A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I
Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri
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Well, it's hard to judge this episode yet really as it is indeed part of a two-parter and I have not seen the other one yet. But we will look at what has been shown to us already.
Like most first parts of two-parters, it starts off relatively slow, as enough stuff has to be set up to make the second part, the big finale, make sense, and because setting up all of that takes time. Also, they want the action to be spread out long enough to LAST two entire episodes and keep something held back, something that will get our attention and make us want to see the second part. But even as an episode itself, it's not that bad. It's just not GREAT.
First of all, the bad parts. There were some continuity glitches, or maybe I just wasn't being observant enough. To ME, anyway, it looked like Sinclair and Ivanova's shuttle was NOT getting fired upon when they went really really deep into the rift in the planet's surface. Considering how heavily guarded everything else in there is, don't you think they'd have close-range weapons too? Also, it is never explained, once they actually find the poor alien dude and rescue him, just exactly HOW they got back to their shuttle so fast when last I heard they were blocked by a massive rockslide!
I believe this is what we call...moving the story along NO MATTER WHAT!
The parts with Delenn and Draal were okay, although Draal irritated the hell out of me when I FIRST saw him, in Season 3 (I'm seeing these out of order, you understand) so I was kinda predjudiced against him the whole time. We do learn some more interesting stuff about the Minbari--that when they are old and about to die, they "go to sea", meaning that they fly off into the "sea of stars", and disappear. And that the problems back home are much bigger than just a rift forming between the Warrior and Religious Castes (although THAT'S plenty bad enough!)--there is a general shifting of Minbari attitudes from "How can I serve my people?" to "How can my people serve ME?" VALEN'S NAME! They're turning into YUPPIES! Erm...excuse me, had an attack of humour there. Anyway, it is important information but I just feel that Delenn has had too MANY old friends/mentors show up in her quarters and have long, serious, quiet talks with her lately. The scenes are rather static and boring after a bit. I mean, we just recently sat through a reminiscing scene with her old buddy Shaal Mayan, and now this...
Now, on to the good stuff:
GREAT LINES--some of THE most famous speeches/exchanges in B5 history were from this episode. Including the "Ivanova is GOD" speech, which was the first B5 quote I ever read and the line that got me to start looking up more about this show on the 'net...and from there I became a fan! So THIS speech is what started it all. Nice to finally hear it said!
ALL the bits with Londo, of course. The scene with Garibaldi in the bar was adorable--"Whateverr it is, Meesterr Garribaldi, it can't be that bad!" "You try to KISS me and I'll break your arm." Great stuff. But the MOST delightful scene was when he was trying to explain to a visiting Delenn and Draal WHY he does not understand Humans by singing the HOKEY POKEY to them!! Let me tell you, hearing that with Londo's accent absolutely made my entire WEEK. And even funnier was that Draal LIKED it!
Not to mention, this episode is BIG arc-wise. This is what we learn/see hints of that will be important in the Arc later:
1. "The Great Machine"--not given that NAME yet, out loud, but we do see it for the first time.
2. The Mars Colony has BROKEN FREE OF EARTH!!!!! Major, BIG-time importance here. REMEMBER it.
3. The EarthGov is acting very suspiciously and will not let ANYONE, not even an EarthForce Security Officer with clearance Ultraviolet Alpha (this is starting to sound like "Paranoia"!) get through to talk to anyone on Mars, on ANY channel. Does this mean that EarthGov has something to hide about the way it's handling the crisis?
4. Psi Corps, trying to link in from their SECRET intelligence/training center very close to the main city, can't get in to the records EITHER. Hmmmn...
5. Garibaldi's relationship with Lise Hampton is first mentioned. She is not shown here but WILL be important later. This does not count as a spoiler 'cos I'm not telling you HOW she will be important later...
All in all, not a BAD episode, but not great either. Then again, like I said, all two-parters really need both parts to be complete. Broken in half, they are of course only half as good. So until tomorrow, when we will find out just WHAT made Garibaldi say "What the HELL?!", we leave you. Valtoo!
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