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Babylon 5 Rewatch: Chrysalis (S1 Finale)
And so the first season ends. I watched the entire credits this time, to hear Sinclair intone "it was the dawn of the third age of mankind" once more.
Even upon repeated rewatch season finale - which is a very good season finale - loses nothing of its power for me. Back in the 1990s, when I first watched it and had no idea how it would be resolved, I didn't dream of Sinclair leaving as a regular, or what on Earth Delenn was going to turn into, but I knew I wanted more of this show. Also, while I did know about the Kennedy assassination, of course, we weren't so familiarized with the iconography of it at school, and thus something like Clark's swearing in being a deliberate evocation of the LBJ swearing in (down to the woman next to Clark wearing a pink dress, the way Jackie Kennedy did) went right past me. In retrospect, and not just a few decades of additional knowledge but three heavy volumes of LBJ biography by Robert Caro later, this is somewhat unfair to Johnson, but reflecting the "he was involved in the JFK assassination!" theory which people of JMS' generation would have been deeply familiar with.
What I admire yet again is how skillfully this finale brings to a climax, wraps up and continues to spin so many threads. The political situation on Earth had been referenced in many episodes, but you always could take it as part of the world building upon first watching, not the preparation for a presidential assassionation (and ensueing political takeover). The Narn station in sector 37 getting wiped out echoes the fate of the Centauri station in the very first episode, Midnight at the Firing Line, and Londo and G'Kar have changed roles now in terms of who attacked whom. Londo's season long frustration and despair at his job and the Centauri poitical situation now makes him take the Faustian deal Morden offers. G'Kar, otoh, amidst all his bluster shows signs of unease when Sinclair pleads with him (not enough to do something about it, but he does hear Sinclair, and remembers it later); if you recall from Mind War that G'Kar is aware of the older races (other than the Vorlons) lurking in the universe, it's not so suprising that he should be the first person (other than Kosh and Spoiler, who knows from Kosh) to draw the correct conclusion as to what just happened. G'Kar setting out to investigate, as well as his speech to Ivanova marks a big turning point for G'Kar, and not a moment too soon. (His opening scene scorn for treaties as well as a lot of his s1 behavior is one reason why now that the Narn need allies, it will be an uphill battle.) Also, Morden's "ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, what's the difference?" question to Londo is still one of most chilling moments of the show, perhaps now more than ever, because of what the decades since then have brought back from what I had believed to be in the past. BTW, kudos to Ed Wasser and the directors for Morden always speaking in a low key, pleasant voice, and smiling more often than not - the same character shouting and sneering wouldn't been as nearly as effective. And of course, all hail for Peter Jurasik for his performance as Londo ins this episode throughout. This is one big reason why I absolutely hate it when people claim you should start B5 with season 2. If you haven't come to care for Londo in s1 and are mentally yelling "don't do it, Londo!" at this point, the emotional effect of what follows is very different. Note that clever JMS, as if to signal Londo hasn't become a none note villain over night, has his last scene being the one where he shares the vigil for between-life-and-death Garibaldi with Ivanova, because he cares about Garibaldi.
(Not exactly subtle but nonetheless very effective: Londo meeting Morden in a labyrinth which is a part of the B5 garden which we've never seen before. This came in handy when I wrote my "Londo meets each of the Endless" Sandman crossover, because naturally, this is when he meets Destiny.)
I remember how incredibly creepy and effective the Shadow appearances here were for me the first time I saw this episode. Not least because until then, all the ships I had seen on my tv and movie sci fi looked very very different. Something organic and spidery like the Shadow vessels just had not existed yet. (And was only possible due to early GCI.) About a gazillion more advanced GCI later, it's not new anymore but still very effective. We humans are probably DNA coded to find spidery forms creepy. And of course the blurry, nearly invisible forms Morden talks to are even more so.
Delenn's last minute attempt to tell Sinclair what he wanted to know all season: how much do you think would she have told him if he'd made it to her quarters in time? What we find out at the start of s2 or what we find out mid s3, to put it as cryptically Vorlon like as possible for newbies? That she wants to tell him at all is interesting, because it occurs to me it might be because while she's reasonably confident she will fulfill the prophecy, she's not 100% certain and thus aware she could also die. In which case she probably doesn't want Sinclair to continue not knowing, and if her attempt failed chances are the next Minbari ambassador sure as hell would not tell him.
More about Delenn's actions here when we see their repercussions in s2.
Sinclair and Catherine Sakai: you know, this is why I appreciate Kathryn M. Drennan's novel To Dream in the City of Sorrows. We'll see Sinclair again, but not Catherine, and while she's a minor character in the B5 verse, I have grown fond of her (more so with every rewatch), and to go from seeing her and Sinclair happy together here to never finding out (except in that novel) what happened to her would otherwise have been not a little frustrating to me. Though I will saw that the scene where they tell Garibaldi and Ivanova about their engagement makes me go even more "awww" on Garibaldi's behalf, declaring hislove friendship to Jeff, not knowing that... well, old time watchers know, newbies will find out.
