The bear was originally for J Strazynski: JMS: "I hate cute. Everybody knows me, knows that. So after buying Peter David's script #2, Peter sends me a gift. A bear. A teddy bear. With my initials JS in front, and Bear-ba-lon 5 in the back. I call Peter back. I say that I must now get him for this. He asks what I had in mind. I said wait and see. So I wrote the entire bear thing at the end of the show, and inserted it into his script. Never send me something cute."
I've often found it curious that the makers of Star Trek saw JS's whole plan for B5, said no, then copied him when he went into production, settled out of court, and never understood that B5 was about something. DS9 limited itself to having the episodes in A-Z order, and sometimes referring to earlier incidents. No real over-plot. Nor was it 'about something'. They failed even to fully copy when it was right in front of them. Bizarre.
"You would think there are more cameras set up". Welcome to Pre - 9/11 where life was simpler and privacy was a thing. Oh did you recognize Sheridan's lawyer? OG Na'Toth.
This is one of my favorite episodes in a series that I adore. It starts out a bit frivolous, but ultimately there is so much going on here. You can analyze this episode almost endlessly. Some of the best Lennier stuff. Some of the best Kosh stuff. Add in some really important Sheridan-Delenn relationship stuff and Sheridan becoming a diplomat. Meanwhile some great gags with Ivanova and the gift shop. And under it all, Vir and Londo development.
Going back and watching early episodes, and finding that ideas were spelt out in the first season that wouldn't come to fruition until much later? It's one of the best things about B5.
I'm really surprised that nobody seems to have pointed out why Talia was in this episode. Talia didn't randomly appear out of nowhere for no reason, Vir randomly ran into a telepath in the same episode that he tells Londo about all the pressures he's facing. Vir runs into Talia, apologises, AND THEN CHANGES HIS BEHAVIOUR WHEN HE REALISES WHO SHE IS, as he makes an obvious attempt to block her from reading him. Vir knows most of Londo's secrets, and he could run into a telepath at any second. It's one of the biggest pressures Vir faces in his day-to-day life on B5, and THAT is why Talia is in the episode.
surveillance cameras? I have no doubt that in such a huge station, full of unfinished places (remember the problem with the maintenance budget, right?) there are plenty of blind spots. and any good conspirator would take care of neutralizing the cameras first.. .or even the possible witnesses.👀💀💥
It's not just that Sheridan destroyed a Minbari ship during the war. he destroyed the flagship, the Black Star with the best of the best the Minbari had. They still call him 'Starkiller' because of that. Check what happened during WWII when the Bismark sank the Hood, the pride of the British Fleet. The hit on British morale was so bad that they sent everything after the Bismark to avenge the Hood. Not just everything around Iceland and the North Sea, everything in the potential range to catch the Bismark. Iincluding a ship that was nearly in the USA for maintenance and an aircraft carrier from Gibraltar. And some of the ships had to break off the engagement with the Bismark because their tanks were nearly empty after the chase. True, the Bismark was only a burning wreck, but it showed no sign it was sinking. Maybe those two Minbari were just angry what Sheridan did to the Black Star, maybe they had friends or even family on board. Maybe someone in the Minbari government and the Earth government wanting Sheridan gone for their own reasons and took the opportunity. Not everything has to be connected. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but you should always remember that it might not be a big conspiracy.
Sink the Bismarck! I feel this episode is really important for Lennier. Here's a Minbari who should have every reason to hate Sheridan, and probably does deep down, but almost every day, tirelessly, he works with and around Sheridan because Delenn needs him to.
In Hollyweird they adore actors and admire directors, but consider writers to be unworthy of notice. Yet IRL the writer makes the foundation upon which the structure is built. This allows things like the brilliant performance of Stephen Furst here. If there was no foundation, no amount of acting or directoral chops would be possible.
And to add to the show's commentary on merchandising... a lot of the merchandise for the series did not come out until it was almost over. This was on purpose to prevent the execs from trying to impose changes to the intended storylines. JMS explained it as: say we put out a line of action figures, and GKar outsells the rest... then the execs turn around and say we need to capitalize on this and have more episodes focusing on GKar. They did eventually release a decent amount of B5 dolls and action figures.
