The Parliament Of Dreams

G’Kar is going crazy and I love it! Londo is drunk and that can only mean hijinks and hilarity for all involved. I know for a fact that I am not stunning in purple, now pink on the other hand is a whole nother story. Michael O’ Hare shows us all how to woo a woman while showing next to no emotion at all, this man is my hero!

Written By: J. Michael Straczynski
Directed By: Jim Johnston

Bare Essentials:

A Plot - One of G’Kar’s old enemies, Du’Rog, has sent an assassin to B5 to seek out his vengeance for him. G’Kar suspects it is his new aide, Na’Toth, but it ends up being the courier, Tu’Pari, that brought him Du’Rog’s message. Tu’Pari captures G’Kar, but with the help of Na’Toth he is able to escape and turn the tables on his would be assassin, leaving him as the one that is now being hunted by his fellow assassins.

B Plot - Commander Sinclair’s old flame Catherine Sakai is back on station, and after much melodrama they end up back together and promise to try and make it work out this time

C Plot - Earth Central has deemed this a week for all the alien races on B5 to showcase their dominant religious belief for everyone to see in the name of cultural awareness. The Minbari are stoic and ritualistic. The Centauri are lavish and outlandish. Commander Sinclair can’t figure out how to show Earth’s dominant religion, so instead he introduces the Ambassadors and their aides to a litany of religious members from Earth.

More Arc, Less Arch:

Delenn does not want anyone on Babylon 5 to know she is a member of the Grey Council. This is a thread that will run for the entire first season before the cat is let out of the bag at the end of this season and early in the second.

Delenn’s speech in the Minbari ceremony, “Will you follow me into fire? Into storm? Into darkness? Into death? And the nine said, “Yes.” Then do this in testimony to the one who will follow, who will bring death couched in the promise of new life and renewal disguised as defeat.” is very important. The speech itself is the one that Valen, a historical Minbari figure that we will get to know intimately, gives as he forms the first Grey Council. The one to come in this instance is probably Delenn or even Sheridan, while the person bringing “renewal disguised as defeat” could be either Sinclair or Sheridan. Sinclair certainly qualifies because of his apparent death, to unknowing outsiders at least, when he goes back in time to become Valen (I told you we would get to know him intimately) while Sheridan also certainly qualifies thanks to his death and rebirth on Z’ha’dum. However at this point in time the truth about the arc is a little bit fuzzy, so it is entirely possible that none of the above was the case at all, however that is how I think it turned out as the arc changed to accommodate how JMS’s feelings on the story changed.

While it may not seem arc related at all G’Kar’s refusal to cry out in pain highly emphasizes his pride. This is an issue that will come back to affect the entire course of the series in the season four episode, Falling Towards Apotheosis.

Who Are You? What Do Yo… Hey, I’m Asking The Questions Here!:

There is a shot in the rebirth ceremony where Delenn either has a small tattoo or a ring on her right index finger, which is it?

If diplomatic quarters are foreign soil then what consequences does an intruder face when he commits a crime in those quarters? Is he under the jurisdiction of B5 or of the home soil of said quarters?

What about the Narn or the Vorlons? How come we don’t get to see their dominant religious beliefs?

Idiosyncratic Musings:

A lot can be read from the Minbari ceremony scene, most notably from how everyone handled the eating of their fruit. Londo eats the fruit without hesitation, that is the adventurer in Londo coming out, the one who fears nothing. Vir on the other hand won’t eat his fruit until Londo has told him it is okay, this shows how truly submissive Vir is at this point in time. Garibaldi refuses to eat his fruit, he is ever the paranoid man and he won’t take a chance on something he knows nothing about. Ivanova doesn’t want to eat her fruit, but she does so begrudgingly, because that is what is required of her in her duty as an officer. G’Kar absolutely refuses to eat his, it’s not of Narn origin nor will it help Narn in any way, so it holds no value to him and is not worth any time at all. Delenn shows off a side of herself that she usually hides under her political nature, she eats her fruit very sensually. Sinclair shows the most about himself. He is cautious and introspective, he has to look at his fruit and think about it before he can eat it. Even then he still has his doubts, but he shows his belief in his friendship and his willingness to be open to alien cultures by finally eating it at the behest of Delenn. All of this from a piece of fruit, who knew?

I See What You Did There:

The story of Du’Rog and his thirst for vengeance on G’Kar continues in the novel, Blood Oath.

Na’Toth makes her first appearance as G’Kar’s aide. She replaces his previous aide, Ko’Dath, who according to G’Kar met an untimely demise at the hands of an airlock.

