Contents: Overview - Backplot - Questions - Analysis - Notes - JMS

Overview

Sinclair's old flame, Catherine Sakai, arrives during a weeklong festival when humans and aliens demonstrate their religious beliefs. An old enemy sends an assassin to kill G'Kar. Thomas Kopache as Tu'Pari. Julia Nickson as Catherine Sakai.

Sub-genre: Intrigue
P5 Rating: 7.88

Production number: 108
Original air date: February 23, 1994
DVD release date: November 5, 2002

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Jim Johnston

Emmy Award for Makeup Design

Watch For

• Look closely at the statue of Li, the Centauri goddess of passion. Something about it will be the subject of a humorous revelation about the Centauri in a later episode.

Backplot

• "Never fails," says Garibaldi when Catherine comes aboard. Apparently he's known her and Sinclair for a very long time. They seem to run into one another every three years, though this is the first time in a while that they've both been available.
• Sinclair and Carolyn have drifted apart - he wasn't willing to quit and go into business with her as a trader. (cf: "The Gathering")
• After he delivers G'Kar's death pronouncement, councillor Du'Rog says, "This should come as no surprise to you G'Kar. You've ruined my family's name and humiliated me before the council. Retribution was inevitable."
• Later G'Kar explains to Na'Toth why he can't ask for help: "...this would lead to some unfortunate revelations about my years on the council, revelations that could affect my position. Personally, I don't care if the information comes out. My only concern is that it might compromise our standing in the negotiations."
• The best assassins among the Narn are the "Thenta Makur." They are well-organized and respectable in their own way. They leave a "death blossom" to give their mark time to get their affairs in order, and offer a solid guarantee: they will personally kill any assassin who betrays a commission.
• G'Kar has survived two prior assassination attempts, but did not appear to have experience with the Thenta Makur.
• Vir explains the vivacious Centauri festival:

  It's a celebration of life. It comes from a time in our world's history when two dominant species were fighting for supremacy: our people, and a species we called "Xon". At year's end, we count how many of our people survived, and celebrate our good fortune!

Unanswered Questions

• Why is G'Kar, after serving 5 years on the Narn council, now serving as the Narn diplomat to Babylon 5? Is this a move up, or down?
• What "revelations" about his years on the council does G'Kar want hidden?
• Did Sinclair play a greater role in the Minbari ceremony than was apparent? (see Analysis)
• When Catherine first enters Sinclair's quarters, he's listening to part of Tennyson's "Ulysses." "Which are you," she asks, quoting from elsewhere in the poem, " an idle king, doling unequal laws unto a savage race, that hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not you, or a gray spirit, yearning in desire, to follow knowledge like a sinking star?" He leaves the question unanswered.

Analysis

• The cross-species religious festival was Earth Central's idea, and is consistent with Babylon 5's raison d'etre. The Minbari and Centauri participated willingly, but nothing was seen of Narn religion (cf: "By Any Means Necessary"). No-one made note of this omission - perhaps it's taken for granted that Narn religion is not for outsiders.
• The Narn employ couriers on a weekly basis. They also have FTL communications. Hence, they must not consider FTL secure.
• Na'Toth is cool-headed, with a sarcastic sense of humor - for G'Kar a great improvement over the literal and over-enthusiastic Ko'Dath.
• When Lennier greets Delenn as "Satai," she rebukes him: "No-one here knows of my connection. No-one must find out [...] it would lead to certain questions I don't want to answer just now." Apparently, it is well-known among the Minbari who are the members of the grey council. They are also greatly revered, judging by Lennier's reluctance to raise his eyes in her presence.
• Vir's speech is quite remarkable. What endured after the Centauri conflict with the Xon was a celebration of survival, rather than a mourning for those lost. This is notable both for what they chose to focus on (the joyous rather than the sad), and for its suggestion that the Centauri may have been nearly destroyed by the Xon (everyone was lucky to have survived each year).
• A theme of real Babylonian history: a stronger race oppresses a weaker one, and generations of the weaker one grow up fighting for their lives. Eventually the once-weaker race becomes so hardened and energized in their own self-protection that they rise up and conquer their oppressors (cf: History.Babylonia).
• This theme may be the very story of the Xon and the Centauri, for the Centauri eventually destroyed them and didn't lose momentum until they were an empire spanning an entire quadrant of the galaxy (cf: "The Gathering" ). This may also become the story of the Centauri the Narn: the Centauri invaded their homeworld and held sway for a hundred years, but now the Narn are free and bent on destruction, while the Centauri are on the decline.
• Among the many Centauri household gods on the banquet table are Ben-Zan, god of food, Mo-Goth, god of the underworld and protector of front doors, and Li, goddess of passion. The golden statue of Li portrays her with both arms and one leg raised. Visible on her body are breasts, a very large male hair-crest, and three tentacles emerging from her hips on both sides. (cf. "The Quality of Mercy")
• A transcript of Delenn's recital during the Minbari ceremony is available.
• This recital is very important, especially if Sinclair is the incarnation of a figure in Minbari prophecy, for which there are indications:
  • Minbari assassin: "There is a hole in your mind." ("The Gathering")
  • The coincidence of the Minbari surrender with their initial discovery of Sinclair. ("The Gathering")
  • Delenn: "I knew you would come - we were right about you." ("Soul Hunter")
  • Delenn's possible covert marriage to him in this episode.
  • (see also: "And the Sky Full of Stars", "Deathwalker", "Signs and Portents")
• The giving of fruit to each of the main characters coincided with particular parts of Delenn's recital. This could be literary foreshadowing, but it's unlikely that Delenn herself intended the juxtaposition.

