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Skriven 2006-12-31 13:18:21 av jphalt@aol.com (13153.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: No Compromises: my review
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The series' fifth season begins with an episode that's engaging
enough to watch, but whose standalone plot seems like little more than
a clothesline used to introduce a few new characters.

THE PLOT

Babylon 5 has a new captain: Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins).
Lochley is a brusque, no-nonsense woman, hand-picked by Sheridan for
her record of resolving with diplomacy incidents that some officers
would solve with violence. Lochley also has a few traits that might
work against her politically, but that where also factors in
Sheridan's choice: she's not willing to be anyone's puppet, and
she insists on speaking her mind. Lochley's initial assessment of the
station is that it has been "poorly-run." When Lieutenant Corwin tries
to ease her into the realities of running a city in space by telling
her that a full picture of station life cannot be conveyed through a
simple report, Lochley's instant rejoinder is, "Then the report is
incomplete." She insists that if you do your job and don't go looking
for trouble, that things usually work out just fine.

What she doesn't realize - as Corwin tries to warn her - is that on
Babylon 5, trouble usually comes looking for them.

In this case, trouble comes in pairs. First, there is the group of
telepaths run by the enigmatic, cult-like leader known only as Byron
(Robin Atkin Downes). Fleeing from the Psi Corps, Byron and his people
are looking for a place to establish a colony. They have decided that
Babylon 5 (which remains independent from Earth) is the perfect place
for them.

The more immediate emergency, however, is a message that's just
arrived outside the station. The body of a murdered Ranger, floating
free in space. With John Sheridan's Presidential election less than a
day away, an unknown figure announces his intent to murder the man he
sees as a traitor...


THE GOOD

The loss of the PTEN network left JMS little choice but to wrap up all
of his major plot arcs during Season Four. As a result, when he did get
the pickup for Season Five from Turner, there were very few continuing
plot threads to pick up and run with. Instead of the running start it
would have had otherwise, Season Five was left to start from a static
point. All the momentum this season would get would, in effect, have to
be created within the season.

This situation left "No Compromises" with much to do. In some ways,
this episode almost starts a new series: a series about the
interesting, but inherently less exciting, issue of consequences. Much
of this season will be about the scars left by the events of the first
four seasons.

Given the lack of momentum carrying over and the sudden, unexpected
loss of Claudia Christian from the cast, it is a credit to both JMS and
director Janet Greek (returning to the series for the first time since
"The Fall of Night") that it works as well as it does. I doubt anyone
will argue that this episode represents the pinnacle of "Babylon 5."
It is, however, a solid standalone episode that demonstrates that while
the War for Earth may be over, its legacy will continue to haunt our
characters. No war ends without leaving a mess behind, particularly
when it's a civil war; it's nice to see the show acknowledging
that.

As noted, much of this episode is devoted to introducing new
characters. The most prominent character introduced is Captain Lochley.
There's no way I won't get at least a little flack for saying so,
but I actually quite like her in this episode. She gets a strong
introduction here, with solid scenes opposite Sheridan, Byron, and
Garibaldi. She gets to show a different bit of her personality opposite
each character, too. Opposite Sheridan, she is dutiful and
professional; opposite Byron, she's a bit softer and more
sympathetic; and opposite Garibaldi, she is prickly and downright
hostile. Tracy Scoggins fares well throughout the episode, in my
opinion, creating a character that's not simply an Ivanova clone, but
one whom I look forward to getting to know better.

Scoggins plays particularly well against Joshua Cox's Lt. Corwin.
Lochley and Corwin are an instantly engaging pair. In fact, Corwin
seems to actually emerge more as a character in his scenes with Lochley
than he did previously, with Ivanova. Corwin's bemused reactions to
Lochley's seemingly-instinctive abrasiveness are particularly
entertaining, and seem to indicate that this character is going to get
a bit more to do this season than has been the case.

The other major character introduced in this episode is, of course,
Byron... who is probably the single most hated character in the
entirety of "Babylon 5."  I'll withhold my judgment on the character
until he actually gets something to do down the road. He does get an
intriguing enough introduction here. His scenes with Lochley are quite
well-played and enjoyable. Also, knowing from the last episode that
extending protection to Byron's telepaths will later be regarded by
Sheridan as a mistake adds an extra degree of tension to his scenes.
Sheridan has already overridden Lochley's decision to tell Byron "No"
- and thanks to the information we learned last episode, we know that
will end up blowing up in his face. The only questions are how and when
the Byron situation will turn bad.


With so much attention paid to introducing new characters, few of the
old characters really get much to do. Garibaldi is back to his
humorously paranoid old self, and it's nice to see Garibaldi and Zack
paired together again. Also interesting to see Garibaldi being so
aggressively overprotective of Sheridan - far more than he ever was
before. Perhaps that could be read as Garibaldi wanting to make up for
his involuntary betrayal of Sheridan. Then again, perhaps he's just
remembering what happened the last time the responsibility for saving a
President's life was thrust upon him...

G'Kar is the only other regular who gets anything of substance to do.
As usual, Andreas Katsulas is wonderful, very warm and very funny from
the moment Sheridan asks him to write the oath and Declaration of
Principles. His description of going into battle with the words
probably sums up most writers' feelings when they prepare to put pen
to paper. And although it might be read as a slightly throwaway comic
moment, I confess to really liking the final version of the oath of
office. I daresay quite a few Presidents wouldn't mind throwing out
the formality and making it that simple - though I doubt they would
want to go through multiple assassination attempts that preceded it...


THE BAD

There are a few examples of mild idiot plotting in this episode. Given
that this assassination attempt has been announced in the wake of a
civil war, Garibaldi should think to check the voiceprint against
military records much sooner than he does. Also, why does the assassin
go to all the trouble to disguise himself as an alien ambassador and
smuggle a PPG into the Inauguration, when his second attempt - with the
Starfury - actually seems a much more direct and certain path to
follow? Finally, once in the Starfury, he falls victim to the hoary
villainous cliché of talking to his victim when all he has to do to
achieve victory is just shut up and shoot.

None of those are crippling flaws, mind you, but they did qualify as
minor annoyances.


TITLE SEQUENCE

For the third season running, I love nearly everything about the title
sequence. Whereas Season Four's titles were frenetic and
action-packed, to reflect the action-oriented nature of that season,
this season's titles are much quieter. These are the "West Wing"
credits of "Babylon 5."  Shots are held on-screen longer, with the
shots chosen to spotlight the actors showing them in more stately or
dignified poses. I particularly love the shot chosen for Garibaldi,
which seems to radiate waves of regret and anguish. Knowing from my
previous viewing of the series where the character is taken later this
season, it's a very appropriate choice. Less appropriate is the shot
chosen for Delenn, which is too "cute" and essentially strips her
of her formidable authority... but one credit shot not working is a
minor blip in an otherwise wonderful set of titles; and Christopher
Franke's music - an epic-sounding overture, this year - is perfectly
chosen, as usual.

(Of course, the selection of sound-bites to represent the first four
seasons guarantees that I will have Zathras' inimitable
growling/sighing of, "You are the one who was..." running through my
head almost constantly until I reach the end of Season Five...)


My Final Rating: 7/10. The plot is too thin for it to be top-notch B5,
but as a starting point for the season and an introduction to two new
characters, it works quite well.
--- SBBSecho 2.11-Win32
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