One thing I'm grateful for is that the episode doesn't leave Garibaldi shot on the floor but had him drag himself into that elevator and be medically recued from immediate death, so that the first time around, I was reasonably sure he would survive. (Evil smirking aide not withstanding.) Re: aide: Yet another reason to be glad Ivanova and Londo were keeping watch together while Sinclair caught up on some sleep. Upon rewatch, not fretting about the aide anymore, I wonder what the two talked about. (Londo and Ivanova are one of the few character combinations in the show's history who practically have no scenes a deux together - usually they're in the room with other people.)
Lastly, a somewhat spoilery observation and question re: former Vice President and now President Clark and future political developments on Earth.
Who
ws on
the
grass knoll?
I had somehow forgotten we actually see Clark here on screen. For the remaining show, JMS always keeps him off screen, at least in my memory, as opposed to the other villains like Morden, Cartagia or finally the Drakh. I always thought it was a good storytelling choice in that it made the Earth turning increasingly fascist feel far more like a question of a system going evil (and needing to end) as opposed to One Evil Tyrant needing to be toppled. (Though of course it's arguable how well or ill the aftermath of such a system was depicted in s5.) But the fact that there was actually an actor playing Morgan Clark makes me wonder whether said actor thought he'd landed a good recurring villain gig (not an unreasonable assumption, if you're just going by this particular episode) only to be disappointed? The other thing I appreciate about Clark's depiction is that in his one appearance here, he looks exactly like an average middle aged politician - even the name, Morgan Clark, is standard - , this going against the narrative of the evil outsider corrupting the system. Clark is as inside as it gets.
Thus having concluded the first season, I'll start my s2 rewach next weekend, with again two episodes per Sunday review.
The other episodes
Even upon repeated rewatch season finale - which is a very good season finale - loses nothing of its power for me. Back in the 1990s, when I first watched it and had no idea how it would be resolved, I didn't dream of Sinclair leaving as a regular, or what on Earth Delenn was going to turn into, but I knew I wanted more of this show. Also, while I did know about the Kennedy assassination, of course, we weren't so familiarized with the iconography of it at school, and thus something like Clark's swearing in being a deliberate evocation of the LBJ swearing in (down to the woman next to Clark wearing a pink dress, the way Jackie Kennedy did) went right past me. In retrospect, and not just a few decades of additional knowledge but three heavy volumes of LBJ biography by Robert Caro later, this is somewhat unfair to Johnson, but reflecting the "he was involved in the JFK assassination!" theory which people of JMS' generation would have been deeply familiar with.
What I admire yet again is how skillfully this finale brings to a climax, wraps up and continues to spin so many threads. The political situation on Earth had been referenced in many episodes, but you always could take it as part of the world building upon first watching, not the preparation for a presidential assassionation (and ensueing political takeover). The Narn station in sector 37 getting wiped out echoes the fate of the Centauri station in the very first episode, Midnight at the Firing Line, and Londo and G'Kar have changed roles now in terms of who attacked whom. Londo's season long frustration and despair at his job and the Centauri poitical situation now makes him take the Faustian deal Morden offers. G'Kar, otoh, amidst all his bluster shows signs of unease when Sinclair pleads with him (not enough to do something about it, but he does hear Sinclair, and remembers it later); if you recall from Mind War that G'Kar is aware of the older races (other than the Vorlons) lurking in the universe, it's not so suprising that he should be the first person (other than Kosh and Spoiler, who knows from Kosh) to draw the correct conclusion as to what just happened. G'Kar setting out to investigate, as well as his speech to Ivanova marks a big turning point for G'Kar, and not a moment too soon. (His opening scene scorn for treaties as well as a lot of his s1 behavior is one reason why now that the Narn need allies, it will be an uphill battle.) Also, Morden's "ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, what's the difference?" question to Londo is still one of most chilling moments of the show, perhaps now more than ever, because of what the decades since then have brought back from what I had believed to be in the past. BTW, kudos to Ed Wasser and the directors for Morden always speaking in a low key, pleasant voice, and smiling more often than not - the same character shouting and sneering wouldn't been as nearly as effective. And of course, all hail for Peter Jurasik for his performance as Londo ins this episode throughout. This is one big reason why I absolutely hate it when people claim you should start B5 with season 2. If you haven't come to care for Londo in s1 and are mentally yelling "don't do it, Londo!" at this point, the emotional effect of what follows is very different. Note that clever JMS, as if to signal Londo hasn't become a none note villain over night, has his last scene being the one where he shares the vigil for between-life-and-death Garibaldi with Ivanova, because he cares about Garibaldi.