Vir venting his frustration with Londo was a long time coming. Poor Delenn. She underwent her transformation for noble reasons. But it costs her so much among her own people. I am surprised by Lennier's restraint when that Minbari insulted Delenn. Powerful lesson by Kosh. I like how Londo kept Vir around. It shows how much he cares about his aide despite their differences.
This was a fairly pedestrian episode with an amusing merchandising swipe at DS9. I'm tagging along for the final episodes of series 2, especially episode #20 - still stuck in my memory after over 20 years.
And look who Sheridan's attorney is.... Na'toth. Or should ai say the actress otherwise known as Na'toth? Remember when Lennier lied to protect Londo over his cheating in the casino and the fight? Sheridan also said his rank insignia wasn't worth much.
Minbari: We are very honourful. Also Minbari: In the war against chanceless the humans they have destroyed ONE of our ships and this we can not forgive that. Well, do you listen to yourself?
20:00, both the lie and the "emasculated" Londo figure are referring to the bar fight, when Londo use "hidden" organs to cheat in cards, and Lennier lied to protect him.
One of the many many times that The Quality of Mercy shows up again, in large and small ways (same incident referenced in Soul Mates when Lennier gifts Londo a deck of marked cards).
Blooper from this episode: "Because we are the same, you may ask your questions...if you can tolerate the answers." "Who carved your bone? It's a fabulous design." "Same guy, same guy, it's just a new thing he's doing."
Cool new intro! This is a fun murder mystery episode, but we also learn more about the Minbari and honestly Lennier. We finally learn that Lennier does hold some form of hate towards Sheridan. Kinda a bif deal if you ask me.
“Was there no love for Dad?” LOVE FOR DAD is the ONLY reason that Jessica had a son instead of a daughter, as she was ordered. Paul can handle 145 degree weather for a good while, due to his Bene Geserit mind-over-body training. Most of Arakis is covered in either sand OR rock. Sitches are located deep in the ROCK, not in the sand-seas. The rock locations are very much like ISLANDS of rock in seas of sand. Leto and Jessica are not married because Leto is a duke, so his hand in marriage is a powerful political bargaining tool. Just like the Royal families of Europe, all the Major Houses of the Galaxy are somewhat related (the Bene Geserit having something to do with that as well). Atredies and Harkonen may be…closer than most. In the book, it’s made clear that neither Paul nor his mother may use The Voice in Fremen ritual combat. Not if they ever want to be accepted by Fremen society. Great reaction!
It is interesting how racist Mimbari are. So far the Warriors have been hostile to outsiders but now we also have a religious caste insulting Delenn for not being pure. P.S. the singing is something I think is more or less referenced way way back down the road but remember it till then
Minbari history is highly racist, caste-ist and classist. It was Vorlon interference that saved them from exterminating themselves. 'So many dead planets, dead cities...' - Galen.
In the movie Like Button we learned what it was to like, and in Like Button 2 we learned what it was to like again, but this summer Like Button 3 is going to hit theaters and this time it's personal! Reserve your tickets now by pushing the like button.
I saw on Amazon a limited edition Babylon 5 Ambassador Delenn action figure, thought I like the Morden poster more. And there is a Susan figure as well.
You guys weren't listening. The lawyer was sent by earth done, who feared that they would have to remove him because of this incident not because he's part of any conspiracy.
I mean, feeling your species is flat-out superior and better than other species is probably an easy trap to fall into if you've been a spacefaring race for well over a thousand years, and the other scrubs have barely been doing spaceflight for a couple centuries. The siren song of vanity / hubris would make it easy to tell yourself that technological superiority equates to all other kinds of superiority.
Back then, B5 was showing how to shoot several episodes at once, using the same sets and so on. If the actor was there, they would shoot scenes for another episode. The strongest example is the last episode: shot at the end of season 4 while Ivanova was still in the cast, shown at the end of season 5, as the last episode of all when she wasn't.
