Objects in Motion

Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri

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Well, while this was a very nice, heartwarming and sad chunk of good-byes for major characters with some very nice scenes and lines, it was wrapped up a little too cutely for my taste, and had some rather stupid set-ups. I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first:
1. Zack took WAY too long to figure out that the same killer who took out the Security guard was also the same guy who was after Garibaldi and Lise.
2. While it may make a dramatic scene, granted, exactly how much sense does it make to force the assassin to act in a crowded room full of innocent civilians?! NONE! This is the same problem that "Wheel of Fire" had before it--logic thrown away for the sake of a nice visually dramatic scene. Like Sheridan threatening to "blow the back of Lyta's skull off" or Lochley then punching her out. LOOKS flashy, yes, but does not make much sense, nor make our "heroes" look very likeable! And (in today's episode) I don't buy into the whole "Zack's-an-idiot" school of thought that many fans have, because he's not, really, he's just an ordinary joe schmoe kinda guy--I blame his "strategy" on bad writing.
3. G'Kar's drippy, philosophical speeches: "The part of me that is leaving will miss the part of you that is staying." GAG me. G'Kar is ONLY fun when he's with Londo--any other time, he's either so constantly angry he's annoying (Seasons 1&2, part of 3), so melodramatic he's annoying (any time he makes one of those impassioned "WE WILL BE FREE!" type speeches) or so drippily meditative he's annoying. With the small exceptions of times like in Season One, when he was sleeping around with anything that breathed and was occasionally funny ("Parliament of Dreams" was a wonderful showcase for Andreas Katsulas's comedic talents, especially) or when he gets a cool line like "No-one here is exactly what he appears"--G'Kar, by himself, is not all that great. I feel free to admit this now because now that I've seen the entire series, almost, I feel I can make a full judgement on the character. And that judgement is--pair him up with a snotty, decadent, tragic Centauri, or leave him out of it!
4. Having someone we already know--"Number One/Tessa Halloran" take over Alliance Intelligence was nice, but a little too trite and cutesy. And didn't it seem like she just CONVENIENTLY arrived on the station at EXACTLY the same moment the position was about to be vacated? HMMMMN...
Aside from those things, the episode was okay. Kinda drippy and clichéd, but okay, and with all the tragedy we've gone through lately, I think we deserve a little bit of sunshine and happiness. Too bad it's being wasted on the wrong people! (Good-bye, Londo...)
The main plotline was about someone trying to kill Garibaldi and Lise but we can almost safely ignore that. We also had a side-plot of a crazed Narn stalker going after G'Kar (I don't know who the actor was who played the stalker, but I liked him.) Somewhere in here, Garibaldi and Lise get married--REALLY FAST--and then leave, G'Kar talks to Lyta and she agrees to his proposal, and they leave, Garibaldi figures out how to get back at the people who hired the assassin, Number One becomes the new head of Alliance Intelligence, and this also conveniently will help her solve the problems she's having back on Mars--Earth is still treating Mars like a colony, and refuses to acknowledge their documents, money, etc. "They couldn't get us with bullets so now they're trying to drown us in red tape! If you ask me, I liked the bullets better. At least back then I could shoot BACK." Number One explains to Sheridan.
"I know how you feel," Sheridan commiserates, "It's always difficult when you've been a soldier and now you're a politician. I find myself talking to people now that I would have SHOT six months ago!"
Now let's list the good things:
1. Number One is back!! YAY!! I always liked her; she's one of my favourite guest-star characters and I kinda missed her, dangit! And she and Franklin got back together--for "an hour and ten minutes", anyway. That was cute. (Or as my mom said, "Yes, Stephen and his 'BRUNHILDA'" (in reference to the fact that "Number One" is about 6'2" and blonde) "'Come here, cute little doctor! Ugh!'" I was on the FLOOR laughing...) Oh, and we finally find out her real name--like I mentioned earlier, it's Tessa Halloran. Even better, she's gotten promoted! From resistance leader to one of the heads of the provisional government on the now free Mars! Cool, huh? (Kinda like Shakaar--pronounced almost EXACTLY like "G'Kar"--from Deep Space Nine--a former resistance leader, now the First Minister of Bajor. Hey...and they're both really HUGE blondes, too...)
2. The way that they finally caught the assassin--tracking him down by the frequency of his stolen link and then blasting his eardrums out with a high-pitched whine of feedback. Heh heh heh. Totally evil.
3. Garibaldi's interrogation of the assassin--by means of Lyta. She makes a GOOD villian. Even though I don't quite like her this way, she is good at it. Too bad it took BYRON to get her that way, though... "He's actually FIGHTING me!" she says in amazement. "He's singing songs, doing math--whoops, you forgot to carry the seven." (pause) "That's better." Hee hee hee.
4. G'Kar and Lyta are sure going to make an interesting pairing...and the fact that ZACK, who always loved Lyta but never got her (sniff!) was the only one to watch them leave, sadly, from the background, was really touching and poignant.
5. Having Lise get shot instead of G'Kar was a nice twist--and before this, if this had been, say, the "Conflicts of Interest" Lise, I would have gone, "YAY!" But in Season Five--she's changed. Mellowed, I guess. She's no longer quite so whiny, but more just sweet, and occasionally gets out a nice sarcastic zinger. So now I don't hate her the way I used to, and it was kinda sad when she got hurt! Of course she was okay.
6. Garibaldi and Lise "Hampton-Edgars-Garibaldi"'s very very quick wedding. While she was still laid up in Medlab recovering from getting SHOT! That was cute. I especially loved when he grabbed a passing medtech and KISSED the guy! "We're getting married!" he exclaims gleefully. The look on the guy's face was absolutely PRICELESS.
7. Stephen and Tessa's--I'll have to get used to calling her that, it's too much of a habit to call her "Number One"--last dinner together before she has to leave for her new job. "You go on ahead first," smirks Tessa, "you know how I like the lights." He leaves. "CHECK!"
8. Back to Garibaldi again--I LOVE his totally evil little scheme he uses against the jerky Board of Directors for Edgars Industries. "So," he conversationally asks that big fat guy, "how's your daughter?" "She's fine, she's attending Vasser in next month--"
"No," says Garibaldi, "I mean your OTHER daughter. The one your wife doesn't know about...?"
He then goes on to blackmail EVERYONE with all kinds of great secret dirt. Ah, Londo. If you could have been there, you would have been proud of your one-time friend--he blackmails well enough to be Centauri. After he's got them all freaked out about THAT, he shows them a check for 500,000 credits--which will be paid out to ASSASSINS if Garibaldi or Lise die of anything at all but old age! GET IT?!
The board of directors does, indeed--and are even MORE dismayed when they learn that the person taking over Garibaldi's job is none other than Tessa Halloran/"Number One"--with whom they've locked horns several times in the past.
All in all, although it was somewhat soppy, slow-moving, and clichéd, this was not really a BAD episode. And even if it was slow, it's nice to see everyone get their own, seperate, proper good-byes. If you have to end, end on a proper note--not by just yanking the rug out suddenly. This way is the right way to do it.

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