Episode 1.22: Chrysalis
Well there you go. This show’s getting pretty frickin’ amazing.
As befits the season finale, CHRYSALIS ties together a bunch of elements we’ve seen throughout the season: Morden and the Shadows are back, Catherine Sakai is back, the president thing comes to a head, Delenn (and her magical triangle and her pastel craft project) take a major step forward in their plot, and of course G’Kar! I cheered out loud when the very first scene showed Londo and G’Kar arguing in the Space UN. He and Na’Toth are both back and in fine form, and one of the best things about them is that they are still gleefully villainous, but they’re not actually villains. If anything they’re the victims in this episode, dumped on by everyone else, and G’Kar manages to come across as malicious and sympathetic at the same time. We genuinely feel bad for him, while simultaneously feeling bad for everyone who gets in the way of his revenge. G’Kar is seriously SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER, and Andreas Katsulas hits it so far out of the park they really need to just move the park to keep up with him.
G’Kar and Londo are arguing over a planet in Quadrant 37, which leads me to suspect they’re using the word “quadrant” wrong, but more to the point they come to a political impasse. Londo doesn’t know what to do until good old Morden shows up and offers to solve the problem for him. Londo is suspicious, but not so suspicious he turns down help, and then the Shadows proceed to blow the ever-loving crap out of every last Narn on the contested world. Na’Toth’s list of casualties is genuinely horrifying: every ship, every outpost, every record, and every single Narn in Quadrant 37 is dead. It’s a devastation so total that no one even suspects that Londo or the Centauri were behind it, because how could they possibly carry it off? G’Kar, being extremely smart, immediately knows that there’s another faction out there, and is understandably spooked, and puts a plan into action to figure out what’s going on. Londo, meanwhile, is shocked that he (very stupidly, in hindsight) took direct credit for such an act of cold-blooded murder, and I am incredibly eager to find out what this does for his reputation back home. Will the Centauri government be grateful? Will they be scared? Will they give him more power and prestige, or will they take steps to rein in this dangerous psychopath? And how long before G’Kar’s spies on the Centauri homeworld spread the word that Londo was behind this? Londo is always looking for easy wins, but he is going to think twice before blindly accepting help from anyone again, let alone Morden.
Meanwhile, the show wants us to believe that Sinclair and Sakai are deeply in love and ready to get married, even though we haven’t seen her in at least fifteen episodes. Whatever, we’ll pretend: Sinclair and Sakai are deeply in love and ready to get married. Garibaldi is invited to be the best man, and gives a very personal speech about how honored he is to be Sinclair’s friend, thus signalling that one of the two men will be dead or in great peril by the end of the episode. This turns out to be Garibaldi, who uncovers a plot to kill the Earth president and his shot point blank. He spends the rest of the episode in the med bay, at death’s door, but he doesn’t die by the end so we know he’ll live—if he wasn’t coming back next season they’d just kill him now. And I’m glad he’s coming back, because one of my absolute favorite parts of this show are the brief glimpses of Space Cop Procedural that pop up every couple of episodes. Garibaldi is a creep to Talia, but he’s a legitimately great cop and detective, and I love to watch him work.
And then there’s Delenn. Is it weird that I love the Triluminary precisely because it looks so stupid? It’s a three metal bars held together by solder and some twists of wire, with a repurposed microchip in the center. Old school Doctor Who would consider it a little too chintzy-looking to use on the air. And yet it’s a powerful artifact with immense power, and I love it. And if anything it is rivaled in goofy-looking-ness by the plastic pastel pyramids Delenn uses to build her magical chrysalis generator—I can’t find them online, but I SWEAR I’ve seen those pyramids somewhere before, like in an early 90s decorating store or something. We’re accustomed to seeing alien technology made of crystals, but this thing is so self-confidently plastic, like a 3D tangrams puzzle, and I’m making fun of it but I also dig it. Seriously, though: Delenn uses your yuppie aunt’s mantel decoration to wrap herself in a chrysalis and transform into something, and we don’t get to see what it is until next season. Is this where her hair comes from? I’ve seen photos of her with hair all over the Internet, so I know she gets some sooner or later. “Myself but with hair” seems like a super weird thing to transform into, though, though if at the end of season 2 she transforms again and this time her hair is blonde and spiky like a Super Saiyan, I will declare this the greatest show ever. For now, the best I can guess is that she’s becoming half human for some reason? I don’t know why that would matter, or be key to any prophecy, but it’s the best I can come up with. I admit that I’m little fearful for the answers to some of these mysteries: they’ve been set up so well, and so much of the story hinges on them, that if they don’t live up to the hype I know a lot of my enthusiasm will deflate. I am confident that the answers will be awesome once we finally see them, but I still have elements of worry—not doubt, just worry—so I’m letting you know.
