'AI partner embedded in your display'

'Opposition to fascism is both laudable and urgent'

'I'm not a huge fan'

'The government shutdown affects us even here on our farm'

'Perhaps even freaks'

'Racial stereotype'

News obituaries Legendary Movie Poster Artist Drew Struzan Has Passed Away Drew Struzan was 78. By Matthew Byrd | Published on October 14, 2025 Media: Warner Bros. Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Media: Warner Bros. Studios Legendary artist Drew Struzan (best known for his iconic movie posters) has passed away at the age of 78. The news was shared by moderators of Struzan’s official Instagram account, who wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Drew Struzan has moved on from this world as of yesterday, October 13th. I feel it is important that you all know how many times he expressed to me the joy he felt knowing how much you appreciated his art.” At this time, no official cause of death has been announced, though it was recently confirmed that Struzan has been battling Alzheimer’s for some time. Struzan began his career designing album covers for performers such as like The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath, and Earth, Wind & Fire. His big break came in the 1970s when he began creating posters and promotional material for a new wave of sci-fi movies. Though the movies were largely low-budget affairs, Struzan quickly earned a reputation as an artist whose work could elevate nearly any project regardless of its size. When he was commissioned to design a poster for the 1978 re-release of Star Wars, Struzan finally found the movie that was as epic as the worlds he depicted in his stunning airbrushed drawings. From there, Struzan went on to design the posters for Blade Runner, The Thing, Back to the Future, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and many other films that now define one of the most celebrated eras of genre blockbusters. Though film poster style gradually pivoted to more digitally-focused formats, Struzan remained a legend in the industry who was often called upon when a movie demanded his timeless and irreplaceable sense of style. Struzan’s final posters (such as his work for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and other special projects) demonstrate how he could capture the spirit of an era while continuing to evoke its power with just a few strokes of his brush. As such, words feel inadequate to describe the legacy of an artist whose work likely once hung on your wall or simply lives on in your heart. He helped to redefine the power of a poster and remains a testament to the value of art and artists within every facet of every creative industry. [end-mark] The post Legendary Movie Poster Artist Drew Struzan Has Passed Away appeared first on Reactor.

News Sigourney Weaver Sigourney Weaver Knows What Ripley’s Up to Now The actor teased a new Alien series script at NYCC. By Molly Templeton | Published on October 14, 2025 Credit: 20th Century Fox Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: 20th Century Fox Depending on how you feel about the Alien movie timeline, the question of Ripley’s future may seem pretty solidly answered. But Sigourney Weaver knows something the rest of us don’t. At New York Comic Con, Weaver said she’s read part of a new script from Alien series producer and screenwriter Walter Hill. “Walter Hill is a very good friend of mine, and he wrote 50 pages where Ripley would be now, and they are quite extraordinary. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I have had a meeting with Fox, Disney, or whoever it is now,” she told the audience at the con. “I said I have never felt the need. I was always like, ‘Let her rest, let her recover.’ But what Walter has written seems so true to me as very much about the society that would incarcerate someone who has tried to help mankind.” Fifty pages is not a full screenplay, and this is no guarantee another Weaver-led Alien film will happen. At the end of Alien 3, Ripley dove into a furnace in order to kill the alien bursting from her body. In Alien Resurrection, she’s a clone who we last saw looking down at Earth from space (alternate ending notwithstanding). But various tie-in media give the character a different narrative. And this isn’t the first time a future for Ripley has been envisioned. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was set to make a new Alien movie with Weaver, but that didn’t pan out. At the NYCC panel, Weaver spoke at length about the making of Alien and Aliens, and about how the reported tension on the set of Aliens was less to do with director James Cameron and more to do with how much everyone loved original Alien director Ridley Scott. Weaver said, “I think Terminator had come out, but I didn’t get to see it, and he and Jim kept setting up screenings for the crew at the end of the day, and they never went. So they did have an attitude, and it did take a while, actually. I remember, because I loved Jim right away, it was very easy for me to go, ‘Listen, yeah, I love Ridley, too, but this guy wrote this, and he has this film The Terminator, and he knows what he’s doing. He’s a natural.’ He impressed them gradually, and by the end, of course, they were devoted to him.” If there were a new Ellen Ripley movie, who would direct? Perhaps that’s a question for Weaver’s next meeting with Disney.[end-mark] The post Sigourney Weaver Knows What Ripley’s Up to Now appeared first on Reactor.

