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selenakAka the one which always makes me cry my heart out and the one building up to it. Also, if The Fall of Centauri Prime is not on your "Best B5 episodes of all time" list, you are wrong.
Movement of Fire and Shadow
Wherein Sheridan finally asks the key strategy question - where's the Centauri goal and strategic benefit in all this? -, while the rest of the Alliance doesn't care, they just want revenge for the raids; emotionally understandable, but still showing the Alliance is far from stable and Sheridan's authority is paper thin. Incidentally, rewatching this episode after 9/11 is a different experience than before, because now I remember various posts demanding to bomb someone "back into the stone age" in retaliation, and the way today a considerable number of people seems to believe that's what the second Iraq War had been about (when it really wasn't).
For an episode building up to a tragedy, this one still has a lot of humor in it, in several of the storylines; Franklin refusing to ask someone about the way and insisting he can read the map is just such a guy thing (I feel for you, Lyta), and of course there's G'Kar's method to provide Londo with a face saving excuse to leave their prison cell, not to mention his earlier sarcasm about the prospect of the Centauri getting indignant on Londo's behalf. It's what makes this show what it is that you get this, the beginning of the bombardment of Centauri Prime and, lest we forget, Lyta making a Drazi shoot himself in the same episode. Speaking of the last one, as in my last rewatch, it strikes me again that after Byron's death, we only see Lyta wearing black (like a certain Psi Cop), and her making the Drazi who attacked her and Franklin shoot himself (instead of just disarming him) is certainly exactly what Bester would have done in a comparable situation. Not to mention the resolve in not providing Our Heroes with any freebies anymore; from now on, she wants to be paid for her help. Though when Vir asked "has she changed" and Franklin confirmed that, I felt tempted to ask, gee, Stephen, I wonder why?
The first time I watched this episode, the reveal that the smarmy Centauri Minister of Defense had, in fact, not been lying to Londo but had spoken the truth in as far as he knew it because other than the poor Regent and the Drakh, the Centauri really did have no clue what was going on, there were no Centauri in those ships and they were completely framed was one of the biggest surprises. When I say "framed", btw, I don't mean "innocent" in the larger sense. Part of the tragedy of Centauri Prime in general and Londo in particular is that the framing would not have worked if the Centauri had not, in fact, shown themselves very guilty indeed in the previous war(s) with the Narn. (Just imagine the Minbari had been the one to get framed in the same way, leaving aside the difference in fire power. Methinks Sheridan would have had an easier time to hold back the Drazi and the Narn from a retaliatory strike at Minbar itself, at least long enough for the key information about those Shadow devices to be discovered.
The conversations between Londo and the Regent in this and the subsequent episode are absolutely heartbreaking. The Regent is one of those minor supporting regulars who has been around for several seasons, first as little more than Centauri Court background noise, then in s4 with two character scenes (when filling in Londo on the rumors about Cartagia, and a few episodes later with "I'm thinking - pastels!"), and now in these two episodes with two scenes he owns, despite Peter Jurasik simultanously being incredible as Londo. It's yet another reason why I love this show so much, because it has time for minor characters like the Regent and doesn't let us forget the individual in all the mass horror going on.
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Like I said, I can never watching this one without crying. One reason why I don't watch it often. But it's perfect, as is Londo's arc culminating in it. If arc tv, which back then was only beginning and now is present far too much, needs just once justification for existing, then Londo Mollari and his story and G'Kar and his story and their shared story are it.
When the dvds were realeased in the early 2000s, yours truly was absolutely furious about the fact this episode of all episodes was shortened in it - for some reason, they cut the opening scene with Londo saving G'Kar during the bombardment, because hey, clearly it's not important that Londo when his worst nightmares about his beloved home planet come true still thinks of saving his past and future nemesis/frenemy/friend first. Grrr. Argh. So I'm very relieved the remastered streaming version has that scene back again. Also, their later exchange about this - "You saved my life while risking yours" - "Bah, you would have done the same" - "Yes, but I am the better person" - is the most G'Kar and Londo thing imaginable. Save, of course, for the Best Scene Ever, about which more in a moment.
