Group Watch: All Alone In the Night

[SmileOfTheShadow]

This is another episode I've never really liked too much. I like the Delenn storyline just fine, but the "Sheridan prisoner on an alien ship" not as much. It would have been cooler if this species that kidnapped him actually developed though. Instead it feels a lot like a stand alone episode, except for the end part where Sheridan gets recruited into the resistance. That's where he really starts to develop as a character. Nice turning point.

I've always been confused about the Grey Council part...how did the warrior caste just take power like that? When things have been a certain way for a thousand years, it's not that easy to just overturn that tradition, I'd assume. Fordy's fan-novel actually does a nice job of giving some backstory about Neroon's clan and their hatred toward humans, etc. Glad to know he paid attention to the show before writing a novel at least.

I really would have liked to have seen them develop the race that kidnapped Sheridan. It would have made the episode feel more worthwhile. Instead it's just like a loose end. This species is seeking out war and taking some inferior races over...but no word from them? Strange. Does add a bit to what we know about the Minbari military prowess though. They didn't just decimate the humans, but have had other major victories recently as well.

Oh yes..and the Kosh dream sequence. That was a weird one. I'm still not sure I entirely understand it. It's the beginning of Kosh calling Sheridan to lead the charge against the shadows...but lots of strange stuff here.

Thoughts?

[Babylon5fan07]

I'm not sure if it was JMS intention to use Marshall Teague as the Narn that Sheridan meets on the Streib Ship but we all know that the Narn becomes a vital role down the road as he comes back a few more times in the future without spoiling too much for anyone who hasn't seen the episodes yet.

Perhaps The Warrior Caste taking over is an extenstion of what's too come with Delenn especially being that she's more of an outcast now that she's taken on more human characteristics.

I absolutely love this episode also too see General Hague again and of course beginning the resistance.

You can always go to the www.midwinter.com website and I think they explain a little bit more about the dream sequence. I think for me the dream sequence is very symbolic with Kosh for the fact that this starts a chain reaction of events for Sheridan and Kosh again without giving too much away.

Just in case for the episode Gropos which you skipped..I love that episode because we learn more about Franklin's father played by the late Paul Winfield from Star Trek: The Next Generation playing in Darmok and of course Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan movie. Also we see the character Dodger who comes back up in the 5th season without naming the episode. And of course we see the birth of the new weapons that the B5 station is going to have in the future for episodes that require that much fire power especially at the end of the 2nd season

Alex

[Jan]

You can always go to the www.midwinter.com website and I think they explain a little bit more about the dream sequence.

Or you can go to Volume 3 of the Script Books (pages 51-54 to be specific) for JMS's take on Sheridan's vision.

Jan

[Babylon5fan07]

Being that the script book is limited in quantities and expensive..How would I be able to obtain this script stuff without paying too much money.

Is it available for the fans like myself who can't afford it and stuff. Is it the same one that Recoil won that he talked about on the other board?

Thanks..let me know.

Alex

[Jan]

Being that the script book is limited in quantities and expensive..How would I be able to obtain this script stuff without paying too much money.

Just to make sure there's no misunderstanding, the script books are *not* limited in quantities at this point. Yes, at some point they'll no longer be available but at the moment anybody and everybody can buy them here. Yes, they're moderately expensive at $40 each, but a very good value compared to what scripts sell for apiece 'on the street' especially with the extra material JMS includes by way of the introductions and photos and memos and stuff. (BTW, the reason I go into such detail here is because a fan over on another forum honestly thought that the books cost $100 each.)

Is it available for the fans like myself who can't afford it and stuff. Is it the same one that Recoil won that he talked about on the other board?

What Recoil was excited about over on B5TV was the chance to buy a limited edition print of the Declaration of Principles, not a script book.

As for being available to people who can't affored them; in full version, no, they're not available unless you might be able to find a less expensive copy on Ebay at some point. So far, very few have hit there and seem to be selling a close to the introductiory price ($30).

