Babylon 5, "Deathwalker", S01E09, OAD 4/20/94 *spoilers*

[gchance]

Guide page: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/009.html

WOW, we just came off a monthlong hiatus! Thank goodness it's back!

Actually I've been paying attention to the OAD's, and it was almost a full month between The Sky Full of Stars and Deathwalker. I suppose Stars was a good episode to end on before the short hiatus...

Ever wonder what would have happened to the soul hunter, had the medlab been wide open when Delenn walked in? I thik we just found out. :P Actually I think Na'Toth was quite a bit more vicious than Delenn could dream of.

Watching the scene when G'Kar tries to make everything good with Jha'Dur really made me wonder though. Why is it that with TV shows, someone who's "evil" like this is ALWAYS evil? I mean, it's entirely possible to have a scientist who butchers people in the name of science to not immediately jump to, "give me her head" when she's wronged, especially since she heals so quickly. But that's just me.

As of this posting I haven't finished the episode, I'm only halfway through (that's what I get for trying to watch at work)... but here's my notes.

- THERE IS A HOLE IN YOUR MIND!!!!! How funny we just had that discussion and then WHAM, it happens again. Can you imagine the conversation the Wind Swords had with her? "Hey Deathwalker, come here. You're about to go to Babylon 5 for business, but first I think you need to know there's this guy named Sinclair who has a hole in his mind. Seriously, he does, about yay big. Yeah."
- Deathwalker was played by Sarah Douglas. You remember Superman 2? She didn't age well, it would seem. :p
- Ambassador Kalika is played by Robin Curtis. She gives great Pon Farr.
- Kosh is in full-on Kosh mode this episode, hehe. His bizarre one liners are always some of the best Babylon 5.
- Narn is working to expand their regime. Just an observation.

Anyway, this is one of the better episodes of the season. I've always liked it, anyway.

Greg

[Fleegle]

"Understandign is a three-endged sword" has always been a favorite quote when someone tells me they're not understanding something.

Oh, and the episode is showing it's age. a Vicar, or "VCR". ROFL

I've always loved the Vorlon aspect in the A plotline. Kosh refuses to participate in the vote, and has one of his ships just come in and blow away Deathwalker's Minbari Flyer. "You are not yet ready for immortality".

[Craigbob]

In the Other Voices Script Book Larry Ditillio laments that he was kind of stupid to write Jha'dur's description in such a way that it required Sarah Douglas to wear contacts, since so much of her acting is done with her eyes.

This is a cool episode however and kind of sets up something that later had to be dropped due to a cast change. It would've been cool to see how that would've transpired.

[danm628]

I've always loved the Vorlon aspect in the A plotline. Kosh refuses to participate in the vote, and has one of his ships just come in and blow away Deathwalker's Minbari Flyer. "You are not yet ready for immortality".

It's more of a hint than a spoiler but just to be careful...

Think about what this implies about the Vorlons view of other races.

- Dan

[gchance]

I've always loved the Vorlon aspect in the A plotline. Kosh refuses to participate in the vote, and has one of his ships just come in and blow away Deathwalker's Minbari Flyer. "You are not yet ready for immortality".

Think about what this implies about the Vorlons view of other races.

This is also the 2nd reference to not being able to handle something beyond our capabilities. Jason Ironheart said the same thing about all the power he was amassing (that we aren't ready).

Greg

[JYoung]

Deeeaaaaaatttthhhhhhhwaaaaaaalllllkkkkkkerrrr!
:)

Interesting that the Wind Swords have been harboring her for all this time.
And what do the Vorlons know about immortality.
Quite a bit of Vorlon intrigue in this episode, to say the least.

I also liked Ivanova in this episode.
"Our gun arrays are now fixed on your ship and will fire the instant you come into range. You will find their power quite impressive... for a few seconds. "

[Mars Rocket]

I liked this episode, but it too suffered from the "too small" syndrome. The situations are much bigger than the small group of people who are handling them. I know I've commented on this before, but this is the first time in several episodes where it really felt strained. Shouldn't there be some kind of treaty between all the races on B5 that spells out how things like war criminals and extradition is handled?

