Babylon 5, "Survivors", S01E11, OAD 5/4/94 *spoilers*

[gchance]

Guide page: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/011.html

"Drunk again, Uncle Mike?"

Wow. This is one of those insidious S1 episodes where the story's alright, but doesn't have a punch to it... yet it's more important than it seems at first. There's a lot going on in the background here.

President Santiago is on his way to the station, and a security detail arrives ahead of time to make sure things are going okay. The head of Presidential Security is the daughter of a friend of Garibaldi, who sees him as nothing but a drunk due to his past. An accident occurs and due to the woman's history with Garibaldi, she blames him. He has to not only clear his name, but resolve the problem.

In the meantime Ivanova has a little adventure. :)

At first viewing this episode is mostly character development for Garibaldi, and it is. We knew before that Garibaldi had a background of alcohol abuse, but not to what extent. He's lost jobs in the past and has been blamed for a death as a result. While it was his fault, it wasn't the fault of alcohol; yet, as a defense mechanism he dove right back into it to cope. Now that he's apparently back on his feet, he's turning back to alcohol yet again.

Interesting enough, although Garibaldi got drunk ("A blood level that's close to 100-proof"), Sinclair still pushes for him and tells him he did good. That's quite a friend.

- Babylon 5 now has a new Starfury detachment called the Cobra Ring
- N'Grath! Buddy!
- General Nutter... as in, David Nutter, B5 producer

Now for the background stuff.

- President Santiago is very pro-alien.
- Homeguard is growing. They run counter to Santiago's policies on alien relations.
- While they didn't succeed, Homeguard's plan was huge. Sinclair said it would have taken out half the station. Half the station takes a good number of people. In other words, Homeguard is now murdering people via terrorist activity, not just recruiting people to the cause.
- Presidential Security didn't suspect their guy, in fact they said that he was one of their "best people". Homeguard is pulling in people from places they didn't expect.
- The President is "fond of Babylon 5". If he's pro alien relations, of course he would love Babylon 5.

So away we go. This has never been one of my favorite episodes, but viewing it this time it's obvious things are happening behind the scenes.

Greg

[Fleegle]

- General Nutter... as in, David Nutter, B5 producer



I think you mean General Netter as in Doug Netter, co-producer of Babylon 5 :)

A few other background things that the episode laid groundwork for are Garibaldi's work history and his alcoholism. This is Garibaldi's "last chance to make good". He's has problems on Mars and Europa so far.

[gchance]

I think you mean General Netter as in Doug Netter, co-producer of Babylon 5 :)

Yeah yeah I wrote it down wrong. Sue me. ;)

[Mars Rocket]

I liked this episode. It provided some good, believable background and moved along at a good pace. Nothing that struck me as dumb or out of place.

Thoughts/comments:

1. Cobra bay? Blue zone? Is there a good map of B5 somewhere that actually makes sense, or do they keep introducing new areas all the time?

2. That government agent guarding the med center (the one working for Kemmer) sure moved aside quickly when Sinclair threatened him...and then Sinclair rolled over pretty quickly once Kemmer did the threatening. Nice to seem him finally grow a pair once the alert was issued to find Garibaldi.

3. The scene where Garibaldi goes to talk to G'Kar was very strange - It looked as though for most of it they shot the two actors separately and then edited them to look like they were having a conversation in the same room, but Jerry Doyle didn't handle it very well and comes across like he's just reading from cue cards while Andreas Katsulas does a really good job. Other than the one short shot near the beginning of the scene, the two were never shown together throughout the whole thing.

4. Boy - that hat made for an *awesome* disguise. Garibaldi should keep it for when he needs to go undercover. :rolleyes:

[Fleegle]

I liked this episode. It provided some good, believable background and moved along at a good pace. Nothing that struck me as dumb or out of place.

Thoughts/comments:

1. Cobra bay? Blue zone? Is there a good map of B5 somewhere that actually makes sense, or do they keep introducing new areas all the time?



http://www.babtech-onthe.net/b5/b5sectors.jpg

Babylon 5 is divided into 6 sectors, each serving its own purpose:

Blue Sector houses the 60 docking bays, Cobra bays, and C&C.
Red Sector contains the shopping areas, including the Zocolo, casinos, fine restaurants, and gardens.
Green Sector is the home of diplomatic quarters, the "Alien Sector," and many MedLabs.
Brown Sector houses the station's life support and recycling systems. The home of untold numbers of "Lurkers," this area has been nicknamed "Downbelow."
Yellow Sector contains the station's fusion reactor.
Grey Sector contains the rotation components that spin the station.

[Craigbob]

I liked this episode. It provided some good, believable background and moved along at a good pace. Nothing that struck me as dumb or out of place.

Thoughts/comments:

1. Cobra bay? Blue zone? Is there a good map of B5 somewhere that actually makes sense, or do they keep introducing new areas all the time?

2. That government agent guarding the med center (the one working for Kemmer) sure moved aside quickly when Sinclair threatened him...and then Sinclair rolled over pretty quickly once Kemmer did the threatening. Nice to seem him finally grow a pair once the alert was issued to find Garibaldi.

3. The scene where Garibaldi goes to talk to G'Kar was very strange - It looked as though for most of it they shot the two actors separately and then edited them to look like they were having a conversation in the same room, but Jerry Doyle didn't handle it very well and comes across like he's just reading from cue cards while Andreas Katsulas does a really good job. Other than the one short shot near the beginning of the scene, the two were never shown together throughout the whole thing.