Now then, while it would be wrong of me to copy what's in the script books verbatim, let me give you a condensed version of what JMS said about that vision. Some of this may or may not be what's on the Lurker's Guide:

Ivanova with the raven/crow on her shoulder: In mythology, such birds are the eyes and ears of gods as well as bringers of news. JMS thought that fit well with her becoming the voice of the resistance and the "do you know who I am?" relates to her secret.

Sheridan on the bridge looking down at himself: is an image that relates to Sheridan's death and rebirth.

Sheridan wearing a Psi Corps badge: foreshadows Sheridan using the teeps as weapons and raises the question of how his forces are any better than the Corps which has been doing the same thing?

Ivanova wearing the black dress and veil: visually foreshadows Sheridan's death in SiL and "you are the hand" simply means that he's the means by which the future is changed.

Garibaldi saying "The may in between is looking for you.": While the Justin "middle man" aspect that fans have speculated about is part of it, more than that it refers to Sheridan himself and the conversation that he and Lorien had about him being caught forever in between. The Sheridan as-he-was was searching for the Sheridan-he-became.

The dove on Garibaldi's shoulder: Doesn't mean anything.

And there you have it. While JMS may have used the images to inform other parts of the story, this is a short version of what he says he was thinking at the time he wrote the script.

Sorry if it seemed that I was just being a tease. Yeah, I tend to promote the script books because they're really great and have so much to offer but I wasn't trying to tease out of meanness.

Jan

[Babylon5fan07]

That clears up quite a bit. I'll have to look for the script books in the future and even $100 isn't quite that bad. But $40 for one and $30 for those books isn't quite bad at all.

On the other hand without purchasing the books you just cleared up some things that completely had me perplexed for all these times that I saw Babylon 5. Now it makes perfect sense and clears up a lot of confusion.

Alex

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Wow..a lot of response while I was gone over the weekend.

Thanks for all the info Jan. I must admit I'm not actually caught up on the scriptbooks because I've been reading through all the bab5 novels and Heilein stuff, as you well know

Well now the dream sequence makes a lot more sense to me. Pretty cool.

And as far as GROPOS, I did watch that one though chose not to discuss it. Made the gf watch it too, because I reallize that one's pretty important. Also, I think it has some big significance in "Day of the Dead" which I'm probably going to choose not to skip in discussion since there's been call to go over it. I think I'm going to go back and have her watch the one with Londo's wives too, now that I'm reading the Centauri trilogy and am noticing how important that becomes. Who knows if I'll get her reading the books though. A tv show is one thing...novels based on a tv show is another entirely.

[NotSoWize]

This one feels a little "star trekky" to me. The heroic captain battling aliens to the death! And then sending out an S.O.S. somehow from an escape pod he only jumped into a minute before. But, it is still a pretty fun little episode and the ending is very important to the rest of the series. Delenn, Neroon, and the Grey Council is also an important thread for much of the rest of Babylon 5's run. This is a much more important episode than it appears to be at first.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

This one feels a little "star trekky" to me. The heroic captain battling aliens to the death! And then sending out an S.O.S. somehow from an escape pod he only jumped into a minute before. But, it is still a pretty fun little episode and the ending is very important to the rest of the series. Delenn, Neroon, and the Grey Council is also an important thread for much of the rest of Babylon 5's run. This is a much more important episode than it appears to be at first.

There we go! that's why I didn't like it so much. It's a Kirk/Gorn scenario basically. Very not fitting for B5 compared to a lot of the other episodes. We can talk about every episode good or bad being "important" to the series though..because JMS makes sure that every episode is important to the series lol. Damn his good writing!

[RMcD]

This is a strange reason to like an episode, but.. I think visually this one is really well shot and nice-looking. It really encapsulates what's distinctive about the B5 look, all dark, moody shadows and lighting in bold primary colours (probably at least partially to cover up the cheap sets), with that strong sense of colour extending to the effects as well.