnt to cope with.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm the opposite. I can handle that scene because Vila survives (and thus there's a possibility of a future for him) but not the end. That didn't happen, not in my fanon.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Kathy was an original watcher (i.e. one of these poor souls who saw it at Christmas unprepared when it was first broadcast), whereas I saw it only a few years ago, when I was aware about one thing you almost cannot avoid learning about B7 in advance - that everyone was going to die. I wonder whether that makes a difference - did you know ahead of time?

In any case, I still maintain that it was this ending which sealed the "classic" status of the show. I mean, I like "Terminal". I adore "Star One". But if the show had ended with either episode, I would not be as satisfied, or as admiring. So I'm with andrastewhite - it was perfect - for this particular show, mind.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I saw it a few years after that when it was shown in NZ but I had no ideas what would happen and was horrified by the ending. I even thought Blake had betrayed them! I filled my mind with all sorts of scenarios to save Vila, outraged that Avon was the only one left standing (I didn't know about PGPs at that age). I remembered little else of the series so when we got reruns here in 2001 I almost didn't watch. It was only some witty quotes someone sent me that convinced me to give it another go. Odd that I didn't remember 'Orbit' at all--perhaps as a kid I thought it was funny as of course a friend wouldn't kill another friend--but OTOH I remembered hating Avon; I was surprised to find I liked him in the early seasons.

I've only watched the last ep twice--once as a kid and once in reruns. Even though I knew what was coming, I still couldn't stand it, and my outraged imagination's invented alternate endings had been so strong I was surprised Vila wasn't hiding under a table.

I hate the ending. I'm not even certain I'll buy season 4 if it comes out on DVD.

So I'm weird and in a small minority, but I do know others who feel the same way. The only thing I like about it is that it drove me to write to right it.

[kathyh]

As Selenak said I watched "Blake" when it was originally shown and *hated* the ending but over the years I've learnt to deal with it. In a strange way I think the ending was so shocking that it's what has kept B7 alive as a fandom. Everyone remembers it and every fan writer tries to find a way round it. It's the grit in the oyster that makes the pearl. Do I wish it had ended differently? Yes, but after 20 years I can just about cope with it. "Orbit" on the other hand...*g*.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can deal with Avon and Blake in it--after all, Avon was an OTT nutter by then--but not the others being shot down so meaninglessly just because of Avon's paranoia. I also hate the fact that the whole series is undercut by it, and the message that fighting evil and trying to achieve something good is utterly useless; just give up and knuckle under. I so don't agree with that.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I don't see that as the message of the final episode at all. After all, you have the explicit scene with Blake telling his aide-de-campe that no individual IS the cause for freedom, that it doesn't depend on him and will continue without him.

However, in a totalitarian society as the one portrayed by B7 realistically a lot of people WILL die if they try to fight. That made this particular dystopia so realistic to me. We weren't in Star Wars country, where the good guys win, survive, and defeat the Evil Empire all by their lonesome (and some friends). Which makes Blake so perfect an ending for B7 to me.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'd have been happy if they'd survived to fight on, I didn't require a victory, just some hope. My PGP WIP will not give them victory, just safety and a future.

[janewt.livejournal.com]

Definitely with the Londo-getting-keeper scene. What makes it so poignant for me is not so much the grand-scale knowing sacrifice business, but the touching machismo that demands that he barely spare a glance for the vile crawling creature--it would be beneath him. All that vanity and pride and arrogance finally pays off.


And yeah, I get all sniffly too over "I am, and always have been, your friend."

[selenak.livejournal.com]

True. And foreshadowed by the dignified way the poor silly Regent died: "I am still Centauri."

This show works like an onion on me at certain times, I swear.

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes and yes on the B5 stuff, especially the bar scene (now that I know how it all ends, it's even more heartbreaking), Fall of Centauri Prime (*WIBBLE*), and the Keeper scene. Just. Yes.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

andrastewhite pointed out the The Other Bar Scene as a somewhat more uplifting example of being reduced to shippery goop, but I tried to keep the "five" pattern.

BTW, have you read my Londo essay over at idol_reflection?

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

I did read it, actually, and it's great! Points out exactly why I love Londo. *hearts*

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I agree with the scenes you have picked from Buffy and Angel. There are many fine moments on Buffy, but like you, the Close your eyes scene just breaks my heart every time. The Body has a couple of scenes that I love: the scene you describe, and the scene with Anya, in which she is trying to figure out what it means to be dead. Just rips out my heart.
I love the final moments of Chosen; Buffy's smile just says volumes.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Two wonderful shows, and we shall not see their like again...

*sighs wistfully*

[ex_mrs260625]

Quark beats a bunch of Klingons in ethics in House of Quark.

I loved this scene, too. I remember actually feeling pride the first time I saw it. :0)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Of course, I also treasure the fact that afterwards, we get the first scene between Rom and Quark where Rom isn't played as the comic relief of the comic relief, and the relationship not as comedy relief, either, but as two (albeit different) brothers with affection for each other. When Rom tells Quark he was magnificent and asks to hear the story again, I want to hug him. (Quark, too, of course.)

[dylant.livejournal.com]

Just watched Wrath of Khan again recently and yes

Arguably William Shatner's finest moment as Kirk, too.

I agree, and people don't mention this enough. He hit the mark over and over again throughout that movie, I think. ..."As a physician, Bones, you of all people should know the danger of reopening old wounds. ::eyes flash::" *shivers*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, true. From his early scene with DeForrest Kelley where McCoy hands over the Dickens onwards, he's excellent in this film. Not one single instance of overacting, subtlety all through.