ATTN JMS: Shappe's Spoiler Review: "Chrysalis"
Michael Scott Shappe
_Babylon 5_
"Chrysalis", by J. Michael Straczynski
And so... the spoilers begin...
[Specifically, spoilers for "Chrysalis" and other random bits of both
Season One and what we know of Season Two follow]
Shappe's Spoiler Review: "Chrysalis"
====================================
As the intended finale for _Signs and Portents_ (Season One), "Chrysalis"
had two goals it had to reach. The first, JMS's stated goal, was to turn
everything we thought we knew about the series around; to completely
change the direction the story was going, and our view of the characters
in it. The second, the implicit purpose of any season finale, was to make
the viewer want very much to see the next season's premiere.
In reaching both of these goals, JMS and his team have succeeded
admirably. Not perfectly, but very, very well.
"Chrysalis" leaves very few of the viewer's preconceived (and, in many
cases, deliberately misled) perceptions of the series intact. Of the
series regulars, only four -- Ivanova, Franklin, Winters and Kosh -- are
not in any obvious way directly affected by the events of this story.
Since the pilot episode, "The Gathering", JMS has appeared to be setting
up Space Station Babylon 5 to be a focus for the drama of uniting and
pacifying the galaxy -- a worthy goal in and of itself. The appearance is
helped by the hard-to-shake effect _Star Trek_ has had on perceptions of
science fiction television. From early on, I believed that the series
would be a more realistic take on that vision.
Only when "Signs and Portents" aired did I realize that I'd been taken --
or perhaps had taken myself -- for a ride. Despite every effort to shake
my Trekker preconceptions, despite hints JMS himself dropped in his early
description of the five-year-arc, it was only with this episode that I
realized that the real story was something very different; darker, and
quite possibly much more interesting. "Babylon Squared", with its glimpse
into the future (a future? Didn't Ladira say the future was always
changing?), cemented the new impression.
But only with "Chrysalis" are things really set in motion. Suddenly, the
destinies of four of the 'major' federations are radically altered. Earth
has its moderate president apparently assassinated, to be replaced by his
more Earth-centered VP, and there's no real telling how many powerful
people were in on it. Narn has a major outpost destroyed, and G'Kar
realizes that there might be something more important than the Centauri
to worry about. Centauri, through Londo, has gained powerful, terrible
friends. And, while we do not yet know what implications Delenn's
transformation will have for her homeworld, I would be surprised if they
weren't profound.
However, while the politics and fates of the governments of the B5
universe an important part of what gives the series more depth than its
competition (ANY of its competition), it's still the characters that are
the primary focus. There, too, the changes are profound.
Sinclair, who seems to care not only for his own people but for *all* of
the people and races with whom he has to deal -- even G'Kar and the Narn,
whom he has many reasons to dislike -- is profoundly shaken by everything
that happens on this one New Year's Eve. Even without the assassination of
his own president (and the apparent cover-up in progress), I get the
feeling that he would *still* have been as shaken at the end, and would
still have profoundly felt that, "Nothing's the same anymore...".
Delenn's changes seem very much an extension of the events in "Babylon
Squared", and it seems to me that the physical changes of her chrysalis
will ultimately be the least of what we can expect. Throughout the story,
she seems at once elated at and frightened of the step she is about to
take.
Londo was profoundly affected by the 'favor' the Shadows did for him,
clearly, but it was the more subtle change, near the middle of the story,
that I found most interesting. Assuming it was not just an isolated
decision to stay clear-headed until the crisis was over, Londo appears to
have stopped drinking... That implies a number of changes in attitude
that could make next season very interesting indeed. When his superiors
begin taking open notice of him, I think he will have recovered enough
from the shock of the Shadow's actions to take advantage of it...
G'Kar's attitude started changing early on, with Sinclair's speech. G'Kar
has developed a healthy respect for Sinclair, and realizes that the
commander has some profound insights. One can almost see G'Kar at least
starting to consider that he might have pushed too far, but realizing
that he's more or less stuck with the course he's already set. When the
outpost in Quadrant 37 is destroyed and he realizes it couldn't have been
any of the known governments, his fear -- and awe -- is real. His
comment, "There's someone else out there," seems not so much a surprise
as a reminder to himself of what he once said to Catherine Sakai...
