Group Watch: Voices Of Authority

[SmileOfTheShadow]

I really need to pick up the pace. One month and one day til TLT!

The glorious first ones episode where Ivanova makes me laugh very hard. "Grrrooooggg." Good scene, and good development of the storyline as Ivanova really shows herself to be a leader here.

The nightwatch has been getting more and more sinister as the episodes move along.

The conspiracy they uncover via the great machine is wonderful as well. Really pushes the plot along. And Earthgov is being manipulated by the Shadows! Oh noes!

I do have a problem with the episode though from a believability standpoint. What man in their right mind would see that woman standing naked in front of him and react that way? Lies I tell you. I looked her up on IMDB, and she was in an episode of Jake and the Fatman also for an episode, for those of you who like to track how JMS gets characters cast...

I like the poke at star trek and the situation by Ivanova all the same. "You're about to go...where everyone has gone before." I think that her little quips have started to be a litttle bit overused by this point in the series. You start to expect them out of her mouth in every scene. This one's a pretty straight forward episode, with a lot of different plot threads that take various elements of the story to new heights, and ties a lot of the aspects of the story together. Very well done.

[RMcD]

I do have a problem with the episode though from a believability standpoint. What man in their right mind would see that woman standing naked in front of him and react that way? Lies I tell you.

I dunno, he looked flustered, hopelessly embarrassed, tongue-tied.. Seemed pretty realistic to me.. Anyway, never mind that, how about the believability of her getting naked that quick in the first place?

I liked her, and was almost disappointed when she got recalled and didn't become a permanent member of the crew (okay, so the political officer wouldn't have been popular with the others, but they might have mellowed towards her over time). I liked how self aware she was. After expounding at great length about how there was no poverty, crime or homelessness on Earth like a true believer, she then switched without missing a beat to confessing that they'd rewritten that dictionary.

I looked her up on IMDB, and she was in an episode of Jake and the Fatman also for an episode, for those of you who like to track how JMS gets characters cast...

I'd also be surprised if there was any washed up or jobbing actor in the LA region during that 5 year period who didn't pass through B5's docking gate at some point..

[grumbler]

This was a pretty fun little episode, with just the right mix of serious foreshadowing (Nightwatch and the whole political adviser thing). The only thing I didn't like was John Schuck's portrayal of Draal as a smarmy jerk in the first two acts. Clearly, not his choice, and he settled down after a while, but I disliked him at that point and have ever since.

I didn't understand why the Musante character was ever associated with Nightwatch. As a political move, that was counter-productive, since it tipped her hand and made sure that she was seen as an inquisitor rather than an adviser from the start. Earthgov would have been smarter to restrict her to political advice and let someone else be the Nightwatch heavy (as, indeed, the had done with Lantze and Welles earlier). Of course, when she leaves, both Nightwatch and Minipax interests suffer. Messages from Earth and Point of No Return would have been stronger if there had been a dedicated Nightwatch heavy to oppose the command staff, instead of a "Security Guard #1"

[Andrew_Swallow]

The Political Officer's job is to countersign every written order Sheridan gives. If he gives the wrong order she vetoes it.

As for nudity, she is power mad and using the traditional way of getting a man to do what a woman want - sex. The normal flirting has failed so she moved on to the heavy stuff. As for it being too quick, do not confuse a whore with a girlfriend.

[Hal_10000]

Depth

As for nudity, she is power mad and using the traditional way of getting a man to do what a woman want - sex. The normal flirting has failed so she moved on to the heavy stuff. As for it being too quick, do not confuse a whore with a girlfriend.

JMS commented on her extensively. She plays roles - seductive for Sheridan, authoritative for Nightwatch. She might be hot -- although her face looks like it's been done. But she's pure poison. She's playing Sheridan from the beginning and he realizes it -- unlike Zach. She's the attractive face on the evil that is Nightwatch.

Political officer is a title taken straight from the old Soviet Union. These were KGB guys who had equal authority to the commander of a military outpost or vessel. They were true believers who were there to turn in anyone who might be treasonous. They were outside the law, outside the regs and outside the chain of command. The Soviet military hated them with a passion, for good reasons.

OK, now that I'm off of the shrew, back to the epsiode. I like the first hint of the Marcus-Ivanova interaction, which was always great.

Marcus: I think you just hit a nerve. Vorlons must owe them money or something.
Ivanova: This also tells us they understand our language. They are just not willing to speak to us using that.
Marcus:Who knew they were French?

I always liked what JMS said about Marcus. He was like Londo. The problem was never getting him to speak, the problem was getting him to shut up.

But what I like most about this episode is the depth, the way it shows a far bigger and more mysterious universe. Ivanova in the Great Machine is just what I watch the series for.

Finally, I use this line all the time:

Ivanova: Anything else you need?
Sheridan: A glass of whiskey, a gun, and 2 bullets.

[grumbler]

Coupla corrections:

(1) The Soviet term was "political commissar" for those political officers who had co-equal rank, and the concept was finally abolished in 1942 (after having been very intermittent before that). Normally, political officers were simply charged with recruitment of likely party members, advising the commander on the party's priorities, and (usually) dealing with civilians. The commander who ignored his political adviser on matters within the advisor's realm could get in trouble, but for most of WW2 (and ever since) the commander had the final say. This is more what Musante represented, IMO. There is no evidence that she had to countersign orders.

(2) As a quibble, Red Army political officers were NOT members of the KGB. Quite the opposite; one of their functions was to ensure that the Army remained a counterweight to the KGB.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

I Anyway, never mind that, how about the believability of her getting naked that quick in the first place?

I don't know what you're talking about. Happens to me all the time.

Liked all of your analyses (is that the plural of analysis?) on this one.