(Not exactly subtle but nonetheless very effective: Londo meeting Morden in a labyrinth which is a part of the B5 garden which we've never seen before. This came in handy when I wrote my "Londo meets each of the Endless" Sandman crossover, because naturally, this is when he meets Destiny.)
I remember how incredibly creepy and effective the Shadow appearances here were for me the first time I saw this episode. Not least because until then, all the ships I had seen on my tv and movie sci fi looked very very different. Something organic and spidery like the Shadow vessels just had not existed yet. (And was only possible due to early GCI.) About a gazillion more advanced GCI later, it's not new anymore but still very effective. We humans are probably DNA coded to find spidery forms creepy. And of course the blurry, nearly invisible forms Morden talks to are even more so.
Delenn's last minute attempt to tell Sinclair what he wanted to know all season: how much do you think would she have told him if he'd made it to her quarters in time? What we find out at the start of s2 or what we find out mid s3, to put it as cryptically Vorlon like as possible for newbies? That she wants to tell him at all is interesting, because it occurs to me it might be because while she's reasonably confident she will fulfill the prophecy, she's not 100% certain and thus aware she could also die. In which case she probably doesn't want Sinclair to continue not knowing, and if her attempt failed chances are the next Minbari ambassador sure as hell would not tell him.
More about Delenn's actions here when we see their repercussions in s2.
Sinclair and Catherine Sakai: you know, this is why I appreciate Kathryn M. Drennan's novel To Dream in the City of Sorrows. We'll see Sinclair again, but not Catherine, and while she's a minor character in the B5 verse, I have grown fond of her (more so with every rewatch), and to go from seeing her and Sinclair happy together here to never finding out (except in that novel) what happened to her would otherwise have been not a little frustrating to me. Though I will saw that the scene where they tell Garibaldi and Ivanova about their engagement makes me go even more "awww" on Garibaldi's behalf, declaring his
One thing I'm grateful for is that the episode doesn't leave Garibaldi shot on the floor but had him drag himself into that elevator and be medically recued from immediate death, so that the first time around, I was reasonably sure he would survive. (Evil smirking aide not withstanding.) Re: aide: Yet another reason to be glad Ivanova and Londo were keeping watch together while Sinclair caught up on some sleep. Upon rewatch, not fretting about the aide anymore, I wonder what the two talked about. (Londo and Ivanova are one of the few character combinations in the show's history who practically have no scenes a deux together - usually they're in the room with other people.)
Lastly, a somewhat spoilery observation and question re: former Vice President and now President Clark and future political developments on Earth.
Who
ws on
the
grass knoll?
I had somehow forgotten we actually see Clark here on screen. For the remaining show, JMS always keeps him off screen, at least in my memory, as opposed to the other villains like Morden, Cartagia or finally the Drakh. I always thought it was a good storytelling choice in that it made the Earth turning increasingly fascist feel far more like a question of a system going evil (and needing to end) as opposed to One Evil Tyrant needing to be toppled. (Though of course it's arguable how well or ill the aftermath of such a system was depicted in s5.) But the fact that there was actually an actor playing Morgan Clark makes me wonder whether said actor thought he'd landed a good recurring villain gig (not an unreasonable assumption, if you're just going by this particular episode) only to be disappointed? The other thing I appreciate about Clark's depiction is that in his one appearance here, he looks exactly like an average middle aged politician - even the name, Morgan Clark, is standard - , this going against the narrative of the evil outsider corrupting the system. Clark is as inside as it gets.
Thus having concluded the first season, I'll start my s2 rewach next weekend, with again two episodes per Sunday review.
The other episodes
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That was... truly shocking.
I could not believe they (JMS) did that. I was just staring at the screen and going "...but... but... the good guys are supposed to STOP the plot, not be too late to stop the plot!" That was more shocking to me than any of the other edgy episodes they did first season. I feel like DS9 did a lot of the gritty stuff too, but I feel like they wouldn't have crossed the line of the heroes just... finding out (or at least Garibaldi did), and trying SO HARD to get the word out, but too late to do anything about it, outright failing, the bad guys winning the day.
It's also -- hm, I suppose JMS must have been sentient at the time of JFK's death, probably remembered it. There hasn't been a US president assassinated in my lifetime (and I wasn't old enough to remember the Reagan attempt), but I imagine that for younger viewers (though presumably not older viewers) that this may have come off slightly differently when it was aired than it did after 9/11. At least in the 90's I don't think I would have reacted quite as empathically emotionally to the death of a president who, after all, wasn't my president, just some fictional guy, than I did now, knowing what it's like to see a kind of tragedy like that unfolding in not-quite-real time. (Though I guess before that there was the Challenger disaster, which was similar in that way, but I was young enough when that happened that I wouldn't have made an immediate connection.)