Exactly what changes Garibaldi will go through as a result of these events
remains to be seen, but I would be surprised (and very disappointed) if he
just leapt up and was his old self again. After all, he's just been three
microns away from death, and when he comes to, his friend and commanding
officer will be gone, one ambassador he's on good terms with will be
radically changed, another he almost considers a friend will be changing
more subtly, and yet another he *doesn't* like will suddenly be more
subdued (assuming G'Kar's new attitude is not temporary). The only
constant will be Ivanova, and SHE's getting promoted; furthermore,
according to JMS, Ivanova already knows Captain Sheridan, while Garibaldi
doesn't. I think Garibaldi's in for a bad time.
Similarly, both Vir and Lennier seem very likely to be affected by the
changes in their superiors. Vir has been standing up to Londo more and
more already, and seems a likely foil if Londo starts becoming more
uppity. Lennier...well, I'll be honest, I'm not sure what's in store for
Lennier, yet. He can't be the simple religious acolyte he seems -- of
that much, I'm convinced. And he is clearly concerned for Delenn and the
radical step she has taken.
Finally, Na'Toth is definitely affected, if not outwardly changed, by the
events at Quadrant 37. Where G'Kar is willing to admit (not in so many
words) to fear at what -- or who -- might have happened there, Na'Toth is
ready to fight, at least, outwardly.
And so, we come to those who do not seem to be directly affected by the
changes going on around them -- Ivanova, Franklin, Winters and Kosh. All
seem like oversights, until you consider their role in the bigger
picture. Ivanova, Franklin and Winters were all replacements, brought in
between the pilot and the series and not originally intended to be part
of the arc. JMS, very wisely, did not simply transfer to them
(particularly not to Ivanova) the role of the people they were replacing.
"Chrysalis" seems to have been pretty much written (if not in actual script
format, in JMS's mind) from the very beginning -- before these three
characters were introduced. The entire season has built up to it, and,
originally, even the pilot would have tied into it. JMS made clear in a
Compuserve post that the traitor in "Chrysalis" was originally supposed to
be Laurel Takashima, who was also in some way involved in the plot to
assassinate Kosh (we'll probably never know, now, exactly how).
But Ivanova is still going to be affected. She's not particularly close to
any of the ambassadors, but she *is* close now with Garibaldi and Sinclair.
With one recently shot and the other leaving, her life is bound to be
changed as well. Add to that the promotion and more in depth diplomatic
role we know is coming up for her, and Ivanova should get very interesting.
Franklin was actually fairly involved with events, but seems curiously
unmoved by them. His reaction to the lurker's death at the beginning was
curiously cold, businesslike. It seemed very out of character, and makes
me wonder if there isn't more than meets the eye.
The complete absence of Talia Winters seems strange, but there are good reasons
for excluding her entirely from this story. A telepath in the middle of
all this intrigue would simply have been too convenient. Granted, there
are bound to be people on the net who will ask where she was, but I think
it doesn't matter much...the point is she wasn't *here*, at least, not
obviously so. Perhaps she was off station; perhaps she was on station but
never in the right place at the right time (like the time she bumped into
Londo as he was on his way to kill G'Kar). It doesn't matter. She'll
still be somewhat affected. She's bound to notice the difference in Londo
and G'Kar, if nothing else...
And then, there's Kosh. Nothing affects Kosh :-)
***
As to reaching the second goal of a season finale -- to make people want
to come back for more -- "Chrysalis" reached that goal easily. It was
well paced, managing to juggle FOUR plotlines (the assassination
conspiracy, the chrysalis, the Shadows, and Sinclair's and Sakai's
engagement) and give each their due. It was well scripted, leaving many
questions but relatively few holes. And it was, for the most part, well acted.
And that last sentence is why I do not give this episode unrestrained
huzzahs. JMS spent a long time 'hyping' this story as the best thing he's
ever done. While I can see the argument for the STORY being the best
we've seen yet, "Chrysalis", taken as a whole, has flaws that keep it
from being the best work they've done.
The problem seems to lie in the fact that "Chrysalis" was shot about
mid-way through (12th of 22), rather than last. The reason was that there
was a lot of post-production work invovled (including graphic rendering)
and they wanted plenty of time to get it right. No problem, there. The
results certainly justify that course of action.
But the simple reality is that Michael O'Hare, in particular, did not seem
to me to become truly comfortable with his role as Sinclair until "By Any
Means Necessary", the second episode shot *after* "Chrysalis" was. It's
almost as if something in that script (the stated purpose of which was to
put the character through 48 hours of hell -- a great way to stretch and
develop a character) opened O'Hare's eyes to some aspect of the Sinclair
he had previously missed. In everything before "By Any Means Necessary",
O'Hare does a good job, and many of the quirks seem honestly to be the
*character's* and not the actor's (as I've argued before, in O'Hare's
defense). But after "BAMN", O'Hare starts to positively shine as
Sinclair. He's a joy watch in "Signs and Portents", "Eyes", "Voice" and
"Babylon Squared".
