1.03
Born To The Purple
Bald chicks can be very hot! Londo’s hair disappears under a hood. Sinclair possesses quite possibly the most obnoxious laugh ever. It’s very appropriate that Garibaldi used an I.C.E. breaker to take on the ultimate ice queen. What’s the point of dancing girls in a club where they don’t lose their clothes? Screw the rest of the questions, or observations, that is the most important one. Dancing girls that don’t lose their clothes, c’mon man, that’s just wrong!
Written By: Lawrence G. Ditillio
Directed By: Bruce Seth Green
Bare Essentials:
A Plot - Londo Mollari has fallen in love with a dancer named Adira Tyree. It turns out that Adira is s slave owned by a man named Trakis. Even though she doesn’t want to she steals important information known as the Purple Files from Londo to give to Trakis. At the last second she changes her mind and flees from Trakis. It is only through the involvement of Commander Sinclair that Londo is able to get back his files, and free Adira. In the end Adira decides to leave B5 because the wounds of her betrayal of Londo are still too fresh.
B Plot – Someone is using the Gold Channel communications illegally and Garibaldi is intent on ferreting them out. It turns out that the perpetrator is Lt. Commander Ivanova attempting to contact her dying father. She speaks her last words to him, and Garibaldi informs her that the situation has been resolved and there will be no further problems.
C Plot - Negotiations between the Narn and Centauri over the Euphrates Sector are not going well. Londo is treating them flippantly while G’Kar grows increasingly angry over his attitude. Commander Sinclair is caught in the middle but is able to resolve the situation when he gets Londo to agree to a compromise as long as he helps Londo in his problems with Adira.
More Arc, Less Arch:
Adira Tyree will come back to effect the arc much later, in the season 3 episode Interludes And Examinations.
Who Are You? What Do Yo… Hey, I’m Asking The Questions Here!:
How does the DarkStar owner not know who Sinclair is?
What exactly was Sinclair’s compromise on the Euphrates Sector?
Idiosyncratic Musings:
This episode is all about Londo, and what a character he is. Londo is shown to be many things in this episode, some good and some bad. He yearns for the glory days of the Republic, be he feels that even his yearnings are futile. The one thing that drives him in his work is something that he thinks is an unattainable pipe dream. He longs for the power of the old days, yet at the same time he wishes to escape the role that he has been cast into in life.
Most importantly this episode shows that Londo is a very, very dangerous man. He is a romantic, he wants to do what is right and what his heart desires. He is willing to go to any lengths to make sure that his heart is appeased and that the right thing is done. The problem is that Londo can’t see the difference between the right thing and what his heart desires. He views them as one and the same and doesn’t see that they are sometimes completely the opposite of each other. This lays the ground work for the character of Londo. It shows us that all of the facets that will lead to his ultimate demise are in him even at this early stage.
The scene with Garibaldi and Ivanova at the end of the episode is a very important scene for both characters,
For Garibaldi it shows that he is sympathetic to those around him, he is a very human man. He understands and wants to be there for Ivanova in her time of need, he is the good friend. But, at the same time he makes sure to let Ivanova know that what she did was illegal. Because of their friendship he won’t report it, but he needs her to know that it can’t be done again. The subtext in that entire scene is one of, “I caught you, and you know I caught you, but you need to know that as long as it never happens again I will not do anything about it.”
Ivanova has up till this point been painted as a very stoic and hard woman. Those are traits that she does embody yes, but this episode shows that there is more than one side to her. It shows that she is caring and loving, and that she values her friendship with Garibaldi greatly. It shows that she will bend the rules if she feels it is the right thing to do, a trait that will become important later on. Most of all this final scene shows Ivanova as a battered and beaten woman. She is someone that has had her entire life taken from her, and all she feels she has left is her career. That is why Garibaldi extending the olive branch to her is so important, it helps her to realize that she is not alone. Things may not be good and they may not get any better, but through Garibaldi’s actions she knows she isn’t alone and can, if she wants to, turn to others for help.
There is an important distinction made in Born To The Purple between Sinclair and other commanding officers, especially his successor, Captain Sheridan. After Talia has a hard day helping him with the Euphrates Sector negotiations he takes her out to dinner as a gesture of gratitude. He doesn’t do so as a means of getting into her pants, although I would have just so ya know, nor does he do this with some ulterior or political motive in mind. He takes Talia out simply because he feels she deserves it and wants to thank her for her actions. This is a rarity in sci-fi commanders, as most of them are hard liners and don’t get attached to the people around them in such a way, at least not to people as outside of the command structure as Talia. This action further emphasizes and hammers home the image of Sinclair as the introspective philosopher as opposed to the gung-ho military man and is one of the things that I loved about his character.
I See What You Did There:
The DarkStar is a club on B5. And I can not stress this enough, it is a club with dancing girls that don’t take their clothes off, c’mon!!
G’Kar spares not one, not two, not three, not four, but five glances at the human dancing girl behind him while Londo is talking. G’Kar has a thing for Earth chicks, this just shows it all the more.
Ko’Dath makes her first appearance as the aide to Ambassador G’Kar.
Too much strong emotion in a close proximity is hard for a telepath to block.
Talia Winters sits in on any negotiations that officially involve the Earth Alliance.
Negotiations with the Narn and Centauri over the Euphrates Sector are very important because a peaceful resolution shows people that B5 can work.
The Gold Channel is a priority communications channel that is only available for use by the Ambassadors and the Command staff. It can only be used with the express permission of the station Commander.
