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Not happy about Tubi suddenly asking me to block adblocker on their site. I appreciate Tubi being a free service but your profitability is not my problem. If you have to force your users to compromise their safety to watch videos, you're doing it wrong. I complied...for now....because I'm committed to seeing B5 all the way through. gently caress that noise. 3x12: Sic Transit Vir Good for Vir! I knew something like this was going to happen eventually; Vir is far too good a man to buy into Centauri so-called "Manifest Destiny". That he was something of an Oskar Schindler for the Narn is a great sign for him. A major plot hole, though, is: what happened to that Narn that his psycho soon-to-be wife tied up? Either Tubi cut part of the episode for time or that was never addressed (at least in this episode). It isn't as good a sign for Londo, who just can't seem to rid himself of his illusions of Centauri glory. This is why I think Londo will ultimately be unsuccessful in redeeming himself. In a sense, he's too far gone. But it is interesting that the Centarui at court said that Londo's suggestions for Vir's report were "old school", which suggests a possible split between Londo and his government. I tend not to think that anyone is truly 'too far gone' and that there's always a chance for redemption; we shall see with Mollari. e: I predict that in retrospect, this will be a fairly important episode for both Vir and Londo. The English translation of the Latin is "so passes Vir". Could be the point of no return where Vir and Londo's choices are locked in. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 20:01 on May 7, 2023 |
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May 7, 2023 19:28
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Vir also means man, fwiw, and the original phrase is sic transit Gloria mundi, thus passes the glory of the world.
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May 7, 2023 21:12
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Thus passes the man, he's all grown up now.
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May 7, 2023 21:21
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SlothfulCobra posted:Fun fact about Corwin: He's been on the station in the command room ever since season 1, he's just never been relevant, just a regular extra. It's like if Stargate suddenly had an episode where they had to confide in the chevron guy. they did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HudXqJm9AX8
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May 8, 2023 03:28
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Everybody dreams of hitting the extra/red shirt jackpot like Colm Meaney/ Battle Bridge Conn.
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May 8, 2023 04:14
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3x13: A Late Delivery from Avalon This was an odd one. Not necessarily a bad episode but after about a season's worth of some epic moments, it was a bit of a letdown. Not even episode of DS9 was a banger either, though. I did like G'kar being knighted, though.  There was a bit of actual war news in there, though: B5 now has a mutual defense pact with the Drazi and maybe a few others. I'm surprised that they haven't heard much from Earth since that major throwdown a few episodes ago. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 00:33 on May 9, 2023 |
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May 8, 2023 20:43
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:3x13: A Late Delivery from Avalon "By G'Quan, I can't recall the last time I was in a fight like that. No moral ambiguity, no .. hopeless battle against ancient and overwhelming forces. They were the bad guys, as you say, we were the good guys. And they made a very satisfying thump when they hit the floor."
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May 9, 2023 08:47
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3x14: Ship of Tears 3x15: Interludes and Examinations gently caress sake are Ivanova and Franklin naive. Seizing control of the media to spout pro-regime propaganda is fascism 101, guys. No, it's not "good" propaganda, but it doesn't have to be. If 2260 Earth is anything like 2023 Earth (and let's just say that indications are that we're hosed as a species), the more blatant and ridiculous the lies, the more a lot of people will swallow horseshit and call it cheesecake. The last 6 or 7 years is proof positive of that. I predicted that there could be a rift between the Shadows and Psi Corp, but not exactly like this. I thought it would be more along the lines of a power struggle - Psi Corp resenting the Shadows suddenly whispering in Clark's ear and pushing them out of the halls of power. Some of that may indeed be happening, but the fact that Shadows are resistant to telepaths is really interesting. It seems to me that G'kar joining the War Council was a no-brainer. Who else on the station aside from possibly Vir would even be a good fit? They should have let him in half a season ago, quite frankly. ********************************** For most of these posts I've been comparing B5 to DS9 and BSG, but with this episode it's beginning to veer into Shakespearean tragedy. Morden and the Shadows are about as close to the mythic depiction of Satan as I've seen in science fiction (even despite the Pah-Wraiths). Tricking Londo to drive him deeper into their debt reads like a story from the Old Testament of the Bible. "Don't kill that which is already dead". Could apply either to Adira or to Lord Refa, but I doubt it even matters at this point; Londo being willing to let the galaxy burn to exact revenge indicates that Londo is already too gone. I didn't think he'd be redeemed, but I was hoping that Vir or someone else would pull him away from