But "Chrysalis" was shot before all that, and dammit, I'm afraid it
shows. O'Hare just doesn't seem as in touch with his character as he does
in "BAMN"; or perhaps JMS and his team have refined the character since
shooting "Chrysalis" -- I'm still not sure if the fault lies with the
actor or with the writing and directing. All I know is that Sinclair just
didn't work as well here as in some of the stories which aired earlier,
and it hurt the overall effect somewhat.
On the other hand, Sinclair actually played a surprisingly minor role in
the three major plots. In all of them, he was more an observer, trying to
act sometimes but never quite managing to have enough of an effect. He
had no effect on the outcome of the Quadrant 37 crisis (although he did
seem to have some affect on G'Kar's thinking); he failed to warn the
President on time; and he didn't make it to Delenn's quarters on time.
This story was more about Garibaldi, Londo, G'Kar and Delenn -- all of whose
actors have done marvelous jobs from the very first, in "The Gathering".
Garibaldi is still very awkward when it comes to personal stuff (like his
speech over dinner, thanking Sinclair for naming him Best Man), but
that's very much in character, so I don't really blame Jerry Doyle for
it.
Londo -- who started out looking very much like the comic relief
character, is suddenly very serious, and Peter Jurasik does as excellent
a job with the serious Londo as he did with the comical one.
Andreas Katsulas also does an excellent job showing us the depths of
G'Kar -- a character whom would be easy to turn into just another Bad
Guy(tm). G'Kar is honestly troubled when he thinks over Sinclair's words,
and honestly frightened when he realizes the implications of the
destruction of the outpost in Quadrant 37.
As for Delenn, and Mira Furlan... well, frankly, Mira may be the single
best talent in the whole bunch. That she can consistently and believably
portray a character of compassion and mystery under all of that makeup, in
a language that is not her native tongue, continues to amaze me. Mira
always manages to convey volumes with her eyes and her voice, lending
layers of meaning to even the shortest speeches. I'm looking very forward
to seeing what Delenn will become, and what Furlan will make of her.
***
The wonderful thing about _Babylon 5_ is the richness of small details
that go into the stories. Every viewing picks up something new. Here are
some details, and some questions, buried to various degrees in
"Chrysalis", in no particular order.
* G'Kar's questions about what was destroyed at the outpost, and
Na'Toth's reactions, are very telling. G'Kar seems most keen to learn the
fate of the base's records, and Na'Toth comments about ten thousand elite
troops...was the outpost perhaps the vanguard for an invasion, and not
just a platform for harrassment?
* Where did the Aide come from in the very last scene in MedLab? One view
of the window, he's not there...then Londo and Ivanova talk, and when the
camera pans back, there he is... was he just out of shot, or is something
funny going on.
* For that matter, does the Aide have a name? Or is he just "Garibaldi's Aide"?
* Why was Franklin so cold about the lurker's death? That seemed very out
of character...
* There appear to have been four, count 'em, four shadowships at the
massacre of the outpost -- two covering the satellite, cruisers and
fighters, two covering the planet. Two of them are obvious. The second
one covering the space battle is off to the viewer's left; the second one
covering the planet isn't visible until the cut to the planetary
bomboardment, except as a sharp shadow against the upper-left 'corner' of
the planet as it round the horizon. Yes, I slow-framed this. I'm a geek :-)
* How many other Kennedy/LBJ parallels should we be drawing with respect
to Terran politics? Is the swearing-in scene the only link? Conspiracy
theorists often opine that LBJ was in on JFK's death... or is that too
obvious? Is the VP really in on it at all? Sure it looks suspicious, but...
* Is it my imagination, or does Kosh know EVERYTHING? Every now and then,
I get the feeling that Kosh is supposed to know everything that's going
to happen, well before it does...
* A question I'd like JMS to answer somewhat later (knowing he'll never
answer it just now). Assuming that Garibaldi's Aide will eventually Get
His (tm) [which is quite an assumption, really...after all, "Evil will
always triumph over Good, because Good is dumb" or something like that],
and knowing from JMS's posts to CompuSpend that originally his role in
"Chrysalis" was supposed to have been Laurel Takashima's...what was
originally planned to become of Takashima if/when she was found out?
Assuming that the Aide's involvement in the whole plot is DIFFERENT, to
some degree, from what
Laurel's would have been...what would Laurel's have been? I'd be very
interested to know about the "_Babylon 5_ that might have been"...