Fresh Air is the finest restaurant on Babylon 5.
This is the first episode where we are given an inkling of Garibaldi’s bulldog mentality in regards to figuring something out and the rather impressive computer skills he has in order to accomplish the task at hand.
Londos’ code for his Purple Files is , “wine, women, song.” That is rather apropos for his character.
At this point in time information is stored on data crystals.
The Zocalo is the marketplace on Babylon 5, and the word is Spanish in origin.
Trakis wears a glove that can give off an electrical charge.
Ivanova’s brother died during the Earth-Minbari War.
Ivanova wears only one earring, on her left ear. No reason is given for this until the movie, In The Beginning.
Say It Again Mac:
Londo Mollari, “And what is it that you’re getting, Adira? A washed up old Republican dreaming of better days.”
Mollari again, to Vir, “What do you want you moon faced assassin of joy?”
Londo, yet again, “We Centauri live for appearances, positions, status, title. These are the things by which we define ourselves. But when I look beneath the mask that I am forced to wear I see only emptiness. And then I think of you and I say: “To hell with Appearances.”"
G’Kar and Londo on separate occasions to their aides after giving them full Ambassadorial powers, “Don’t give away the homeworld.”
It’s Your Cultural Imperative:
Jala is a bluish Centauri drink that can be served either hot or cold.
The Centauri write left to right and top to bottom.
Slavery exists in the B5 universe, most notably for the Centauri. They have laws governing it, one of which is that if a slave commits a crime then the owner is held responsible for his/her actions.
The Centauri Republic consists of many noble houses. All of them collect dirt on one another and they use this dirt to gain power or hold onto their already accrued power. They store this collected info in documents or data storage called Purple Files.
I Think This Might Be Based On Something:
The title of this episode, and the Purple Files themselves, may be a reference to ancient Rome. In those times Roman Senators wore purple togas as a symbol of their royalty. Even today British members of the House Of Lords wear purple robes for official state occasions.
You Look Mighty Familiar:
The animatronic non-person, I couldn’t think of anything better, sue me, makes another appearance as the crime boss, N’Grath.
In C&C there is a blond haired crew member sitting in the pit area that does absolutely nothing, but that would be Christopher Rich. He doesn’t have any genre work worth noting, but he did play the role of Brock Hart on Reba for the shows entire run as well as the character of Miller Redfield in a recurring capacity on Murphy Brown.
Clive Revill, Trakis, has had many voice roles in video games over the years. He has also made many genre appearances, most notably as the voice of Batman’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, for four episodes in Batman: The Animated Series before he was replaced by fellow B5 alum, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. He also supplied the voice of Kickback in the Transformers G-1 series and Transformers: The Movie. On screen he would be most known for his portrayal of Sir Guy of Gisbourne on an episode of Star Trek: TNG.
Fabiana Udenio is a complete hotty that appeared in Mortal Kombat: Conquest as Empress Kreeya for a trio of episodes. But, she is known to everyone for he role as Alotta Fagina in Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery.
Casting Ahead:
Mary Woronov makes her one and only appearance as G’Kar’s aide, Ko’Dath. Woronov was supposed to be a series regular, and was even in the opening credits in the original transmission of this episode. However she had an anxiety attack one day while in make-up and ripped her Ko’Dath mask right off her face and left the show right then and there.
Robert Ditillio, the actor portraying the DarkStar thug Norg, is the brother of the writer of the episode, Larry Ditillio.
That Wasn’t Supposed To Happen:
In the scene where Adira drugs Londo’s drink she leans in to kiss him but when the camera cuts and pulls away she is actually kissing the opposite cheek.
The Ombuds Have Decided:
Born To The Purple works very well as a character study of one Londo Mollari. It goes into great detail and depth in delivering a very compelling and accurate portrayal of the Centauri Ambassador. Unfortunately that is about all it delivers as the rest of the Londo story lacks any real depth or endearing qualities.
This is the first episode where the humor of B5 really shows itself off. The interactions between G’Kar and Londo and their aides shows a witty humor that up till this point had not been present. This is B5’s humor when it is at its best, when it flows naturally from the story and fits within the framework of the scene. There are instances to come where the attempts at humor will seem more forced and out of place, but when done right the humor on B5 is quite funny.
The issue of Adira as a slave is handled both well and not so well. The issue of her decision to leave Londo and not play the hapless victim for Trakis is very well played and not something that you usually see out of a slave story. However the way that her slavery is handled leaves you with the impression that she’s not much of a slave at all. She lives in more than adequate quarters, she appears to have many nice items, and she has free run to go where she pleases when she wants to. Not exactly the most life or death situation, and that is why it is hard on some level to view her as a slave.
The mind probe is a very hokey device, and thankfully this is the only time that it will be seen in B5. It’s a standard sc-fi cliché, and as is par for the course early in its run B5 appeals to those clichés quite a bit to try and draw viewers in for the long run.
The situation with Ivanova and her father is another possible storytelling cliché. Not that her father was actually dying mind you, but merely the fact that she only manages to get into contact with her father right as he is about to die. However, that aside, this situation was handled much better and the involvement of Garibaldi helped to add a certain gravitas to the whole situation.
All in all, Born To The Purple is a good episode that is dropped a few pegs because of some of the cliché nature it takes on and the hokeyness of both the mind probe and the men shooting at Londo and Sinclair in Down Below.
Rating:
72/100
C+
From this I will take you onto Infection, and I will let you know I am sorry before we even step one foot towards that destination, I truly am sorry!
Cheers,
Bill