Passing Through Gethsemane
Hi, I'm new here!
Before I go over the episode, I must direct you to SFdebris' brilliant review of it right here.
Soundtrack for this overview is, of course, Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say). Har har.
Considering all the absurd and unnecessary "futurey" revamps every day items we usually see in B5, I'm a little disappointed a glowing board is the only silly modification made to chess.
This is one of the only real "filler" episodes in the entire series by my count. Except for maybe the return of Lyta, nothing in this episode moves the plot or the characters forward and it focuses entirely on some dude we are never going to see again. What this episode does do is tell us a whole lot about the World of B5 and the characters who inhabit it. Passing Through Gethsemane is a story about redemption, forgiveness and the redemptive power of forgiveness, a theme you cannot deny runs pretty strongly through the series as a whole. The episode also has a theme all to itself: the idea of innocence being inherently pure and good while knowledge holds the temptation of evil which, y'know, blah blah is the Genesis idea of Biblical morality.
Passing Through Gethsemane is an argument between Old Testament and New Testament justice; the "eye for an eye" absolution versus forgiveness and sacrifice. I know everyone says it, but man, JMS has a real knack for writing religious themes in a way in which both atheists and believers can appreciate, at least in regards to Christianity. B5 is a show stepped in Western mythology and he treats Christianity as one of these mythologies, which is pretty refreshing all things considered.
First off... there is an interesting tension between Lyta and Susan that I'm pretty disappointed was never explored. I'm, ah, not the biggest Lyta fan in the world, but there's something really powerful about that first moment where Lyta steps off Kosh's ship and Susan sees her; the fact that Kosh felt the need to inform her of Lyta's return at all. After all, Lyta essentially killed (murdered?) Susan's lover.
I remember reading somewhere- and I am a bad fan and can't remember if this was here-say or if it was an interview with Claudia Christian or something else derp derp- that Claudia herself had been all for having Ivanova and Lyta become romantically involved in the absence of Talia and while I'm not 100% sold on THAT idea (nor 100% certain of its factual validity), I can certainly see why it might have been an attractive avenue for her. I actually think that the biggest failing of Passing Through Gethsemane is that in an story about forgiveness, it skips out on the chance to explore Ivanova's capacity for it, both in regards to Lyta and Talia despite Lyta's return being the freaking B plot of the episode.
We DO learn all about Garibaldi's capacity for forgiveness, which is thin at best. This comes as no surprise, of course, but is very at odds with his propensity for giving second chances to people like Zack, G'kar and even Londo at one point. Part of the complexity of Garibaldi's character is that he seems to yearn for black and white morality while, at the same time, being too smart to ever blind himself to the endless shades of gray. Here, he takes comfort in examples of absolute evil because there are so few examples of absolute good.
However contrived the reason that got him and Delenn into the same room, I appreciate their polar opposite viewpoints on this matter. Micheal is made of nerves and paranoia and occasional bouts of self-hatred while Delenn is self-assured to the point of self-righteousness at times and is pretty much a creature constructed 100% of industrial strength faith. Their difference in opinion has nothing to do with individual morality and everything to do with individual strength of character. Which isn't to say one is "right" and one is "wrong" but rather that Delenn is able to hold such unwavering convictions in the face of ugly reality because she knows who she is and never has to question. Micheal just doesn't have the confidence to hold people to his highest standards the way Delenn does (and, well, as Lennier points out in S4, Delenn has a habit of looking at life through blinders).
I'm not going to talk too much about Brother Edward's plot because I think that SFdebris and JMS's notes on the Lurker's Guide do it better than I ever could. There are a lot of heavy themes here that JMS doesn't even have to work at. While the concept of Death of Personality is framed beautifully in this episode, all you really have to do is mention the idea casually to get people thinking. It's a pure science-fiction concept at its best: present a fantastic and currently unattainable concept in order to make the audience question a basic tenant of contemporary life. In this case, we're wondering what really counts as "punishment" for a crime. Is the aim of punishment to remove the problem or is it for the satisfaction of the victim?
Edward's panic over not knowing what his sins are and thus being incapable of confessing them is an interesting point as well and, once again, is not one that needs a whole lot of window dressing to be evocative. Is repentance action or intent? My point here, really, is that this easily could have been a lazy episode full of superficially ~*~deep questions~*~, but JMS does himself a favour here and showcases the one-off character of Edward over the sparkly theme and thanks to Brad Dourif's oddly endearing creepiness the whole thing just works. It can be blatant in parts, but at least it's never preachy.