I find things like the inscrutable Vorlon to be more annoying than intriguing. I hope they give us some answers to them fairly soon. If not, why are they there? Surely he/it can watch his little TV show back home just as easily.

[Rob Helmerichs]

I find things like the inscrutable Vorlon to be more annoying than intriguing. I hope they give us some answers to them fairly soon. If not, why are they there? Surely he/it can watch his little TV show back home just as easily.
I hope I won't reveal too much when I say the Vorlons do play a role in the overall arc of the series. :D

[gchance]

I find things like the inscrutable Vorlon to be more annoying than intriguing. I hope they give us some answers to them fairly soon. If not, why are they there? Surely he/it can watch his little TV show back home just as easily.

I think the idea is he's there for more than being an ambassador; indeed, he doesn't do much as an ambassador. Of course, as a representative of the Vorlons, he's VERY representative... a mystery, not being very visible. And you're right, there's not much help with himbeing there. To us, anyway. :) I think Kosh is more there for the Vorlons than for us, or for diplomacy.

As far as his research, yes he can look at his TV at home, but if you want to learn about other races nothing beats living with them.

Greg

[gchance]

I hope I won't reveal too much when I say the Vorlons do play a role in the overall arc of the series. :D

I don't see how that could be revealing too much. That's like saying

Humans play a role in the overall arc of the series.

Duh. :)

Greg

[busyba]

I find things like the inscrutable Vorlon to be more annoying than intriguing. I hope they give us some answers to them fairly soon. If not, why are they there? Surely he/it can watch his little TV show back home just as easily.

No kidding! I wish they would just get off their encounter-suited butts and do something!



;)

[gchance]

No kidding! I wish they would just get off their encounter-suited butts and do something!



;)

Well what do you want?

Greg

[Mars Rocket]

I wanted to add that I like the *idea* of there being at least one alien race that is mysterious and has a psychology that is wholly non-understandable. Shows like this always try to show that the aliens are "different", but in the end they all act more like a human cult than an actual alien race.

Different human cultures are weird enough, what with all the different perceptions of color and distance and whatnot. You think an alien could really stretch the boundaries of behavior.

[JYoung]

I liked this episode, but it too suffered from the "too small" syndrome. The situations are much bigger than the small group of people who are handling them. I know I've commented on this before, but this is the first time in several episodes where it really felt strained. Shouldn't there be some kind of treaty between all the races on B5 that spells out how things like war criminals and extradition is handled?



In part, that's part of the reason Babylon 5 is out there, in order to work out these matters.

Don't forget that doing this on the interstellar level is all pretty new to most of the races.
Think of when the League of Nations was starting up post World War I.
That's kind of where Babylon 5 is right now.

[busyba]

Well what do you want?

Greg

NEVER ASK THAT!!!!!

[gchance]

NEVER ASK THAT!!!!!

Who are you?

Greg

[busyba]

Who are you?

I am the walrus.

[gchance]

I am the walrus.

I see a great hand, reaching from the sky...

Greg

[gchance]

Alright, I finally finished the episode. :) I don't have a problem with the Vicar (from VCR). Sinclair himself says it's slang from "old Earth tech". Is VCR not old Earth tech? Also, Divver doesn't have the same ring to it.

Greg

[mrmike]

Well what do you want?

/wave

[Fleegle]

/wave

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3f/Wave_like_this.jpg/300px-Wave_like_this.jpg

Vir waves back!

[gchance]

Vir loves to wave. :)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b4/Wish_granted2.jpg

Now let's stop spoiling!

Greg

[Fleegle]

Vir loves to wave. :)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b4/Wish_granted2.jpg

Now let's stop spoiling!

Greg

We spoil nothing!

[gchance]

We spoil nothing!

...and the goggles! They do nothing!

Greg

[busyba]

Green!!!

[Fleegle]

Green!!!

Oh, dear God, no!