First, there's the Regent's death scene, which is so full of sadness and genuine pathos. See above the loving this show and its willingness to care about minor characters. The Regent has a tragic dignity here - "I am still Centauri" - and a self awareness that goes far beyond his last year in hell. "I should have spoken when I remained silent" refers not to the under-the-control-of-the-Drakh days but before.
The Drakh are - or rather, the one Drakh we see is - genuinely scary here in a way they weren't in s4 with the blurry effect when Delenn met them. Granted, this time it's Wayne Alexander under the mask, in his third B5 role (after Jack the Ripper and Lorien), and he does have presence. But it's also the Keeper still being one of those sci fi things that most disturb me - that it turns out to be a body part of the Drakh makes even worse - , and the way takes one of Londo's rare triumphs (over Morden and his "Associates" in s4) and turn it into an instrument of his entrapment. The last time I rewatched this, I remember there was some discussion as to whether Londo should not have chosen to defy the Drakh and sacrifice however many Centauri would have died with them pushing that button since this would still have been better in the long term than the Drakh secretly ruling Centauri Prime and continuing to plague the galaxy this way. Maybe, maybe not, but I don't think Londo, knowing the Drakh would never have come to Centauri Prime in the first place if he hadn't made his Faustian deal with Morden, could have done it. Millions of voices crying his name, indeed. He was wrong, though, he did have a choice, and he choose to take the worst fate imaginable on himself to save as many Centauri as he could in the only way available to him at the time, and he did it with bravery and dignity and love.
There's also some debate as to what the last possibility at redemption Lady Morella predicted was, this or fifteen years later asking G'Kar to kill him; to me, it's definitely this. By the time Londo asks G'Kar to kill him, he's long since stopped fearing death, death will be a mercy, he's only afraid the Keeper will make him ruin this last chance for Centauri Prime if it wakes up before Sheridan and Delenn have escaped. But here, I think watching the Regent's fate, facing the Keeper and the utter and complete horrible powerlessness, with even the control of one's own body taken away, that means being united with that thing means for him - that is Londo's worst fear made form, and that this is his moment of redemption.
(Incidentally: this episode also shows why not killing the one who was dead already - Morden - would have saved him. Morden clearly knew about the Drakh and their Keepers, and if he'd lived beyond the Shadow withdrawal from Z'Ha'dum and realized they were simply living him behind to face the music like a used toy, he might have been either angry enough to warn Londo or eager to bargain with that knowledge.)
Before Londo takes the Keeper, he and G'Kar have The Best Scene Ever. It is a scene which really needed all five seasons to be earned. Which could have gone wrong so many ways, but doesn't. If Londo's "I'm sorry, G'Kar" in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari" in 5.02. was the thing he needed to say, and mean it, for G'Kar it was "I forgive you". Not, and it is really important the episode clarifies this, that G'Kar can or does offer absolution in the name of the Narn, neither to Londo or the Centauri. It would be presumptuous for any one individual to do that, even a Narn who has suffered so much via the Centauri as G'Kar did. But what G'Kar can give is personal forgiveness, from him as a person to Londo as a person, and he gives it freely here, as he could not have done before this point, and now I'm crying again. It's also this scene that makes this heartbreaking episode the opposite of grimdark.
Meanwhile, in the Minbari subplot: "I love you"/"I know" to a far different effect than when Han and Leia had that exchange (both times). The road to hell is really paved with good intentions sometimes. Undoubtedly Delenn means well and thinks she's helping Lennier save face with her instant "nothing did happen!" as soon as it's clear she and Lennier won't die after all, and it's hard to say what a "right" reaction would have been ("so, about what you just said, well, I love you too, just not like that"? I don't think that would have improved matters), but now it's been said out loud, and can't be unsaid.
"What have we lost": oh, Delenn. So much. In two storylines.
Only a month or so after this episode was broadcast for the first time, JMS published a short story about Londo in the aftermath of this episode, "The Shadow of his Thoughts", in "Amazing Stories". (He followed it up with a short story about G'Kar and Spoiler, "Genius Loci", and one titled Space, Time and the Incurable Romantic about Spoiler and Spoiler which We Do Not Talk About. But "The Shadow of his Thoughts" is perfect and better than the entire Centauri trilogy by Peter David, I'm sorry to say. Anyway, when I feel in need of consolation after being put through the emotional wringer by watching the episode, I am rereading the tale, and will do so now. On the non-JMS short story front, here are links to some effort by yours truly which I can now link as I couldn't before, since they contain spoilers for Londo's entire arc:
Not in Words: Being married to Londo Mollari: the life and times of Timov.
