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Babylon 5 Rewatch: No Compromises/ The very long night of Londo Mollari
No Compromises
While I'm never quite sure which of the five versions of the credits I prefer, I have to say the opening montage of the s5 sequence, summing up the series, makes me melt into fannish goo.
As season openers go, the episode itself is okay. I wasn't keen on a "lone assassin" plot when the show did it in s3, and I'm not any more now, but it's not badly done by itself, and also provides the excuse for a couple of neat scenes like G'Kar's eventual version of the oath of office. Methinks more heads of state should be sworn in just by being asked "Do you want to be President/Chancellor/Prime Minister?" "Yes.", and leave at that. Saves time and money, I say. The declaration of principles, or what we hear of it, is touching. Now, two decades ago, I remember
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hobsonphile referring to G'Kar as "the Thomas Jefferson of the Alliance" for this (i.e. that he's the one who drafts said declaration, and ever since, I can't watch the scene where Sheridan asks him without wanting someone to filk "But, Mr. Adams" from "1776" for it.No Compromises introduces two important new characters, Captain Elizabeth Lochley and Byron (Gordon, but we won't learn his last name until a few episodes later - since it's not a big spoiler and actually taken from George Gordon, Lord Byron, I feel free to mention it here). Lochley was resented primarily for not being Ivanova, aka the replacement goldfish syndrome. Byron, otoh, has the dubious honor of competing with Warren Keefer (aka the s2 pilot imposed on JMS by the network) for most disliked B5 character, full stop. (Err, among the characters who aren't meant to be disliked a la Clark or Shakiri.) Now, I like Lochley, though I agree with a self critical JMS that her character doesn't really get fleshed out until the Neil Gaiman episode Day of the Dead. Byron, otoh, I loathed with much of the rest of fandom. (In earlier years, I would have written "all", but since then I actually met a living, breathing Byron fan and saw two others online.) On this rewatch, I was curious to see whether I would still feel the same way. First result: in this particular episode, he does not yet evoke instinctive eyerolling and booing in me. Actually, given that one of the primary complaints about the new LotR show is the lack of long haired elves, I wondered whether one of Byron's most mocked attributes back in the day, his long and always well coiffured hair (not likely for a refuge, but such is tv), would work to his advantage if the show premiered these days. Anyway, Byron: I think one problem is that he's supposed to be incredibly charismatic and the actor just can't convey that, but in his first episode, that's not yet a problem.
What is a problem is that Sheridan first tells Lochley that station business falls under her authority and political business under his, and then decides thath offering telepaths B5 space isn't station business, it's political business. OTOH, what he doesn't do is making an actual political move to change the situation for telepaths on Earth which is at the root of this. Note that apparantly, freedom for Mars was on the wish list Luchenko was presented with. Equal rights for telepaths was not. Or even a commission looking into their situation. Instead, Sheridan continues to think like a military man, i.e. Psi Corps bad, we need some "good" telepaths of our own to fight the bad telepaths when the inevitable telepath war happens. So he not only overrides Lochley after he just promised not to and she is still in the process of establishing her authority on the station as a newcomer, he also shows himself completely clueless about what the new fact he's just created (rogue telepaths officially on B5, a station still run by an Earthforce Captain who has to follow Earth law) will necessitate and how to deal with the telepath situation in the long term. In short, we get our first example that Sheridan may be a brilliant leader, but he's really anything but brilliant as a President, and what used to frustrate me so much in the past was that the narrative refuses to acknowledge this.
The Lochley/Garibaldi antagonism set up here gets an excellent emotional pay off eventually, and it works for me both in that Garibaldi very noticably seems to feel he needs to prove his loyalty (and save Sheridan's life repeatedly) 100% all the time after last year's trauma, and that Lochley would see in him spoiler spoiler spoiler. What I do regret is that the show after this episode's set up never quite uses the chance to explore via Lochley, a main character in s5, what it had been to be on the "other side" without being a Clark fan as much as I wanted it to. As I mentioned in the spoilery space of my "No Surrender, No Retreat" review and now can mention without spoilery space, that particular s4 episode would have been an ideal way to introduce Lochley inconspiciously as one of the captains neither firing on civilians nor siding with Sheridan, but as JMS did not yet know he'd get a fifth season, I mean that not as a critique but as wistful "might have been".
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
Which is one of my all time favourite episodes, both of the show in general and of that weird subgenre which seemed to be everyone at one point in the later 1990s - the episode that mainly (or exclusively) takes place in the head of one of the main characters. While not as anarchicly inventive as Farscape's Won't Get Fooled Again and miles better than Distant Voices in DS9, this take on the trope, as opposed to, say, Normal Again in BtVS (which is beautifully played but doesn't impact Buffy's character development) to me is so good because it does something which was really necessary: confront Londo with the full enormity of what he's done, and in a way that answers "does he regret only because, as Head!G'Kar puts it, he got caught, he inadvertendly almost got Centauri Prime destroyed, or does he regret his dees, full stop, and acknowledges full responsibility?"
