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Jumpgate #50 - Voices of Authority (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-28 14:02:00
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Ivonnova gets strapped into a machine so she can speak to eldritch aliens while Sheridan gets hit on by a fascist... so it's just another Tuesday for Babylon 5 on the Jumpgate podcast!

Files

Previews only

Jumpgate #50 - Voices of Authority

Vera Wylde and Jessie Gender take up residence on Babylon 5, taking in one episode at a time. Season 3, Episode 5, Voices of Authority - Sheridan has to contend with a newly appointed political officer on the station sent to keep him in line with current Earth Dome political views.

Comments

Daihatschi

ah I like your discussions and agree with most of it. One thing I find interesting is Ivanova. She was so different early in Season 1, and then the entire Season 2 gives her these silly little B-plots where she has to stand on her own and come up with new plans to solve the day. When she now faces real stakes, we truly believe her, because we have seen it ourselves, that she is capable of solving almost any solution. Thats why I like even the silliest of B-plots in S2 with her. Actress is great and her long drive from relatively one-note in S1, to mostly silly b-plots in S2, to the Badass she is going to become in S3 and onward. Its the long game. And I love it.

Patrick Greene

I always thought that the scene with Sheridan and his political advisor in his room was a (misguided) attempt to make a playful dig at Star Trek, what with the "You're about to go where...everyone, has gone before". Like, pointing at how this kind of absurd encounter happened ALL the time to characters like Kirk and Riker, all under the guise of being new and exotic, when really sexual encounters a fairly common experience. Possibly even a poke at Roddenberry himself. Not defending the handling of the scene, but I'm surprised that angle didn't come up.

S G Matthews

Regarding the First Ones... on the one hand, I feel like the more you reveal about something that's main draw is to be Unknowable, the less interesting you make it... look at the Weeping Angels... but beyond that JMS can be a very prosaic writer, look at this running writing the Thor comics where he literally put Asgard in Kansas or Oklahoma. He's not always the best at keeping the alien alien. Beyond that, I'm really wondering how Vera is going to take how quippy Marcus gets. I can see her REALLY hating lines like "I'll put a bucket on my head and pretend to be the Great Vorlon God Boojie" or "classic case of pikal envy."

Jessie Earl
>>102992897

Hmm, that is an interesting read. Didn't really think about that, but I like that concept of it. Though still doesn't fix the issues, as you say.

Raven Woods
>>102992897

My recollection from when the episode originally aired was that most folks reacting to it on the Usenet group took it as an intentional Star Trek joke, as Patrick pointed out. There was a kind of good-natured rivalry between the two shows. At some point, the casts of B5, DS9, and Voyager had some friendly softball games, and of course we have an incredibly prominent Star Trek alumni appearing on B5 as a guest star coming up very, very soon in your watch of the show. At the time, these kind of jokes were way more common in media. I completely agree that there’s issues with it, and it’s aged like milk, but I don’t think there was any intentional shaming going on.

Raven Woods

I don’t think there’s any issue with letting Vera know whose voice we heard talking to Santiago? I don’t think there’s any particular “big reveal” later on, as we’ve already seen him working with others on Earth (I think that was shown at the end of season 3, episode 1?).

Patrick Greene
>>102992897

In general sexual themes were really badly handled in B5. It's one of its primary weaknesses. I think they were torn between a history of misogyny in Sci-Fi, probably some studio pressure to be "sexy", and the more liberal intentions of JMS. We know he isn't fundamentally shy about sexual themes, given his heavy involvement in Sense8. But I think it was a difficult time to figure out how to balance all that. But I bet he's learned (see Sense8). This is actually a big reason I'd love to see him tackle Babylon 5 again. Given modern CGI, better understanding and acceptance of sexuality on TV, and the fact that instead of having to fight for a serialized story, he'd be invited to it, I think there is a lot of the original artistic vision that could be executed so much better today, even on a similar shoe-string budget. Just imagine: Babylon 5 with the CGI of The Expanse and the sexual content and diversity is handled like Sense8 (maybe hopefully even better than Sense8 which definitely had issues with POC representation). I would watch the HELL out of that.