Revelations
Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri
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Okay...what to say about this episode. First of all, you must understand that due to my IDIOT V.C.R. eating my tape at the last minute, which caused me to have to switch over to our second V.C.R. in desperation and then wait while it re-scanned all the channels, I completely MISSED the teaser of this episode. So this review will have to be based off of incomplete information.
What I DID see...well, there were several seperate plot-lets going on, some of whom end up being connected to each other but I can't say much here. There was Captain Sheridan's sister coming on board and his still mourning over Anna, there was the thing with Garibaldi, Franklin, Sheridan, that alien healing device again, and Garibaldi's slimebucket aide, there was the thing with G'Kar figuring out that it was "the great enemy described by G'Quan" that attacked the outpost in Sector 37, Londo giving out information to Morden and getting himself FURTHER into trouble...and, last but not least, Delenn COMES OUT OF HER SHELL! Literally.
Sheesh, hope I didn't forget something...
You would expect an episode with so many things going on at once to be disjointed and weird, but it somehow hangs together and makes sense. Let's analyze each of those plot-lets I listed above, in turn:
THE SHERIDANS: This plot-let turns out to be VERY important later, and also to tie in with at least one if not two of the others, but I can't say which or how here for fear of spoilers. I thought it was slow-moving, but it did give out a LOT of important character information. We first hear about Anna Sheridan and the infamous last voyage of the Icarus, to explore the ruins of "some ancient alien civilisation that no-one's even heard of"...It was a bit drippy in places, but Bruce Boxleitner did a good acting job and when he touched the screen while watching Anna's last message to his sister and he said, "I love you, Anna"--like he MEANT to, right before she left, but forgot--I almost cried myself.
Okay, next up--the whole Garibaldi plotline. Well, it was okay. I liked the fact that they remembered they HAD the alien healing device and used it again. And this bit will be important again later on in the arc--VERY important. I can't say any more because of spoilers, but let's just say that the line about "What would happen if you passed out while you were hooked up to this thing--would it just keep draining your life force until you died?"--will come back to haunt us...
Yes, I recognised the salute and phrase "Be seeing you" as being like Bester the insant I saw it! Does this mean that his creepy aide was an undercover telepath? Wouldn't Talia have sensed it if he was? Exactly WHAT is the government's relationship with Psi Corps? And notice that instead of being killed, his aide just...conveniently disappeared...
Okay, now for the whole Narn plotline. It was nice getting to see a bit of the new Na'Toth in action. Mary Kay Adams' voice is a bit too soft but I remain confident that she can do the part well, after all, she makes a WONDERFUL lady Klingon. G'Kar got some wonderfully ominous lines. "Weep for the future, Na'Toth", he says from out of the reddish-tinted gloom of his quarters. "Weep for us all." And we get to hear the word "Za'ha'dum" for the first time, and to see one of those really funky Narn warships for the first time, and to see the Shadows kick their butt! Heh.
And Londo. Londo, Londo, Londo, when will you learn that if you see Morden coming, you should RUN AWAY?! That "little favour" that he asked of you, to tell him if he heard of anything strange happening on the Rim, just pulled you another step down the path of darkness and killed many Narns in the process...Oh, dear, Londo...
(The irony of Morden saying "I can honestly tell you, beyond the SHADOW of a doubt", was not lost on me at all, either...)
And as for Delenn--GODS they were having fun at our expense with that! First the cocoon is mysteriously empty and she's crawling around weakly in a robe, then we have one of Garibaldi's guys trick his slimy aide into coming out the door by saying "You gotta see this! Ambassador Delenn is out of her cocoon and she's got WINGS just like a butterfly!", then she groans with pain while Franklin PEELS GREY SCALES OFF HER ARM, (ew!) Then, FINALLY, the grand entrance, at the end of the episode. Robed and hooded to the last second, she strides into the council chamber, pulls back the hood, and...
SHE HAS HAIR!
She has, she explains, somehow changed herself into a half-Human, half-Minbari form to better make a bridge between their two races and help prevent another war from ever happening, and says that it also has something to do with Ambassador Sinclair.
What she doesn't mention is HOW she did this...or exactly WHAT Sinclair has to do with it...or Kosh for that matter, the prophecy, souls switching bodies--or exactly how FAR the change goes. Skin deep, or...?
All in all, a pretty good episode that manages to have action and a lot of character development both, some surprises, and a LOT of stuff that will be important to the arc later. Watch this one CAREFULLY.
And until Monday...be seeing you!
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