(I guess I don't really think Garibaldi is going to die, because he's in the credits! But... I didn't think they were going to do a lot of things they did in this episode!) [Later addition: I didn't even think until 2x01 about the fact that I very vaguely remembered from JMS's memoir that someone had exited the show and been replaced! If I had, I'd have been a lot more concerned about Garibaldi!]
Morden is still this ???? to me, now with added mass death. (!) :( I've heard enough about Londo that I really hope that he keeps thinking about those ten thousand. (Also Kosh continues to be a big ????)
Also Delenn going to Kosh "next time you see me, I won't be the same" and I'm like, hmm, the name of this episode is Chrysalis, interesting, and then she MAKES A LITERAL CHRYSALIS?? When the word "Chrysalis" first came up in Delenn's head I did not think it was going to mean A LITERAL CHRYSALIS. I thought it might be a code name or something!
Also I thought they were going to solve the mystery of what happened to Sinclair?? They did not! [From the other side of 2x01: ah, okay.]
-------------------------
Okay! Now upon reading your post:
we weren't so familiarized with the iconography of it at school, and thus something like Clark's swearing in being a deliberate evocation of the LBJ swearing in (down to the woman next to Clark wearing a pink dress, the way Jackie Kennedy did) went right past me.
Ah! I have seen it enough that once you said it, I saw it, but it did also go right past me (except for seeming a bit oddly familiar) when watching. Interesting that I got the JFK parallel anyway, but that was after watching, while thinking about how it was 9/11 for me that it resonated with.
Delenn's last minute attempt to tell Sinclair what he wanted to know all season: how much do you think would she have told him if he'd made it to her quarters in time?
I mean, presumably everything that Lennier says? I assume that when he didn't come in time, she left instructions with Lennier, but then I don't really understand why he waited so long... well, maybe if he had instructions to tell Sinclair and the time between S1 and S2 was very short, if you see what I mean... but also, maybe she wouldn't have said much at all.
We'll see Sinclair again, but not Catherine, and while she's a minor character in the B5 verse, I have grown fond of her (more so with every rewatch), and to go from seeing her and Sinclair happy together here to never finding out (except in that novel) what happened to her would otherwise have been not a little frustrating to me.
WHAT well okay thanks for telling me, that would have been frustrating to me too.
makes me go even more "awww" on Garibaldi's behalf, declaring his love friendship to Jeff,
Man that was a shippy scene. I thought it was hilariously way more of a love declamation than Sinclair proposing to Catherine.
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You know, now that you mention it, I definitely expected them to stop the assassination, too, the first time around, those were the rules of tv in the 1990s, especially for season finales. On that level, it shocked me on that level. But it didn't viscerally evoke anything without my life time until that point. Kennedy's death was history, the Reagan assassination attempt (which I did remember) was too weird (the one thing I recalled about it was that the wannabe assassin had done it to impress Jodie Foster), and the 1970s and 1980s assassionations of politicians and industrialists by terrorists we had within Germany courtesy of the RAF (not the British one, the Rote Armee Fraktion, aka the Baader Meinhof Group in English) which were vividly present to young me a) never reached the level of a head of state, and b) had a specific political goal very alien to what is associated here.
But for people of JMS' generation, as I said, the Kennedy assassination, and then later the ones of MLK and RFK and Malcolm X) were IT.
Morden is still this ???? to me, now with added mass death. (!)
There's a reason why I dubbed him Londo's Mephistopheles in preceeding reviews. Remember Mephisto's "She's not the first? retort in the scene where Faust has just found out Gretchen is imprisoned and about to be executed?
I've heard enough about Londo that I really hope that he keeps thinking about those ten thousand.
Can't comment on this without spoiling Londo's five years arc, which is one of the best I've ever seen.
When the word "Chrysalis" first came up in Delenn's head I did not think it was going to mean A LITERAL CHRYSALIS. I thought it might be a code name or something!
He. As did we all. I don't think anyone expected this back in the day. The name does work on a metaphorical level for more than Delenn's plot, though, since transformations happen to other regulars, too.
Sinclair: you know now we find out most at the start of s2 via a giant infodump necessitated by the change of leading man, but there's still a key bit missing, which will be unveiled in the s3 two parter which for my money is also Michael O'Hare's greatest performance on the show. I'll tell you then what the novel said happened to Catherine, which btw is a way better fate than what I fear would have happened to her if Michael O'Hare had not been ill and Sinclair had remained the lead. More about this when we reach an s2 episode named "In the Shadow of Z'Ha'dum".
Man that was a shippy scene.
No kidding. Garibaldi's love for Sinclair breaks my heart a little whenever I rewatch the show.
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(He would have, to, if given the option. Which Sinclair knew.)
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Very strange. They'd be missing so much nuance.
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I find them easier to read when sciatica makes it hard to sit down for long.