the abyss before it was too late. On the other side of the divide, I thought Sheridan standing up to Kosh was really interesting. I don't have much else to say about that because I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I'll be finding out soon; Tubi says that Sinclair is coming back for the next couple of episodes. This was a great Garibaldi episode! While Star Trek sometimes had the tendency to introduce character traits that were later forgotten, B5 has been really good about staying consistent. Garibaldi's alcoholism is a fact that was established in season one (I think), and because of that he's the best man to stage an intervention of sorts for Franklin. Good writing there. Franklin is resigning, but how is that going to work? They're not connected to Earth Alliance, so it's not like there's going to be another Chief Surgeon coming from Earth to replace him. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 03:10 on May 11, 2023 |
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May 10, 2023 19:58
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3x16: War Without End, pt 1 Holy gently caress....another banger episode. This series just keeps delivering. It was so good that I covered Tubi's description of the next episode with my hand so that I go into part 2 completely "clean" and unspoiled. I have a feeling this is going to be an inflection point for the series to end all inflection points. Sinclair has used his time since the end of season 1 to become a Jedi Master, complete with the inscrutable fortune cookie-like sayings. I really enjoyed seeing O'Hare and Boxleitner working together; they had on-screen chemistry. It's really a shame that O'Hare's off-screen mental illness interfered with his work. I liked his work on this series. He was a good actor. I have to admit: I'm a real sucker for "timey-wimey" plots like this. The prospect of B5's command staff going back six years in time to "steal" Babylon 4 so that the original Shadow War can be won a thousand years before any of this is just....chef's kiss. This timeline might* suggest what I've suspected for most of this season: Londo will not be redeemed. I can't say, though, that I feel terribly sorry for Centauri Prime. Despite future-Londo's accusation, the sacking and looting of Centauri Prime is squarely his fault. I don't blame Londo for his original dealing with Morden at the end of season 1; he truly didn't seem to realize what the Shadows were offering. No, I blame him for every subsequent dealing where he was fully aware of what Morden was doing in his name and went along with it anyway. Even though there's still a lot I don't know at this point, it's hard to point fingers at Sheridan for any of that. * I say 'might' because there's evidence this timeline isn't set. I already know that Sheridan will die/appear to die at some point. It could be at Londo's hands (quite possible) or it could be much later. If it is later, it will be really interesting to see how Sheridan maintains a working relationship with Londo knowing what he knows about the future. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 21:55 on May 12, 2023 |
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May 12, 2023 21:33
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:3x16: War Without End, pt 1 I’m a few episodes into season 4 and I don’t think I’m spoiling but wanted to warn outside of the spoiler since I’m ahead of you. E: I did not realize you had only seen part 1 do not read I think it is the future and isn’t like a bad alternate future. We see what leads to Londo’s premonition with G’kar and Delenn basically tells Sheridan “no you can’t do poo poo about this unless you just give up and that’s worse. holefoods fucked around with this message at 03:35 on May 13, 2023 |
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May 13, 2023 01:13
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This is a spoiler for someone who's just seen War Without End Part 1. ultrafilter fucked around with this message at 04:18 on May 13, 2023 |
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May 13, 2023 02:28
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oh poo poo I thought they had watched both parts, I got too excited. Edited my post
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May 13, 2023 03:35
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All good. I still don't know anything about what I'm going to be getting into in part 2 (and 3?). 3x17: War Without End, pt. 2  Where do I even begin here? Holy gently caress. I was expecting something like Star Trek IV: The One With The Whales and instead got something more akin to Back To The Future pt 2. But better. 1. Turns out that all of the "you have a hole in your mind" stuff with Sinclair in season one is because he is Minbari. Or part Minbari...I don't even loving know. Holy loving poo poo. so every time Delenn or another Minbari invoked "Valen's name", she was praying to Sinclair. Did I also understand Zathros correctly - that Sinclair, Sheridan and Delenn form the basis of the Minbari's entire society? 2. Lady Majel's prophecies all became true, but not in the way I would have ever expected in a thousand years (no pun intended). Turns out that Londo wasn't redeemed - kinda. (A/The) Shadow(s) took control of his body somehow, but there was still enough good left in him to allow G'kar to strangle him....and then Vir became Emperor! Now, there isn't any clear answer to whether Vir is better than Londo, so it remains ambiguous whether the emperorship going to Vir is a "good" thing or not; maybe he was taken over by the Shadows too. 3. There's still the unanswered question of who Delenn saw in that leap forward in time that she did. There are more surprises awaiting us and as I said in my previous recap: this series is delivering the loving goods.