  "From birth {Londo}, through death and renewal {Vir}, you must put aside old things {Garibaldi}, old fears {Sinclair}, old lives {Ivanova}. This is your death {G'Kar}, the death of flesh..."

• For the record, Londo and Vir eat their fruits, Garibaldi declines, Ivanova puts hers down, G'Kar exchanges his with hers, Ivanova (unawares) then eats hers, and G'Kar gives his new fruit a distrustful sniff. Sinclair, under Delenn's compelling gaze, eats his as well.
• When Catherine hears about "red fruit" being part of the Minbari ceremony, she asks if there was a serious exchange of looks. When Sinclair confirms this, she chuckles, "Oh it's a rebirth ceremony all right. It also doubles as a marriage ceremony. Depending on how seriously anyone took it, somebody got married the other day." Sinclair did not mention who was seriously looking at whom - he may in some sense now be married to Delenn.
• "You must put aside... old lives" reaffirms the Minbari belief in reincarnation revealed in "Soul Hunter", and suggests that the Minbari may have conscious access to their own past lives. Else what would they have to put aside? (cf: "The War Prayer")

Notes

• G'Kar's song (presumably translated from Narn):

    I'm thinking of thinking of calling her right
      after my afternoon nap.
    I'm thinking of thinking of sending her flowers,
      right after Bonnie gets back.
    So many fishies left in the sea,
      so many fishies - but no-one for me...
    I'm thinking of thinking of hooking a love,
      soon after supper is done.
       

• Ko'Dath, G'Kar's previous aide (with whom he was none too happy) died in an unexplained airlock accident a week before.

• Londo's joke:
  Garibaldi: And what happened to the Xon?
  Londo: Dead, all of them, and good riddance. Do you know what the last Xon said, just before he died? "AAAAARGH!"
  Garibaldi (to Sinclair): Can I kill him now?

• Londo's toast (and reprise):
  "Valtoooo!"

• Ivanova was the only non-Centauri who seemed to be enjoying herself at their festival.

• Na'Toth's "sponsor" for her position as G'Kar's aide was Li'Dak, fifth circle. Li'Dak's sponsor was Du'Rog himself.

• G'Kar's "reputed fascination with Earth women" (cf: "Born to the Purple") is well-known among the Narn ruling class.

• Delenn's new assistant is Lennier of the Third Fane of Chu'Domo, which has served with honor for 500 years. He has just gone from being a "simple novitiate" to serving one of the Grey Council - apparently quite a big jump.

• There is consistency in the shape of Minbari head-bones. The top edge of the female head-bone is a smooth curve back to a raised point in back, while the top edge of the male head-bone rises to several points on its way back.

• There were nine participants in the Minbari rebirth ceremony. All of the instruments visible were triangular, as was the table around which they stood.

• In the lingo of the Free Traders, Earth (or thereabouts) is "The Hub".

• Sinclair has a brother, about whom he has not yet spoken.