Presences: Sandman crossover, in which Londo in the course of his life meets each of the Endless.
White Lies: The story of the four Centauri telepaths who serve the Emperor, and why we didn't see them again after Turhan's death.
The other episodes
Movement of Fire and Shadow
Wherein Sheridan finally asks the key strategy question - where's the Centauri goal and strategic benefit in all this? -, while the rest of the Alliance doesn't care, they just want revenge for the raids; emotionally understandable, but still showing the Alliance is far from stable and Sheridan's authority is paper thin. Incidentally, rewatching this episode after 9/11 is a different experience than before, because now I remember various posts demanding to bomb someone "back into the stone age" in retaliation, and the way today a considerable number of people seems to believe that's what the second Iraq War had been about (when it really wasn't).
For an episode building up to a tragedy, this one still has a lot of humor in it, in several of the storylines; Franklin refusing to ask someone about the way and insisting he can read the map is just such a guy thing (I feel for you, Lyta), and of course there's G'Kar's method to provide Londo with a face saving excuse to leave their prison cell, not to mention his earlier sarcasm about the prospect of the Centauri getting indignant on Londo's behalf. It's what makes this show what it is that you get this, the beginning of the bombardment of Centauri Prime and, lest we forget, Lyta making a Drazi shoot himself in the same episode. Speaking of the last one, as in my last rewatch, it strikes me again that after Byron's death, we only see Lyta wearing black (like a certain Psi Cop), and her making the Drazi who attacked her and Franklin shoot himself (instead of just disarming him) is certainly exactly what Bester would have done in a comparable situation. Not to mention the resolve in not providing Our Heroes with any freebies anymore; from now on, she wants to be paid for her help. Though when Vir asked "has she changed" and Franklin confirmed that, I felt tempted to ask, gee, Stephen, I wonder why?
The first time I watched this episode, the reveal that the smarmy Centauri Minister of Defense had, in fact, not been lying to Londo but had spoken the truth in as far as he knew it because other than the poor Regent and the Drakh, the Centauri really did have no clue what was going on, there were no Centauri in those ships and they were completely framed was one of the biggest surprises. When I say "framed", btw, I don't mean "innocent" in the larger sense. Part of the tragedy of Centauri Prime in general and Londo in particular is that the framing would not have worked if the Centauri had not, in fact, shown themselves very guilty indeed in the previous war(s) with the Narn. (Just imagine the Minbari had been the one to get framed in the same way, leaving aside the difference in fire power. Methinks Sheridan would have had an easier time to hold back the Drazi and the Narn from a retaliatory strike at Minbar itself, at least long enough for the key information about those Shadow devices to be discovered.
The conversations between Londo and the Regent in this and the subsequent episode are absolutely heartbreaking. The Regent is one of those minor supporting regulars who has been around for several seasons, first as little more than Centauri Court background noise, then in s4 with two character scenes (when filling in Londo on the rumors about Cartagia, and a few episodes later with "I'm thinking - pastels!"), and now in these two episodes with two scenes he owns, despite Peter Jurasik simultanously being incredible as Londo. It's yet another reason why I love this show so much, because it has time for minor characters like the Regent and doesn't let us forget the individual in all the mass horror going on.
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Like I said, I can never watching this one without crying. One reason why I don't watch it often. But it's perfect, as is Londo's arc culminating in it. If arc tv, which back then was only beginning and now is present far too much, needs just once justification for existing, then Londo Mollari and his story and G'Kar and his story and their shared story are it.
When the dvds were realeased in the early 2000s, yours truly was absolutely furious about the fact this episode of all episodes was shortened in it - for some reason, they cut the opening scene with Londo saving G'Kar during the bombardment, because hey, clearly it's not important that Londo when his worst nightmares about his beloved home planet come true still thinks of saving his past and future nemesis/frenemy/friend first. Grrr. Argh. So I'm very relieved the remastered streaming version has that scene back again. Also, their later exchange about this - "You saved my life while risking yours" - "Bah, you would have done the same" - "Yes, but I am the better person" - is the most G'Kar and Londo thing imaginable. Save, of course, for the Best Scene Ever, about which more in a moment.