It was common for series to contractually have certain actors appear in x number of episodes. They were being paid anyway, so might as well use them even if for just a tiny part of a scene. Not using them would mean some executives being grumpy and that character might not be renewed, which would be a shame if the writers had plans down the road.
So is the word "lies" has a split meaning I've never fully grasped. I get that this is about lies, but it's also about protecting others as a honorable act?
Something only 'aliens' would do? - but it happens all the time? Compromising oneself to protect others, and being made to suffer for it? Poor Lennier.
No, even 95 this was shit. I remember zapping away from Star Trek TNG during commercial and seeing this abomination of computer graphics. "Who are you kidding?"" I thought to myself as I zapped right back to TNG. 20 years later... "ohh, so this was really a good show"
The bear was originally for J Strazynski:
JMS: "I hate cute. Everybody knows me, knows that. So after buying Peter David's script #2, Peter sends me a gift. A bear. A teddy bear. With my initials JS in front, and Bear-ba-lon 5 in the back. I call Peter back. I say that I must now get him for this. He asks what I had in mind. I said wait and see. So I wrote the entire bear thing at the end of the show, and inserted it into his script. Never send me something cute."
You missed the "we're not some deep space franchise, this station is about something." It's a direct punch at star trek's DS9 lol.
I've often found it curious that the makers of Star Trek saw JS's whole plan for B5, said no, then copied him when he went into production, settled out of court, and never understood that B5 was about something.
DS9 limited itself to having the episodes in A-Z order, and sometimes referring to earlier incidents. No real over-plot. Nor was it 'about something'.
They failed even to fully copy when it was right in front of them. Bizarre.
"You would think there are more cameras set up". Welcome to Pre - 9/11 where life was simpler and privacy was a thing. Oh did you recognize Sheridan's lawyer? OG Na'Toth.
I mean, it's a military base...
This is one of my favorite episodes in a series that I adore. It starts out a bit frivolous, but ultimately there is so much going on here. You can analyze this episode almost endlessly. Some of the best Lennier stuff. Some of the best Kosh stuff. Add in some really important Sheridan-Delenn relationship stuff and Sheridan becoming a diplomat. Meanwhile some great gags with Ivanova and the gift shop. And under it all, Vir and Londo development.
Lanier lied to save Londo’s honor in a previous episode. Remember the poker game and fight?
Going back and watching early episodes, and finding that ideas were spelt out in the first season that wouldn't come to fruition until much later? It's one of the best things about B5.
I'm really surprised that nobody seems to have pointed out why Talia was in this episode. Talia didn't randomly appear out of nowhere for no reason, Vir randomly ran into a telepath in the same episode that he tells Londo about all the pressures he's facing.
Vir runs into Talia, apologises, AND THEN CHANGES HIS BEHAVIOUR WHEN HE REALISES WHO SHE IS, as he makes an obvious attempt to block her from reading him.
Vir knows most of Londo's secrets, and he could run into a telepath at any second. It's one of the biggest pressures Vir faces in his day-to-day life on B5, and THAT is why Talia is in the episode.
surveillance cameras? I have no doubt that in such a huge station, full of unfinished places (remember the problem with the maintenance budget, right?) there are plenty of blind spots. and any good conspirator would take care of neutralizing the cameras first.. .or even the possible witnesses.👀💀💥
One of my personal favorite moments is the lesson.
Also, the dig on Star Trek: DS9 with the "deep space franchise" comment
It's not just that Sheridan destroyed a Minbari ship during the war. he destroyed the flagship, the Black Star with the best of the best the Minbari had. They still call him 'Starkiller' because of that.
Check what happened during WWII when the Bismark sank the Hood, the pride of the British Fleet. The hit on British morale was so bad that they sent everything after the Bismark to avenge the Hood. Not just everything around Iceland and the North Sea, everything in the potential range to catch the Bismark. Iincluding a ship that was nearly in the USA for maintenance and an aircraft carrier from Gibraltar. And some of the ships had to break off the engagement with the Bismark because their tanks were nearly empty after the chase. True, the Bismark was only a burning wreck, but it showed no sign it was sinking.
