100 Reviews: 86
At least one more...probably not the last. I'm getting back into this part it seems (not that I had a ton to say about this one).
Babylon 5: 1x04: Infection
This episode is...weird. I’ve always heard this is one that JMS really regrets and I don’t exactly disagree with him that it’s not very good. A lot of it is really generic, the writing and acting are both forced as often as not, it’s a bit of a mess arc-wise in places, it’s limited in its story relative to most of the series, and it’s definitely floundering for its identity.
And yet there are things that really work in it. Things that would definitely be lost if this episode was ignored when people watched it. And even its genericness isn’t a complete failure because it’s presented with enough sincerity and does have a bit of a twist on it at the end that it’s kind of okay.
I do wonder if Steven looked very hard for info on IPX (the X makes it sound more impressive) seeing as for the rest of the show they’re presented as a well-known Earth corporation. Hell I think Garibaldi’s story about him and Sinclair on Mars that we get some of here actually involved IPX and I think they knew that. And later IPX seems to have a broader mandate than a front for a weapons corporation, although they probably do get some backing from that kind of research. That bit of continuity flubbery does stand out to me, probably in part in my Sheridan fan feelings.
The main portion of the episode is where the boring but not too bad stuff comes in the strongest, but before going on to the closing scenes that actually deserve comment I should say again that the relevant plot stuff is delivered fine. The slower scenes aren’t exactly done spectacularly, but there are parts of it that are better than I remember.
But okay, after the plot is over we have some pretty nice scenes that actually do elevate the episode a notch. The scene between Sinclair and Garibaldi (and I’d be lying if I said I never considered shipping it) is well handled, and kind of telling that maybe this show isn’t as generic as this plot might have made it seem. The Ivanova, Franklin, and cynicism scene is a look into B5’s less optimistic view of people and how short-sighted they can be. But then you get Sinclair’s closing statement which is kind of the opposite, about hope and confidence for a better future. Taken together it adds up to a look into how B5 will treat it’s outlook on existence; that it isn’t perfect and we can be stupid and short-sighted and our own worst enemy; but we can choose to look towards the future with hope and in so doing earn the right to see a better future.
It’s not great, it’s still low end for B5 quality, but it’s not so bad. And it was the first episode they made, the roughness of a lot of things about it make more sense when you take that into consideration. There is a theory that you want to shoot a few episodes before going back to the first so that what people see as the first episode isn’t as rough around the edges as the actual first written/acted/shot episode is bound to be. I don’t know if I agree with that exactly (especially since in this case The Gathering is the real pilot as opposed to MOTFL, and it was the first thing done) but it was definitely at work here, for good or not. It’s still the early days either way.
The best (or maybe worst to some people) thing about this episode is that the good parts do stand out while the meh parts are bland enough to be forgettable. In my mind there are worse things that can be said about a story.
Next time:
It’s a pretty good episode of B5, so probably that.
For now I’m kind of doing my own thing, but there’s the suggestion box
Babylon 5: 1x04: Infection
This episode is...weird. I’ve always heard this is one that JMS really regrets and I don’t exactly disagree with him that it’s not very good. A lot of it is really generic, the writing and acting are both forced as often as not, it’s a bit of a mess arc-wise in places, it’s limited in its story relative to most of the series, and it’s definitely floundering for its identity.
And yet there are things that really work in it. Things that would definitely be lost if this episode was ignored when people watched it. And even its genericness isn’t a complete failure because it’s presented with enough sincerity and does have a bit of a twist on it at the end that it’s kind of okay.
I do wonder if Steven looked very hard for info on IPX (the X makes it sound more impressive) seeing as for the rest of the show they’re presented as a well-known Earth corporation. Hell I think Garibaldi’s story about him and Sinclair on Mars that we get some of here actually involved IPX and I think they knew that. And later IPX seems to have a broader mandate than a front for a weapons corporation, although they probably do get some backing from that kind of research. That bit of continuity flubbery does stand out to me, probably in part in my Sheridan fan feelings.
The main portion of the episode is where the boring but not too bad stuff comes in the strongest, but before going on to the closing scenes that actually deserve comment I should say again that the relevant plot stuff is delivered fine. The slower scenes aren’t exactly done spectacularly, but there are parts of it that are better than I remember.
But okay, after the plot is over we have some pretty nice scenes that actually do elevate the episode a notch. The scene between Sinclair and Garibaldi (and I’d be lying if I said I never considered shipping it) is well handled, and kind of telling that maybe this show isn’t as generic as this plot might have made it seem. The Ivanova, Franklin, and cynicism scene is a look into B5’s less optimistic view of people and how short-sighted they can be. But then you get Sinclair’s closing statement which is kind of the opposite, about hope and confidence for a better future. Taken together it adds up to a look into how B5 will treat it’s outlook on existence; that it isn’t perfect and we can be stupid and short-sighted and our own worst enemy; but we can choose to look towards the future with hope and in so doing earn the right to see a better future.
It’s not great, it’s still low end for B5 quality, but it’s not so bad. And it was the first episode they made, the roughness of a lot of things about it make more sense when you take that into consideration. There is a theory that you want to shoot a few episodes before going back to the first so that what people see as the first episode isn’t as rough around the edges as the actual first written/acted/shot episode is bound to be. I don’t know if I agree with that exactly (especially since in this case The Gathering is the real pilot as opposed to MOTFL, and it was the first thing done) but it was definitely at work here, for good or not. It’s still the early days either way.
The best (or maybe worst to some people) thing about this episode is that the good parts do stand out while the meh parts are bland enough to be forgettable. In my mind there are worse things that can be said about a story.
Next time:
It’s a pretty good episode of B5, so probably that.
For now I’m kind of doing my own thing, but there’s the suggestion box