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May 13, 2023 17:03
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May 13, 2023 17:21
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:All good. I still don't know anything about what I'm going to be getting into in part 2 (and 3?). 
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May 13, 2023 17:37
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This is why we have this thread. Thank you to all the first timers who share your thoughts like this.
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May 13, 2023 17:47
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:
I enjoy the storytelling approach here of "tell you what's going to happen then surprise you with the context"
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May 13, 2023 17:50
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:3x17: War Without End, pt. 2 The "hole in [Sinclair's] mind" refers to his missing memories of the time between when he was captured by the Minbari and when they surrendered.
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May 13, 2023 19:09
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ultrafilter posted:The "hole in [Sinclair's] mind" refers to his missing memories of the time between when he was captured by the Minbari and when they surrendered. indirectly fsf is correct, since it only exists because of what he pointed out.
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May 13, 2023 21:17
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3x18: Walkabout https://youtu.be/qDAoJIJ2ljU Considering the Big Reveals of the previous episode, this one is relatively quiet 'news' wise. 1. We have confirmation that the Shadows are vulnerable to the Force, and 2. Sheridan may have a "piece" of Kosh inside him...somehow? Maybe that was what Kosh meant when he said to the captain that "You have always been here". Are we going to get another thing where Sheridan is actually part Vorlon like we did with Sinclair? 'Cause that would be pretty kick rear end. An obvious answer to the question I posed - Who was the female voice? - is probably: Lyta.
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May 14, 2023 20:02
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3x19: Grey 17 Is Missing 3x20: And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place Honestly, I kinda agree with Nerun (?): a religious figure holding military power - even in Delenn's case - is probably not a great idea. *************** That scene of "No Hiding Place Down Here" while Refa was running for his life,  . I'm really not sure what to make of all that. Londo did the right thing....sorta. He's a bastard but you do, in fact, gotta hand it to him: Londo knows how to play the game better than Refa did. But did the 'better' man win? Dunno. What does it mean for G'kar that he was party to all of this? He's supposed to be on the side of the Light. We already knew that Londo, G'kar and Vir were going to live long past the events of this episode, so on one hand that was an element of suspense taken away. But we also know that the Shadows enter Londo's body or become one with him somehow at some point - maybe the end of this season? - which is why I'm ambiguous about Refa being out of the picture. That just puts Londo in more of a position where absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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May 15, 2023 20:30
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^^ (Character name spelling) Neroon
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May 15, 2023 20:36
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:
I believe the word you're looking for is "ambivalent"
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May 16, 2023 00:04
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Winifred Madgers posted:I believe the word you're looking for is "ambivalent" Yeah, probably. I should have said that I'm ambiguous about what this will mean in the future. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 00:27 on May 16, 2023 |
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May 16, 2023 00:10
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S3 E11.5(?) : The Episode I Dreamed While Sleeping Off A Migraine
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May 16, 2023 02:22
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Angepain posted:S3 E11.5(?) : The Episode I Dreamed While Sleeping Off A Migraine 
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May 16, 2023 02:44
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Sheridan: enters the Cowboy Zone Kosh: "You have always been here."