Everything about this episode was great. I feel like this is finally the show JMS wanted to make it, without studio interference trying to turn it into a Star Trek clone. I can’t wait to start season 2.
One final, stupid question: one scene in the episode shows several human women leaving from what we assume is a sexual tryst with G’Kar. Star Trek has always been fairly clear about the fact that all of its aliens are not only physically but genetically compatible—anyone can mate and produce offspring with anyone else. Babylon 5 has specifically refuted that idea, and with the Centauri in particular they’ve gone out of their way to discuss that the anatomies don’t match up at all. Are we expected to believe that the Narn, who seem essentially reptilian, are more sexually compatible with humans than the Centauri are? Does everyone in the galaxy get busy with other species, or does G’Kar have a Human fetish? It’s good to know that love is love, I suppose, and I’m not here to judge anyone, I’m just suddenly super curious, so thanks a lot, post-orgy scene. It’s worth pointing out, I guess, that all the way back in THE GATHERING G’Kar was propositioning Lyta the telepath, trying to buy her DNA and offering to exchange it “the traditional way.” Does that means they’re more like us than I’m giving them credit for, or that G’Kar’s Human Fever is a longstanding character trait, or that Narn females are the ones who donate genetic materials to males during sex, instead of vice versa? I honestly kind of don’t want to find out, because the show has more important things to show us than galactic sexual etiquette, but: I wondered about it, so I had to write about it, and now I’m done.
Whatever. Time for season 2.
As befits the season finale, CHRYSALIS ties together a bunch of elements we’ve seen throughout the season: Morden and the Shadows are back, Catherine Sakai is back, the president thing comes to a head, Delenn (and her magical triangle and her pastel craft project) take a major step forward in their plot, and of course G’Kar! I cheered out loud when the very first scene showed Londo and G’Kar arguing in the Space UN. He and Na’Toth are both back and in fine form, and one of the best things about them is that they are still gleefully villainous, but they’re not actually villains. If anything they’re the victims in this episode, dumped on by everyone else, and G’Kar manages to come across as malicious and sympathetic at the same time. We genuinely feel bad for him, while simultaneously feeling bad for everyone who gets in the way of his revenge. G’Kar is seriously SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER, and Andreas Katsulas hits it so far out of the park they really need to just move the park to keep up with him.
G’Kar and Londo are arguing over a planet in Quadrant 37, which leads me to suspect they’re using the word “quadrant” wrong, but more to the point they come to a political impasse. Londo doesn’t know what to do until good old Morden shows up and offers to solve the problem for him. Londo is suspicious, but not so suspicious he turns down help, and then the Shadows proceed to blow the ever-loving crap out of every last Narn on the contested world. Na’Toth’s list of casualties is genuinely horrifying: every ship, every outpost, every record, and every single Narn in Quadrant 37 is dead. It’s a devastation so total that no one even suspects that Londo or the Centauri were behind it, because how could they possibly carry it off? G’Kar, being extremely smart, immediately knows that there’s another faction out there, and is understandably spooked, and puts a plan into action to figure out what’s going on. Londo, meanwhile, is shocked that he (very stupidly, in hindsight) took direct credit for such an act of cold-blooded murder, and I am incredibly eager to find out what this does for his reputation back home. Will the Centauri government be grateful? Will they be scared? Will they give him more power and prestige, or will they take steps to rein in this dangerous psychopath? And how long before G’Kar’s spies on the Centauri homeworld spread the word that Londo was behind this? Londo is always looking for easy wins, but he is going to think twice before blindly accepting help from anyone again, let alone Morden.
Meanwhile, the show wants us to believe that Sinclair and Sakai are deeply in love and ready to get married, even though we haven’t seen her in at least fifteen episodes. Whatever, we’ll pretend: Sinclair and Sakai are deeply in love and ready to get married. Garibaldi is invited to be the best man, and gives a very personal speech about how honored he is to be Sinclair’s friend, thus signalling that one of the two men will be dead or in great peril by the end of the episode. This turns out to be Garibaldi, who uncovers a plot to kill the Earth president and his shot point blank. He spends the rest of the episode in the med bay, at death’s door, but he doesn’t die by the end so we know he’ll live—if he wasn’t coming back next season they’d just kill him now. And I’m glad he’s coming back, because one of my absolute favorite parts of this show are the brief glimpses of Space Cop Procedural that pop up every couple of episodes. Garibaldi is a creep to Talia, but he’s a legitimately great cop and detective, and I love to watch him work.
