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Skriven 2007-02-24 21:06:38 av jphalt@aol.com (16106.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: Learning Curve: my review
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The first genuinely substandard episode of "Babylon 5" in a very long
while, though it is partially redeemed by some good character work on
the fringes of the weak story.


THE PLOT

Delenn has invited Durhan (Brian McDermott), a Ranger leader from the
Warrior Caste, to come to Babylon 5 to give her an update on the
progress of the Rangers since expanding their ranks to include
representatives all Alliance worlds. Durhan, in turn, drafts his
friend/verbal sparring partner, Turval (Turhan Bey) of the Religious
Caste and students Tannier (Brendan Ford) and Rastenn (Nathan
Anderson) to accompany him.

Babylon 5's Down Below is undergoing a minor crisis, however, one that
makes it a dangerous place to visit. Trace (Trevor Goddard), a
criminal on the run in the wake of the Earth Civil War, has decided to
lay claim to Babylon 5. In the process, he has committed several
murders. Fearing that Zack's investigation might compromise his power,
Trace decides to send a message by luring the security chief into an
ambush.

When Tannier interferes, Trace decides that a Ranger will make just as
effective a message as a security chief... leading the Minbari Rangers
to the ritual of "Mora'dum," an exercise in terror...


THE GOOD

Though not a particularly strong episode, "Learning Curve" does have
some interesting elements, mostly ones that exist on the periphery of
the rather weak "A" story.

The best parts of the episode have to do with Garibaldi and his
suspicions and hostility toward Captain Lochley. The confrontation
between Lochley and Garibaldi in the mess (with Zack hilariously
trying to change the subject, with increasing desperation) is easily
the episode's best scene, in my opinion. Garibaldi comes at Lochley
head-on, obviously hoping that she'll flinch, and finds himself coming
out the worse for their encounter when she responds to his accusations
bluntly and persuasively, eliciting applause from the other troops in
the mess. It's a terrific scene, very well acted by both Scoggins and
Doyle (and Jeff Conaway, whose reactions are priceless). As alluded to
in my last review, I have come to consider it a boost anytime Lochley
and Garibaldi are on-screen together. Scoggins and Doyle seem to bring
out the best in each other as actors, and the characters really do
spark well, particularly when they're put into conflict in these early
episodes.

Lochley's response to Garibaldi, that she chose not to fire on her own
people and did not think it was her place to set policy, provides yet
more reason to be frustrated at "Crusade's" early cancellation.
Indications about where that show's arc was heading make it likely
that "Crusade" was going to put Lochley into the exact position she
evidently managed to avoid in the Earth war. I suspect the character's
inner conflict at being placed into a position that she directly
states here is anathema to her would have made for some excellent
television, and would have made the Lochley character far more
respected by fans than she is now. Not so much a missed opportunity as
it seems likely things were headed that way), as an aborted one. Given
that TNT is responsible for there being a fifth season of "Babylon 5"
at all, I suppose it would be churlish to curse them too vehemently...
but it's still too bad.

Though I felt most of the guest characters that dominated this episode
were weak, I did enjoy the interactions between the two Minbari
instructors. Turhan Bey was wonderful in his first series appearance,
as Centauri Emperor Turhan. He's just as good as Turval. There's
something about Bey's presence that just seems to radiate wisdom,
without doing so in a way that makes him seem irritating or pompous.
It's also really refreshing to see a genuine friendship between a
member of the Warrior Caste and the Religious Caste - too often, the
show has only shown the members of these castes as enemies. The banter
about the Pak'ma'ra is greatly amusing... although the same scene does
build Delenn up a bit too much at the expense of the two Ranger
leaders. I accept that Delenn is more insightful than most... but as
the scene lays it out, the Pak'ma'ra's potential use in intelligence
work is far too obvious for Turval and Durhan to have never even
considered.


THE BAD

Despite Season 5's comparably poor reputation when compared to the
rest of the series, on first viewing I was pleasantly surprised at how
engaging most of the season was. On second viewing, this impression
has held up. I did not find any of the first four episodes of Season
Five to be below average, and "The Paragon of Animals" and "The Very
Long Night of Londo Mollari" were very strong episodes that compare
well against shows from any season.

Which makes "Learning Curve" the first episode I've found to be
genuinely below average since "Thirdspace."

There are many reasons why this episode doesn't work for me. Anyone
who has followed these reviews knows that, unless it is really well-
done (ala "Passing Through Gethsemane"), an episode centering
primarily around one-shot guest characters is unlikely to rate highly
with me. This episode compounds that problem by making these guest
characters very shallow and uninteresting ones.

One of the worst offenders is the episode's villain. Trace is an
incredibly weak character, a collection of tired clichés about
cowardly, blustering bullies. There is not one second of his
screentime in this episode in which Trace convinces me into thinking
that he would be able to intimidate the entire lurker population of
Down Below... let alone all of his criminal competition. I would more
readily believe that Trace would swagger into Down Below, announcing
his intent to take over all operations, only to promptly get taken out
by some other thug who was more familiar with the territory.

Trace's presence amounts to a classic study of a condition being
introduced onto the station for the length of one episode... and this
problem, at least, was very avoidable. There was room in episodes like
"No Compromises" and maybe even "A View from the Gallery" to slip in a
hint or two of Something Bad happening in Down Below; we wouldn't even
have needed to see Trace. And planting these hints a few episodes
earlier would have made Trace's abrupt cowing of Down Below seem at
least a little bit less forced. As it stands, Trace has come out of
nowhere simply to enable Tannier to face down his fears. To say the
situation lacks resonance would be an understatement.

Worst of all, the showdown between Tannier and Trace is an ineffective
climax. After all the build-up about the jeopardy Tannier faces in
this ritual, it turns out to be a very one-sided fight. The other
Minbari will not aid Tannier against Trace... but they will make sure
that Trace's allies are neutralized, that Trace is practically
paralyzed with fear before ever coming into the room, and that the
only weapon Trace has is one that is completely unfamiliar to him. But
other than that - and surrounding Trace while giving a monologue on
how ineffectual he is, even further demoralizing him - the other
Minbari will do absolutely nothing to aid Tannier. And other than
building an escalator into the side of the mountain, the park rangers
will do nothing to help you reach the top.

It's also very convenient that Trace turns out to be such a poor
fighter. Because all thugs who claw their way to the top of a criminal
underworld are weak and ineffectual when faced with opposition.


Another stray thought. The scene with Delenn and Lochley discloses
that the Rangers have been made essentially above the law on all
Alliance worlds. Am I the only one who sees this as a bad thing? The
potential for abuse of that kind of privilege is enormous. Having set
that up here, on first viewing I fully expected to see the potential
downside of this arrangement followed up. Surely we are not meant to
believe that all Rangers are pure at heart, and remain so throughout
their careers? No body of sentient beings in history has ever been
completely free of corruption for an extended period of time. Why
should the Rangers be immune to this?


Ultimately, with a weak villain facing off against weak guest
characters, all building to a weak climax, this ends up being a...
well, frankly weak "Babylon 5" episode. The Lochley/Garibaldi material
does salvage some of it... but not enough for me to give it higher
than a fairly dismal:


My Final Rating: 4/10.
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32
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