Text 12411, 149 rader
Skriven 2007-02-17 12:03:41 av jphalt@aol.com (15854.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: A View from the Gallery: my review
==========================================
The latest crisis on Babylon 5 is seen through the eyes of two
characters who would ordinarily be extras in this episode.


THE PLOT

The station receives advance warning that an enemy is on its way. Not
much is known about this particular alien race, but one of the
Alliance races is able to disclose that these aliens will attack and
probe for weaknesses. If they decide the station is weak enough, then
they will come in force... making it imperative that they be stopped
in this first encounter.

As the station prepares for battle, we see the preparations and the
battle itself through the eyes of Bo and Mack, two maintenance
workers. Their travels through the station bring them into contact
with Sheridan, Delenn, Londo, G'Kar, Stephen, Lochley, Byron, and even
the most dreaded encounter of all: a close encounter with the
mysterious substance known as spoo!


THE GOOD

I must confess, this was not an episode I was looking forward to
revisiting. On first viewing, I found "A View from the Gallery" to be
a dreadful, painfully artificial filler episode, one I suffered
through more than enjoyed.

This time around, I liked it a lot better, and I think these reviews
had a lot to do with my newfound appreciation for this piece. The
writing of these reviews has led me to reflect several times upon the
theatrical nature of much of the show. I do think an appreciation of
that theatricality is necessary to properly enjoy this episode.
Certainly, Mac and Bo are not convincingly blue-collar characters. I
have never met a blue-collar maintenance or construction worker who
speaks the way these two do. The dialogue is not naturalistic, and the
pair seem often more like constructs than characters... elements that
pushed me firmly out of this episode on first viewing, I suspect.

However, when one approaches the episode with the series' nature of
"theatre-as-television" in mind, suddenly this becomes much less of a
problem. Sure, the dialogue J. Michael Straczynski writes for Mac and
Bo is far from naturalistic. Then again, the same could be said of the
writing of David Mamet (only with a lot more "f" words), and much of
his work has justly met with applause. Mac and Bo may lack character
depth... but to a large extent, this episode isn't really about Mac
and Bo; it's about seeing the regulars from an outside perspective.

Several of the encounters Mac and Bo have with the regulars are quite
memorable. The scenes with Stephen are probably the episode's most
effective. Though I had issues with Stephen making a speech to Bo
(more on that later), the monologue itself was quite compelling. I
particularly appreciated the parallel drawn between the Dilgar doctor
who saved the life of Stephen's father and Stephen's dilemma in the
Earth/Minbari War. Just as that doctor was branded a traitor by the
Dilgar, Stephen was called a traitor for a time during the war, when
he stood by his belief in the sanctity of all life. Stephen also gets
the single most effective nonverbal beat of the episode as, near the
conclusion, Mac and Bo are complaining about having to clean up all
the mess... only to turn the corner and see Stephen going through the
mass of bodies left in the battle's wake. As has become almost
expected by this time, Richard Biggs is exceptional in both scenes.

Their brief encounter with Byron is also a very strong scene. Here, we
see a softer side to Byron than we did in the last episode. His rage
against mundanes doesn't seem to extend to Mac or Bo, probably because
he recognizes that Mac and Bo - as "worker caste" - are not really
related to those who have used and abused telepaths. Byron takes some
time and trouble to explain to the two maintenance workers the effect
on a telepath of witnessing a living being's death, in a memorable
short monologue. Then, when Bo expresses his wish that he could be out
helping the pilots who are risking their lives for the station, Byron
even gives him a gift - a moment in the cockpit of a Starfury during
the battle. It may be the most genuinely generous that Byron has ever
been.

The scene between Londo and G'Kar is, of course, quite entertaining. I
enjoyed the contrast between G'Kar's childhood (full of hardship, but
free of responsibility) and Londo's (free of hardship, but never
allowed to be a child because of his responsibilities). G'Kar's
subsequent assessment of Londo as not having grown up, but merely
grown old, is as insightful as it is withering. By this time, it's
actually hard to continue to be impressed by Peter Jurasik and Andreas
Katsulas; they're so consistently brilliant, particularly opposite
each other, that I find myself taking their excellence for granted...
and that might be the highest praise I can think to give.

Other stray moments that stand out. Garibaldi's heated argument with
Lochley. I really enjoy the combative relationship between these two;
it's kind of fun to have two of the regulars really dislike each
other. Delenn's comparison of Mac and Bo to the Minbari "worker
caste," and her skillful argument to keep them from escorting her to
lifepod. What I observed about Lennier also goes for Delenn - she'd
make an excellent lawyer. And, of course, the amusing references to
questions and complaints by both JMS and "Babylon 5" viewers. What
does the floor sweeper do, exactly? What does spoo taste like?
("chicken" is not the answer). Speaking of chicken, why do the White
Stars look like plucked chickens? And what was the story behind
Ivanova's departure? All amusingly referenced, even if very few
answers are forthcoming.


THE BAD

Though I enjoyed the episode a lot more this time around than I did on
first viewing, it is not ever going to be a favorite. Though I can
accept Mac and Bo's relative shallowness by seeing the characters as
theatrical constructs who only exist to give us a new perspective on
the regulars, the fact remains that this is an episode that follows
two relatively shallow characters. As such, it simply can't hold the
same interest for me as episodes centering around more developed
characters.

Also, there are moments that land with a leaden thud. Much as I liked
the scene with Stephen, I had difficulty entirely suspending my
disbelief (even accepting the episode as theatrical) when Stephen
pauses for five minutes to have a meaningful discussion with a
maintenance worker who happened to make an offhand comment. I
preferred the style of other encounters (G'Kar/Londo; Lochley/
Garibaldi; Lochley/Corwin) where the regulars more or less ignored the
maintenance workers' presence.

Though the nods to viewer comments were often amusing, there were just
a few too many cases of JMS telling instead of showing. "You two
really love each other, don't ya?" Cue eyeroll. "(Lochley's) OK by
me." It doesn't matter how many times and in how many media JMS
insists on repeating some variation of that; those who don't like
Lochley are not going to be encouraged to do so by such lines of
dialogue. If anything, such lines tend to have the reverse effect, and
encourage more resistance to the character.

Though I personally do like Lochley, I'm afraid I didn't enjoy Tracy
Scoggins' performance as much in this episode as I did in "No
Compromises."  Particularly in Lochley's first major scene - the
scouting attack - it felt like Scoggins was pushing some of her line
deliveries. It seemed like she emphasized some odd words and syllables
to try to sound more forceful. Also, after her first episode firmly
established Lochley as a character in her own right, entirely too many
of her lines in this episode seem to have been written for Ivanova
rather than for her.

The good and the bad about even out, leading to an episode that's
certainly enjoyable, with some very strong individual moments, but
still one that I rank far below the series' best.


My Final Rating: 6/10.
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