4. Boy - that hat made for an *awesome* disguise. Garibaldi should keep it for when he needs to go undercover. :rolleyes:

1: Ask and ye shall receive:
http://www.babtech-onthe.net/b5/
http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Babylon_5_Map.JPG
http://midwinter.com/lurk/universe/station-map-1.html
http://www.frostjedi.com/vex/html/babylon_5_station_map.htm

2: There is a lot more strength to Sinclair than initially appears.

4: LOL!!!

[aintnosin]

Not one of my faves. Every action-type series seems to do a show in which a major character gets accused of a crime and becomes a fugitive. "Survivors" didn't do much to rise above the cliche.

[Mars Rocket]

1: Ask and ye shall receive:
http://www.babtech-onthe.net/b5/
http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Babylon_5_Map.JPG
http://midwinter.com/lurk/universe/station-map-1.html
http://www.frostjedi.com/vex/html/babylon_5_station_map.htm


Look at where the Brown, Grey and Yellow sectors are in the first, third, and fourth links you provided. They contradict each other.

[Mars Rocket]

Because I'm bored:

http://www.babtech-onthe.net/b5/b5sectors.jpg

http://midwinter.com/lurk/gif/map.gif

http://www.frostjedi.com/vex/assets/images/b5map01b.jpg

[Fleegle]

Look at where the Brown, Grey and Yellow sectors are in the first, third, and fourth links you provided. They contradict each other.

I'm pretty sure the pic I posted is a screengrab from the show.

[Craigbob]

Look at where the Brown, Grey and Yellow sectors are in the first, third, and fourth links you provided. They contradict each other.

I just find the stuff, I didn't make it. :p

Personally I'd go with this one as it appeared on screen and would be considered canon.

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/babylon5/images/thumb/1/19/Babylon_5_Map.JPG/800px-Babylon_5_Map.JPG

[Mars Rocket]

I just find the stuff, I didn't make it. :p

Personally I'd go with this one as it appeared on screen and would be considered canon.

It's different from all the others as well - note where it says Brown is. And why is Brown labeled "Energy Supply"? I thought all the energy came from the fusion reactor at the far end. Or the solar cells.

[dylking]

After watching so much tv, and so much 'making ofs', I noticed something this time around something I never caught the first time.

After the crisis is over Lianna lets her hair down, literally. When she was uptight, it was..up tight. When she loosened up, so did the hair. I'm sure it was intentional, but it's not something I noticed the first time.

[JYoung]

- Babylon 5 now has a new Starfury detachment called the Cobra Ring


Zeta Wing, actually.

Decent Garbaldi piece although it seems somewhat hampered by something, I'm not sure what, time constraints?
It's not bad but it just felt hamfisted in places.

Still, Garabaldi's flaws will come into play again...

[danm628]

Still, Garabaldi's flaws will come into play again...

Everyone's flaws will come into play again...

- Dan

[BeanMeScot]

After watching so much tv, and so much 'making ofs', I noticed something this time around something I never caught the first time.

After the crisis is over Lianna lets her hair down, literally. When she was uptight, it was..up tight. When she loosened up, so did the hair. I'm sure it was intentional, but it's not something I noticed the first time.

I noticed that right off.

[DLiquid]

Every action-type series seems to do a show in which a major character gets accused of a crime and becomes a fugitive. "Survivors" didn't do much to rise above the cliche.I agree with this. This episode was just so so for me.

The Lurker's Guide sure drops a lot of suspicious observations about Ivanova. I'm going to need to start paying closer attention to her.

[rorrim]

Is this the most recent thread for the re-watching? If so, I'm already a little ahead :)

[Hunter Green]

After the crisis is over Lianna lets her hair down, literally. When she was uptight, it was..up tight. When she loosened up, so did the hair. I'm sure it was intentional, but it's not something I noticed the first time.
Even the first time I thought it was a little heavy-handed. Go figure.

This story is definitely a pile of cliche, but there's a lot more it's setting up than one realizes. And for the story being awfully cliched, they handled it pretty well. (I was particularly impressed that N'Grath avoided the cliche; usually in these "cop on the lam" shows, the underworld is entirely too accepting of the cop.)

Some fairly thin acting this time, particularly in the role of Sinclair. Major Kemmer was kind of weak too: her "cold as ice" routine is quite appropriate to a military career officer with a chip on her shoulder, and the interrogation scene was well-played -- even with her chip still firmly on her shoulder, she was still keeping her eyes at least a little open to her real job. But she melted way too fast at the end, and there's just no excuse for her bringing Michael to the inspection and then falling so quickly. It was embarassingly clearly "get the major players to the scene" stuff, which B5 does too often in season one. (Later seasons, they get there by more natural means.)

Also, the effects for the "battle chess" game were embarassing (especially stretched from 4:3 to 16:9).

[gchance]

Also, the effects for the "battle chess" game were embarassing (especially stretched from 4:3 to 16:9).

Why are you watching it stretched?

greg

[JYoung]

Why are you watching it stretched?

greg

The original shot was stretched from 4:3 to make it 16:9 compatible when they mastered it to DVD.
I noticed it too.

[gchance]

Wow, I hadn't even noticed. Then again, I was on the treadmill so I don't think I noticed some of those details. It is an EFX shot, so it does make sense that they would do it that way.

Greg