First, there's the Regent's death scene, which is so full of sadness and genuine pathos. See above the loving this show and its willingness to care about minor characters. The Regent has a tragic dignity here - "I am still Centauri" - and a self awareness that goes far beyond his last year in hell. "I should have spoken when I remained silent" refers not to the under-the-control-of-the-Drakh days but before.
The Drakh are - or rather, the one Drakh we see is - genuinely scary here in a way they weren't in s4 with the blurry effect when Delenn met them. Granted, this time it's Wayne Alexander under the mask, in his third B5 role (after Jack the Ripper and Lorien), and he does have presence. But it's also the Keeper still being one of those sci fi things that most disturb me - that it turns out to be a body part of the Drakh makes even worse - , and the way takes one of Londo's rare triumphs (over Morden and his "Associates" in s4) and turn it into an instrument of his entrapment. The last time I rewatched this, I remember there was some discussion as to whether Londo should not have chosen to defy the Drakh and sacrifice however many Centauri would have died with them pushing that button since this would still have been better in the long term than the Drakh secretly ruling Centauri Prime and continuing to plague the galaxy this way. Maybe, maybe not, but I don't think Londo, knowing the Drakh would never have come to Centauri Prime in the first place if he hadn't made his Faustian deal with Morden, could have done it. Millions of voices crying his name, indeed. He was wrong, though, he did have a choice, and he choose to take the worst fate imaginable on himself to save as many Centauri as he could in the only way available to him at the time, and he did it with bravery and dignity and love.
There's also some debate as to what the last possibility at redemption Lady Morella predicted was, this or fifteen years later asking G'Kar to kill him; to me, it's definitely this. By the time Londo asks G'Kar to kill him, he's long since stopped fearing death, death will be a mercy, he's only afraid the Keeper will make him ruin this last chance for Centauri Prime if it wakes up before Sheridan and Delenn have escaped. But here, I think watching the Regent's fate, facing the Keeper and the utter and complete horrible powerlessness, with even the control of one's own body taken away, that means being united with that thing means for him - that is Londo's worst fear made form, and that this is his moment of redemption.
(Incidentally: this episode also shows why not killing the one who was dead already - Morden - would have saved him. Morden clearly knew about the Drakh and their Keepers, and if he'd lived beyond the Shadow withdrawal from Z'Ha'dum and realized they were simply living him behind to face the music like a used toy, he might have been either angry enough to warn Londo or eager to bargain with that knowledge.)
Before Londo takes the Keeper, he and G'Kar have The Best Scene Ever. It is a scene which really needed all five seasons to be earned. Which could have gone wrong so many ways, but doesn't. If Londo's "I'm sorry, G'Kar" in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari" in 5.02. was the thing he needed to say, and mean it, for G'Kar it was "I forgive you". Not, and it is really important the episode clarifies this, that G'Kar can or does offer absolution in the name of the Narn, neither to Londo or the Centauri. It would be presumptuous for any one individual to do that, even a Narn who has suffered so much via the Centauri as G'Kar did. But what G'Kar can give is personal forgiveness, from him as a person to Londo as a person, and he gives it freely here, as he could not have done before this point, and now I'm crying again. It's also this scene that makes this heartbreaking episode the opposite of grimdark.
Meanwhile, in the Minbari subplot: "I love you"/"I know" to a far different effect than when Han and Leia had that exchange (both times). The road to hell is really paved with good intentions sometimes. Undoubtedly Delenn means well and thinks she's helping Lennier save face with her instant "nothing did happen!" as soon as it's clear she and Lennier won't die after all, and it's hard to say what a "right" reaction would have been ("so, about what you just said, well, I love you too, just not like that"? I don't think that would have improved matters), but now it's been said out loud, and can't be unsaid.
"What have we lost": oh, Delenn. So much. In two storylines.