Books Front Lines and Frontiers The Book That Brought Back the Dinosaurs: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton Have you read the novel that resurrected the dinosaurs and launched a mega-franchise? By Alan Brown | Published on October 14, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement. One of the world’s biggest media franchises started with Jurassic Park, the 1990 novel by Michael Crichton which was adapted first into an extremely successful film and has since spawned a series of multimedia entertainment blockbusters. I’ve seen the movies (except for the most recent installment), but like many people, I had never read the original book. So, when a copy recently turned up in my basement, I decided to see what I’d missed and found the book to be a real treasure, and well worth reading. Unlike most other books in my collection, I can’t remember how this paperback copy of Jurassic Park ended up in my possession. It is a first paperback edition from Ballantine Books, published in 1991 with a flashy-looking cover featuring embossed metallic lettering and the silhouette of a T-Rex skeleton over a stark white backdrop. I’m not sure why I didn’t read the novel when it first came out, and especially after I started to enjoy the films. Perhaps it was because I generally do not enjoy techno-thrillers—as a rule, I tend to prefer books that are more science fictional, such as those set on worlds different from our own. And I have to admit that in my experience, reading a book and seeing a related movie often results in disappointment. Novelizations of movies often feel like an unnecessary rehash of something already seen, and movies based on previously published books often change the story in ways that make them feel inferior. In the case of Jurassic Park, however, the book and the movie, while different in a number of ways, complement each other perfectly. Michael Crichton was not only an accomplished author when he wrote the book, but he had experience in film as well. It is no wonder that so many of his books went on to be adapted for the screen. In the case of Jurassic Park, he not only wrote the book, but co-wrote the script for the movie. About the Author Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was an American author and screenwriter, and also developed, produced, and directed a number of films and television shows. His twenty-five books included bestsellers such as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, and often featured scientific themes, while also being noted for their action and pacing. He was educated as a medical doctor, although due to the success of his writing career, he never practiced medicine. He initially wrote under pen names including John Lange, Jeffrey Hudson, and Michal Douglas (for a book written with his brother Douglas). The Andromeda Strain, from 1969, was the first book to appear under his own name, and helped launch his career. His books began to be adapted into films, and he moved into screenwriting and directing. Crichton wrote and directed the science fiction film Westworld in 1973, a low-budget film that went on to be a cult classic. Following the massive success of Jurassic Park, Crichton created the long-running television show ER in 1994, working from an undeveloped movie script and with support from Steven Spielberg. The Jurassic Park Universe Jurassic Park was very popular when it was published in October 1990, spending over three months on The New York Times Best Seller list. But before I look back at the book itself, to put it into context, let’s take a tour around the Jurassic Park franchise as a whole. The movie Jurassic Park, which premiered in 1993 and was directed by Steven Spielberg, featured innovative animatronics and computer graphics to bring the dinosaurs to life on the screen. Dinosaurs have long been a popular subject in literature and in animation, but for the first time, they could be seen in a live-action movie through special effects that made them appear real and tangible. The core cast of Sam Neill as paleontologist Alan Grant, Laura Dern as paleobotanist Ellie Sattler, and Jeff Goldblum as mathematician Ian Malcolm, have excellent chemistry. Richard Attenborough is engaging as the eccentric John Hammond, owner of the InGen corporation responsible for cloning the dinosaurs and building the theme park. The movie also focuses on Hammond’s two grandchildren, who are visiting the park along with the scientists; rescuing children in danger would become a continuing theme throughout the subsequent movies. Before the eponymous park can even open to visitors, however, the controls on the dinosaurs in the park fail, and the film follows the action as things go off the rails and disaster