EpDis: A Spider In The Web

[Estelyn]

I thought this was a very interesting episode, with lots of foreshadowing: the Earth/Mars conflict (history repeats itself - it reminds me strongly of the American war for independence), Psi Corps subversive activity, and Talia Winters' upcoming fate, which is mirrored in the character of Abel.

I enjoyed the interaction between Winters and Garibaldi - obviously, the chemistry must have been good between the actors. He does a good job of helping her loosen up in this very tense situation, putting her welfare over his wishes.

I too wish that we could have seen more of Bureau 13, but according to JMS, there were issues of rights to that name. It would also have been interesting to meet the female Psi Corps character behind the scenes again later on.

[KoshFan]

Originally Posted by Estelyn

I enjoyed the interaction between Winters and Garibaldi - obviously, the chemistry must have been good between the actors.

Up to a point! Did you know that those two were married for a while?

[Estelyn]

Yes, I was aware of that - it would be interesting to hear at which point in the series their RL relationship began.

[vacantlook]

Wikipedia says they were married from 1995 to 1997.

[Dorvo]

De gustibus non est disputandum. I strongly disliked the Talia character, but to be honest I'm not sure how much of it was Andrea Thompson's acting and how much of it was simply the way the character was written. She seemed to come in two flavors: tearful victim, and snarky bitch. I disliked both.

I far preferred Lyta, and I always much preferred Pat's acting to Andrea's; Pat had a warmth and genuineness that Andrea never achieved (tried for?). However, I think that as far as technical ability went, they were about on a level; neither was Royal Shakespeare Company material, but both were perfectly competent.

All that said, it's not surprising I rated the episode rather low, at a C. But that's strongly colored by personal preference for the characters, and the actresses who played them. I'm not at all pretending to any kind of definitive judgment.

[Jade Jaguar]

Welcome to the board!

I didn't dislike Talia as much as you, but besides that, I agree with your observations. I do think that Andrea played Talia as JMS wrote, and wanted, her to be. Certainly not an ingratiating or likable character, but a strong one.

[GKarsEye]

She seemed to come in two flavors: tearful victim, and snarky bitch. I disliked both.

There's no reason to bring up my ex-girlfriends here.

[Alioth]

Originally Posted by vacantlook

I would imagine the process of implanting a subpersonality into a person would require a lot more work than just a single person could put out.

In the Psi Corps trilogy we see Bester inserting "programming" into certain people he runs into, taking little time at all. Not sure if Garibaldi's was all that more sophisticated (the programming mainly enhanced his natural skeptic and paranoid tendencies, to where they would exceed his personal loyalty to close friends), as far as these telepathic operations go... but he had more time with him than he did with, for example, that thug who was extorting his landlord/semi-love interest (IIRC) in the books.

[Lennier's Tears]

Originally Posted by KoshFan

Yeah, the fact that Sheridan "collects secrets" explains how he knows about the Grey Council and can spot one of its members right off, when Sinclair knew very little.

That's a good point, I had never considered that

I quite like this episode. The "unfinished storyline" thing is a shame, but by itself, this episode is perfectly fine, I think. I generally like all the Mars storylines because there's so many shades of grey there, it's all very interesting. I like the Abel Horn character and the secret project stuff. I also quite like the Talia character, so I don't mind Talia-centric episodes.

Comments:

• Is this the only episode that gives us a timeline for the colonization of Mars (Amanda Carter's great-grandfather was on the first ship). I guess I haven't paid close attention that.
• "The Mars Problem" That's such an Earther way to put it. I love that someone thought to write it like that.
• Garibaldi really is kind of creepy. I think I said this in a different episode discussion thread, but how much would it suck to be creeped on by the head of security on a space station? Sure, he doesn't actually do anything creepy, and he's perfectly nice to Talia, but she can't know that .. well, actually maybe she can But, I still think that's not a great move on his part.
• I like how concerned Ivanova is about Talia when she hears about the murder/assault.
• Is "Snakehead" just a general slur used to describe ANY alien? I used to think it refered to specific species.
• Hey look, it's Zack!
• Why did security not check inside Amanda Carter's quarters before letting Talia go in? You'd think a quick check inside would be standard procedure, and you'd also think that Garibaldi would want to make super duper extra sure Talia was safe.