Only a month or so after this episode was broadcast for the first time, JMS published a short story about Londo in the aftermath of this episode, "The Shadow of his Thoughts", in "Amazing Stories". (He followed it up with a short story about G'Kar and Spoiler, "Genius Loci", and one titled Space, Time and the Incurable Romantic about Spoiler and Spoiler which We Do Not Talk About. But "The Shadow of his Thoughts" is perfect and better than the entire Centauri trilogy by Peter David, I'm sorry to say. Anyway, when I feel in need of consolation after being put through the emotional wringer by watching the episode, I am rereading the tale, and will do so now. On the non-JMS short story front, here are links to some effort by yours truly which I can now link as I couldn't before, since they contain spoilers for Londo's entire arc:
Not in Words: Being married to Londo Mollari: the life and times of Timov.
Presences: Sandman crossover, in which Londo in the course of his life meets each of the Endless.
White Lies: The story of the four Centauri telepaths who serve the Emperor, and why we didn't see them again after Turhan's death.
The other episodes
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 12:41 am (UTC)I've given Delenn/Sheridan a lot of stick in these posts but Sheridan has improved somewhat in the "I have to ask you to do this but don't want to" scene.
Drazi are real dicks. I seem to be remember they were more played for laughs previous but this season they've just been really nasty. (Also of course we had to see there home world more than once now the cgi/sets have done for it)
And finally Robin Sachs' Narn general. He seems quite subdued even reasonable at first and then goes along with the Drazi and his justification to Sheridan... wow.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 03:21 am (UTC)Yes! I did like that part, that was more what I think a functional-but-also-political marriage ought to look like!
I seem to be remember they were more played for laughs previous but this season they've just been really nasty.
It was a Drazi warship that took the hit meant for Sheridan and Delenn in the last battle of the Shadow-Vorlon war. (I, uh, was looking that up recently for Unrelated Reasons.) So they were key in that part of the alliance-with-a-lower-case-a. But yeah, not so great this season.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 03:16 am (UTC)Wherein Sheridan finally asks the key strategy question - where's the Centauri goal and strategic benefit in all this?
I honestly was not asking that question (at least before you brought it up last week), and I kind of admire Sheridan for it -- I feel like I've given him a lot of flak for being a terrible Alliance President, but when it turns into a military issue he really does get things that other characters don't.
Though when Vir asked "has she changed" and Franklin confirmed that, I felt tempted to ask, gee, Stephen, I wonder why?
I've, uh, now watched the two episodes following this one, and Stephen does seem to have a grasp on this!
the reveal that the smarmy Centauri Minister of Defense had, in fact, not been lying to Londo but had spoken the truth in as far as he knew it
I was REALLY not expecting that. I was sure he knew what was going on!
"I'm thinking - pastels!"
:(((((( It's so sad to think of this in conjunction with what we see in these episodes. I don't know how to write this for him, but I want an AU where the poor Regent gets his pastels and none of the horror :(
for some reason, they cut the opening scene with Londo saving G'Kar during the bombardment
WHAT but that scene was so good!
"You saved my life while risking yours" - "Bah, you would have done the same" - "Yes, but I am the better person"
AHAHAHAHA this was awesome!
The Regent has a tragic dignity here - "I am still Centauri" - and a self awareness that goes far beyond his last year in hell. "I should have spoken when I remained silent"
THE REGENT. :((((( He is the best and his scene with Londo was the best and :(
The Keeper has always been just totally horrible to me, and what we additionally see of it here (and like you say it being a body part of the Drakh *shudder*) is just... The way Londo faces it head-on, that's just possibly the most courageous moment of a show that has had a lot of them <3333 :(((((
There's also some debate as to what the last possibility at redemption Lady Morella predicted was, this or fifteen years later asking G'Kar to kill him; to me, it's definitely this.
OH. I'd totally forgotten about Lady Morella's prophecy! LONDO :((((((
(Incidentally: this episode also shows why not killing the one who was dead already - Morden - would have saved him. Morden clearly knew about the Drakh and their Keepers, and if he'd lived beyond the Shadow withdrawal from Z'Ha'dum and realized they were simply living him behind to face the music like a used toy, he might have been either angry enough to warn Londo or eager to bargain with that knowledge.)
I didn't think of this (see also, have totally forgotten about the prophecy at this point) and this makes so much sense! Has anyone written a Three Things (two things?) where Londo takes his other chances at redemption?