ensues. Michael Crichton penned a sequel to Jurassic Park, The Lost World, which appeared in 1995, although it was not as well received as the original novel. The original Jurassic Park movie was followed in 1997 by a sequel, The Lost World, which is very different from the sequel novel. It centers on the least sympathetic of the original characters, Ian Malcolm. The obligatory child in danger is his daughter, who stows away when Malcolm travels at John Hammond’s behest to another InGen owned island, Isla Sorna. He’s there to study the dinosaurs and to retrieve his girlfriend, a scientist who had already been working on the island. At the same time, another InGen expedition arrives to round up the dinosaurs there for use in a stadium show in San Diego. In general, the characters in the movie were not as engaging as those in the original film, with the notable exception of Pete Postlethwaite, who takes the role of Roland Tembo—which easily could have been a stereotypical “great white hunter” cliché in other hands—and imbues the character with a great deal of pathos and dignity. The movie ends with a long coda where a T-Rex rampages through San Diego, which feels disconnected from the rest of the film. The last film in the original trilogy, unimaginatively titled Jurassic Park III, came out in 2001 and is the weakest of the three. After their child is marooned on Isla Sorna, an estranged couple launches an expedition to save him, deceiving and kidnapping Alan Grant to assist them. This couple, played by William Macy and Téa Leoni, were so lacking in redeeming qualities that some viewers might have been disappointed they did not end up as dinosaur food (the team they assembled to assist them, however, was not so lucky). The action sequences, as always, were gripping, but the movie as a whole was disappointing. There was a long gap before the next movie, 2015’s Jurassic World, but it was worth the wait, and ended up kicking off a new trilogy of films. The premise—that another company would buy up InGen and try launching another theme park on Isla Nubar after the initial one met with unmitigated disaster—was improbable. But the idea of things spinning out of control in a fully operational theme park full of people increased the scale of the action considerably. At the center of the new cast were Chris Pratt as animal trainer Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard as park executive Claire Dearing, a charismatic though mismatched couple. Claire’s visiting nephews provide the children who inevitably end up in danger. A subplot involving military contractors breeding dinosaurs for warfare intertwines with the complete failure to control the park’s creatures, creating a fast-paced and action-filled plot. This was followed by 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, in which Owen and Claire join a rescue mission to save dinosaurs from a volcanic eruption that threatens to destroy Isla Nubar, bringing the animals back to a massive underground complex at the mansion of Benjamin Lockwood, one of John Hammond’s previously unmentioned partners. Their support for that mission evaporates when they find corporate interests selling off the animals and genetic material to the highest bidder. The presence of Maisie, the young granddaughter of Lockwood, further complicates the matter, especially when it turns out she is a clone of his dead daughter. The black-market auction at the mansion ends in the inevitable disaster, and the dinosaurs escape into the wide world. The next movie in the series, Jurassic World Dominion, in addition to Owen, Claire, and young Maisie, brings back the original trio of Alan, Ellie, and Malcolm. The InGen rival BioSyn (whose attempt to steal the dinosaur DNA in the original movie helped things unravel) is now releasing plagues of genetically modified locusts that attack any crops not purchased from their firm, and in addition, are breeding new dinosaurs in a hidden lair. The film had all the obligatory action and dinosaur set pieces and provided a curtain call for the returning actors/characters, but ended up feeling a bit tired. While the previous storylines had been wrapped up by the original two movie trilogies, a seventh film appeared in 2025, Jurassic World Rebirth. It brings together adventurers Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali with scientist Jonathan Bailey on a mission to gather dinosaur DNA for medical research from Ile Saint-Hubert, yet another previously unmentioned island infested with InGen-created dinosaurs. I’m still waiting for that one to become available on streaming, so I can’t comment on it. And in addition to the movies, there have been many other spinoffs of the Jurassic Park franchise over the years, including