I just know what's going tp happen when that episode comes up, and i dread it!:p

[Craigbob]

Well what do you want?

Greg

Never ask that question!

[Craigbob]

Alright, I finally finished the episode. :) I don't have a problem with the Vicar (from VCR). Sinclair himself says it's slang from "old Earth tech". Is VCR not old Earth tech? Also, Divver doesn't have the same ring to it.

Greg

Actually Ditillio says that if DVD recorders 's or DVRs had been around back then he probably might've called Abbut (BTW a nod to Bud and Lou) a David.

Also if we are going to get into quotes here may I point out a great, funny and sometimes surreal B5 quotes thread going on at JMSNEWS.com ? THe link is: http://jmsnews.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2227&page=last

[gchance]

Green!!!

Oh, dear God, no!

I just know what's going tp happen when that episode comes up, and i dread it!:p

Oh man. You reminded me. :)

Actually, of all the things we've groaned about so far, this is one that's a happy groan for me. Really, hehe. 16 episodes to go...

Greg

[danm628]

Vir loves to wave. :)

That was one of my favorite scenes in the series. Talk about taking a long time for pay off though.

Back to the topic pre-diversion. The Vorlons are unknown. In the real world there are always unknown things, tying up all the loose ends in a story often makes it feel un-real. So while B5 does resolve most of the loose ends by the end it intentionally doesn't tie up everything. (JMS has a quote on this but I don't want to hunt for it.)

One of the flaws of many SF shows is they try and take all of the mystery about of the unknown.

- Dan (Green )

[DLiquid]

Deeeaaaaaatttthhhhhhhwaaaaaaalllllkkkkkkerrrr!
:)LOL. Right after that I realized I hadn't checked the episode name. Hmm, I wonder if it's... <skip opening credits>... yes it is.

So who are the Wind Swords? Have they been mentioned in past episodes? I'm still like three episodes behind on the Guide pages, so I haven't read this one yet.

[Fleegle]

LOL. Right after that I realized I hadn't checked the episode name. Hmm, I wonder if it's... <skip opening credits>... yes it is.

So who are the Wind Swords? Have they been mentioned in past episodes? I'm still like three episodes behind on the Guide pages, so I haven't read this one yet.

No, the Wind Swords had not been mentioned before. Delenn explained that they are a clan in the Warrior Caste, and the most violent of the clans.

[JYoung]

No, the Wind Swords had not been mentioned before. Delenn explained that they are a clan in the Warrior Caste, and the most violent of the clans.

You mean Lennier.
Delenn was off station.

[Fleegle]

You mean Lennier.
Delenn was off station.

Der, oh yea! lol

[DLiquid]

No, the Wind Swords had not been mentioned before. Delenn explained that they are a clan in the Warrior Caste, and the most violent of the clans.So they are Minbari. I didn't catch that.

[Fleegle]

So they are Minbari. I didn't catch that.

That's why she had a Minbari Flyer and a Minbari ID.

[gchance]

So they are Minbari. I didn't catch that.

Not only are they Minbari, but they're of the warrior caste as well. The most violent of the warrior caste, as Lennier pointed out. :)

Greg

[DLiquid]

That's why she had a Minbari Flyer and a Minbari ID.Hey I'm a newb, cut me some slack. :D

[Hunter Green]

This was a good solid episode with its share of plot flaws -- in a way, it's the perfect example of season one: clumsy, fascinating, setting things up that won't pay off for years, including a few cringe-worthy bits of acting, filling in gaps in our knowledge of the races and history, requiring too much suspension of disbelief, and reminding us time and again that this ain't your grandfather's sci-fi show.

Nobody rolls their eyes quite like Talia... thankfully!

"Listen to the music, not the song" is one of the best of all Koshisms. It's so entirely zen: on the surface it means nothing but if you dig it can be turned to mean all kinds of stuff.

What a powerful teaser. Na'Toth just doesn't pull any punches. How many sci-fi shows can depict someone beating someone else with that much raw, unchecked brutality, without the attacker being immediately and forever an unmitigated villain, all in the first two minutes?