Catherine Sakai makes her first appearance as the former and once again girlfriend of Commander Sinclair. Her presence leads to a mention in passing of Carolyn Sykes, Sinclair’s girlfriend from the pilot, The Gathering. Sinclair says it has been about a year since they broke up.

There have been two previous assassination attempts on G’Kar.

Lennier makes his first appearance as Delenn’s aide, and he is a member of the Third Fane of Chu’Domo.

Quantium-40 is mentioned for the first time, at this point it is merely a valuable mineral.

Tu’Pari fits G’Kar with pain-givers. A manacle type device that gives off an extreme shock anytime G’Kar comes within ten feet of Tu’Pari.

Say It Again Mac:

G’Kar’s entire musical number bares repeating, “I’m thinking of thinking of calling her right after my afternoon nap. I’m thinking of thinking of sending her flowers right after Bonnie gets back. So many fishies left in the sea. So many fishies, but no one for me. I’m thinking of thinking of hooking a love soon after supper is done.”

G’Kar again after Tu’Pari asks if he is Ambassador G’Kar, “This is Ambassador G’Kar’s quarters. This is Ambassador G’Kar’s table. This is Ambassador G’Kar’s dinner. Which part of this progression escapes you?”

G’Kar yet again to the crawfish as he walks away from the table, “You stay put!”

Londo Mollari so adequately describing his state of beauty, “But in purple, I’m stunning!”

After Londo has passed out, Vir Cotto, “Ah, he has become one with his inner self.”
Michael Garibaldi, “He’s passed out.”
Vir, “That too.”

Catherine Sakai, “I don’t mean to alarm you, but your pants are talking to you.”

Na’Toth, “Ambassador, it is not my place to speculate on how anything gets into your bed. Your reputed fascination with Earth women, for instance.”

It’s Your Cultural Imperative:

The Drazi make their first appearance where they are more than background dressing. The Drazi are a biped, hardened reptilian looking race with thick gray skin, no hair on their bodies to speak of, and they have extremely raised cheekbones, and some Drazi even have bones showing through the skin on their cheeks. The Drazi Freehold are one of the League Of Non-Aligned Worlds and are regarded as one of the strongest of the lesser races.

Centauri religious ceremonies are lavish and decadent, giving off a very Roman feel to them. At the ceremony Londo reveals some of the Centauri household Gods- Ben-zan, the God of food. Mo-goth, the God of the Underworld and protector of front doors. And finally Li, the Goddess of passion. Pay close attention to the statue of Li as it reveals certain things about the Centauri anatomy that will be revealed in proper form in the episodes “The Quality Of Mercy” and “The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari.”

At one point the Centauri co-inhabited their homeworld with another alien race, the Xon. After years of battling the Centauri emerged the victors with the Xon all dead.

The Narn ruling governmental body is the Kha’Ri. Narn society is broken down into a circle structure. There are nine circles, with number nine being the lowest in rank. G’Kar is a member of the third circle.

The Thenta Makur are a Narn assassins guild. They traditionally leave a black flower by their intended victim to let him/her know that they must get their affairs in order. A Thenta Makur member can not be paid off, because if they accept a bribe in lieu of assassination then they will become hunted by their fellow members in the Makur.

This is the first time where there is a noticeable difference in the bone crests of female and male Minbari. The females have finely crafted bone crests, as it has been molded into an almost crown shape at the top. The males on the other hand have a much rougher look to them and appear more natural and unrefined.

The Minbari religious ceremony is very ritualistic and subdued. As is Minbari custom there are triangles all over the place and it also involves the eating of a tiny red fruit. This ceremony doubles as a marriage ceremony as well. It’s important to note that in the original arc Delenn was to marry Sinclair and they were to have a child together, that puts a whole new spin on the ceremony scene.

I Think This Might Be Based On Something:

In the scene where Catherine comes to see him in his quarters Sinclair is listening to the poem Ulysses by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

In the line of religious members Sinclair introduces an Aborigine by the name of Mr. Blacksmith. Thomas Keneally wrote, and it was later adapted to film, a novel about an oppressed Aborigine entitled The Chant Of Jimmy Blacksmith.

You Look Mighty Familiar:

Thomas Kopache, Tu’Pari appeared in a couple of episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Kira Taban, the Star Trek: Voyager episode, The Thaw, as Viorosa, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, The Next Phase, as Mirok, and the Enterprise episode, Broken Bow, Part One, as Vulcan Attaché Tos. However his most notable role was that of Assistant Secretary of State Bob Slatterly on a number of episodes of The West Wing.

