@avclub-6d8e5be200a835beb77d899f00b890a5:disqus  So, shades of Rudolph Hess in Spandau Prison, where he was kept as the only prisoner after the end of WWII until his death in 1987, whereupon the prison was torn down.

I sit corrected, dear friends. I was certain that he had talked in the JMS Speaks archives of the Lurker's Guide of being a Russian Jew, but find upon review that he only said he was of Belorussian heritage. I must have filled in the blanks with my imagination. :)

Regardless of one's personal convictions regarding the death penalty, Texas, or Republicans, equating any of them with the Death of Personality is wildly inaccurate. In fact, B5's explicit exposition of the concept makes it clear that it was conceived by liberal atheists. They did not believe there was a soul to be…

Many good observations thoughout these posts, but a point of order—JMS is, by background, a Russian Jew, best reflected in the character of Ivanova. Similarly, his fascination with addictions stems from a close family member being the very worst kind of alcoholic, also a very Russian kind of thing.

In my mind, Brad Dourif's freaky-eyed killer/replacement just reared his head into the frame, dripping with flop-sweat, and exclaimed, "I killed that fat barkeep!" Gotta stop taking such strong decongestants…

In the Usenet archives, JMS indicates that he is a history buff about Jack the Ripper and that he has a strong theory about who the Ripper really was. The only hint he gives is that it's a person whose name keeps coming up and who might have a very particular motive for killing prostitutes. I did a little googling and…

It was also a revelation for me to finally find out why Michael O'Hare really left the show. All the history from Usenet had Joe being so cagey and coy about the real reasons why, and it always sounded like the typical Hollywood whitewash. I was among many who had a low opinion of O'Hare's performance and assumed it…

I will grant you that B5 had a tendency toward the floridly melodramatic, but the accusations of logical inconsistency that you level here depend entirely too much on a strict and one-dimensional interpretation of the things done and said. It comes across as though you are primarily interested in defending Trek…

I read Rabin's take long before I saw this. It was on a free premium channel preview a few months ago, and I was bored, so I watched it. Having done so, I can see where Snyder was going with his idea that this was a subversion of sexploitation action fare. It is told from the point of view of the women, it depicts the…

No one expects the Vorlon Inquisition!!!!

My take exactly—Londo speaks many times before and after this episode of how his job, and indeed his life, requires him to play a role to the hilt, and I think you can see in his eyes that this scene is the epitomy of that. He wants to do better and be better, but he is deeply conditioned to believe and act as though…

Just throwing this out there: Succeeding in career, marriage, or civic engagement requires one to come to the realization that other people can have opinions and beliefs completely opposed to yours without being either crazy or stupid. Feel free to consider them horribly mistaken, but don't take the cheap…

Re: Talia/Ivanova, I can so picture Jerry Doyle casually floating the idea to Andrea Thompson, "Hey, maybe we could invite Claudia over this weekend and I can take you two through some workshopping of the backstory—you know, so it really comes across strong in front of the camera…"

She was weak at times, but I always appreciated her vulnerability in contrast with Talia's icy-cool vibe. When you consider that she was more a stuntwoman than a trained actress, I think she acquitted herself reasonably well. The cast is not exactly chock-full of Oscar-worthy performers.

"What was she doing in there apart from being 'sensitive'? "

Can't really buy into the "Talia got dissected because JMS is a petulant jerk" line. First,  we don't know if she really was dissected or if Bester just said that to mess with the command staff of B5 and gain strategic advantage. Second, the character was gone and never coming back. Why not use that as a way to go…

I think you can accept JMS' insistence in this case. Stuff like bubonic plague and the wild pre-scientific reactions it engendered in a terrified populace would be a more relevant parallel anyway, and there are plenty of other examples. We tend to be rather blinkered in the thematic inferences we draw in comparison to…

Wow! Thanks for the info. :)

Wow! Thanks for the info. :)

All these mentions of the time travel episode serve to remind me of how it's just about the most heart-wrenchingly awesome and awesomely heart-wrenching thing I've ever seen on TV. Right up there with Rachel seeing the old home video of Ross and her senior prom.