The Long Night

Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri

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Now THIS is what Babylon 5 was meant to be. And I'm not JUST saying this because of the wonderful Centauri parts (I mean, hey, they DID kill off my very favourite villain after only five fraggin' episodes!), although of course they are what makes it truly shine for me. The "Army of Light" part, was quite good too in a different way. Let's start off with that.
Sheridan wanted "the biggest fleet in history" and it looks like he just might get it. The swarms of ships that are surrounding the station all the different races working together for the first time, is both a heartening sight and a somber one--a grim reminder that the big battle is getting uncomfortably close. The scene with Sheridan and Ivanova was very touching (although I wish she could have come up with some OTHER "story" to tell him rather than about her mother again, okay, okay, yes, it was very tragic BUT WE'VE HEARD IT ALREADY!), and the part at the end where Sheridan told her what a good friend she's been all this time truly did have the ring of two old comrades-in-arms saying good-bye for what may be the very last time.
On to the meeting in the War Council with the different Ambassadors--I felt sorry for poor Lennier! Can't that boy EVER get a word in edgewise? Listen to the little Minbari, people! Sheesh. And the Shadow planet-killers--yikes. Rip the planet apart from the inside. Sounds kinda like their tactics against races too--forment civil wars, etc...
It's a bold but appropriate strategy--trick the Vorlons and Shadows into meeting at the same place. If they wanna fight each OTHER, then let them fight EACH OTHER. Leave us OUT of it! The meeting place, Coriana 6, has over 6 billion people, but the Vorlons seem perfectly willing to attack it. So much for Centauri Prime, which has only 3 billion, being safe...
A word here about Ranger Ericsson--not that I didn't like the guy (he was okay) but...I dunno, I don't think his story had enough time to be set up properly for us to feel sorry for him when he died. It was OBVIOUS from the beginning that he was a "you're-it", a redshirt, so to speak. Yes, he died "doing something brave, and noble, and futile" (as Londo said in "A Voice in the Wilderness"), and it was sad, but I just didn't feel the slightest bit weepy. I felt much more sorry for poor Vir...and he wasn't even physically hurt! But I'll get to that in a moment.
And the final shot of the fleet moving into position--GORGEOUS, with Sheridan's voice over reciting the poem that SINCLAIR had left for him--"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."...very moving indeed.
Well, that's all I can say on that plotline as it was basically pretty simple. Now onto the real meat of the episode, something we can sink our fangs into (or ordinary teeth for you wussy non-carnivorous species), the Centauri plotting and scheming.
Which is actually taking place on NARN, not Centauri Prime. The replica of the throne room that we saw being set up earlier in "And the Rock Cried Out..." is being put to good use here, as Cartagia and his flunkies whoop it up underground. I have a couple of comments about this scene--first of all, we now have Cartagia calling LONDO away from the window (remember Londo did that to him in "The Hour of the Wolf"), what's up with that? Let people look out the dang windows if they want to! Erm...where was I, oh, yes. Londo sounded rather...hopeful...when he asked if Cartagia would be ON Centauri Prime when the Vorlons got there. Cartagia gives him this absolutely precious look like "How crazy do you think I AM?!" and explains how Londo, as his "High Priest" and he will watch from a DISTANCE. I love the extremely casual way Cartagia lounges on his throne, it's just sooooooo decadent, even for a Centauri--and that's SAYING something. And the bit where he stops and STARES at the court jester while the entire room FREEZES, paralyzed with fear, and you can see some members of the court actually SHAKING, was great. Then we're done partying and onto some very serious stuff with Londo and G'Kar.
As Londo comes into G'Kar's cell, he sees his missing eye for the first time and you can tell that he's genuinely shocked, hurt even. He tells G'Kar about how his chains have been weakened. But the really important part here is the deep character development. "An empty eye sees through to an empty heart." says G'Kar. "Your heart is empty, Mollari. Did you know that?"
And I truly believe that the little pause Londo put in between "I know..." and "...that your heart will be dead, soon." means something--yes, he KNOWS that his "heart is empty" (although I don't believe it; if he had no goodness in him at all, he'd simply, for example, not set Narn free afterwards and go against his word.) but being Londo, attempted to make a rather dark joke out of it at the end. Sigh...
Then we have Cartagia casually killing the poor little jester that he was cavorting about the room with earlier ("Humour...is such a subjective thing, don't you think Mollari?") and we realise yet again that this monster does indeed have to die. Cut to an absolutely adorable "bonding" scene with Londo and Vir.
Vir's babbling protest of how he doesn't know if he's INCAPABLE of doing anything really subversive was funny but also a bit of foreshadowing. (Of course, my family, being who they are, had to react to a total throwaway line in this scene--when Vir hands Londo the box with the poison needle and Londo says, "They always over-wrap these things, you have to be a magician to open it!" I got a LOT of sideways glances and nudges 'cos it still isn't all that far from Christmas, and everyone I gave presents to is STILL waiting for their fingernails to recover from MY infamous over-wrapping jobs...my motto is, "Leave no corner un-taped.") This is where I think we first learn about Centauri having two hearts, (although we did hear Dr. Franklin talk about losing a Centauri patient to "bi-cardial seperation" earlier but that was never explained). The BEST part of this scene however was their little dark-humour session. "What do you mean, 'almost instantaneous'?" demands Londo. "Will he have enough time to stagger back out into the main room and say, 'LONDO KILLED ME--ACCCK!'" (he and Vir are both CRACKING UP at this point--my, what a dark sense of humour these people have! Then again I must be the same way 'cos I was cracking up too.), "Or maybe he'd just get as far as 'Londo ki--AACCCKKK." (sticks his tongue out.) "Or maybe", says Vir, getting into it, "he'll just go 'Lon-AACCCKKK'--boom. Or maybe, maybe he'll just get totally delirious and say everything BACKWARDS and say, 'KILL LONDO--ACCCKK!!"
