EpDis: Knives

vacantlook · July 26th 05, 08:32

Refresher Links:
Lurker's Guide Main Page for Knives
Lurker's Guide Extended Synopsis for Knives

GKarsEye · July 26th 05, 14:38

A- it's a Londo ep, and therefore excellent

RW7427 · July 26th 05, 14:58

Great fun! I gave it an A.

Springer · July 26th 05, 15:24

I like the Londo/Urza plot (Londo and Vir singing opera at the beginning is class!) and the Sheridan subplot is fun, but a bit forgettable. Some nice special effects though, and Garibladi to the rescue. And Refa turns up too. Shame they couldn't have used Rance Howard to play Sheridan's dad, but I guess that was still in the future of the show. And in the episode order, this comes after In the Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum, but was initially written to have come before it. So when Sheridan has the vision of the Icarus exploding, it doesn't tie-in with the previous episode, when it was originally intended to remind audiences about Anna before In the Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum.

So yeah, for a stand alone episode I quite like it. Plus its the last Larry DiTillio penned episode. I'll give it somewhere between a C and B, but as I'm feeling generous I'll go for B.

KoshFan · July 26th 05, 15:55

The last non-JMS ep until "Day of the Dead," right? It wasn't a spectacular episode, but it deserves some sort of medal for that.

I looked over the writing credits a few days ago, and I realized that Larry DiTillio and Peter David led the credits at seven episodes and three, respectively, in terms of people who weren't JMS writing.

Shaal Mayan · July 26th 05, 16:56

A it's a Londo ep and a little more tibits on centauri is good as well.

B5_Obsessed · July 26th 05, 18:02

I put it at average, although I still liked it.
Urza Jaddo overacts quite a bit.

PillowRock · July 26th 05, 18:06

Quote:

Urza Jaddo overacts quite a bit.

Of course, for much of the episode that charater playing out a scenario rather than hoestly reacting to new information. So the question becomes: Are you literally correct that it was *Urza* who was overacting and not the actor playing him?

vacantlook · July 26th 05, 20:28

I gotta say, I have trouble seeing how this could be seen as being on the same A-level quality as episodes like "Chrysalis".

Just an average rating from me.

GKarsEye · July 26th 05, 20:37

I like it better than Chysalis. Sure, that one had a lot of "holy crap!" moments in it, busily throwing all sorts of things at you, but those things would mean nothing without that sort of thing that gets developed in episodes like Knives.

Knives is the classic B5 ep because it's a self-contained story but it also serves as bringing the "background" (in this case, Centauri politics) into the forefront of the discerning viewer's mind, whether he realises it or not.