Text 10863, 264 rader
Skriven 2007-01-27 11:59:43 av Mac Breck (14300.babylon5)
Kommentar till text 10860 av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (14297.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Hidden Agendas, by J. Michael Straczynski: my review
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<jphalt@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1169881454.544747.289250@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
> Susan Ivanova returns, in a short story that lays down some
interesting
> groundwork for
> arcs that might have been, had "Crusade" not ended up being smothered
> in its
> infancy.
>
>
> THE PLOT
>
> The "Titans," the Warlock-class ship commanded by Susan Ivanova,
> unexpectedly
> arrives at Babylon 5. Sheridan is initially thrilled at Susan's
> surprise visit... until Susan
> drops just enough hints to get Sheridan on a shuttle over to her ship,
> where he confirms
> her worst suspicions. The Earth Alliance's Warlock class destroyers
> are operated by
> Shadow technology.
>
> Meeting with Garibaldi, Stephen, and Lochley, Sheridan decides that
> there is nothing
> official the Interstellar Alliance can do about the Shadowtech. The
> Earth Civil War is
> still too recent, the Interstellar Alliance too new and fragile, to be
> seen imposing its will
> on Earth. There is nothing that can be done right now about the use of
> Shadowtech in the
> Warlock class ships.
>
> However, Sheridan is not about to allow Shadow technology to infect
> Susan's ship.
> That much he can do something about... and he does, hatching a plan
> involving Ulkesh's
> abandoned Vorlon ship and Lyta's telepathic abilities in order to
> subdue the Shadow
> consciousness. But the Shadowtech in Susan's ship isn't about to
> surrender its hold
> without a fight.
>
>
> THE GOOD
>
> Though the transition between Seasons Four and Five was not a
> particularly rough or
> bumpy one, certainly not compared with the overhaul done to the series
> between Seasons
> One and Two,
Heh, I found the Season 1-2 transition much smoother than the Season 4-5
transition. IMHO, the Season 1-2 transition fit very well within the
story, and so it feels natural, like it belongs there. The Season 4-5
transition feels flaky, like somebody was given one minute to come with
something to explain storywise, CC not being in Season 5 (not counting
SiL, which was part of the Season 4 production run, and originally
carried a production number of 422.).
> the divide between storylines was nevertheless very sharp
the sharpest, next to the transition in the B5 universe between "The
River of Souls" and the Rangers pilot.
> - a product of
> the initial cancellation. Season Five has generally felt less like a
> continuation of the story
> in Seasons One through Four, and more like an extended epilogue.
To me, it really comes on strong and feels like a solid continuation of
the story once we get past "Phoenix Rising."
> Much of the narrative in "Hidden Agendas" works to smooth out that
> feeling, to tie
> the events of 2262 together a bit better with those of 2258 - 2261.
> There are several
> aspects of the story that help in this. A big one is the simple
> inclusion of Susan. Her
> removal from the series worked well enough, given the context of her
> final episode.
:-O Probably as well as could be expected, given the circumstances, but
well enough? No, that one hit me like an entire baseball team of Narn
hitting on the head, all at the same time. I had a headache that
Excedrin could not touch until I got past "Phoenix Rising."
> Still,
> simply seeing her (even in a prose story) does much to bind the old
> "Babylon 5"
> with the fifth season incarnation.
Better than nothing. Worked for me.
> Unsurprisingly, in a story written
> by JMS, the story
> captures Susan's inner voice quite well; I had no problem at all
> imagining Claudia
> Christian delivering both the spoken and "thought" lines, and even
> had a bit of fun
> envisioning some of the facial expressions Christian would likely have
> used as
> accompaniment.
Likewise. I imagined it quite well as a B5 episode.
> Other areas of the plot tie this to the past. The War for Earth, and
> the "slightly pressured"
> way in which Earth ended up joining the Interstellar Alliance, are
made
> major plot points.
Hmm, don't remember 'em. Haven't read the story since it first came
out. <shrug>
> The Vorlon ship is handily used in the climax (including a plausible
> explanation for why
> Ulkesh's ship did not self-destruct the way Kosh's had).