• Sinclair has been caught on Tennyson since his academy years - "we find meaning where we can," he says.

• G'Kar and Na'Toth both imply she enjoyed beating him up.

• When this episode was broadcast in Malaysia in July 1995, the Centauri celebration was cut, probably because of its depiction of drunken behavior.

• A sign in the arrivals area:
  Welcome to Babylon 5
  Customer Section
  Atmosphere Caution
  

  Six different atmospheres are currently available on B5. Others may be created by prior arrangement. Uncommon atmospheric makeups may be synthesized for encounter suits. For specific atmochemical breakdowns see monitor below.

jms speaks

• Regarding making people laugh until their sides hurt...this is something I always go for. It's easy to go for the "well, that's amusing" stuff, but to make someone laugh out loud, or even until it hurts, is tough. In most (but not all) cases, I try to get one solid laugh per episode, one moving scene per episode, and one "head-conk" per episode. The first obligation of a writer is to make you *feel* something, and if I can do that in an episode, then I've done my job.

  It helps in that I'm not generally a big laugher; when I go to plays or movies with other people, and they're comedies, afterwards I'll always get "Why didn't you like it?" "I did." "You didn't laugh." "I was just thinking about how funny it was." Usually I can see a punchline coming, and part of my brain is racing ahead to what it might be. (And half the time at least I'm right.) So I've adopted the philosophy that if I find something extremely funny, other people will laugh at it; if I'm so tickled that I absolutely laugh out loud, I know it'll probably kill several people. As a result, if I'm going for a funny scene, I don't leave it alone until I laugh at it.

  When I thought about Londo passing out face first on the banquet table uttering "...but in purple, I'm *stunning*," I just about fell off my chair laughing. Sometimes I'm a little broad in my comedy, other times I go for something a little more literate or (one hopes) witty (most of these go to Ivanova, whereas the broad stuff tends to go to Londo in most cases). But I try to keep it varied.

  Strangely enough, the comics that *do* manage to break me up are all the more assaultive ones...Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams, Buddy Hackett (who can reduce me to tears), and a few others.

• By the way...on the Kosh poisoning thread, which was originally to be discussed in "Parliament"...we ended up about 3 minutes long on "Parliament," and three minutes short on D.C. Fontana's "War Prayer." So we lifted that scene and inserted it into her episode, doing a small bit of ADR to facilitate the move. It's now quite seamless.

• Bill Mumy came in to audition, same as eveybody else. It was known then that it was a recurring role (contrary to his recollection of things), and when he walked in the door, I knew he was right.

• BTW, this week will Bill Mumy's first week on B5, and he's done a very nifty job as Lennier. He brings a wonderful sense of absolute innocence...the proverbial innocent abroad...to Lennier's character. The Minbari prosthetics look great on him, enhancing the sense he brings to the character. He's also great with the cast, and keeping things up during shooting. At one point, as they're leaving camera, Delenn says to Lennier, who has just arrived at the station, "Now tell me of home; I have been away far too long." His ad-libbed off-camera response: "Beatlemania is back." (Another ad-lib for another shot: "Minimalls...they're everywhere," and "Well, we just got Pizza Hut and cable.")

• Regarding Catherine Sakai...believe me, this ain't a consort kind of relationship. It will be monogamous, but difficult in many ways. This has been an on-again/off-again relationship between them for years, made up of three parts passion and two parts teeth. It will be a very fiery relationship. And this is a woman with her own business, her own ship, who comes and goes as she wishes. You have to understand that I love writing strong female characters, and Catherine will be probably one of the strongest.

• Catherine Sakai is played by Julie Nickson Soul, an asian-american actor who's done quite a bit of work in high-profile films. Her character is never Cathy, only Catherine (occasionally Cath to Sinclair, but *only* occasionally). She's a planetary surveyer, working for one of the Earth corporations, looking for uninhabited worlds and asteroids for exploitation.

• We've shot our first scenes between Sinclair and his new love interest, Catherine Sakai (as played by Julia Nickson). This is a very, very strong character, and she brings a wonderful vibrancy to Sakai. They have a unique relationship that looks and sounds like a real relationship, with all its ups and downs and dumb moments. One way that I've reinforced this is that...well, in the first episode in which they meet again (they were involved before), just about every scene between them is lifted almost directly from personal experience.