toy dinosaurs of all sizes, Lego sets (I own a few), comic books, novel tie-ins, children’s books, video games, Universal Studios theme park rides, science museum exhibits, and animated shows. Jurassic Park The book itself opens with a short introduction, “The InGen Incident,” which does a great job blending a discussion of real scientific developments into the fictional story. In Costa Rica, an emergency room doctor is faced with a patient supposedly injured by a backhoe on a nearby island, but whose injuries are more consistent with an animal attack. Elsewhere, a family lets their daughter wander off alone on a beach, only to respond to her screams and find her injured, claiming to have been attacked by tiny lizards. Movie watchers might recognize that scene as the one that opened the second movie, a little clue that not everything in the Jurassic Park book and movie play out in the same way. A biologist investigates the beach, finds the corpse of a strange lizard partially eaten by a monkey, and sends it to New York for analysis. We then meet Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, who receive a fax from someone in New York asking Grant to look at a skeleton of a strange lizard, which he immediately recognizes as an extinct creature. Then billionaire John Hammond calls, insisting that the two of them come to visit him on Isla Nublar and advise him on a project he is working on. They receive plans to study for what appears to be a gigantic theme park and zoo. Not wanting to bite the hand that feeds them, they agree, and are soon jetting south with Hammond, InGen lawyer Donald Gennaro, and an irritating mathematician named Ian Malcolm. Ian discusses chaos theory, going into a lot more detail than you see in the movie. Crichton proves to be a capable purveyor of exposition, keeping the reader’s interest as the scientific background spins out. We cut to scenes at the offices of the Biosyn corporation, a competitor of InGen. They have figured out that InGen is cloning dinosaurs, and want someone to steal samples for them—that someone turns out to be computer programmer Dennis Nedry. When everyone arrives at Jurassic Park, Crichton does an excellent job evoking the awe of seeing living dinosaurs for the first time. They’re given a tour of the facilities and a lot of information on how the dinosaurs are cloned, how different DNA is spliced in where segments are missing, and how the animals are all female and have been bred to be lysine dependent, which allows them to be controlled. Ian immediately warns that animals have already escaped, although the others doubt him. They meet John Arnold, director of the project; Henry Wu, geneticist; Ed Regis, public affairs specialist; and Robert Muldoon, a hunter and animal expert. They also meet Tim and Alexis, Hammond’s grandchildren, whose presence is welcomed by no one except the old man. There is no “Dino DNA” cartoon to explain things in the book—an entertaining way the movie invented to provide exposition that, while workable in a novel, would have ground the movie to a halt (science fiction film buffs would recognize that sequence as a reference to a Woody Woodpecker cartoon that served the same purpose in the old George Pal film Destination Moon). But the exposition-rich text of the novel serves to make the story feel even more real and fleshed-out than in the movie. In the book, there is no ship that evacuates everyone from the island because of an approaching hurricane, which is an improvement over the movie (I worked in emergency management for years, and you do not take people off an island and put them on a ship in the teeth of a storm). So, while the focus is on the main characters, there are others involved in the events that ensue. Dennis Nedry’s treachery, where he takes down the island’s computer, communications, and security systems in order to hide his theft of genetic material, unfolds in book the same way it does in the movie. There is also ship that is having trouble delivering supplies because of the storm; after it leaves the island, Grant and company discover that it has raptors aboard. Getting communications restored to warn the ship before it reaches the mainland becomes a plot point that adds urgency to the proceedings. The tour in electric SUVs also occurs in a way similar to movie, although throughout the book, different characters play slightly different roles in the action. After a T-Rex attack, Alan ends up having to lead Tim and Alexis to safety through a park where the animals are now running free. Ellie diagnoses a dinosaur’s digestive problems, although it is a stegosaurus, not a triceratops. They discover the computer system has not been tracking animals nearly as well as they had thought—a number