But what G'Kar can give is personal forgiveness, from him as a person to Londo as a person, and he gives it freely here, as he could not have done before this point
<3333333333333333333333
it's hard to say what a "right" reaction would have been
I actually am NOT saying OH DELENN NO here! She did exactly what she was supposed to do which was to make it clear to Lennier that she Does Not See Him That Way And Takes Her Vows Seriously (I guess she maybe didn't take a vow that said she wouldn't go behind Sheridan's back when politics were concerned?? but I digress) but cares about him a lot, no weird inappropriate face cupping (I think taking his hands is fine considering they both thought they had been about to die AND given all the rest of her spoken and body language is not encouraging) or trying to use his emotions against him. I'll just say, she should have done this much earlier in the season because it's way rougher on Lennier now than it would have been then. (I would not be surprised if at this point he thought his feelings for Delenn were mutual! I sure thought they were mutual!) I still don't know what he does as of this writing that you've hinted at (I'm pretty sure I haven't seen it yet, whatever it is) but gosh I seriously feel like my sympathy will be with Lennier even if it's awful, that poor kid has gotten beat up emotionally for the last two years of show time.
(the shipper in me is kiiiiind of "but you should have kissed anyway, I would have said OH DELENN NO a lot more but it would have been hot") (I don't actually think they should have done that, it was much much better this way and still a ton of UST, and gosh THAT would REALLY have messed Lennier up)
Is this IT for Londo?? Is that the end of his story?! He became Emperor... and has the Keeper... and we know what the ending of THAT is... :(( Is that all there is? Don't get me wrong, it's an epic tragedy :((((((( But I thought we'd get to say goodbye in some more definitive way?
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 06:38 am (UTC)Oh absolutely.
I was REALLY not expecting that. I was sure he knew what was going on!
We all were. At least I haven’t yet met someone who saw that coming.
Happy AUs for the Regent: I’ll have to look it up, I feel like Amatara or Avelera might have written a Regent centric story, but I’m not sure even whether it was an AU.
WHAT but that scene was so good!
I know, and I was incredibly frustrated back in the dvd first release day, hugged my old video tape to my chest and shook my fist at whoever was responsible for that (not JMS).
The way Londo faces it head-on, that's just possibly the most courageous moment of a show that has had a lot of them <3333 :(((((
*cries again*
Has anyone written a Three Things (two things?) where Londo takes his other chances at redemption
Since Lady Morella said two opportunities have already passed (since this is a mid s3 episode when she says it, I’m assuming one was when Refa told Londo to come along for the final bombardment of Narn and Londo did not protest, and one was earlier Urza’s death, or rather, Urza coming to the station - if Londo had broken with Refa then and formed a end-the-war-now party with Urza as Urza asked, etc. ), you could actually make it a five. If you wanted to write it, I’m just saying.
I actually am NOT saying OH DELENN NO here!
Now there’s a first. :) But understandable. Like I said, once it was clear they wouldn’t die there was no way she could have responded (short of telling him she’d divorce Sheridan and swearing her eternal love) that would have resulted in Lennier being happy about it, and she tried to be both kind and definite here.
Is this IT for Londo?? Is that the end of his story?!
Basically yes. He has one more scene on screen in the show, but it’s not about him, and there’s a very moving elegy of sorts from Vir about Londo in the series finale, but that’s it. In terms of additional canonical material not in the series itself, Londo is also in the movie prequel In the Beginning about the Earth/Minbari war, both as a minor character in the Earth/Minbari tale itself and as the narrator. The framing narration being that Old Londo, on the last day of his life (before time travelling Sheridan arrives) tells this story to some of Urza’s grandchildren who live in the Royal Palace. The Old Londo scenes are very touching - and as always with Londo very quotable - but they don’t anything we didn’t know before to how his life will end. And there is the JMS short story about Londo a short time post Fall of Centauri Prime, which is wonderful. (And actually manages to provide Londo with some hope, giving an indication of how he will make it through his fifteen years of hell.)
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-01 05:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 12:36 pm (UTC)Also, oh Delenn. She does get it right here, finally, and far too late. I don't really like the Lennier arc all that much, but it does a really great job of showing yet another way the failure of intention and ambition can muck things up - we get this on both a grand scale and such a personal one all through the show, and this episode especially in so many ways.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 03:00 pm (UTC)S5 has its flaws, I think no one is denying that, but as you say, the strengths make up for them, and only with this arc concluded could the show conclude on the magnificent level it did.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-31 07:59 am (UTC)