Auch zu "Midnight on the Firing Line" (im JMSNEWS-Forum habe ich die Folge doch tatsächlich irrtümlich "Ragesh 3" genannt. Bei "eingedeutschten" Folgen kommt man natürlich nicht in Versuchung, irrtümlich den zu posten, aber "Ragesh 3" hätte ja in der Tat der englische Episodentitel sein können *gg*) habe ich ein kurzreview im Forum von JMSNEWS gepostet. Da es diesmal auch keine Spoiler zur weiteren Entwicklung gibt, kann ich das ganze auch "offen" posten - allerdings wieder auf englisch:

A good, solid start for the show. Nothing too spectacular, but it's definitely better than the first cut of "The Gathering", finding a better balance between background information, introducing the characters, setting up later events, and telling a compelling story. I especially like the foreshadowing (Londo's dream) and the great getting-to-know-you-scenes with Ivanova and Talia (they try to get to know each other, and by that, WE get to know THEM; very cleverly set up). Ivanovas back story with her mother is just incredibly sad. And of course, I love all the scenes with G'Kar and Londo. "The wheel turns, doesn't it, Ambassador?" If he only knew...

When you compare this to the original edit of "The Gathering", it's obvious that JMS has learned his lesson (even though you have to take into account that he got a lot of background stuff out of the way in the pilot). There, he told 1 story, and added a lot of background-information to it. Still, it was one plot, for 90 minutes. Here, it's actually 4 plots for 42. We have the narn attack on ragesh 3, the freighter-attacks of the raiders (even though we learn in the end that these two are connected), Talia trying to get to know Ivanova, and the presidential election on earth. So compared to the pilot, there's a lot going on this time. If anything, it might even feel a little too cramped. Whats also noteworthy: Three of the four mentioned storylines are actually linked to the overall story arc, and set up later developments.

On the other hand, you can't help but notice that NOTHING HAPPENS, really. The Narn take Ragesh 3, and in the end, give it back again. And the way Sinclair stumbles upon the Narn on the asteroid base of the Raiders is very convenient; definitely a more clean and easy wrap-up than we're used to on B5. Overall, a solid and promising, if not great, start. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Some other thoughts:
  • My favorite thing about "Ragesh 3", as mentioned before, is the foreshadowing, especially Londo's dream. I still find it incredibly impressive how thought-out this show was from the beginning. Nowadays, season-plots may be common, but even today, a multi-season-preplanning is rather rare, especially when you're not adapting a pre-existing work of art (like "Game of Thrones"). There are a lot of strenghts, but for me, this multi-season-arc, the all-encompassing story, is B5s greatest achievement.
  • I love the design of the starfuries, and the whole concept of fighters that actually make use of the freedom of space, when it comes to moving within 3 dimensions. the fight scene may be a little slow and lack in dynamics, but back then, it was still an eye opener for me.
  • The Intro is great to. Great narration, some nice shots, and of course Christopher Frankes beautiful main theme.
  • However, the design of the narn ships (not the little fighters, the other ones) seems a little weird. It doesn't really fit to their other designs, and is also a little unimaginative IMHO. I very much prefer the later cruisers. And am I mistaken, or do we never see these kind of ships again?
  • From the first scene on, Claudia Christian is absolutely great as Ivanova. She's so much more energetic and "alive" than Tamlyn Tomita. And of course, JMS gives her some great lines of dialogue - even here in her first apperance: "I'm in the middle of 15 things, all of them annoying". And the scene when she tells the story about her mother gets me every single time. So powerful. Actually, the whole dialogue is great. In every other show, when Talia says "Perhaps tomorrow, we can start out on better terms", Ivanova would reply with something like "I'll do my best." Here, it's "I very much doubt it".
  • Some other great lines: "They are a dying poeple." "Who, the Narn, or the Centauri?" "Yes." Gotta love Kosh! . Londo's got some nice lines too: "You can go to hell too, I wouldn't want you to feel left out". From their very first scene, the interaction between Peter Jurassik and Stephen Furst is wonderful . Peter Jurassik is especially great in this, perfectly alternating between anger and despair.
  • Boy, Richard Compton sure loves his close-ups.
  • Is that Edward James Olmos as the barkeeper?*
  • Things like Garibaldi's second favorite thing in the universe are exactly what make these characters great. It's these unusual traits that make them more human than in other "deep space franchises", and also lets them feel more real, somehow. The whole scene is great. I'll have to pick up the script book as soon as I get home to check if her reaction to the popcorn was scripted, or actually Mira's idea. Anyway, I love the way Delenn isn't quite sure what to do with it. Hilarious, but at the same time also believable and "realistic".


* = Wie ich danahc in einer Antwort erfahren habe: Nein ist es nicht! Auch wenn er ihm zum Verwechseln ähnlich sieht.