of species, including raptors, have figured out a way to reproduce, and are now roaming the island freely. Setting the template for the entire Jurassic Park franchise, the violence and chaos that inevitably results in spite of safety precautions is soon breaking out all over the place. I was surprised to find that, even though the movie had already given me the main shape of the story, I was turning pages eagerly and unwilling to put the book down. Crichton not only manages exposition well, but he also writes a heck of an action scene. His main theme, that humanity is foolish if we think we can control what our scientific advances have unleashed, is even stronger in the book than in the movie. While I won’t spoil things, there is enough that occurs differently in the novel to keep readers who have seen the movie guessing about exactly what happens next. And as a warning, the ending of the book is a lot more final than the ending of the movie, leaving a lot less room for sequels. Final Thoughts I put down the book Jurassic Park with some regret. First, regret that it had ended, and second, that I had waited so long to read it. Michael Crichton was an excellent author, and clearly on top of his game at this point in his career. Any science fiction fan would be impressed by the rigor he brings to the science in the story. Even if, like me, you’re very familiar with the movie, I would recommend the book to you as an engaging, thoughtful, and exciting read. And now, the floor is yours: What are your thoughts on Jurassic Park, whether it be the book, the movies, or the franchise as a whole?[end-mark] The post The Book That Brought Back the Dinosaurs: <i>Jurassic Park</i> by Michael Crichton appeared first on Reactor.

Column Babylon 5 Rewatch Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Into the Fire” Sheridan makes aims to deal with the Shadows (and the Vorlons) once and for all… By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on October 14, 2025 Credit: Warner Bros. Television Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Television “Into the Fire”Written by J. Michael StraczynskiDirected by Kevin James DobsonSeason 4, Episode 6Production episode 406Original air date: February 3, 1997 It was the dawn of the third age… Ivanova is off trying to fetch First Ones, with Lorien’s help. Lorien preaches patience, a quality Ivanova is not overburdened with, but it pays off, as the First Ones that Lorien was expecting arrive. Sheridan leads a fleet of White Stars to attack and destroy a Vorlon outpost, which will give their gigunda fleet the opening they need to gather at Coriana VI. Cole and Alexander discuss their mission, wondering why Centauri Prime wasn’t chosen as the rendezvous point, as that planet is also in danger at roughly the same time. Cole points out that Coriana has a larger population and is less technologically advanced. The Centauri, at least, can prepare some kind of defense. Cut to Centauri Prime, where Prime Minister Mollari is trying to prepare some kind of defense. He is stymied by the period of mourning for Cartagia, but they only have twelve hours before the entire planet will need to be mourned after the Vorlons destroy it. Mollari also instructs that Morden be found. On the White Star flagship, Delenn reports to Sheridan that Ivanova and Lorien have returned to B5 with a mess of First Ones. Sheridan tells her to haul ass to join the fleet. On B5, Ivanova prepares to depart and has a conversation with Lorien on the subject of immortality, which prompts a lengthy infodump from Lorien about how his species were born immortal, but with a very low birth rate. Younger races had shorter lifespans. On Centauri Prime, Durano, the minister of intelligence, meets with Mollari. He carried out an investigation into the death of Adira on Cartagia’s order, and when he finished the investigation, was told by the emperor to never reveal the results to Mollari as long as he was alive. With Cartagia dead, Durano is now free to inform Mollari that it was not Refa who ordered Adira’s death, but rather Morden. Mollari is livid and kicks Durano out of his quarters, which he then trashes in anguish. Ivanova is hauling ass to Coriana, impatiently barking orders in broken Minbari before Lorien gets her to calm down. Morden is brought to Mollari in the throne room. He’s fully healed from his injuries sustained on Z’ha’dum. Mollari wishes this conversation to be private, so he tells Morden not to move, while his guards move away. Then two other guards shoot and kill the Shadows that, um, shadow Morden all the time. Mollari then orders Morden to have the Shadow vessels removed from Selini. Morden refuses, not believing that the Vorlons would destroy a world as populous as Centauri Prime (a belief not at all supported by reality). Morden also boasts that the Shadow ships can take on anything the Centauri can throw at them. Mollari counters that the ships are very impressive—in the air or in space. But right now they’re on the ground. Morden dismisses that, also. “What’re you gonna do, Mollari—blow up the island?” After a sufficiently dramatic pause, Mollari says, “Actually, now that you mention it…” and pulls out a detonator. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Morden screams as Mollari blows up the island. Most of the Centauri were evacuated in the night. A few remained behind to keep up appearances, knowing it was a suicide mission. Morden is taken away, screaming bloody murder. Everyone arrives at Coriana at about the same time: Shadows, Vorlons, and the Army of Light fleet. At first, the Vorlons and Shadows get into it, ignoring the Army of Light. So Sheridan orders a bunch of nukes set off on asteroids to get their attention, at which point the battle becomes a big mess. Sheridan tries to get the Vorlons to talk via comms and again via telepathy through Alexander. On Centauri Prime, Vir comes to the throne room to find a happy Mollari, as all Shadow influence has been removed. He also tells Vir to go into the garden, where there is a present for him. Vir goes out to the garden to see Morden’s severed head on a pike. After a flashback to remind viewers of what Vir’s answer was to Morden’s perpetual question, “What do you want?” Vir then gives a jaunty wave to the disembodied head. At Coriana, Sheridan is growing more frustrated, as the Vorlon planet-killer is approaching the sixth planet and the Vorlons are not talking. So Sheridan plays his trump card: calling in the First Ones, who make short work of the planet killer. On Centauri Prime, Mollari proudly says that he’s informed the Vorlons of all he’s done—but then the planet-killer shows up. It’s left to Vir to point out that there is one bit of Shadow influence still on the world: Mollari himself. The Vorlons call all their ships to Coriana in order to take on the First Ones. This turns out to be Centauri Prime’s salvation, as the planet killer buggers off before it has a chance to destroy the world—and before Mollari can convince Vir to kill him. Just as Lorien comes on board Sheridan’s ship, the Vorlons and Shadows both use Alexander as a conduit and imprison Sheridan and Delenn in energy fields. A Vorlon avatar confronts Sheridan in an astral plane, while the Shadows confront Delenn via images of people she knows (Franklin, Lennier, Ivanova, Delenn herself). Our heroes ask why they haven’t struck at each other directly, and postulate that it’s because they want to show the opposing species that they were right. Can’t gloat if you’ve wiped out the person you’re arguing with… Lorien is protecting Sheridan and Delenn and also broadcasting the stuff on the astral plane to everyone in the Army of Light. When the Vorlons and Shadows realize this, they free Sheridan and Delenn and send the Death Cloud at their White Star. However, other ships intercept the Death Cloud. The fleet is united with them and against both the Vorlons and the Shadows. Sheridan throws their usual questions of “Who are you?” and “What do you want?” back at them, and when they can’t answer Delenn says that they’ve become so consumed by their conflict they’ve lost their way. The younger races are tired of being manipulated by them. It’s time for them to go. Lorien speaks for the First Ones and says that it’s time for them all to move on beyond the rim and let the younger races fend for themselves. The Vorlons and Shadows agree, given the reassurance that all the remaining First Ones will go with them. On Centauri Prime, Mollari is reluctant to celebrate, simply because every time he’s been happy, the universe has conspired to defecate in his trousers. Vir convinces him that the gods can’t begrudge Londo Mollari at least one night of celebration. And so Mollari celebrates. The White Stars return to B5. Sheridan and Delenn ruminate on how this is the third age of humanity. The first age was when they were primitive and limited to a single planet. The second was when they explored the galaxy under the watchful eyes of the First Ones. Now they’re on their own… Credit: Warner Bros. Television Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan and Delenn shout at the Vorlons and Shadows, and it makes them go away. Just in general, Sheridan is incredibly arrogant and high-handed in this episode, which is probably necessary to get the job done, but it ain’t a great look. Ivanova is God. Ivanova is extremely skeptical of Lorien’s claims to be immortal and as old as he is, which prompts Lorien to speak in exposition for several