Maybe those two Minbari were just angry what Sheridan did to the Black Star, maybe they had friends or even family on board. Maybe someone in the Minbari government and the Earth government wanting Sheridan gone for their own reasons and took the opportunity. Not everything has to be connected. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but you should always remember that it might not be a big conspiracy.
Sink the Bismarck!
I feel this episode is really important for Lennier. Here's a Minbari who should have every reason to hate Sheridan, and probably does deep down, but almost every day, tirelessly, he works with and around Sheridan because Delenn needs him to.
In Hollyweird they adore actors and admire directors, but consider writers to be unworthy of notice. Yet IRL the writer makes the foundation upon which the structure is built. This allows things like the brilliant performance of Stephen Furst here. If there was no foundation, no amount of acting or directoral chops would be possible.
And to add to the show's commentary on merchandising... a lot of the merchandise for the series did not come out until it was almost over. This was on purpose to prevent the execs from trying to impose changes to the intended storylines. JMS explained it as: say we put out a line of action figures, and GKar outsells the rest... then the execs turn around and say we need to capitalize on this and have more episodes focusing on GKar.
They did eventually release a decent amount of B5 dolls and action figures.
One thing this episode showed us is how alone Vir feels and then Delenn. How alone would you feel if everyone on Earth felt you were a freak?
The guy who wrote this episode also wrote the scifi kids show Space Cases. He had them find the same teddy bear in deep space in one episode.
Jewel Staite was a child actress on that show.
@@dalesharp9953 Man, I still miss "Firefly."
Bill Mumy [Lennier] was also co-creator of Space Cases.
Vir venting his frustration with Londo was a long time coming.
Poor Delenn. She underwent her transformation for noble reasons. But it costs her so much among her own people. I am surprised by Lennier's restraint when that Minbari insulted Delenn.
Powerful lesson by Kosh.
I like how Londo kept Vir around. It shows how much he cares about his aide despite their differences.
Now we need some R Knights teddy bears!
Don't tempt me!
This was a fairly pedestrian episode with an amusing merchandising swipe at DS9.
I'm tagging along for the final episodes of series 2, especially episode #20 - still stuck in my memory after over 20 years.
The thing about Lennier compromising his honour for a cause, it's something that will come back ten-fold. Like most small things in B5.
That spaced teddy bear starts his own spin off adventure series called "Bear-By-Lon 5!" 🧸
35:59 Ray: "Is Kosh some kind of God?" 🤔
Marcus (sees Kosh): ' - and you can't tell me he's not Merlin!'
And look who Sheridan's attorney is.... Na'toth. Or should ai say the actress otherwise known as Na'toth? Remember when Lennier lied to protect Londo over his cheating in the casino and the fight? Sheridan also said his rank insignia wasn't worth much.
She could have played Wonder Woman back then. Look at her!
Minbari: We are very honourful.
Also Minbari: In the war against chanceless the humans they have destroyed ONE of our ships and this we can not forgive that.
Well, do you listen to yourself?
20:00, both the lie and the "emasculated" Londo figure are referring to the bar fight, when Londo use "hidden" organs to cheat in cards, and Lennier lied to protect him.
One of the many many times that The Quality of Mercy shows up again, in large and small ways (same incident referenced in Soul Mates when Lennier gifts Londo a deck of marked cards).
Blooper from this episode:
"Because we are the same, you may ask your questions...if you can tolerate the answers."
"Who carved your bone? It's a fabulous design."
"Same guy, same guy, it's just a new thing he's doing."
The actress playing Sheridans lawyer was the original actress that played na toth
Cool new intro! This is a fun murder mystery episode, but we also learn more about the Minbari and honestly Lennier. We finally learn that Lennier does hold some form of hate towards Sheridan. Kinda a bif deal if you ask me.
“Was there no love for Dad?”
LOVE FOR DAD is the ONLY reason that Jessica had a son instead of a daughter, as she was ordered.