* Where's Senator Hidoshi?!
***
I haven't given numerical ratings to _Babylon 5_ episodes, except the
pilot, before, but now that the season's over, and I've had to a chance to
see all of the episodes at least twice, I feel I can hand out some
ratings.
The Whammies, in broadcast order:
"The Gathering: 5. I rated this higher the first time around, as I
recall, mostly for potential. A lot of that potential has been fulfilled,
but as a result of that, a lot of rough edges -- particularly the
overabundance of exposition and the roughness of Sinclair's and
Takashima's portrayals -- show more clearly now than the once did. As a
stand-alone made-for-television science fiction/action movie, "The
Gathering" probably *still* should rate higher, but put in context, 5 is
the best I can bring myself to give it...
"Midnight on the Firing Line": 7. Suffers from some of the same problems
the pilot had with exposition, and the actors aren't quite comfortable
with their roles yet, but an excellent introduction to the regular series.
"And the Sky Full of Stars": 9. O'Hare's actually BETTER in this one than
he is in "Chrysalis" (yes, I know it was filmed earlier). Might actually
jack up to a 9.5 when I next rewatch it, now that I know to watch for
Garibaldi's Aide... This story is chock full of political implications
that we haven't even begun to touch on yet...
"Signs and Portents": 9.5. So close... I actually can't put my finger on
why I can't give this one a 10... I just can't. When I first saw this at
I-CON, several weeks before it aired, I'd hoped that some of the roughness
I felt this story had would be smoothed out in final editing, but most of
it is still there. Something about it just feels...choppy, I guess. Maybe
it's the directing, since I can't think of a real problem I had with the
acting this time...
"Babylon Squared": 10. Knocked me off my ass but good. Right blend of
tension and tension relief, and a good, single-threaded focus. There were
a few slightly rough spots, but the overall effect is just such a whammy
that 10 is the only rating it could get...
"Chrysalis": 9.5. If O'Hare had been as good here as he was in "By Any
Means Necessary" (which, despite its not being a whammy, may be Sinclair's
best episode), this could have been a 10. I was originally going to give
this only a 9, but I watched it a third time, last night, and all but the
roughest spots (particularly Sinclair's proposal to Sakai) seemed somehow
less rough than I'd originally felt them to be. Perhaps JMS should have
taken the time to reshoot some of the easy-to-stage scenes later...ah,
well. It's still awesome :-)
--
Michael Scott Shappe <ms...@cornell.edu>
CIT Collaboration Systems
Home Page : http://uncle-mikey.cit.cornell.edu/
PGP PubKey : http://uncle-mikey.cit.cornell.edu/mikey.pgpkey.asc
Dianne Hackborn
| Shappe's Spoiler Review
| _Babylon 5_
| "Chrysalis", by J. Michael Straczynski
|
| And so... the spoilers begin...
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| [Specifically, spoilers for "Chrysalis" and other random bits of both
| Season One and what we know of Season Two follow]
Much deleted, but...
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| "Chrysalis": 9.5. If O'Hare had been as good here as he was in "By Any
| Means Necessary" (which, despite its not being a whammy, may be Sinclair's
| best episode), this could have been a 10. I was originally going to give
| this only a 9, but I watched it a third time, last night, and all but the
| roughest spots (particularly Sinclair's proposal to Sakai) seemed somehow
| less rough than I'd originally felt them to be. Perhaps JMS should have
| taken the time to reshoot some of the easy-to-stage scenes later...ah,
| well. It's still awesome :-)
Given that these feelings on how "good" the actor is seem to run at about
95% opinion, I have to say that Sinclair's proposal to Sakia has to rank as
one of my favorite Sinclair scenes. IMHO, it was played by O'Hare
perfectly -- all his discomfort at letting a crack of his feelings show,
his utter relief at her response even as he has his back turned to keep it
as impersonal as possible, his jump of tension again when he hears her
close to him and -forcing- it to be personal. It's 100% Sinclair.
[And I must say that I loved both of them -- there was no doubt that Sakai
-knew- Sinclair, knew he was like this, and truely cares for even that part
of him. Even understood how he felt and obviously had some of the same
reactions herself. But she wasn't going to let him get away with it. :)]
No, that was a wonderful wonderful scene. IMHO. :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dianne Kyra Hackborn "The person who stands up and says, ``This is
hac...@mail.cs.orst.edu stupid,'' either is asked to `behave' or, worse,
BIX: dhack / IRC: Dianne is greeted with a cheerful ``Yes, we know!
