Plot Synopsis:
The Attempt on G'Kar's Life: Just as G'Kar is sitting down to dinner, he is interrupted by the arrival of a message from an old rival, Du'Rog. The message informs G'Kar that Du'Rog is dead - and that G'Kar will be murdered in forty-eight hours in retribution for the humiliation Du'Rog suffered before the Narn council at the hands of G'Kar. "Already, my agent is close to you," Du'Rog's recording states.
Just then, G'Kar's new diplomatic attache Na'Toth arrives. G'Kar, naturally, is instantly suspicious of the new arrival, but Na'Toth is unfazed by G'Kar's scrutiny. She tries to reassure G'Kar by telling him that if he were being targeted by an assassin, he would have received a black "death blossom." This information temporarily assuages G'Kar's fear - up until he does receive the death blossom later that night. He confronts Na'Toth with the flower, and Na'Toth encourages G'Kar to seek out the help of the humans. G'Kar is reluctant to do so, however, because it might involve explaining why Du'Rog wants him dead. Instead, G'Kar heads to Downbelow to hire an alien bodyguard.
Unfortunately, said bodyguard is quickly dispatched by the assassin. G'Kar calls Garibaldi in to investigate, but pretty quickly kicks Garibaldi out when the security chief tries to dig just a little too deeply into G'Kar's personal life. Na'Toth is then sent to find the Narn who delivered the first message to G'Kar, Tu'Pari, and she brings him to G'Kar's quarters. G'Kar aggressively questions Tu'Pari regarding the source of the crystal Tu'Pari delivered, and Tu'Pari claims that the crystal came from Na'Toth's father. G'Kar calls homeworld and demands that Na'Toth be reassigned immediately. Homeworld agrees, then apologizes for the recent delays in communication. When G'Kar questions homeworld about the latter, it is revealed that the usual courier met with an "unfortunate accident" before he was scheduled to travel to Babylon 5. G'Kar turns around and finds Tu'Pari pointing a gun at his chest.
When G'Kar comes to, he finds that he has been bound in pain-givers. Tu'Pari proceeds to torture G'Kar as per his instructions, which require that G'Kar die a slow, painful death. In the meantime, Na'Toth discovers that G'Kar is missing, puts together the puzzle, and finds G'Kar and Tu'Pari. She disables the pain-givers by posing as a fellow assassin and beating G'Kar, and the now free G'Kar knocks Tu'Pari unconscious. G'Kar and Na'Toth then send Tu'Pari on his merry way, confident that Tu'Pari's assassins guild will track him down and kill him for his failure.
Catherine Sakai: Meanwhile, Catherine Sakai, an old flame of Sinclair's, arrives on the station and immediately gets involved with the commander despite the couple's mutual belief that renewing their previous relationship would be a bad idea.
Religious Demonstrations: And in the background, all of the alien societies represented on Babylon 5 (except the Narn) are putting on displays which highlight their dominant religious belief systems.
Overall: 7
Writing: 8
The subtitle for this episode should be "Na'Toth Is Awesome." The way Na'Toth rolls her eyes at G'Kar's melodramatics - and the way she subtly mocks G'Kar's taste in women - is completely guffaw-worthy. And I really enjoy watching Na'Toth and G'Kar bond; unlike the relationships between the other ambassadors and their aides, the relationship between Na'Toth and G'Kar starts off as one between virtual equals, and that gives their interaction a very different, very interesting dynamic. It's really a shame not much is done with Na'Toth in the long run.
I also love how Tu'Pari - the professional assassin - is written here. The Lurker's Guide seems to provide no insight as to the addition of the grandfatherly glasses, but I imagine that JMS intended to convey a sense of vulnerability and ordinariness - a quite jarring - and fascinating - juxtaposition given Tu'Pari's vocation.
Lastly, watching this episode in hindsight reveals two subtle - and squee-worthy - bits of foreshadowing. At one point, Tu'Pari asks G'Kar why he won't cry out in pain, and G'Kar responds that he would never give Tu'Pari the satisfaction of witnessing such degradation. This, of course, very clearly prefigures a pivotal moment in the early fourth season - and I'm sure the parallel is deliberate. Meanwhile, the words spoken at the Minbari ceremony contain some ideas and images that suggest a faint Christian influence. Victory disguised as defeat? Death and rebirth? Given who turns out to be the Minbari faith's founder (hint: he was educated by Jesuits), this too must be deliberate.
I must admit I was pretty underwhelmed by the Sinclair/Sakai plot, but the rest of the episode more than makes up for those lackluster moments.
PS: Londo is famously hysterical in his one scene. See the highlights.
Acting: 7
This is the first episode in which all three diplomatic aides appear, and all three actors put in decent-to-excellent performances; the direction for Stephen Furst has finally relaxed a little, Bill Mumy hits the correct innocent notes, and Caitlin Brown is brilliant as Na'Toth. Andreas K. and Peter J., meanwhile, are both very theatrical in their portrayals, but that is as it should be; their characters are meant to be operatic. And Thomas Kopache is delightfully disturbing as Tu'Pari. The only real weak moments performance-wise are found in the scenes between O'Hare and Nickson. I can't say I really feel the passion between Sinclair and Sakai; much of their interaction feels very forced and unnatural.