And then there’s Delenn. Is it weird that I love the Triluminary precisely because it looks so stupid? It’s a three metal bars held together by solder and some twists of wire, with a repurposed microchip in the center. Old school Doctor Who would consider it a little too chintzy-looking to use on the air. And yet it’s a powerful artifact with immense power, and I love it. And if anything it is rivaled in goofy-looking-ness by the plastic pastel pyramids Delenn uses to build her magical chrysalis generator—I can’t find them online, but I SWEAR I’ve seen those pyramids somewhere before, like in an early 90s decorating store or something. We’re accustomed to seeing alien technology made of crystals, but this thing is so self-confidently plastic, like a 3D tangrams puzzle, and I’m making fun of it but I also dig it. Seriously, though: Delenn uses your yuppie aunt’s mantel decoration to wrap herself in a chrysalis and transform into something, and we don’t get to see what it is until next season. Is this where her hair comes from? I’ve seen photos of her with hair all over the Internet, so I know she gets some sooner or later. “Myself but with hair” seems like a super weird thing to transform into, though, though if at the end of season 2 she transforms again and this time her hair is blonde and spiky like a Super Saiyan, I will declare this the greatest show ever. For now, the best I can guess is that she’s becoming half human for some reason? I don’t know why that would matter, or be key to any prophecy, but it’s the best I can come up with. I admit that I’m little fearful for the answers to some of these mysteries: they’ve been set up so well, and so much of the story hinges on them, that if they don’t live up to the hype I know a lot of my enthusiasm will deflate. I am confident that the answers will be awesome once we finally see them, but I still have elements of worry—not doubt, just worry—so I’m letting you know.
Everything about this episode was great. I feel like this is finally the show JMS wanted to make it, without studio interference trying to turn it into a Star Trek clone. I can’t wait to start season 2.
One final, stupid question: one scene in the episode shows several human women leaving from what we assume is a sexual tryst with G’Kar. Star Trek has always been fairly clear about the fact that all of its aliens are not only physically but genetically compatible—anyone can mate and produce offspring with anyone else. Babylon 5 has specifically refuted that idea, and with the Centauri in particular they’ve gone out of their way to discuss that the anatomies don’t match up at all. Are we expected to believe that the Narn, who seem essentially reptilian, are more sexually compatible with humans than the Centauri are? Does everyone in the galaxy get busy with other species, or does G’Kar have a Human fetish? It’s good to know that love is love, I suppose, and I’m not here to judge anyone, I’m just suddenly super curious, so thanks a lot, post-orgy scene. It’s worth pointing out, I guess, that all the way back in THE GATHERING G’Kar was propositioning Lyta the telepath, trying to buy her DNA and offering to exchange it “the traditional way.” Does that means they’re more like us than I’m giving them credit for, or that G’Kar’s Human Fever is a longstanding character trait, or that Narn females are the ones who donate genetic materials to males during sex, instead of vice versa? I honestly kind of don’t want to find out, because the show has more important things to show us than galactic sexual etiquette, but: I wondered about it, so I had to write about it, and now I’m done.
Whatever. Time for season 2.
I've always seen the G'Kar with women of other species stuff as mostly a joke. It's played for a "Oh...this is awkward..." chuckle.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Chrysalis is often described as either "The last episode of the Prologue" or "The first episode of Babylon 5 proper"
Congratulations! You've made it through season one! Now you've managed to get through most of the worst that B5 has to throw at you, but you've also seen it at one of its best points... this episode! While it's not smooth sailing from hear on, you'll get a lot more approaching the quality of this episode, and a lot fewer episodes like TKO.
ReplyDeleteThis whole season up until now, B5 has been trying to say it's not like Star Trek, while still being timid about not being Star Trek. Finally, in this episode, it all comes together, kicks the legs out from under you, and shows you what it's all about. It proves that a whole bunch of the little things that have happened up until now had consequences... and it makes you a promise that what you see here will have consequences down the road.
Gkar with human women also had a shoutout in Parliament of Dreams: Gkar is being hunted by the assassin, so Gkar asks Garibaldi to investigate. Garibaldi only finds one thing in Gkar's quarters: a rather skimpy pair of silk human women's underwear. He teases Gkar, who throws a fit.
ReplyDeleteThen later in the same episode, Natoth teases Gkar about his "strange fascination with Earth women".
Delete