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Skriven 2007-01-17 22:08:17 av jphalt@aol.com (13747.babylon5)
Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari: my review
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After a very long time on the fringes of the main story, Londo Mollari
comes back to centerstage for this somewhat surreal episode.
THE PLOT
With his latest shipment of bravari impounded due to a recent
infestation problem, Londo reacts in typical fashion: he rants and
belittles Security Chief Zack Allen, then swipes a large gulp while
Zack's back is turned...
Only to immediately collapse to the floor in front of Zack and a
horrified Vir. At first, Vir and Dr. Franklin suspect poison from the
drink. But the actual cause may be even more serious. Londo has had a
massive heart attack; Stephen doesn't have the equipment needed to
sustain Londo's heart; and it will take three long days for that
equipment to reach the station from Centauri Prime. Stephen will do all
he can with what he has on hand - but ultimately it will be up to Londo
whether he lives or dies.
This leaves Londo wandering around a surreal dreamscape version of the
station, meeting different versions of the people he has come to know.
Delenn is a gypsy fortune teller, disclosing Londo's future and
demanding that he answer one question: "Do you want to live?" Sheridan
is friendlier and more approachable, but ultimately fairly useless to
Londo. Vir is sympathetic, offering support and begging him to live
while trying to awaken Londo's conscience. And G'Kar is the face of
Londo's past misdeeds, insisting that the Centauri Ambassador does
not deserve to live.
Meanwhile, Lennier makes a decision to leave Delenn. He chooses to join
the Rangers - in part to replace the void left by Marcus' death, in
part insisting that it is the calling of his heart. But is it really?
Or is he simply running away from a difficult situation with Delenn and
Sheridan?
THE GOOD
As with any Londo-centric episode, the single greatest joy to be found
in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari" rests in the characterization
of Londo himself. Peter Jurasik's performance is, as always,
excellent, and the nature of the episode means that he gets to portray
many different emotional sides of Londo. Within this one installment,
Londo gets to be confused, scared, resigned, indignant, guilt-stricken,
terrified, and - finally - desperate. The episode depends on
Jurasik's performance for its success... which, within the context of
"Babylon 5," is like depending on water to be wet. With a lot demanded
of him, Jurasik delivers a lot. The episode is mesmerizing anytime he
is on camera; and while much of the credit goes to script and director,
much of the credit also belongs to the actor.
This is an episode with a distinct surreal flavor to it, as Londo goes
on a trip through his own personal Inferno, interacting with his vision
(as reflected through the looking glass) of several of the regulars.
Delenn, with her tarot cards, represents prophecy. Reflecting Morden
and "What do you want?" Delenn also asks Londo a question over and over
again to cut through his denials; only this time, the question is, "Do
you want to live?" Sheridan switches through his own character arc
between shots, starting in his Season Two Earthforce uniform, then to
his shirt without uniform jacket, then to his black uniform, and
finally to the Entil'zha outfit he is destined to eventually wear.
Vir pleads with Londo to choose life simply because Vir himself would
miss him. Finally, G'Kar fills two roles - first as the voice of
vengeance, and then as the spectre of Londo's own buried conscience.
All the regulars are strong this time out, but Andreas Katsulas
distinguishes himself as the G'Kar in Londo's vision. His intensity
is palpable as he throws Londo's past sins in his face, one after
another, hissing with ever-increasing contempt that Londo "said
nothing!" G'Kar gets to deliver the basic theme of Londo's entire
storyarc here. It doesn't matter that Lord Refa or Emperor Cartagia
wouldn't have listened to Londo, or that Londo might have gotten into
trouble... because it was Londo's obligation, faced with those
horrors - horrors he had done much to initiate - to say something,
rather than stand by silently and let it all happen.
Katsulas also clearly enjoys himself in the scene where Londo envisages
G'Kar as Cartagia. His mimicry of Wortham Krimmer's performance,
complete with little pinkie flips as he prompts the torturer to whip
Londo, is darkly hilarious.
David Eagle's direction is typically strong, with a few extra
flourishes that accent the tone of the episode. He neatly transitions
between the "real Babylon 5" scenes and the scenes in Londo's vision
in such a way that we always know where we are throughout the episode.
The tricks employed are fairly simple - a tilted camera, a reddish tint
to the lights - but they are effectively employed. Eagle also gets
creative with some of the transitions, at one point actually tilting
the camera and reddening the lights during a continuous shot. This
could easily have felt heavy-handed had it been overdone, but such
techniques are used judiciously enough that they work without calling
undue attention to themselves.
A couple of last observations on the episode. The final scene between
Londo and Vir is another of the series' many lovely moments between
these two characters. I enjoyed Vir's (hastily-retracted) assessment
of Londo as a great spirit trapped inside a monstrously corrupt
individual. This episode gives several indicators about Londo's
upbringing. This scene tells us that Vir heard the legend of a Centauri
spirit rebelling against its host all the time when he grew up; Londo
confesses that he never heard it. Earlier, in his talk with
dream-Sheridan, Londo discloses that he was forced by his family to
annul his marriage to the only one of his wives that he ever loved. The
series hasn't revealed that much about Vir's background, but I get
the impression that such would not have been done by Vir's family.
There does seem to have been a telling difference between the
upbringings of these two, resulting in Londo becoming jaded, hardened,
and corrupt, while Vir retains his essential values.
Finally, though a minor moment, I did enjoy the scene between Vir and
Lennier. Their little game of one-upsmanship at the bar is very funny:
"Hell of a year..." "Hell of a five years..." "Hell of a life..."
Pause. "You win." A nice nod to the comic scene they shared back in
"The Fall of Night." Good character work, too, in their formal
goodbye, as Vir impulsively and emotionally hugs Lennier - who is
palpably uncomfortable with the open emotion and the physical contact.
One man who's incredibly emotionally open, versus another who is
incredibly withdrawn. They make a fun pair; I wish we'd seen more of
these two together, over the series.
THE BAD
I can't say I'm overwhelmingly fond of this subplot with Lennier;
more accurately, I'm not too fond of the way this episode tries to
kick-start it. Though much was done to lay down groundwork for these
developments, notably near the end of last season, this episode pushes
things a little too far, a little too fast. I would rather see
Lennier's discomfort around Sheridan and Delenn as a couple grow in
the background for a few episodes, rather than just have a sudden
announcement that Lennier is leaving. This time around I could clearly
see Lennier's issues budding in Seasons Three and Four. Even so, it
feels like Lennier is being forced to go too quickly in a direction
that the character should resist. Also, some of his dialogue with
Delenn is too on-the-nose for these scenes to entirely sit right with
me. Despite the strength of both actors' performances, Delenn and
Lennier tend to avoid direct disclosures of emotion. Their scenes
should be laden with evasion and subtext; instead, the subtext becomes
the text, particularly on Lennier's side. I can't point to any
particular line of dialogue, save to say that some of their scenes
together feel false... the first time that has happened with this
particular pairing in the entire run of the series.
My Final Rating: 8/10. Would be a "9," but the Lennier subplot costs it
a point.
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