There All the Honor Lies
Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri
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Okay, this episode wasn't WONDERFUL, but it was quite a bit better than the last one. For one thing, it was written by Peter David again, so ya KNOW it's gotta be good. There were FOUR plotlines--one main, three sub. Let's tackle the main one first.
Sheridan is walking down the hall and this guy with a hood over his face bumps into him real hard. Then Sheridan notices his link is missing! He yells, "Hey!" and chases after the guy, but totally looses him and crashes RIGHT into a rather large Minbari Warrior Caste dude, who them proceeds to beat the crap out of him. Sheridan is knocked down on the floor, where he finds a PPG (it's not his; he wasn't carrying one.) The Minbari dude goes for a weapon. Sheridan raises the PPG and tells him to drop it, the guy yells "Death first!", Sheridan fires, and WHOMPH there's one less Minbari in the universe. Meanwhile another Minbari wanders onto the scene and RUNS AWAY in a big hurry...
This of course causes a lot of trouble. There is no evidence on the body to DISprove Sheridan's story, but there is ALSO nothing to PROVE it either. The Minbari government is VERY upset by this and on the verge of creating a major diplomatic incident.
And if you think THAT's bad, Sheridan's LAWYER shows up and tells him that while she is pretty sure that he CAN'T be proven guilty--no matter WHAT the verdict is, to go to trial at ALL would cost him his career!
(Side note: If I hadn't read the credits, I would have had NO IDEA that the lady playing his lawyer was also NA'TOTH!! The original one, from the first season! But after I knew, I recognised her. That wonderfully dry, sarcastic tone in the voice, the sardonic arched brows--that's her, all right. The only Narn I ever actually liked. (Julie) Caitlin Brown is a good actor.)
Now for the Minbari side of things. Lennier eventually finds the guy who witnessed the incident and questions him. His name is Ashan, of the Third Fane of Chu'Domo. WAIT--that's LENNIER'S clan! Yep, in this episode we get to see one of Lennier's relatives. Played very well by the TINY, fragile-looking Sean Gregory Sullivan, Ashan is an absolute SNOT. I mean, he got on my nerves SOOOO bad, I wanted Lennier to kick his booty! But he never did, sad to say.
Anyway, it turns out that the whole thing was set up. Some of the higher-ups at Chu'Domo had decided that they absolutely COULD NOT stand being affiliated with "Starkiller" anymore, so they decided to get him off the station and discredit him. The Warrior-Caste dude was also from the same clan; he was a martyr.
We get to learn something of the very complex Minbari system of honour, and we also get to see some very touching moments. First of all, when Delenn tries to question Ashan, he says, "I speak to Minbari, not to freaks." Oooh....shudder. (and what a bigoted little SNOT!)
And later on, Londo helps Sheridan and the others solve the mystery by telling them that yes, despite what they may say to the contrary, Minbari DO lie. But only to save face for someone they care about. He is referring back to the way Lennier protected him after the barfight incident in "The Quality of Mercy"! Great continuity. (Side Note: Peter David seems to REALLY like that episode, 'cos he mentioned it in the OTHER B5 episode he wrote, "Soul Mates", too--when Lennier's gift to Londo is a deck of marked cards.)
The scene with Delenn and Sheridan where she tells him that she knows EXACTLY how he feels, being cut off from your own government, shunned by your own people...great empathy. More on the Human/Minbari relationships front...
Now, on to the main sub-plot. It seems that EarthGov has decided to try MERCHANDISING B5 to help the station's budget. "This is demeaning! Welcome to Babylon 5, the last, best hope for a quick buck!" snaps Ivanova. Upon which, Sheridan promptly puts HER in charge of the GIFT SHOP!
This resulted in some HILARIOUS stuff. The scene with the different people trying on masks of different species was great, as was the infamous "Babearlon 5" bear hitting the windshield of Keffer's Starfury at the very end. But my FAVOURITE part--risqué though it was--was Londo being all insulted about HIS "action figure" because it didn't have any...you know...(gestures at sides)...attributes? "Oh," says Ivanova, understanding finally dawning, "So you feel you've been symbolically cast...in a bad light." I was ON THE FLOOR!
Now on to the third plot, which was about Kosh giving Sheridan confusing "lessons". It seems that that bit in the last episode where Sheridan proposed to Kosh that they should try to learn something about each others' species is actually being followed up on. I have a feeling this will go somewhere eventually...but for now, it was a bunch of weird monks chanting in Down Below.
And now, for the last and in my opinion BEST subplot (although the gift-shop one came close...). Vir gets a message from Centauri Prime saying that they have just realised that his position is much more important than they originally thought, and that they are going to send someone who is "groomed" for it. As compared to poor little Vir, who only got the job because no-one else wanted it! The scene with him and Londo in the Zocalo, with Vir trying to drown his troubles in alchohol (he says he's only had "two" drinks while holding up FOUR fingers) was absolutely heart-wrenching. "My family got me this job because they just wanted me ANYWHERE--anywhere AWAY. It was a JOKE to them! Everywhere I've ever gone, I never fit in, and I'm always told to leave!" Oh, geez...sniff...
And that is really the theme that brings this entire episode together. Misfits. It's all about misfits.
Sheridan is cut off from his government, Delenn is called a freak, Vir is always asked to leave. That's the theme. That's not only what ties the episode together--but also what ties all these PEOPLE together.
Okay, enough philosophizing, where was I? Ah, yes. Later on, in ANOTHER very touching but also very funny (we Centauri have a knack for that...) scene, we see Londo telling Vir to pack, because his replacement has just arrived. So poor Vir, suffering from his first hangover ("Ah, your first hangover! I remember my first hangover. Well, actually, I don't, because if I did, it wouldn't be a real hangover!") goes off into the other room to get his stuff. Then Londo yells at him to pack the stuff in THIS room first. But that's LONDO's stuff! It turns out that Londo told the government that if they made Vir leave, HE was going to leave with them. And they definitely don't want to get rid of HIM, not with all the new influence he has now...
This scene was very touching because it marked the first time that we really see Londo treating Vir as a PERSON, an equal. While I'm sitting there sniffling, Londo walks out of the room, tossing back over his shoulder the LITTLE tidbit of information that he has invited Vir's ENTIRE FAMILY to stay with him for a MONTH! Hilarious and tear-jerking at the same time--how DO we manage it?
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