  And given some of the awkward, even painful conversations that take place, it was very, *very* hard to watch this being rehearsed. (Michael and Julia worked over a weekend with the director to get the nuances just right.) When it came time to shoot the scenes, much as I wanted to be on-set, I just couldn't do it. My heart just kept falling right down to my shoes. I can't wait for the first person to say "I don't buy this as a real relationship" just so's I can whap him upside the head. But I have a hunch that won't happen. It comes across as very real, and as a very vulnerable moment for both characters.

  "Write what you know," they said. Right. How about I just take a power drill and stick it in my ear...it'd be faster, less painful, and after a while I might even come to like it....

• A parliament is a gathering of officials, of representatives, which matches the story in terms of representatives of different places, and beliefs. The dreams are the belief systems.

• The "stay put" line was ad-libbed by Andreas, because the crawfish kept crawling off the table.

• Yes, definitely keep in mind the intent of the ceremony...but be sure to remember *all* aspects of it. (see Analysis)
  Also, take a good look at Li, goddess of passion, in Londo's ceremony. There's something about it that will be very funny later. (see Analysis)

• The quote Delenn recited in "Parliament" was the quote from Valen when he formed the first Grey Council.

• RE: the glasses...it's not something I've been able to figure out how to mention, but the Narn pride themselves on their physical perfection. Hence there is no market for physical aides; it's something to be ashamed of. So they have to crib stuff from other species, like glasses that have a prescription close enough to be useful. I have *no* idea how to work that into a script, and am not sure it is even a good idea to do so.

• The atheist was not only first in line, he was the best dressed and smartest looking and nattiest one in the line.
  jm(what a coincidence)s

• From a personal point of view, I'm very fond of "The Parliament of Dreams," which is a very funny show, and at times a very emotional show. "Parliament" is all over the place...it's got all of our major characters, our ambassadors, their seconds, we see lots of group scenes, we're all over the station, dipping in and out of three different but interconnected stories...it's really a matter of keeping a lot of balls in the air at one time, and I think we pulled it off nicely.

• There's one truly remarkable shot we did for the current episode, shot Friday evening. Generally, in any shot with a crowd, you need about 20-45 people. That's usually enough to fill out the shot in any set you can go to. More than that gets costly, and isn't really noticeable unless you frame your shot just *so*. Yesterday's shot has 160 extras. It's a very impressive, and very moving shot. It appears in the tag of "the Parliament of Dreams." It's the kind of shot you just don't see anywhere else. We had some people from PTEN and a film crew for a behind-the-scenes piece on hand, and they all commented on how only this show would do this shot...and how significant it is. (I can't tell you what it was, because that gives it away, and I want it to be kind of a surprise; suffice to say you'll definitely know it when you see it.)

• The SkyDancer appears in the next episode. "See you next Wednesday" is...well...it's when she's going to be back on the station. She has to complete her run by Tuesday, and will be back on Wednesday. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar....

• [G'Kar's] song is an original, by our series composer, Christopher Franke.

• The "fishy" song was composed by Christopher Franke specifically for that scene. I told him I wanted sort of a Narnish Gilbert and Sullivan, and that's what we got.

• I would think that Londo and G'Kar might actually find something in common in appreciation of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, G'Kar's "little fishie" song in "Parliament of Dreams" was intended to be a bit G&S in nature.

• One of my favorite exchanges, which never seems to show up, is from PoD v.1, when G'Kar says to Tu'Pari, who has come looking for Ambassador G'Kar, "This is Ambassador G'Kar's quarters. This is Ambassador G'Kar's table. This is Ambassador G'Kar's dinner. What part of this progression escapes you?"

• Episode #5 is the two year anniversary of B5 going on-line; not two years since the pilot movie. It took about a year and a half to grow to this point, and for the final of the Big 5 ambassadors, Kosh, to arrive, completing the group. It's now roughly six months after that, into the new year.

• "So, I've been wondering who made up Londo's line in Parliament, `but in purple, I'm stunning!'"

  Ummmmm.....the scriptwriter?

• The Xon did evolve into fair amount of intelligence. There are a very few land masses on Centauri Prime, separated by huge oceans. The two species evolved pretty much separately, on different continents that were absolutely unreachable until one or both sides developed sufficient technology for extended sea travel...and that's when all hell broke loose.