minutes. If you value your lives, be somewhere else. In the latest edition of “Delenn thinks English is stupid,” she gives Sheridan a hard time regarding the phrase “haul ass.” In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Mollari brings a very emotionally satisfying and cathartic end to his relationship with Morden. The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. Alexander is the key to getting the Vorlons and the Shadows to talk to them. She also has a great delivery of a line right after Sheridan orders some asteroids blown. “Captain? They’re pissed.” The Shadowy Vorlons. The Shadows and Vorlons both go from incredibly powerful and manipulative forces to children being rebuked in the course of an episode. Sure. No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Cole says there was only room for two people on the shuttle that took Lorien from Ivanova’s ship to Sheridan’s, so he came back, which makes absolutely no sense, so it’s obvious that Cole just wanted to be near Ivanova. Looking ahead. Morden’s final words in the throne room are threatening Centauri Prime in general and Mollari in particular with retribution from the Shadows’ allies; we’ve gotten hints of that in the flash-forward in the “War Without End” two-parter, and we’ll see more starting in the very next episode, “Epiphanies,” and going all the way to “The Fall of Centauri Prime” in season five. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Welcome aboard. Several recurring regulars in this one. Ed Wasser plays Morden and also voices the Shadow representative; he’ll be back as Morden in “Day of the Dead.” Wayne Alexander makes his penultimate appearance as Lorien, returning to the role in the series finale “Sleeping in Light”; he’ll be back sooner as a Drazi in “Intersections in Real Time.” Damian London returns from “Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?” as the Centauri Minister; he’ll be back next time in “Epiphanies.” And Ardwight Chamberlain makes his final appearance on the series as the voice of the Vorlon representative; he’ll be back in the movie In the Beginning as Kosh. In addition, Julian Barnes is simply superb as Minister Durano. Trivial matters. Adira was killed by Morden’s machinations, with Mollari believing it was Refa, in “Interludes and Examinations.” Morden was caught in the backwash of an explosion in “Z’ha’dum,” but survived, as established in “The Hour of the Wolf,” albeit badly injured. Vir expressed his wish for Morden’s head to be put on a pike in “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum.” After Selini is blown up, Morden is seen clutching the necklace he wears. The significance of that necklace is explained in the novel The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos which, among other things, details the journey of the Icarus, the crew of which included Morden and Anna Sheridan. The echoes of all of our conversations. “You’re insane.” “On any other day, Mr. Morden, you would be wrong. Today? Today is a very different day. One last time, remove your ships.” “No. You don’t frighten me, Mollari. If you try to attack our forces, you’ll lose.” “Yes, your ships are very impressive in the air or in space—but at this moment, they are on the ground.” “Fine, they’re on the ground. But they can sense an approaching ship miles away. So what’re you gonna do, Mollari, huh? Blow up the island?” —The conversation Morden and Mollari have right before Mollari blows up the island. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The name of the place is Babylon 5. “Consider it a gift.” I have generally avoided comparisons between this show and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as the absolute last thing I want to do is revive the dumbshit “war” that segments of fandom (and the creator of B5) kept trying to manufacture between B5 and DS9 in the late 1990s. I similarly avoided it in my DS9 Rewatch from a decade ago. The exception was for DS9’s “Sacrifice of Angels,” which I mentioned in relation to this very episode, and I mention it again here for the purposes of symmetry, because both “Into the Fire” and “Sacrifice of Angels” have similar climaxes that signal the end of a major conflict: lead character(s) shouts self-righteously at powerful alien beings for several minutes, which convinces them to take actions that will put an end to the conflict in question. In DS9’s case, it was Sisko yelling at the Prophets to take action against the Jem’Hadar fleet coming through the wormhole. In B5’s it’s Sheridan and Delenn telling the Shadows and Vorlons off, saying we don’t need your help and go away, please. And I don’t buy it. Not for a nanosecond. Look, these are incredibly powerful aliens who have manipulated events and