In article <40C24C464D6FD21189090000C0F06ACF4BE74F@>, Lyon J <J.Lyon@> wrote:
The less said about seasons four and five
the better, though the interplay between Londo and G'Kar in the lift
is still a classic moment.
Care to expand on that one? I've never seen it, and I'm
intrigued... are we talking Mulder-and-Scully-like unresolved sexual
tension here? Assuming they're a male and a female of course - the names
aren't giving much away :o)
Happy to oblige - having left the requisite spoiler space to be on the safe
side.
Well, no. Londo and G'Kar are of mutually antagonistic races, and at the
time of the "lift incident" one race is occupying the world of the other.
G'Kar is a refugee from the war, and Londo an important guy on the other
side. The lift is damaged by a terrorist bomb, and as a result they are
both trapped. G'Kar cannot kill Londo, much as he would love to, because to
do so would result in a retribution killing of (fifty? a hundred? I forget)
his family.
No such result would attach to doing nothing - so G'Kar makes no effort to
rescue himself or the injured Londo - he simply settles down and waits to
die. The interplay between the hysterical Londo and the chuckling G'Kar is
well worth it.
It doesn't hurt that the two characters are played by accomplished actors:
Peter Jurasik plays Londo (Tron, Hill Street Blues, Peter Gunn) and Andreas
Katsulas plays G'Kar (The Fugitive, Executive Decision). Katsulas in
particular is difficult to recognise, since the role involves heavy
makeup.
I would certainly think of it as one of the better characterisation moments
- along with Delenn giving her "only one human commander has successfully
defeated a Minbari battleship" speech; Vir Kotto answering Mr Morden's
"Anything you want, Vir, it can be arranged" with "I want to see your head
on a spike, in the main square in Centauri Prime, as a terrible warning to
future generations that some gifts come at too high a price. I'd wave up at
your lifeless eyes, like this. Do you think your associates can arrange
that, Mr Morden?"; or the point when Lyta Alexander finally turns on Bester;
or lots and lots of others.
The only problem is that these moments mean far less to someone who is
unfamiliar with the series - I can picture in my mind's eye a bunch of you
going "Yes! All Right!" while these moments show, while people who don't
know the series say "what? So what?" Without the build-up, I suspect it
will be lost. Which is a shame.
Simon
---
"This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind" -Ecclesiastes 4:16
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