Message: 6
Giving credit where credit is due: at least JMS acknowledges that religiosity is an indelible feature of the human - even sentient - condition and tries to be respectful of faith in general. This puts him a step ahead of, say, Gene Roddenberry, who was utterly against including religion of any kind in his fictional universe.
On the other hand, the tag scene in this episode - a scene that most fans of this show drool over - strikes me as a little too pie-in-the-sky - a little too let's-all-co-exist-and-sing-kumbaya. I absolutely support treating those of different faiths - or those with no faith - with the respect due to them as members of the human family. However, I don't support glossing over the very real differences between religions. The truth is, while there are some common themes that appear in most of the world's faiths, there are also ideas within the various human religions that are mutually exclusive - and those points of conflict can and do prevent peaceful co-existence. See also: the Middle East.
Highlights:
LONDO: Do you know what the last Xon said just before he died? Aaaaaaagh! (Gotta love that black Centauri humor.)
LONDO: Come on, Commander! Loosen up! You're supposed to be enjoying yourself!
(Londo throws a bun at Sinclair.)
SINCLAIR: (extremely dry) I am enjoying myself. Words cannot express how much I'm enjoying this.
(Londo is on the table by this point, well lit.)
LONDO: Gods by the bushel! Gods by the pound! Gods for all occasions! (To Delenn) Have I ever told you that you are very cute for a Minbari? (To Garibaldi) Oh, and you are cute too - in an annoying sort of way. Everybody's cute! Everybody's cute - even me. But in purple, I am stunning!
(Londo passes out on the table.)
VIR: Ah! He has become one with his inner self!
GARIBALDI: He's passed out.
VIR: That too. (ROTFL!)
G'KAR: And you have no idea how that got into my bed?
NA'TOTH: Ambassador - it is not my place to speculate on how anything gets into your bed. Your reputed fascination with Earth women, for instance... (BWAH!)
DELENN: You can look up, Lennier of the Third Fane of Chu'domo.
LENNIER: It is forbidden.
DELENN: I cannot have an aide who will not look up. You will be forever walking into things. (Aww.)
(Garibaldi finds lacy pink panties in G'Kar's quarters.)
GARIBALDI: And let me just say, Ambassador, from the bottom of my heart: hot pink is definitely your color. (LOL!)
G'KAR: What do you want?
TU'PARI: My orders are quite specific. (Tu'Pari puts on his glasses and reads.) Ah. You are to know pain. (Tu'Pari activates the pain givers, and G'Kar is hit with another shock. Tu'Pari smiles.) You are to know fear. And then you are to die at the required hour. (I love how matter-of-fact Tu'Pari is here. This really is just a day at the office for him.)
TU'PARI: (To G'Kar) The pain must be overwhelming. Why hold it in? Cry out, Ambassador. With luck, someone will hear you.
G'KAR: I'll die... before giving you... that satisfaction. (FORESHADOW SQUEE!)
(After Na'Toth disables the pain givers by kicking G'Kar's ass.)
G'KAR: That. hurt.
NA'TOTH: Ambassador, it was the only way to disable the pain givers. I had to hit them as hard as possible and as often as possible and still make it appear as though I were beating you into another incarnation.
G'KAR: And you didn't enjoy it in the least?
NA'TOTH: I didn't say that. (I LOVE YOU, Na'Toth!)
G'KAR: Well, well - you're finally awake. I was afraid the injection wouldn't wear off for another day or so.
TU'PARI: Another day?
NA'TOTH: It's been over 72 Earth hours since you were knocked out. You missed your deadline. Most unfortunate.
G'KAR: But to make up for it, I deposited a substantial amount of money to your personal account back home.
TU'PARI: No! The Thenta Makur! They'll think I've betrayed my commission! Sold out our principles! They will kill me!
G'KAR: Yes, they will, won't they. I imagine they're already on their way.
NA'TOTH: Actually, they should be here in about one hour. It would be even more unfortunate if they were to find you here when they arrived.
G'KAR: Oh, yes. Happily, I'm safe because the commission was yours alone. And they are so scandalized by your actions that they'd just as soon forget the whole thing ever happened.
NA'TOTH: Except the part about killing him.
G'KAR: Except for that, yes.
(The transport's arrival is announced.)
G'KAR: That's your flight. I suggest you board quickly. With luck, they may never find you. But if they do, you will know pain.
NA'TOTH: And you will know fear.
G'KAR: And then you will die. Have a pleasant flight. (LOL!)
SINCLAIR: I don't know how I'm going to top the Minbari rituals: bells, robes, drums, and little pieces of fruit...
SAKAI: Red fruit?
SINCLAIR: Yeah.
SAKAI: And was there a serious exchange of looks?
SINCLAIR: Yes - it's supposed to be part of the rebirth ceremony. (Sakai laughs.) What?
SAKAI: Oh, it's a rebirth ceremony alright. It also doubles as a marriage ceremony. Depending on how seriously anyone took it, somebody got married the other day.
SINCLAIR: Maybe that's why G'Kar's smiling. Funny - I didn't think Londo was his type. (Hee! We've barely gotten out of the starting gate, and we're already starting with the marriage jokes.)
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