Paul can handle 145 degree weather for a good while, due to his Bene Geserit mind-over-body training.
Most of Arakis is covered in either sand OR rock. Sitches are located deep in the ROCK, not in the sand-seas. The rock locations are very much like ISLANDS of rock in seas of sand.
Leto and Jessica are not married because Leto is a duke, so his hand in marriage is a powerful political bargaining tool.
Just like the Royal families of Europe, all the Major Houses of the Galaxy are somewhat related (the Bene Geserit having something to do with that as well). Atredies and Harkonen may be…closer than most.
In the book, it’s made clear that neither Paul nor his mother may use The Voice in Fremen ritual combat. Not if they ever want to be accepted by Fremen society.
Great reaction!
Eath force wanted Sheridan off the station for making waves, the incident would give them an excuse to get rid of him.
Bester probably behind this some how
I can understand their reaction to the station store, but I have to admit, it would be fun to have a Sheridan bear.
It is interesting how racist Mimbari are. So far the Warriors have been hostile to outsiders but now we also have a religious caste insulting Delenn for not being pure.
P.S. the singing is something I think is more or less referenced way way back down the road but remember it till then
Minbari history is highly racist, caste-ist and classist. It was Vorlon interference that saved them from exterminating themselves. 'So many dead planets, dead cities...' - Galen.
Membary has a tree cast system Religious cast, Warrior cast, and Worker cast.
merchandising its where the real money is made
Very few properties have had successful merchandising. Star Wars is an exception, but this doesn't stop companies trying.
In the movie Like Button we learned what it was to like, and in Like Button 2 we learned what it was to like again, but this summer Like Button 3 is going to hit theaters and this time it's personal! Reserve your tickets now by pushing the like button.
I saw on Amazon a limited edition Babylon 5 Ambassador Delenn action figure, thought I like the Morden poster more. And there is a Susan figure as well.
You guys weren't listening.
The lawyer was sent by earth done, who feared that they would have to remove him because of this incident not because he's part of any conspiracy.
"That's pompous." Yes, and you have no idea how bad the Minbari are yet... yet.
I mean, feeling your species is flat-out superior and better than other species is probably an easy trap to fall into if you've been a spacefaring race for well over a thousand years, and the other scrubs have barely been doing spaceflight for a couple centuries. The siren song of vanity / hubris would make it easy to tell yourself that technological superiority equates to all other kinds of superiority.
Hey Guys, this episode is good but prepare yourselves for episodes 21&22,they will really blow your minds.
Talia probably appears due to the actress and contractual obligations
Back then, B5 was showing how to shoot several episodes at once, using the same sets and so on.
If the actor was there, they would shoot scenes for another episode.
The strongest example is the last episode: shot at the end of season 4 while Ivanova was still in the cast, shown at the end of season 5, as the last episode of all when she wasn't.
It was common for series to contractually have certain actors appear in x number of episodes. They were being paid anyway, so might as well use them even if for just a tiny part of a scene. Not using them would mean some executives being grumpy and that character might not be renewed, which would be a shame if the writers had plans down the road.
Talia was there most likely because the actress was complaining about lack of screen time.
Love the new logo at the beginng though it's a bit slow now. You have 3 things before the video even starts.
We always had three things before it starts
@@RKnights You do, but its getting really long now with the longer logo vid.
So is the word "lies" has a split meaning I've never fully grasped. I get that this is about lies, but it's also about protecting others as a honorable act?
Something only 'aliens' would do? - but it happens all the time?
Compromising oneself to protect others, and being made to suffer for it?
Poor Lennier.
Just realize that all the FX were done with PC computers, not high end systems of the time.
Gregorian chants.
Wait, people don't like the previous episode? Objectively wrong.
Think they where allien race singing down below
No, even 95 this was shit. I remember zapping away from Star Trek TNG during commercial and seeing this abomination of computer graphics. "Who are you kidding?"" I thought to myself as I zapped right back to TNG. 20 years later... "ohh, so this was really a good show"
❤🧡💛💚💙💜