Londo abruptly stops laughing...and Vir apologises...an adorable scene.
Now for the big payoff. This is, for me, one of the biggest and most dramatic scenes B5 ever did. G'Kar is paraded in front of his fellow Narns to be humiliated while Cartagia makes this big long flowery speech about how WONDERFUL his justice will be, and how everyone should pay close attention because this is the stuff of LEGENDS, etc. (Another "I, Claudius" parallel--and I'll stop pointing 'em out when I stop seein' em--there's a scene in that where Caligula is about to make a speech and he says that everyone should take notes because it's going to be so wonderful, yada yada.). He charges G'Kar with all kinds of stuff and sentences him to "death by vivisection" (yick), then asks how does he plead. This is when G'Kar starts trying to break through the chains--which Cartagia had REPLACED earlier, because the other ones looked weak--oh, gods! The plan is falling apart! But not so--G'Kar is one heck of a determined Narn, and he manages to break free ANYWAY! And thus provides the distraction that Londo needs to get Cartagia out of the throne room, alone...
Cartagia has gone into his absolute FLIP OUT mode, which we haven't really seen before. We've HEARD about him killing people in sudden fits of anger, but he was usually calm and even cheerful when WE saw him, even while doing horrible things (such as torturing G'Kar.) He is screaming and muttering about how he is going to kill everyone for their incompetence while Londo attempts to both calm him down and sneak up behind him with the needle. Cartagia SMACKS Londo, hard, and causes him to DROP THE NEEDLE! Oh, boy...what to do now? Then he starts trying to STRANGLE Londo, talking over his shoulder, getting RIGHT into his face (and having to spit out his long hair first...this could have been funny had the actors lost it, but they didn't), and ranting about how Londo can "burn. You can burn with Centauri Prime. Burn with the cities, burn with the temples, burn with ALL of them!"
He finally lets him go, turns around, and runs straight into--
VIR?!!
Who then pulls the needle OUT of Cartagia's chest...
Cartagia yells "NO!!" briefly tries to strangle Vir, then slumps over in Londo's arms while whining, petulantly, "I was supposed to be a God, you understand. A God..."
And the monster on the throne is dead.
VIR did it? VIR? Sweet little innocent VIR is the one to kill the Evil Emperor?!! Now, my friends, if THAT isn't a plot-twist and a half, nothing is! And it's just so PERFECT to have him do it! But a note before we move on: I know I already complimented Wortham Krimmer on his acting job with Cartagia but I have to say it again--he was just so much FUN in a scary way. Totally unpredictable, and you could tell he was enjoying himself (heck, I'm not an actress but I would just EAT UP a part like that!! I'd LOVE it! No comments on what that says about me...) Even though it was more dramatic to build up the character without showing him for a long time and THEN show him when he's actually important, I can't shake the feeling that it would have been cool to let him be a recurring character, like Lord Refa, for a while before the big events. FIVE episodes just ain't enough for someone that much fun. Oh, well...
On to the next part--if this was some other show, they would leave it at that. The evil tyrant is dead, the Narns are free, Londo has been promoted to Prime Minister (!) after Cartagia's sudden and unfortunate "heart failure", "and there was much rejoicing (yay.)" But this being B5, (and DS9 would do this, too.) they show the CONSEQUENCES. The aftermath scene with Vir drunk is not only one of the best acting jobs I've ever seen (from Stephen Furst, duh, although of course Peter Jurasik was also good as always.), but it was very, very touching. Vir has just killed a VILLIAN--a monster, yes, but the operative word there is KILLED, and it's actually GETTING to him! He's all ripped up inside, deeply ashamed at himself. He gets drunk in a very sad, dark parody of Londo, attempting to drink his guilt away ("after all, it always worked for you, Londo.") but it doesn't work. The scene starts off seemingly funny as Vir rambles on and on about "first I was drinking FOR Cartagia, and then I was drinking WITH him 'cos otherwise I'd be rude, and then I got into this sort of...cycle..." completely sloshed, but soon turns very very heart-wrenching as Vir leans on Londo's shoulder and asks him, very seriously, "How much more, Londo? How much more must I drink before I can look in the mirror--and not see myself?"
Oh, GEEZ...
"All I ever wanted was a good job, a nice house, small title--nothing fancy--a wife I could love, and who could...could love...someone like...me. I never wanted to be HERE! I never wanted to know the things I know, or to...to do the things I've done!"
Londo explains how he is actually envious of Vir, jealous of him because he's still at least partially innocent, while he (Londo) has nothing left any more, only emptiness. He apologises for how he treated him badly when he first came on board Babylon 5, and says that while he can't tell him that the pain will ever go away, and he can't tell him that Vir will ever stop seeing his (Cartagia's) face, he CAN tell him that in time, he'll be able to stand it. Then he says to drink his last drink and prepare to leave Narn with him. This is an absolutely wonderful bonding moment between the two characters. At this point, you can tell that Londo truly CARES about Vir, whether he says so or not. He's treating him like a person, not just a subordinate any more. A large step forwards, and a very very touching scene. If you don't get at least a little wet-eyed here you have no heart(s).
As Londo leaves, Vir staggers over to the window and looks out on the city full of partying Narns. Fireworks make eerie patterns of colour across his face as he murmurs, "What was it for, I wonder. What was any of it for..."

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