Babylon 5: TKO
March 3, 2018 6:09 AM - Season 1, Episode 14 - Subscribe
[standalone] Ivanova meets with a Rabbi to deal with her father's death. Meanwhile, an old friend of Garibaldi's arrives on Babylon 5 for an alien-only cage match tournament called the Mutai. "They change. They stay the same. Russia is Russia. Your father used to say, 'If regret could be harvested, Russia would be the world's fruit basket'."
-All of Ivanova's family is now dead: her mother committed suicide because of the Psi-corps' psi-suppressing drugs' side effects; a year later, her brother died in the war; her father recently died of illness (in the episode Born to the Purple).
-Despite this, Susan told no one of her father's death and sought no bereavement leave.
-Susan sits shiva. This is arguably the most broken you will see Ivanova.
-Susan joined Earthforce as a reaction to her brother's death, and against her father's wishes.
-Garibaldi's buddy, Walker Smith, shared his name with Sugar Ray Robinson('s birth name).
-The Mutai has been opened to humans after an edge-case allows Smith to enter the Mutai despite being a human, and he fights the champion to a draw.
-Smith and Garibaldi both have experience with getting scapegoated and pushed aside.
-All of Ivanova's family is now dead: her mother committed suicide because of the Psi-corps' psi-suppressing drugs' side effects; a year later, her brother died in the war; her father recently died of illness (in the episode Born to the Purple).
-Despite this, Susan told no one of her father's death and sought no bereavement leave.
-Susan sits shiva. This is arguably the most broken you will see Ivanova.
-Susan joined Earthforce as a reaction to her brother's death, and against her father's wishes.
-Garibaldi's buddy, Walker Smith, shared his name with Sugar Ray Robinson('s birth name).
-The Mutai has been opened to humans after an edge-case allows Smith to enter the Mutai despite being a human, and he fights the champion to a draw.
-Smith and Garibaldi both have experience with getting scapegoated and pushed aside.
So bad that I bailed on this in my first run-through, and only came back to it for this write-up.
...with lots of scene-skipping.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 9:26 AM on March 4, 2018
...with lots of scene-skipping.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 9:26 AM on March 4, 2018
This is the episode with the Zima Sign. Interestingly enough, the clear malt beverage did have a short retail revival last year, so the fact that it's around again come the dawning of the third age of mankind is not entirely outside the realm of possibility.
posted by radwolf76 at 5:10 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by radwolf76 at 5:10 PM on March 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Well, I've finally got around to watching Babylon 5 for the first time. Half of this episode was pretty good (the half about Susan), but the other half ... ugh. I didn't think it was as bad as, say, Survivors. Are there a lot of lousy Garibaldi plots?
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 9:44 AM on July 25, 2018
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 9:44 AM on July 25, 2018
Huh. After a decade, I remember Ivanova sitting shiva as clear as day - but had to reminded of the most basic details of the Garibaldi plot. It's like it's two separate episodes.
posted by Mogur at 10:08 AM on July 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 10:08 AM on July 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by nubs at 7:53 AM on March 3, 2018