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May 16, 2023 03:51
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ultrafilter posted:Sheridan: enters the Cowboy Zone Fixed
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May 16, 2023 04:25
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3x21: Uh....that cliffhanger.  There's at least a few possibilities going on here:1. Anna Sheridan is a Shadow. 2. Anna Sheridan has been held by the Shadows and they're bringing her out now in a ploy to distract him (most likely). 3. The Shadows have somehow revived Anna Sheridan from the dead. Credit to TubiTV because its description of the next episode - "Londo's political status changes" - reveals absolutely nothing about Anna Sheridan, the war, or even Londo (his "political status" changing could mean almost anything, though it's likely related to him finding favor after loving over Refa). Or somehow Anna Sheridan could be this "other hand" that was prophesied by Kosh. There's some kind of fuckery going on and whatever happens is gonna be good. I really love how this series keeps you on your toes. Gonna be hard to resist watching ep. 22 today and finishing out the season.... F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 16:53 on May 16, 2023 |
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May 16, 2023 16:36
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3x22: Z'Ha'Dum Incredible. A+ season ender here, truly. Finally, after about two seasons' worth of seeing things from the perspective of the Light/Vorlons, we get a sense of what the Shadows actually do: a sort of social Darwinism where setting off wars between the races strengthens who is left. Ed Wasser's approach of playing Morden as "oily douchebag salesman in a power suit" works really well here. So many questions yet remain: 1. What about the son Sheridan and Delenn were supposed to have together? We don't know how many days separate the previous episode from this one, so this may have been near the end of Delenn's required three day stay with Sheridan, after they "consummated". 2. If the future Sheridan saw in 227X was the 'good' one, why did Future-Delenn warn him not to go to Z'Ha'Dum? Maybe she simply didn't want to lose Sheridan (IIRC, that future glimpse was the first she had seen him in a while). 3. Is Sheridan actually dead? 4. What were the orders Sheridan gave Garibaldi, and what happened to our bald-headed Security Chief (it appears as though he was absorbed in a Shadow vessel)? 5. What's going on with Londo - why was he told to leave the station? Sorry...I wish I had more to add but as always with this series, this finale created more questions than it answered. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 22:13 on May 17, 2023 |
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May 17, 2023 22:06
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:3x22: Z'Ha'Dum As for numbers 4 and 5, it's just something you missed in the episode, so I'll clarify a bit: 4: Garibaldi is the one who loaded up the Nukes on to the White Star. Note the end of the conversation when Sheridan gives those instructions... "the next time you see me, we'll talk about the weather." 5: The Shadows were ready to attack and destroy B5. That's why they told Londo to leave. They didn't bother destroying the station because, when the events at the end of the episode occurred, their plans suddenly had some reasons to change.
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May 17, 2023 22:14
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Thanks. That's what I figured in both cases. e: I was slightly ill when I watched earlier, so I may have missed some subtleties. Now that I'm feeling better, a few other observations - I didn't think it was a coincidence that Anna Sheridan was brought out right after the Light scored its first major, if Pyrrhic, victory against the Shadows. They seemed to know that the presence of Anna would emotionally manipulate Sheridan and it worked so well (even though Sheridan saw through the ploy) that it begs the question: how did they know to keep her as an ace up their sleeve for so long? Sure, they know that Sheridan is the leader of the Light, but how would they have known that 6 or 10 years before (I forget which)? I'm also curious as to whether the allegedly "good" future Sheridan experienced a few episodes ago will actually come to pass. I already mentioned Future-Delenn warning Sheridan not to go to Z'Ha'Dum, but there's also a few other details that don't match up: o the Centauri (?) prophecy from seasons ago warning of Babylon 5 blowing up o the time jump in Babylon 4 where it looked as though B5 was being boarded and Garibaldi was fighting for his life (the "this is what I was born for" scene). That final scene was very Empire Strikes Back. I almost posted the gif of Vader holding out his hand to Luke over the chasm at Cloud City. And....thinking way back to the end of season 1. Remember when Lennier helped Garibaldi build that motorcycle? It has nothing to do with the Shadow War; it just occurs to me now that it was character foreshadowing for Lennier. My very first impression of the Minbari was that they were dorky weaklings - sort of like the aliens from Galaxy Quest. Turns out that not only are they formidable warriors in their own right, but Lennier was more than simply Delenn's lickspittle but a pretty knowledgable and valuable guy to have around. It's a great example of how Babylon 5 "shows, not tells". F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 02:56 on May 18, 2023 |