civilizations, and who also have the technological means to wreak tremendous havoc. While I like the revelation that they aren’t going all-out against each other because they ultimately each want to prove to the other they they’re right, so there, nyah, nyah, the fact that they accept Sheridan and Delenn’s self-righteous rebuke with anything other than destroying them with the flick of a metaphorical finger beggars belief. In particular, the contrite, humble, I’m-sorry-Mom-and-Dad-I’ll-be-good-from-now-on tones that Ardwight Chamberlain and Ed Wasser give the Vorlon and Shadow representatives at the very end is so wildly out of character from how both species have been portrayed up until now. Now to be fair, I’m not sure there was a better way to do this. My first instinct would be to have the First Ones play a much larger role, have them come in and say, “What is wrong with you twerps?” Another thought is to have the Vorlons and Shadows finally go at each other and wipe each other out, leaving our heroes to pick up the pieces. Or maybe after Sheridan and Delenn basically reject both sides, we get a smile from both and they say, “Okay, now you get it,” and they leave on their own feeling accomplished instead of slinking away with the other First Ones. Are these better? Well, as with everything it depends on the execution. Maybe with a different execution, this solution would have worked for me. And this particular execution might work just fine for others, but man, it just hit me the wrong way. It feels anticlimactic and weak. Luckily, the episode itself is greatly redeemed by every single scene on Centauri Prime, which collectively form an absolute masterpiece. Seriously, I can watch the Centauri Prime scenes in this episode over and over and over again, as they’re some of the absolute best work in the series, paying off three years of storylines involving the dance between the Centauri and the Shadows in general and between Mollari (and Vir) and Morden in particular. There’s the payoff to Vir’s delightful answer to Morden’s question way back in season two. There’s the horror on Mollari’s face when he realizes that his presence on Centauri Prime means it remains a target, that horror matched by Vir when told he must kill Mollari. Vir is only just beginning the process of getting over killing Cartagia, to pile this on top of that is a burden he is absolutely not prepared for. Mollari being so very reluctant to celebrate, given how his life has gone. And then there are the two best scenes, arguably two of the best scenes in the entire franchise. In every prior scene with Mollari and Morden going back to the latter’s first appearance in “Signs and Portents,” Morden is playing the ambassador like a two-dollar banjo. Morden always has the upper hand, always is in charge of everything that’s happening. When the prime minister brings the Shadows’ proxy to him in “Into the Fire,” however, for the first time, the positions are reversed. Peter Jurasik cranks up Mollari’s tropism for theatricality up to eleven, repeatedly and bombastically showing that he has the upper hand no matter how many times Morden tries to counter it. Then the crowning moment of the scene, which is also the simplest: removing a small remote from his pocket and pushing the button, with Morden having very generously provided a rhetorical opening. After that, Morden is carried off, the character showing true emotion for the first time ever, and Mollari very quietly promises far worse to be done to him. As absolutely fabulous a scene as that is, it’s my second-favorite in the episode. The earlier scene when Minister Durano very calmly and professionally lays out the details of the investigation into Adira’s murder is a tour de force. Julian Barnes plays this magnificently, his cool, detail-oriented presentation in direct contrast to Mollari’s typical histrionics. I’m really sorry that this was Barnes’ only appearance as Durano, as he was superbly written and spectacularly performed. He exposes Mollari’s weakness without at any point diminishing or threatening the prime minister, instead simply presenting the evidence. Jurasik follows this with a beautifully anguished trashing of his quarters as he realized what a spectacular idiot he’s been—and also setting up his takedown of Morden shortly thereafter. I used to do out-of-ten rankings of episodes in rewatches, which I hated, and this episode is a perfect example of why. The Centauri parts are among the show’s best, while the main plot disappoints on almost every level. It’s really hard to put a number on that, and I’m glad I don’t have to… Next week: “Epiphanies”[end-mark] The post <i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “Into the Fire” appeared first on Reactor.