Reviews

For anyone who has any real understanding of Babylon 5, this is the one episode which leaves an indelible impression. I know for myself that I cannot watch it without leaking tears in multiple places, though I've seen it now too many times to count. I suppose that tells me that I'm not just interested in these people; I'm invested in them. I buy into the B-5 universe, and Sheridan and Ivanova and Franklin and Delenn and G'Kar and Londo and all of them aren't just characters to me; they're people, utterly three-dimensional, real, believable people ... who have come to matter to me. Accuse me of drinking the Kool-Aid and I'll just wipe a red stain off my lips and reply, "Say what?"

It is an episode filled with moments, from Sheridan and Delenn watching the sunrise to the Ranger arriving in General Ivanova's office to that one shot of Sheridan looking in the mirror his last day on Mimbar and his last conversation with Lorien as the sun at once rises and sets for this former Earthforce captain. There is no part of "Sleeping" which is insignificant or unnecessary. There is one moment, though, which I particularly cherish, and it belongs to Stephen Furst - Vir Cotto. You know the scene: the party is in full swing and Garibaldi and Sheridan are laughing themselves sick about a long-past incident between them and a Pak'ma'ra:

Emperor Vir Cotto: You know, Londo never liked the Pak'ma'ra. I mean, they're stubborn, lazy, obnoxious, greedy...

Michael Garibaldi: Kinda look like an octopus that got run over by a truck.

Emperor Vir Cotto: That, too ... but one day Londo and I were walking past their quarters ... and we heard them ... singing.

John Sheridan: Singing? They can sing?

Dr. Stephen Franklin: There's nothing about that in the literature.

Emperor Vir Cotto: Apparently it's something they only do certain times of the year as part of their religious ceremonies. You may not believe this but it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard. I couldn't make out the words but I knew that it was full of sadness and hope and wonder and a terrible sense of loss. I looked at Londo and, this is the amazing part, there was a tear running down his face. I said, "Londo, we should leave. I mean, this is upsetting you." But he just stood there and listened. And when it was over he turned to me and he said, "There are 49 gods in our pantheon, Vir. To tell you the truth, I never believed in any of them. But if only one of them exists, then god sings with that voice." It's funny ... after everything we have been through, all he did ... I miss him.

What is significant to me about that moment is that we're looking at a Vir Cotto we haven't known up until now. If you listen to the commentary by JMS or the cast in the previous years, they can't mention Furst without bringing up "Flounder" of Animal House infamy, but this isn't that guy. It's not the Vir Cotto who came to B-5 a naïve, wet-behind-the-ears provincial, not even the more self-assured and newly appointed ambassador to the Centauri who decimated a Drazi's fruit stand in the Zocalo ("NOW! Wanna finish our little conversation, spoo-for-brains?"). This is someone else, someone with the weight of the title "Emperor" on his shoulders, someone far more seasoned and mature and actually having perhaps more than a little gravitas ... but it sure as hell isn't "Flounder."

The last comment I wanted to make is in Susan Ivanova's closing comments, which I think are especially significant, because they are true whether you live in the 23rd century or the 21st, very true for us as rational thinkers or anyone who seeks to live their life responsibly. It is a capstone to five years of mostly brilliant writing and believable acting and a story I am certain I will never tire of.

Thank you, Joe ... and thanks to all those who made Babylon 5 the brilliant work that it is.

General Susan Ivanova: Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future, or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another because if we don't, who will. And that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Mostly, though, I think it gave us hope that there could always be new beginnings, even for people like us.

Honestly, I don't know what the writers and producers of Foundation were thinking, but they couldn't have thought much of Isaac Asimov's original words or story, at least not from the base concept of the decline and fall of the Galactic Empire and the establishment of Terminus. From that point, the writers seem to have gone off on their own hallucination, and the plot COMPLETELY departs from Asimov's words, never mind adding subplots which do NOTHING to move the story forward. Salvor Hardin is a stranger to me ("Warden" and not "MAYOR???"), the story of Gaal Dornick and the relationship between Dornick and Seldon expanded WAY beyond the baseline, and I have to wonder if Hober Mallow can be worked in coherently at all at this point.

I must say this bluntly: Apple TV's Foundation is a travesty, an ill-conceived and despicable misrepresentation of a piece of science/fiction which should have been allowed to stand on its own, without the ridiculous and unnecessary modifications to which David Goyer & Co. Have subjected it.

That is what the Soviet Union wanted to maintain: the appearance that, despite the catastrophe of Chernobyl, that nothing was fundamentally wrong, that their RBMK reactors were safe, that they had their heroes and their villains and that all was right with their world. Valery Legasov upset that pretty fiction, first with his testimony and later with his actions in the wake of the Chernobyl tribunal, actions which could not be dismissed or brushed aside but which finally forced the unmovable rock to move.

There are likely many heroes in the debacle which was Chernobyl, and many of them are recorded in this series. First among them must be Gospodin Legasov.

Yet another crazy encounter with Bugs and Elmer Fudd, with that waskily wabbit using the pretense of being infected with "rabbititis" to flummox poor Elmer yet again. This is one I grew up with, back when televisions were more black & white than color, and one which I get a kick out of to this day.

One particular element worth noting is the title music Carl Stalling uses after the Merry Melodies intro. The potent swing / jazz theme Carl lays down here is at least as infectious as Bugs supposedly was, perhaps more so! I never heard Stalling rock out like this very often, which makes that rollicking music all the more memorable.

From the dour beginnings at BBC headquarters in London to the triumphant gathering in the California desert, Jezza, Hamster, and Captain Slow bring us an emotional and joyful reunion of the team which made us laugh that much harder and love the cars they drive all the more. This is no longer Top Gear, no. This is BETTER.

Episode One is entitled, "The Holy Trinity," and what else could that refer to other than the three most notorious hybrid hyper-cars the world knows to date: the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 Spider and the Ferrari LaFerrari. Finally the question will get answered: which one stands on the top step of the podium? (grin!) Nope, not gonna tell! Besides, it's the story that makes the end such fun! Meantime, there's lots of tomfoolery under the TGT tent regarding the news and guest stars. Outside the tent on a new test track, known as the "Ebola-drome," Jeremy wrings out a BMW M2 and a curmudgeonly Mike Skinner adds it and others to an all new leader board.

It's been a long slog since our three automotive caballeros left Gambon corner behind and laid the plans for this new effort, but the sturm und drang was worth it. Also, very big kudos must go to Andy Wilman, who has done far more than yeoman's service in bringing this new show to life and brilliantly so.

It's a new day for sure ... bright and sunshiny, big-time!

I first saw this episode when it was originally aired in 1961 and have since collected it on LaserDisc. Even seeing it with the eyes of an inexperienced 10 year old, the power and message it carried, compressed into a half-hour time-bomb, was at least as formidable as what was meant to destroy the librarian Romney Wordsworth. Meredith and Weaver both turn in laser-like performances, guided skillfully by the words of Mr. Serling's pen. It also benefits from the simplicity of the sets and the always-present black and white format, which I believe creates a greater focus on the characters.

It is episodes like this that ensure that the names Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone will be remembered and honored for excellence in television for a very long time to come.