To me, that was completely unexpected, was a nice surprise and was very
well done.
> The use of
> Shadowtech as a
> main plot element itself recalls the Dreadnoughts in Susan's final
> battle, from
> "Between the Darkness and the Light."
>
> The Shadowtech also provides a link to future story developments. As
is
> fairly common
> knowledge now, had "Crusade" been allowed to continue, the story would
> have
> taken a turn involving Earth use of Shadowtech. In this way, "Hidden
> Agendas"
> provides foreshadowing and lays some groundwork for future events
> (future events that
> didn't end up being portrayed on screen, but I suppose one can hope
> for some use of the
> concept in a "Lost Tales" at some point).
We can only hope.
> The story also provides some set-up for Season Five. We see Lyta,
> studying Byron,
> struggling between her cynical feeling that anyone that messianic will
> inevitably meet a
> bend, and her desire for a true family. Lyta's Season Five arc is
> further foreshadowed by
> her reflections about how she always gets the worst jobs. Byron's
> later words to Lyta
> about people rarely thanking her for her efforts are also hinted at.
> Once the job is done,
> Susan leaves immediately, not waiting for Lyta to regain consciousness
> to thank her for
> the risk she took, while Zack - despite his feelings for Lyta - seems
> to be outright taking
> her for granted in this story. As with many of the mid to late Season
> Four developments,
> I find it no surprise at all that Lyta became resentful. She has never
> been terribly
> well-treated by most of our heroes, and this story provides yet
another
> example of this.
To me, it seemed out of character for the people in this story to be
treating Lyta that way. It seemed wrong, storywise. I thought they
were better than that. I realize that Lyta was more of a fringe
character, but treating her as a tool (i.e. a wrench) to do a job, and
not as a person? No. I realize that they almost got bitten by Talia
and her sleeper personality, and that they don't trust Psi Corps. or
human or Centauri telepaths in general, or the Vorlons, but this is
Lyta. She's proved herself.
> THE BAD
>
> Though the characters of Lyta, Susan, and Sheridan come across quite
> strongly, other
> characters don't work as well in this story. Lochley's character,
> for example, comes
> across as bland and featureless on the page. I also question whether
> she would be in that
> meeting so early in her tenure on Babylon 5. We know that Garibaldi
> doesn't trust her; at
> the very least, Garibaldi voicing a concern over her presence would
> seem appropriate. It
> certainly seems odd that, given her stated loyalty to Earth, Lochley
> would be actively
> colluding with Sheridan to hide the current situation from Earth.
>
> Worse, Lochley contributes virtually nothing to the story. I've never
> subscribed to the
> "Lochley was forced down the viewers' throats" theory. I actually
> quite liked Lochley on
> first viewing of Season Five, and still quite liked her when I watched
> "No
> Compromises" a few weeks ago. In this story, however, she seems to be
> included
> simply so that JMS can have Susan observe her and approve of her. That
> this approval is
> pure "tell-don't-show," given that we don't see Lochley doing
> anything particular to earn
> it, enhances the feel of a writer telling the audience that they WILL
> accept this
> character, like it or not - a technique that, far from eroding
> resistance to new characters,
> actually tends to create more resistance than would exist otherwise.
>
> The other nit-pick I have is that the story's climax seems to be far
> too easily achieved.
> Within the space of about three paragraphs, the entire conflict is
> solved, which makes
> Lyta's astonishment at her own survival, and her subsequent fainting
> spell, feel a trifle
> unearned. Of course, I do realize that as a short story published in a
> magazine, there
> wasn't a lot of extra space to develop the climax further.
>
> Overall, a decent short story, that does help smooth the way between
> seasons. But the
> limitations of the short story format leave it feeling underdeveloped,
> preventing me from
> giving it a higher rating.
>
>
> My Final Rating: 6/10.
Hmm, I'll have to re-read it, to check those points.
As it is, my Final Rating: 9/10.
--
Mac Breck (KoshN)
-------------------------------
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Eddie: I can't get out of the world. I didn't pull the kind of math
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