• There's a definite improvement arc in the show; the deeper we got into production, the better the stories generally became, and the better the production values. (With a few exceptions.) The biggest change in the show came once we began writing scripts *after* we'd begun shooting episodes, so that we/I could again see the actors and find their fingerprints. "Parliament" is the first one I wrote after we started filming; "Soul," "Infection" and "Midnight" were all written prior to filming starting.

• You're seeing, btw, why this episode, much as it's a favorite, couldn't be shown any sooner; there has to be some familiarity with the characters for this to be most effective.

• Re: G'Kar being theatrical...that's who he is. I like theatrical characters. I know many in real life that're much bigger than life, very broad...and great fun. Not every character has to be sonorous and serious and restrained. The whole point of *having* alien characters is that they shuld act differently than the majority of us.

• The Xon? Dead. All of them. And good riddance.

• The Xon weren't any more evil or good than the race that survived; two equally sentient species emerged on the Centauri homeworld over the course of evolution. They were more or less separated by distance and land masses and oceans, so there was little contact until either side developed the technology required to find the other. It was the next best thing to a first contact situation, except it's on their own world; they were very much alien to one another. Somewhere along the line, it was decided that this world wasn't big enough for both of them, so they began a campaign of slaughter against each other. Londo's people won.

• Kosh was otherwise engaged....

• Actually, many of the alien races do *not* have monolithic religious beliefs. You'll note that G'Kar didn't take part in the festival from the Narn POV. You'll see Narn beliefs in "By Any Means Necessary," and there it's mentioned that there are many different bliefs among Narns, G'Quon and G'Lan being the two larger systems.

• Sure, I could've gotten them into bed by the second act...but that wasn't the point. What I wanted to show, what interests me, is the give and take leading up to that moment, the feints and parries and "how do we get past this?" That to me is some of the most interesting stuff in a relationship.

• As to the interpretation of the final tag scene...my thought was that it's a way of saying, "Our dominant belief is that ALL beliefs are respected."

• There was a follower of Islam; right next to the orthodox jew at the front of the line. "Mr. Rashid, a Moslem." I made sure we put them side by side.

• I didn't say that Earth was the ONLY one with diverse religions. I don't understand why it is that when ONE thing is shown, it means that's the ONLY thing. It's not. Narns, as we'll see in "By Any Means Necessary," have several competing beliefs. The idea of the festival wasn't to compare and contrast, only to show what *we* (whoever *we* is) believes.

• Well, we're doomed...I just realized today that our first *really* strong episode, "The Parliament of Dreams," airs the same night (in most markets, the 23rd) as the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan face off in the olympics.

  Imagine a silence vast as space...that sound is neilsen ratings meters stuck unmovingly on CBS....

• Needless to say, though, we got *creamed* by the Tonya/Nancy Show. Which got a 64 share, the 3rd biggest ratings for a sporting event in history. But then, *everybody* got beat up by that one, so again it's okay.

• The line, "See you next wednesday," was basically an offhand line, slightly but not significantly based in the idea that in most markets, B5 airs on Wednesdays. It was never meant to be a John Landis reference, and if I'd known it was (I'd never heard it before), would've changed it.

• I keep constantly fighting the urge to have G'Kar return from a trip to the Narn homeworld with a limp, a cane, and a (temporary) eyepatch, muttering, "Boy, the Thenta Makur have *no* sense of humor."

  (Now we'll see how many get *that* one.)

• BTW, re: Sinclair remembering all those names...we used many of the real names of the people standing in line, many of whom *did* belong to the religion they had come to represent. We went down this line of 250 people, and went over their names *twice* with O'Hare. That's all. After that, he got each name right every time; amazingly quick memorization.

• This is something that Andreas and I discussed, and it's not so much that G'Kar *has* to cook, but that he *likes* to cook. From the singing, it's clear he's having a good time....

• Ko'Dath met with an unfortunate accident with an airlock.

• Just learned that Babylon 5 won an Emmy for its Makeup Design, for "The Parliament of Dreams." This is our second Emmy so far, our first for the series. I'm determined that next year we get some notices for our acting and other above-the-line areas.

  In any event, congratulations to our makeup and prosthetics design people.

Last update: May 27, 2024