Plot Synopsis:
Once again, I am short of time, so here is the full synopsis from the Lurker's Guide. The short version? A hapless lurker who's convinced he's cursed runs afoul of an underworld thug named Deuce who threatens to sic a brain-eating alien on a local innocent unless said lurker pays up his debt. Later, this lurker, nicknamed Jinxo, clumsily picks the pocket of a man named Aldous Gajic, thus inspiring Aldous' sympathy. Aldous, who is himself engaged in a quest after the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend, takes Jinxo under his wing and gently teaches him that he is a man of great potential. Ultimately, when Aldous dies in the final skirmish with Deuce and the aforementioned brain-eating alien, Jinxo - or Thomas, rather - takes up Aldous' quest.
Overall: 5.7
This one's a hair better than the episode reviewed last week, but it is still a pretty mediocre showing.
Writing: 6.0
I'll give this episode credit for one thing: unlike TKO, Grail features a one-shot character I do come to care about. Thomas' irrational belief that he is the reason Babylon 5's predecessors met their unhappy fates - and his consequent determination to foil this "curse" by remaining on Babylon 5 - is sweet in an odd way, and though I take issue with the philosophy that underpins this story (see below), I am happy to see Thomas mature and grow more confident.
Acting: 6.0
However, I can't say the acting is anything to write home about. First, while Tom Booker's aw-shucks portrayal of Thomas/Jinxo is generally likable, in a few places, he doesn't quite deliver what is required. For example, when Thomas and Aldous walk into Kosh's quarters and Thomas panicks because he mistakenly believes that it was Kosh who mindwiped Runningdear, I'm not completely convinced by Booker's attempt to convey his character's terror. Secondly, I'm a touch unsatisfied with David Warner's performance as Aldous. The scenes he has with Thomas - two of which I've highlighted below - are actually quite lovely, but I find his death scene in particular decidedly disappointing. And as for the regulars? There's nothing earth-shattering here either. In fact, the Centauri bits are played a little too farcically for my taste (and to counter a thought that I'm sure will cross my co-author's mind: Londo can be very melodramatic, but he is not always played broadly; indeed, even at his most bombastic, you often see several emotions flickering across his face at once).
Message: 5.0
Alas, this episode bases itself upon moral relativism and therefore fails to rise above a middling mark on the message front. Christy Marx would have us believe that all quests, regardless of their content, are equally valid as long as they are sincere, but that is simply not the case. A man who spends his life seeking out the Flying Spaghetti Monster may be very earnest indeed, but he is certainly not on the same footing as a man who spends his life seeking out the true nature of God. The former is pursuing a falsehood; the latter is pursuing something true. Bottom line, as much as we post-moderns hate to admit it, the goal of the quest - the object of one's conviction - does matter. General amorphous belief is not in and of itself a thing of value.
Highlights:
THOMAS: I was too young to fight in the Minbari War, so when I got the chance to work space construction, I jumped for it. The day I went to work on the Babylon Station - we didn't number them at first, you know - I thought that was the best day of my life. I worked a few months... had some leave, so I took it. And, uh... the station's infrastructure collapsed. Sabotage. They never found out who.
ALDOUS: I remember.
THOMAS: So I went to work on the second one. The firm still owed my contract 'til the station was finished. I took leave a second time, and that station was sabotaged. And when B3 blew up, well... that's when I got the name "Jinxo." When I went to work on B4, I didn't take any leave. I was there every minute until we finished it. I thought the curse was gone. But as I was leaving on the shuttle, I looked back... and that station just wrinkled - twisted like putty - and disappeared the minute I left. So when they decided to build B5, I had to work on it. And I have to stay. I have to.
ALDOUS: I'd say you have the wrong nickname. They should've called you "Lucky."
THOMAS: How do you figure?
ALDOUS: To have escaped the worst each time - that's a blessing. You're a very lucky man. Perhaps each time, you were exactly where you were meant to be.
THOMAS: I never thought of it like that.
ALDOUS: We never do.
(After Aldous beats up some of Deuce's thugs on Thomas/Jinxo's behalf.)
THOMAS: Man, oh, man, you shouldn't have done that. I mean, it was great, but you don't know what - oh, they're gonna be so - hey, can I learn to do that?
ALDOUS: You can learn whatever you want to learn because you are a man of infinite promise and goodness.
THOMAS: Oh, come off it!
ALDOUS: The very fact that you're still here on B5 is proof of that. You care so much for the people on this station that you stay here at the risk of your own life. You are a fine, good man, Thomas. See yourself for what you are, not what others try to make you.
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