Chrysalis

Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri

Well, well, well, where to start? This was the season-ender episode (hence the actual picture above, instead of my more traditional links to pictures; it's a special occasion), and it had a LOT going on. A lot of VERY big stuff happened here, if you haven't yet gotten this far in watching the B5 episodes, TURN BACK NOW!!
There were several plots going on at once, let me see if I can even remember all of them...
First, the main plot, which involves poor Garibaldi getting shot in the back (literally) by his aide who he THOUGHT was his friend, (he's that dark-haired young guy with the buggy eyes that has been in about 4 other episodes) while trying to investigate a conspiracy. He succeeds in his investigating--he finds out that the President is going to be killed and manages to tell Sinclair that before passing out from the pain of his wounds--but he does NOT, unfortunately, succeed in actually SAVING the President. Despite all their best efforts, Earth Force One blows up right in front of everyone's eyes, live, on ISN. The reporter lady (I like her, by the way, she's cool) gets this totally SHOCKED look on her face and everyone is absolutely stunned. Great acting from everyone in this scene. Even that poor little Swedish tech woman turned away and started crying! Oh, dear...
And PRESIDENT William Morgan Clark is sworn in. May the gods have mercy on their souls...
This was a great plotline, (even if I COULD tell that Garibaldi's No-Name Aide Dude was on the wrong side from the very BEGINNING of the cargo bay conversation), but other than that, it was startling, well-acted, full of intrigue, and tragic. Great job.
Next plot: Londo is having a "problem" with Sector 37--the Narns, of course. They used to just patrol the borders of Centauri space; now they are storming across those borders. The Centauri government would LIKE to do something about it or so they say, but they can't seem to get off their lazy little butts. Londo is worried about it but does not know what he can do, and G'Kar seems to be besting him in the council meetings, when he gets a call from...Mr. Morden, who finally says his name for the first time. (He never said it in "Signs and Portents", but I was so busy recognising him and going "OH MY GOD, IT'S STARTING ALREADY" to notice that!) And like it or not, they start to dance their deadly little dance...(metaphorically speaking; Londo isn't that kind of a boy and Morden, I'm sure, would have better TASTE!)
Londo tells him about his problem, and Morden says that he and his..."associates" (first use of that infamous word) will "take care of it" for him.
Oh, they take care of it, all right. In a wonderfully CREEPY scene, practically invisible spidery black slimy-looking ships just...APPEAR out of nowhere and reduce the ENTIRE Narn base to ashes. Including the planet. As Na'Toth says, "Our base is...gone."
Londo, showing that he is NOT just a plain ol' bad guy as those turning in to the later seasons only might guess, is absolutely SHOCKED. Morden is casual and calm about the deaths of 10,000 Narns, and says that even 10 MILLION wouldn't be that big of a deal, but Londo is scared, disgusted, and deeply saddened. His reaction proves that he does indeed have a conscience.
This plotline was great on many levels. One--it starts up the whole Centauri/Shadow thing, BIG time, Two--it shows us more depth and emotion from Londo's character, Three--it has some great subtle symbolism. For example, Mr. Morden is tricky, convoluted, and definitely NOT what he seems, and WHERE does he choose to meet Londo, every single time?
A MAZE! Wonderful.
And last but not least, some GREAT lines. The "I'm being nibbled to death by CATS!" sequence, plus Vir got some great sarcastic zingers in. "Oh, it's just that for a moment I thought I had entered an alternate universe or something", he says when Londo tells him that HE, personally, is going to handle Sector 37 all by himself.
And, last but DEFINITELY not least, Delenn finally finishes building the crystal structure thingie that she's been working on since "Signs and Portents". The REALLY startling thing is that she WAS willing to tell Sinclair WHY he had been taken aboard the Grey Council ship during the Battle of the Line--in other words, she was FINALLY going to help him fill that "hole in his mind", GIVE him the information that she was supposed to KILL him if he found out! But Sinclair waited too long and she was already in the Chrysalis. Argh. Don't TEASE us like that, Straczynski, you...you...YOU!
And just WHAT was that whole deal with her and with Kosh? What was the question she had Lennier relay? What did Kosh show her? (His real self, presumably...?) And why was she so easily able to breathe the air in his quarters? Hmmn...
As a last note on the subject, Lennier's standing there, holding a candlelight vigil, with REAL tears running down his face (let me tell you, I am starting to get more and more impressed by Bill Mumy as an actor), was so touching it made ME cloud up.
This episode had two themes running through it. The first, more obvious one, was of death/change/rebirth, as people died, got ready to change, left, or got promoted. But the OTHER theme--and I don't know if it's important or not--notice that now almost everything is being run by second-in-commands! No, seriously! Just look at this list:
1. G'Kar leaves to investigate the attack on the Narn base, leaving Na'Toth as the temporary Ambassador of the Narn regime.
2. Garibaldi is shot and his slimy aide, who DID the shooting, is now in charge of Station Security and pretending to be so "sad" about his condition.
3. Lennier is also, by default, now the Minbari Ambassador, until Delenn gets done...cooking...
4. And after Luis Santiago snuffs it, his former Vice President, William Morgan Clark, is sworn in as President. (Another interesting side-note--Presidential terms are now FIVE years each? When did THAT happen?)
The episode ends with Sinclair saying that "nothing's the same anymore", while, ironically, being in EXACTLY the same scene that STARTED the episode--sitting in a chair in his quarters, stroking the hair of Catherine Sakai (who he also proposed to, whoops, should have mentioned that earlier!) While he's SAYING "nothing's the same", the two characters are in EXACTLY the same poses as the beginning scene and even wearing the same clothes! Another very clever piece of visual irony.
Everyone did some great acting here, especially Michael O'Hare and Peter Jurasik (well, with HIM, it's a given...) Sinclair looked really, honestly, SCARED when he was trying to propose to Catherine Sakai! Wonderful moment.
Another thing--they gave almost EVERY character something to do in this one, even some of the more memorable background and recurring people! Not only were ALL the main characters in this one, but even people like the ISN News Lady, the "Tech #1", Na'Toth, Lennier, Vir, and Morden were in this one! The only problem is--Talia wasn't here. And she's one of the main ones. Oh, well, still, other than that, it was very nicely inclusive.
President Clark, Delenn in a chrysalis, Londo working with Shadows whether he wants to or not.
And so it begins...

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