Also also I really love the explanation of Minbari religious belief. I remember being particularly impressed by this my first time through the show back when I was still making up my mind about how much I cared about things that were not Londo Mollari. Minbari culture especially has always felt very alien and organic to me and their idea of physical life being a reflection, a point of light on the wall but not the actual origin of the soul is a very beautiful one. Oddly enough, G'kar echoes something similar to this in S5 during a speech to his followers, but it's been a while since I've seen the episode so I couldn't quote it directly. I don't have anything deep to say about it, it's just a neat idea that the universe is involved in some grand, bizarre Jungian analysis of itself.
IIRC, this is actually the first mention made of Valen's origins. I like that it's mentioned so casually despite giving such enormous precedence to a later revelation. JMS has turned retcon into an art.
I would rail about the absurdity of Malcolm getting mind-wiped for a single murder done not in cold blood but out of revenge over a murdered love one (so, surely, a one time infraction), however I like to pretend that this was not a contrived plot twist to give the episode a clever "ah HA" ending but instead is just a side-effect of the proto-fascist government brewing and broiling behind the scenes. Not saying that murder is justified in cases of revenge (at least not in most of them), just saying that Malcolm isn't exactly Ted Bundy, y'know.
Speaking of Malcolm, wasn't that also the name of Susan's creepy ex in 'The War Prayer'?
Also, what's the verdict on Theo's "adoption" of Malcolm at the end there? I know it's generally interpreted as Theo showing Edward's murderer forgiveness, however I kind of think this can also be read and Theo conceding to Sheridan that forgiveness is difficult for him too and taking a sort of retributive satisfaction in Malcolm's fate. Whatever the definitive interpretation is I almost don't want to know. I like it better ambiguous.
DISKUSHION TIEM
1. The portrayal of Good and Evil in Babylon 5. Lame or enlightened? Unique or tired? Totally ripping off Tolkien or an interesting interpretation of Tolkien?
2. Is this even a filler episode that works for you? Why/Why not?
3. Does this episode do a good job of laying the foundation for subsequent redemption arcs in the series?
4. Susan/Lyta. Hot or not?
5. I am bad at this. Talk about whatever you want~
Before I go over the episode, I must direct you to SFdebris' brilliant review of it right here.
Soundtrack for this overview is, of course, Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say). Har har.
Considering all the absurd and unnecessary "futurey" revamps every day items we usually see in B5, I'm a little disappointed a glowing board is the only silly modification made to chess.
This is one of the only real "filler" episodes in the entire series by my count. Except for maybe the return of Lyta, nothing in this episode moves the plot or the characters forward and it focuses entirely on some dude we are never going to see again. What this episode does do is tell us a whole lot about the World of B5 and the characters who inhabit it. Passing Through Gethsemane is a story about redemption, forgiveness and the redemptive power of forgiveness, a theme you cannot deny runs pretty strongly through the series as a whole. The episode also has a theme all to itself: the idea of innocence being inherently pure and good while knowledge holds the temptation of evil which, y'know, blah blah is the Genesis idea of Biblical morality.
Passing Through Gethsemane is an argument between Old Testament and New Testament justice; the "eye for an eye" absolution versus forgiveness and sacrifice. I know everyone says it, but man, JMS has a real knack for writing religious themes in a way in which both atheists and believers can appreciate, at least in regards to Christianity. B5 is a show stepped in Western mythology and he treats Christianity as one of these mythologies, which is pretty refreshing all things considered.
First off... there is an interesting tension between Lyta and Susan that I'm pretty disappointed was never explored. I'm, ah, not the biggest Lyta fan in the world, but there's something really powerful about that first moment where Lyta steps off Kosh's ship and Susan sees her; the fact that Kosh felt the need to inform her of Lyta's return at all. After all, Lyta essentially killed (murdered?) Susan's lover.
I remember reading somewhere- and I am a bad fan and can't remember if this was here-say or if it was an interview with Claudia Christian or something else derp derp- that Claudia herself had been all for having Ivanova and Lyta become romantically involved in the absence of Talia and while I'm not 100% sold on THAT idea (nor 100% certain of its factual validity), I can certainly see why it might have been an attractive avenue for her. I actually think that the biggest failing of Passing Through Gethsemane is that in an story about forgiveness, it skips out on the chance to explore Ivanova's capacity for it, both in regards to Lyta and Talia despite Lyta's return being the freaking B plot of the episode.