Julia Nickson, Catherine Sakai, appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, The Arsenal Of Freedom, as Ensign Lian T’Su, and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, Paradise, as Cassandra. She also appeared in Double Dragon: The Movie as Satori Imada AKA Lotus Flower as well as the SeaQuest DSV episode, Weapons Of War, as Lieutenant Commander Heiko Kimura.

Julie Caitlin Brown, Na’Toth, has been seen in the episode of Sliders, Requiem, as Kromagg Commander Kesh. She was also in Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, Gambit, Parts 1 & 2, as Vekor, and an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Passenger, as Ty Kajada.

Bill Mumy, Lennier, should be known to everyone as Will Robinson from Lost In Space. He also has appeared in the horrendous and thankfully short lived Superboy for some episodes as Tommy Puck. Not done with super hero world he also appeared in an episode of the live action The Flash, Goodnight, Central City, as Roger Braintree and the abysmal Captain America movie of 1990 as Young Gen. Fleming. He redeemed himself though by providing the voice of Warren Lawford AKA The Fox in an episode, The Terrible Trio, of Batman: The Animated Series.

Casting Ahead:

That popular crime boss N’grath makes another appearance.

Mark Hendrickson makes a return, this time the everyman plays the Narn wishing G’Kar dead, Du’rog.

Bill Mumy joins the cast as Lennier, a role he will play for the entirety of B5′s run.

Julie Caitlin Brown will don the make-up as Na’Toth for all of season one, before leaving the show due to the way the make-up was affecting her skin. She will make one more appearance in season five as Na’Toth.

The Ombuds Have Decided:

This episode begins and ends with one man, Andreas Katsulas. This is the first chance that he has had to really have a go at the character of G’Kar and he really has a go at him. In forty odd minutes he manages to imbue G’Kar with a sense of paranoia, comedy, toughness, pride, intelligence, cunning, and respectability. That is no easy task, and yet Andreas pulled it off flawlessly. It was with this episode that I began to discover just how great of an actor Andreas really was and why it would be such a joy to watch him for the next few years.

Julie Caitlin Brown comes right onto the stage and develops instant chemistry with Andreas Katsulas. Whether they are laughing it up, arguing, or having “philosophical” debates they play off of each other superbly. It is their sense of connection and camaraderie that lends quite a bit of credence to G’Kar’s entire plotline. Na’Toth fits in so well with G’Kar that you can’t help but wonder if it all isn’t an act to pull the wool over his eyes? But, after it is all over you see that it wasn’t an act at all and that their is that strong of a chemistry present and it is a joy to watch.

This is also the first episode where I stood up and took notice of the dialogue. There was still some rocky moments, most of the Sinclair/Catherine intensity driven moments didn’t do anything for me, but as evidenced by how much I quoted this is where the dialogue began to take on its own life and truly breathe life into these characters. Even the simplest of lines could have an ulterior meaning, and the most complex of lines could actually be a smoke screen for the simplest of things. And then there was the comedy, oh, the comedy.

The comedy in this episode is off the charts. G’Kar brings a manic sense of humor to the forefront with his ranting and ravings about his future killer. The funniest scene of the whole episode is from start to finish the Centauri religious ceremony. The capper that seals it as quite a piece of work is Londo drunkenly chucking a piece of bread at Sinclair’s head, a sight that no one should miss.

The main problem with this episode lies in the relationship between Sinclair and Catherine Sakai. By the end of the episode it appears to be much more real with more of a natural connection, but at the onset it has a very formulaic feel about it with the connection seeming forced. There is a brusqueness and woodenness to the interactions between Sinclair and Sakai, and that makes it very hard to connect with them. The entire relationship is off putting at first because it comes across like they are putting on a show for the viewer at home as opposed to actually going through the rigors of a failed relationship.

There are two slight problems with the G’Kar plotline. Tu’Pari’s claim that he had to wait a long time in customs for Na’Toth to arrive and claim him requires far too much of a jump in logic or a suspension of belief on the part of the viewer. Tu’Pari provides evidence all episode long that he is a very capable and stealthy assassin, yet he isn’t able to hear the loud and clunky Na’Toth walking up from behind? This is yet another moment that requires the viewer to take too big of a logic leap.

Unfortunately the lack of a connection to the Sinclair storyline drags The Parliament Of Dreams down a bit as does the lack of any true peril in the G’Kar storyline. While it was great to see G’Kar running wild as it were, there was never any sense that he was really in danger and that detracted just a tad from his story.

The Parliament Of Dreams is a fun romp for the most part, and it holds up as a fun episode that sets the stage for what is to come.

Rating:

82/100

B

That’s it for this time, join me next time for Mind War.

Cheers,
Bill

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