I've seen this episode quite often, and I'm impressed every time, both by the big moments, main themes, and the tiny details, such as the indications Londo's subconscious transforms what people in the "real" world are saying in his earshot, such as Delenn's "almost certainly not!" (in reply to Sheridan's "if there's anything I can do" re: the Lennier situation) to a reply to Londo asking Head!Delenn whether anyone on Centauri Prime would really regret his demise if he died now. Or the way Head!Sheridan's outfit keeps changing, showing both the past (Sheridan in Earth Force uniform, in a shirt as he was during the big Earth breakup episodes, in the new B5 uniforms created by the Minbari) and the future (Sheridan in ranger gear, which is not something he's worn on the show yet, and then Sheridan transforming into a light creature as the future!humans did at the end of Deconstruction of Falling Stars), thus providing additional fodder for my headcanon that Londo has a bit more than the avarage Centauri precognition. It's also intriguing that he sees Delenn as a prophetess/soothsayer (the equivalent of Lady Morella), yet dresses her in black (which for humans associates widow's weeds, but not for Centauri or Minbari - it is, however, associative of Londo himself switching from purple to black in his clothing choices from s2 onwards).
But most of all, I love what those scenes in Londo's subconscious say about his relationships with Vir, G'Kar and with his own conscience. If you've ever wondered whether the fact Vir remained with him truly made a difference to Londo before the plot against Cartagia, wonder no more. The discussion between Londo and Head!Vir not only answers a few questions as to how much the Centauri ability to dream of their deaths is seen as predestination by them (as head!Vir says, "prophecy is a guess which comes true" and that if it doesn't, it remains a metaphor, so if Londo died tomorrow, his death dream would be just this, a metaphor), but it shows Londo finding the strength to finally turn around, face his past/G'Kar via Vir. The reply to his question whether it wouldn't be better to die now than to endure the fate he dreams of and has feared for so long is that Vir would miss him, and that, in the end, makes him want to live and to face his responsiibilities. "Londo lives for Vir" is how strong their relationship has become.
But while Vir can give Londo the strength to face his deeds, it does have to be (head!) G'Kar who strips away the excuses, just as it has to be G'Kar to whom Londo finally voices his "I'm sorry" (and not just in the dream but after waking up, thus finally fulfilling Emperor Turhan's statement to Franklin that there won't be hope for the Centauri until the Emperor of the Centauri tells a Narn on this station "I'm sorry"). What Londo's mind/soul/subconscious picks from his many deeds is also telling:
1) The bombardment of the Narn Homeworld with mass drivers. (Let me add that I assume this stands in for the entire second occupation as well.) This is something Londo may not have ordered, but which he went along with and thus supported, and there's a reason why the clip of his face watching this remained in the ever changing credits through several seasons. It's also something that concerns all the Narn, not just an individual.
2.) G'Kar's torture by Cartagia. This, otoh, is something that's strictly about G'Kar. And yes, Londo in this particular event was already working towards getting rid of Cartagia, and protesting would not have helped, but that's not the point. The event is standing in, I would say, for all of Londo's behaviour towards G'Kar, and that Londo feels guilty about this inside instead of justifying it to himself as he justified it to other people by saying it's just politics, G'Kar is the representative of his people's enemy, etc. is pretty telling about how intensely personal their relationship is and always has been for them.
Note that neither event is about the Centauri. Obviously, Londo WAS shocked about what Cartagia meant for the Centauri when meeting him at the start of s4, knowing Cartagia would not be on the throne without Refa and himself, but he didn't need a heart attack to make him see that, and he's dealt with it. And that neither event is about the Centauri does answer the question as to whether Londo's regrets are solely caused by his awareness he nearly destroyed Centauri Prime by his ambitions, or whether he feels guilty for what his deeds meant to the Narn as well.
Trivia: Andreas Katsulas has great fun playing G'Kar playing Cartagia, wouldn't you say? I can see why they didn't get Worthan Krimmer back for just this scene and used clips from the s4 episode plus the new footage, and honestly, I don't wish it another way.
On to the Minbari subplot. "On Minbar, three are sacred." On the one hand, this statement of Delenn's - which is meant entirely seriously, unlike Sheridan's attempt at a joke afterwards - could mean the Minbari partnershipi arrangements are not necessarily limited to a pairing of two, and some fanfiction ran with that assumption. Otoh, Lennier definitely doesn't seem to believe he could join Delenn and Sheridan in a marraige, that this is an option. Though I suppose you could handwave that aside by saying Lennier is aware Sheridan wouldn't go for it and would insist on a human style marriage of two.
In any event, as of this episode, it is canon that Delenn does know how Lennier feels about her. That she still wants to keep him at her side, while it is Lennier who tries the long distance solution, either means she does think living as three is an option or that she thinks he'll work through it. Most definitely, it means she does not want to be without Lennier in her life. Self centred? Probably. Betraying an emotional need that is not satisfied by her relationship with Sheridan alone? Possibly. If Marcus was Galahad, Lennier is Lancelot. Delenn isn't Guinevere in that B5 does not do adultery as a storyline, but she is the Queen who wants to keep her knight.
The other episodes
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Yes, Sheridan is an excellent military leader but a terrible political one.
Has the terrible thing (no, the other, other, other terrible thing) that happens to Mollari happened yet (sorry for the vagueness) - because it makes the bit about him living for Vir even truer.
I wonder how much of Delenn not realising that this is torment for Lennier (other than what you say about her and Dukhat below) is her wanting to keep a link to back home.