"How will it end?'
"In angry message-board posts."

I've been trying to pinpoint why Season Five — even the good stuff we're getting to now – just falls flat for me, and I’ve settled on Scale. Not a profound revelation, I realize, but bear with me. It’s not that I think B5 had to keep telling Big Stories. In fact, shows can become numbing if they’re always about a…

In defense of JMS' writing for this subplot, I interpreted the "control" issue as just one more of Garibaldi's rationalizations. Note that Garibaldi gives a difference justification to everyone who confronts him about it.

Those are great points. What's even weirder is that Garibaldi never seems to work! He has time to get shitfaced, get laid, go to nice dinners…but we only see him show up to meetings and argue every so often. I know this isn't John LeCarre, but it would have been nice to get a better sense of what he actually does…

Other random comments:

"makes it feel like a weak recreation of better stories" Yeah, that nails my feelings rewatching these for the first time since they aired. So many echoes: Delenn looks at candles, Londo shades his eyes while watching ships fly over Centauri Prime, main character has an addicition, T'Lon repeating exact lines and…

Crais' sanity is tied to the state of his hair. So full-on batshit Crais would have to grow a handlebar mustache or something.

Braca has to hammer out jurisdiction debates and take care of the paperwork when they blow up or burn down crime scenes.

While we're on the topic of alien puppets getting it on: Hynerians are supposed to be aquatic, right? Don't most aquatic species reproduce through egg-laying and fertilization? So what exactly were they, um, getting up to all that time?

Uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?

I want to feel cheated and manipulated by the writers. Of course the John who's with Aeryn and blissfully happy will die. Of course we get to see Harvey removed right before Chrichton bites it. Of course Furlow is up to no good and the audience can see it before the characters do. The rational part of my brain…

Yeah, BenMech, you really need to rexal.

Fair enough. On reflection, it is hard to picture a serious "human trafficking is bad mmmkay" episode of Farscape.

Nah, that's a totally valid response. I'm not going to judge anyone for enjoying this episode (I remember liking it when it aired) or try to say you're part of THE PATRIARCHY or anything. Just sharing one dude's take on it.

I didn't know that about the original plan for the episode. Very interesting. A more serious tone may have been better for this than the jokey one we got.

Well, I know about the (SPOILERS) precog stuf with Chiana. But if she knew the bad guy was coming and was going to hit Chrichton, why didn't she stay to help out?

But…but…he rode trains as a kid!

OK, I don't mean to start an Internet Debate about Important Issues or anything, but I just can't get past the sexism in "Scratch 'n' Sniff." From the start, Chiana and Jool are treated as objects. D'Argo insists on shore leave because "the girls" are bickering, ignoring the fact that he and John are, too.

Two questions:

Vir, just to get a reprise of his "what is WRONG with you people" line.