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May 18, 2023 00:57
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:
I always understood that as Shadows just keeping those who agreed to serve, either as agents, ship components or just on ice, and suddenly realizing "Wait, this one is that guy's wife, let's use it"
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May 18, 2023 03:56
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:Thanks. That's what I figured in both cases. I think that part's pretty explicit; they didn't. Aside from what the Shadows feel is their obligation to breed conflict among the other races, they also need people to put into their ships as just part of how Shadow ships work. So when Anna Sheridan's ship did their investigation and got captured by the Shadows, they kept Morden to use as an agent, and the rest they used for parts. Presumably they figured out that she was important after Sheridan tried imprisoning Morden indefinitely to get answers out of him, but even when they salvaged her out of the ship, she's not the same person. It's easy to tell that if Sinclair didn't have to be swapped out as captain, this would've been the fate of Catherine Sakai, Sinclair's space exploring girlfriend/fiance. Which also gives another dimension to how awkward that relationship was; it was supposed to be doomed. There was probably some weird directing to convey that.
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May 18, 2023 05:17
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The B Plot with Lennier building that Kawasaki Ninja ZX is pretty amazing
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May 18, 2023 16:06
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4x01: The Hour of the Wolf Hmm...very A Tale of Two Cities opening this season. I didn't think Sheridan was dead and I don't think Garibaldi is either. Boxleitner and Doyle's names appearing in the opening credits is a clue, yes, but I couldn't reconcile the fact that when Sheridan appeared in the future, Londo didn't seem surprised to see him. As for Garibaldi, I did not read the description but I saw that episode 2 or 3 of this season is 'Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?'. I suspect nabbing him was an insurance policy for the Shadows. There's some delicious irony in Morden whining to Londo here about "certain parties planting their ships" and "taking advantage of the situation" at Z'Ha'Dum. Was it not the Shadows, a mere episode ago, who were telling Sheridan that only the strong races survive and the weaker ones die? What does it say about the Shadows that they're too weak at this point to repel an attack? But then again, that's how social Darwinism always work: the ruling class (in this case, the Shadows) are never the ones that get their hands dirty or have such philosophies directed at them, but at those they consider to be "weaker". Another irony is Emperor Carvaggio (or whatever his name). Londo is looking straight into a mirror at himself. Maybe he didn't want to be deified, but power is the way that the Shadows played him like a fiddle. I don't know if I can say that it's too late for him, but this is a trap of his own choosing. I've said before in my recaps: he's gotten pretty much everything he every wanted, but he's sacrificed everything to get it. There's something different about Vir this season; can't put my finger on what it is - makeup? Furst losing a bit of weight in his face? Not sure, but he seems younger.
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May 18, 2023 21:11
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:4x01: The Hour of the Wolf Cartagia Also, regarding Furst, he had type 2 diabetes and it was pretty uncontrolled for a while. He almost needed to have a foot removed in `96. He got real serious about controlling it after that and lost a bunch of weight.
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May 18, 2023 21:17
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Emperor Cartagia (Play the CCG back in the 90s and learn the names of every single named character, even the ones that aren't named on screen!)
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May 18, 2023 21:23
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Thanks. I'm curious: how did the cast get along behind the scenes on B5? I don't want to read or watch too much for fear of spoilers. They seemed to have a lot of chemistry, though. I've seen part of a panel that Peter Jurasik and Stephen Furst did, and they seemed to get along really well. It seems to wrong to hear Jurasik without that Londo accent...
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May 19, 2023 02:37
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:Thanks. It’s pretty clear that there is a ton of affection amongst most of the cast.
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May 19, 2023 03:08
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