Oregon State University Isn't it terrific!''" -- Frank Zappa
J.M.Egolf
Dianne Hackborn <hac...@python.CS.ORST.EDU> wrote:
>ms...@cornell.edu (Michael Scott Shappe) wrote thusly:
>| Shappe's Spoiler Review
>| _Babylon 5_
>| "Chrysalis", by J. Michael Straczynski
>|
>| And so... the spoilers begin...
>|
>| [Specifically, spoilers for "Chrysalis" and other random bits of both
>| Season One and what we know of Season Two follow]
>
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>| "Chrysalis": 9.5. If O'Hare had been as good here as he was in "By Any
>| roughest spots (particularly Sinclair's proposal to Sakai) seemed somehow
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>Given that these feelings on how "good" the actor is seem to run at about
>95% opinion, I have to say that Sinclair's proposal to Sakia has to rank as
>one of my favorite Sinclair scenes. IMHO, it was played by O'Hare
>perfectly -- all his discomfort at letting a crack of his feelings show,
>
>[And I must say that I loved both of them [...] No, that was a wonderful
>wonderful scene. IMHO. :)
I know it's rude to waste bandwidth saying "I agree," but given the
controversy surrounding O'Hare's acting abilities, I had to stick up for
him. I was really concerned that these scenes wouldn't work, as I never
saw either of them as the "marrying type". I though he did quite well.
_I'm_ hoping O'Hare comes back on a regular basis.
Waiting for season 3, or 4, or whenever ...
--
J.M.Egolf
jeg...@mcs.com
"Religion is the ultimate sf (speculative "filosophy".)
Arnold Chu
: | And so... the spoilers begin...
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: | Season One and what we know of Season Two follow]
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: Given that these feelings on how "good" the actor is seem to run at about
: 95% opinion, I have to say that Sinclair's proposal to Sakia has to rank as
: one of my favorite Sinclair scenes. IMHO, it was played by O'Hare
: perfectly -- all his discomfort at letting a crack of his feelings show,
: his utter relief at her response even as he has his back turned to keep it
: as impersonal as possible, his jump of tension again when he hears her
: close to him and -forcing- it to be personal. It's 100% Sinclair.
: [And I must say that I loved both of them -- there was no doubt that Sakai
: -knew- Sinclair, knew he was like this, and truely cares for even that part
: of him. Even understood how he felt and obviously had some of the same
: reactions herself. But she wasn't going to let him get away with it. :)]
: No, that was a wonderful wonderful scene. IMHO. :)
Actually, I liked the dinder scene where they asked Garibldi and Ivanova to
be best persons very much. Catherine was actually glowing much like
people often do around wedding or birthing times. She must be an incredible
actress if she can sustain that through multiple takes.
Regards,
A. Chu
-------------------------
All opinions are my own. No one else, including my employer is responsible
for them in any way.
Kristian Miller
: ms...@cornell.edu (Michael Scott Shappe) wrote thusly:
: | Shappe's Spoiler Review
<< Spoilers Removed >>
: as impersonal as possible, his jump of tension again when he hears her
: close to him and -forcing- it to be personal. It's 100% Sinclair.
: [And I must say that I loved both of them -- there was no doubt that Sakai
: -knew- Sinclair, knew he was like this, and truely cares for even that part
: of him. Even understood how he felt and obviously had some of the same
: reactions herself. But she wasn't going to let him get away with it. :)]
: No, that was a wonderful wonderful scene. IMHO. :)
Eloquently put, Dianne. I agree 100%. It's some of the best acting I've
seen lately, but then it reminded me of when I went through the same
experience in my life. That has been a big draw to B5 for me, the
realistic behavior of the characters.
Kris Miller
Kristian Miller
: Shappe's Spoiler Review
<Spoiler Protection>
: * A question I'd like JMS to answer somewhat later (knowing he'll never
: answer it just now). Assuming that Garibaldi's Aide will eventually Get
: His (tm) [which is quite an assumption, really...after all, "Evil will
: always triumph over Good, because Good is dumb" or something like that],
: and knowing from JMS's posts to CompuSpend that originally his role in
I accidently recorded the promo for the upcoming episodes. I HAD to
know what's in store so I did a frame by frame of the promo (now THAT'S
being a geek!) and saw one of the security guards in security armor
treating Garibaldi's Aide in a not too gentle manner. This was the
older guard who is not too pleasant to look at when he's being nice.
I don't recall what episode he first shows up in, but he seemed to
really like or respect Garibaldi. So maybe, "Evil will always truimph
over Good," ... unless Good has some really mean friends!
Kris Miller