EpDis: Meditations On The Abyss

[vacantlook]

Refresher Links:
Lurker's Guide Main Page for Meditations On The Abyss
Lurker's Guide Extended Synopsis for Meditations On The Abyss

[KoshN]

B. Couldn't stand Findell. Gah! Made my skin crawl with all that whining.

[Shaal Mayan]

B good I liked seeing a different kind of minbari one that didn't seem to sure of himself and seeing Lennier again is always grand.

[KoshN]

Originally Posted by Shaal Mayan

B good I liked seeing a different kind of minbari one that didn't seem to sure of himself and seeing Lennier again is always grand.

We've seen quite a few Minbari that haven't been sure of themselves (Lennier, when he first showed up; the one with Tannier in Learning Curve; the one who tried to frame Sheridan for killing that other Minbari in There All the Honor Lies; quite a few of the religious caste Minbari in Rumors, Bargains and Lies; etc.). This was the first one that whined like a little baby. There were moments that I thought he was going to break down and cry like a three year old.

[RMcD]

Findell's skullcap doesn't seem to fit properly either, particularly in the close-up scenes in his fighter.. It's a small thing next to his whining, but I find it distracting..

[RW7427]

Good stuff in my book!

[Elipsis]

C+. The Lennier story was good but I didn't like it as an A story. Also, we go from a B- to a C+ because... well... I wasn't buying the way some of the scenes were pulled off.

Angry Vir just seemed awkward more so than, ya know, angry... and Garibaldi drunk was more silly at this point than anything. We've already had 2 or 3 scenes with Garibaldi being drunk... how many more times do we need to show it?

[Estelyn]

I can't help but think that it was foolish of Delenn to go to such a vulnerable place to meet Lennier, but you have to admit, she took care of herself! Minbari fingers must have strength! I was surprised that Lennier told her what Morden prophecied - that seems slightly out of character, admitting such a weakness.

Apparently even over 200 years from now, fast food places start with "Mc". The Vir subplot is amusing.

Captain Montoya is a very likeable character. He shows good judgement and wisdom in the way he handles Lennier and Findell. The latter is definitely not like most Minbari we have met, and I must chime in with those who don't particularly like him. I can't imagine such a whiny Ranger.

Favourite G'Kar line in this episode: "From laughter comes wisdom."

[Alioth]

Originally Posted by Estelyn

I was surprised that Lennier told her what Morden prophecied - that seems slightly out of character, admitting such a weakness.

It showed that he valued the Rangers' mission and Delenn's work above himself, such that he felt it prudent to warn her of the possibility of his betrayal (if the prophecies of "the Day of the Dead" are to be taken seriously) even if he couldn't foresee how he could do it. Maybe he hoped Delenn, being warned, could somehow see it coming when it did (maybe knowing him better than he did himself, which she did in some ways) and prevent it, for his own and all of their sakes.

[Lennier's Tears]

Seeing Delenn lie to Sheridan makes me kind of uncomfortable. That whole thing is sort of weird .. Even though it's perfectly plausible that Sheridan is indeed too concerned about the wellbeing of people close to him since Marcus' death. But, it seems to me that she could have convinced him of the necessity of this mission, rather than going through all this trouble of organizing secret meetings and lying. It seems like a bit of an awkward setup to further the "bitter Lennier" plot.

I can sort of see what Jan mentioned in the other thread, about how Delenn is not keeping her distance from Lennier, even though she knows he is romantically interested in her, and is pretty bitter about it. It's understandable because they have become so close and she presumably misses the friendship they once had, but yea .. not helping. Now that I'm looking for it, I can see how there might be some hope in Lennier's expression when he asks Delenn why she wanted to see him, and then disappointment when she's all business.

There's a list item in the "Analysis" section of the Lurker's Guide main page that reads like this:

Lennier cautioned Findell about joining the Anla'shok for the wrong reasons -- but it's arguable that that's exactly what Lennier himself has done, since one of his goals is to impress Delenn (he said as much in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari.") That may hold the key to his eventual betrayal of the Rangers as predicted by Morden ("Day of the Dead.") If faced with a choice of serving Delenn directly or serving the Anla'shok, he might well choose the former, especially if the choice involved a significant threat to Delenn. Such an eventuality appears to be foreshadowed here in the conversation between Delenn and Lennier.

That sort of echoes what we've been discussing in the other thread. Not to repeat the obvious too many times, but clearly we're not the only ones who saw that as the most plausible scenario.

As for the other stuff in this episode: That "Easter Egg Hunt" seems quite dangerous. Do we have any numbers on how many Ranger trainees actually die during training? It seems like that would happen ...

The Centauri plot isn't really moving forward in this episode, other than that we find out the Drazi somehow know or suspect the Centauri are behind the attacks. The angry Vir stuff is sort of amusing, but mostly because of Londo's reaction.

Side note about the Drazi: Londo refers to the Drazi ambassador's wife with she/her. So there are male and female Drazi. Do they all look alike, or do we only ever see male Drazi?