We DO learn all about Garibaldi's capacity for forgiveness, which is thin at best. This comes as no surprise, of course, but is very at odds with his propensity for giving second chances to people like Zack, G'kar and even Londo at one point. Part of the complexity of Garibaldi's character is that he seems to yearn for black and white morality while, at the same time, being too smart to ever blind himself to the endless shades of gray. Here, he takes comfort in examples of absolute evil because there are so few examples of absolute good.
However contrived the reason that got him and Delenn into the same room, I appreciate their polar opposite viewpoints on this matter. Micheal is made of nerves and paranoia and occasional bouts of self-hatred while Delenn is self-assured to the point of self-righteousness at times and is pretty much a creature constructed 100% of industrial strength faith. Their difference in opinion has nothing to do with individual morality and everything to do with individual strength of character. Which isn't to say one is "right" and one is "wrong" but rather that Delenn is able to hold such unwavering convictions in the face of ugly reality because she knows who she is and never has to question. Micheal just doesn't have the confidence to hold people to his highest standards the way Delenn does (and, well, as Lennier points out in S4, Delenn has a habit of looking at life through blinders).
I'm not going to talk too much about Brother Edward's plot because I think that SFdebris and JMS's notes on the Lurker's Guide do it better than I ever could. There are a lot of heavy themes here that JMS doesn't even have to work at. While the concept of Death of Personality is framed beautifully in this episode, all you really have to do is mention the idea casually to get people thinking. It's a pure science-fiction concept at its best: present a fantastic and currently unattainable concept in order to make the audience question a basic tenant of contemporary life. In this case, we're wondering what really counts as "punishment" for a crime. Is the aim of punishment to remove the problem or is it for the satisfaction of the victim?
Edward's panic over not knowing what his sins are and thus being incapable of confessing them is an interesting point as well and, once again, is not one that needs a whole lot of window dressing to be evocative. Is repentance action or intent? My point here, really, is that this easily could have been a lazy episode full of superficially ~*~deep questions~*~, but JMS does himself a favour here and showcases the one-off character of Edward over the sparkly theme and thanks to Brad Dourif's oddly endearing creepiness the whole thing just works. It can be blatant in parts, but at least it's never preachy.
Also also I really love the explanation of Minbari religious belief. I remember being particularly impressed by this my first time through the show back when I was still making up my mind about how much I cared about things that were not Londo Mollari. Minbari culture especially has always felt very alien and organic to me and their idea of physical life being a reflection, a point of light on the wall but not the actual origin of the soul is a very beautiful one. Oddly enough, G'kar echoes something similar to this in S5 during a speech to his followers, but it's been a while since I've seen the episode so I couldn't quote it directly. I don't have anything deep to say about it, it's just a neat idea that the universe is involved in some grand, bizarre Jungian analysis of itself.
IIRC, this is actually the first mention made of Valen's origins. I like that it's mentioned so casually despite giving such enormous precedence to a later revelation. JMS has turned retcon into an art.
I would rail about the absurdity of Malcolm getting mind-wiped for a single murder done not in cold blood but out of revenge over a murdered love one (so, surely, a one time infraction), however I like to pretend that this was not a contrived plot twist to give the episode a clever "ah HA" ending but instead is just a side-effect of the proto-fascist government brewing and broiling behind the scenes. Not saying that murder is justified in cases of revenge (at least not in most of them), just saying that Malcolm isn't exactly Ted Bundy, y'know.
Speaking of Malcolm, wasn't that also the name of Susan's creepy ex in 'The War Prayer'?
Also, what's the verdict on Theo's "adoption" of Malcolm at the end there? I know it's generally interpreted as Theo showing Edward's murderer forgiveness, however I kind of think this can also be read and Theo conceding to Sheridan that forgiveness is difficult for him too and taking a sort of retributive satisfaction in Malcolm's fate. Whatever the definitive interpretation is I almost don't want to know. I like it better ambiguous.
DISKUSHION TIEM
1. The portrayal of Good and Evil in Babylon 5. Lame or enlightened? Unique or tired? Totally ripping off Tolkien or an interesting interpretation of Tolkien?
2. Is this even a filler episode that works for you? Why/Why not?
3. Does this episode do a good job of laying the foundation for subsequent redemption arcs in the series?
4. Susan/Lyta. Hot or not?
5. I am bad at this. Talk about whatever you want~