Mein Rewatch geht munter weiter. Ich finde es interessant, dass man selbst beim x-ten Durchlauf noch neue Dinge entdecken oder einem neue Aspekte auffallen können. Nachfolgend mein - in der englischen Sprache (oder was ich zumindest dafür halte ) verfasster Beitrag im JMSnews-Forum; grundsätzlich 1:1 übernommen, ich habe mir nur erlaubt, einen major f*ck up meinerseits zu korrigieren. Außerdem sei festgehalten, dass sich natürlich vieles davon mit meinem deutschen Review auf fictionBOX deckt.

Ich habe übrigens vor, die bisherigen Episodenguides leicht zu überarbeiten, und ggf. Aspekte die mir neu auffallen in 1-2 Sätzen hinzuzufügen, wie auch ggf. Auszüge aus neuen Interviews ("Echoes of all our Conversations"-Reihe z.B.) usw. Auch würde ich gerne den geteilten Wertungsblock für Spannung etc. loswerden; den verwenden wir shon seit Jahren nicht mehr. Möglicherweise werde ich im Zuge dessen auch etwas größere Bilder einfügen (nach dem neuen "Game of Thrones"-Standard 300x169 statt 225x127). Und für alle die sich fragen, wann es endlich wieder neue B5-Guides geben wird: Es ist momentan vorgesehen, dass Babylon 5 ab Anfang nächsten Jahres an den dann freigewordenen Dienstag-Platz (den momentan noch TOS und in Bälde TAS einnehmen) rückt.

Hier aber nun mein englisches "Review" zu "Soul Hunter":
A solid episode, in my opinion. It's not especially suspenseful, and quite straightforward, telling only one story (compared to four separate ones in the last episode), and I think a b-story or at least some character moments might have helped to tighten it up a bit, because then you would have had less time for the main soul hunter story. Nevertheless, I find it quite intruiging, and especially like the way the soul business is handled. We are very much invited to find our own conclusion, and aren't spoon-fed a certain resolution. That's what I like about B5, and this episode in particular: Mysteries are allowed to stay mysteries, even when the credits start to roll (something that is reflected by Sinclairs last words to the second Soul Hunter: "Life's full of mysteries. Consider this one of them."). Which also means: If you don't believe in souls, you should still be able to enjoy this episode, because JMS offers up a very plausible scientific explanation for what's happening (via Doctor Franklin).

Some other thoughts:
  • "Soul Hunter" might very well have the most scenes that ended up in the intro sequence. I catched four: Sinclair going out in the Starfury to catch the soul hunter-ship, Sinclair and Delenn walking through the station, the arrival of Soul Hunter #2, and Sinclair turning around the corner, PPG in hand. Did I miss one?
  • Ivanova gives a VERY stiff and uptight impression on her first scene here. I'll have to pay attention when watching "Infection" (which was the first episode shot; this was the second) if it's the same there, and if it's simply a case of Claudia getting more comfortable as production progressed, or if it has more to do with what the director wanted from her.
  • One other thing that I love about this episode: The Soul Hunter is certain that the resurrection-belief of the Minbari is mere superstition. However, his words about them actually seem to support their belief: "look at them and you see nothing but mirrors, infinities of reflection". Intruiging.
  • Franklins "It's all so brief, isn't it" always gives me the chills, since Rick Biggs passed away. That moment always takes me right out of the episode, because it's so strange hearing those words from him, of all people. Because of that, this scene always brings tears to my eyes since his death.
  • Overall, this episode is more stand-alone, but at least there's the "satai"-stuff.
  • Usually, I hate scenes where people break out of some jail cell etc. But I have to say, JMS handled it quite well here, with the security guard calling in BEFORE approaching the seemingly unconscious Soul Hunter, and with the really swift attack.
  • I really like W. Morgan Sheppards (who played Dr. Ira Graves in the TNG-Episode "The Shizoid Man") portrayal of the Soul Hunter. He really gives him an alien feel. The make-up of the Soul Hunter is really great, too.
  • I also always liked n'grath, and was sad that he quietly disappeared. He seemed to fit right into B5s approach of more alien aliens, and I didn't find his movements to be stiff at all. Really wish we would have seen more of him. I definitely prefer him over the later CGI-creatures like the nakaleen-feeder.
  • A little note about the german-dubbed version for everyone who's interested: I think I haven't mentioned it before, but B5 lost quite a bit in translation. One small example: When the Soul Hunter alludes to Delenns plans (later put into action in "Chrysalis"), the translators obviously didn't know what to do with it. Instead of just keeping it the way it was, they decided to let him refer again to when the minbari stopped him as his kind when they came for Dukhat ("So you actually planned it. You deliberately interfered with me. Unbelievable!"; ahm… yeah, of course they did that on purpose. Duh!).
  • So as you may know, the framing of the Region 2 DVDs in those scenes that had to be cropped is way off. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they didn't take the master from SciFi Channels reworking of the show (who actually paid attention to what was happening on screen, and chose their framing accordingly), but made they're own. There, it makes the impression that they just cropped of the same space from above and beyond, no matter what you could actually see in the picture. Thus, when the soul orbs are flying around the soul hunters head, you can hardly see a thing on our version. I assume the R1 release is better in that regard?