The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri
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This was, like "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" before it, another WEIRD episode.
But, for the most part, good. The basic premise of it is: "Let's take Peter Jurasik and just completely TURN HIM LOOSE for an hour." Oh, no, wait, sorry, that's the REAL LIFE premise. The STORY premise is "Let's make Londo atone for all the things he's done in the past." And boy, do they ever. The poor guy almost DIES! But I'm getting ahead of myself. The episode actually has two plots, the Londo one and a subplot about Lennier. Let's start with that one first.
Poor Lennier. Poor, underappreciated, in-the-way Lennier. He is right to want to leave. He really isn't needed anymore. That scene with him and Delenn, where he's telling her why he's leaving (to become a RANGER, no less!) was absolutely heartbreaking. You could TELL that what he meant was "to become someone more like what you find ATTRACTIVE", but he stopped JUST before that word. There was no need to say it. She knew. Sniff.
I find it interesting that even Sheridan, dumb Human male that he is, picked up on it, on what was bothering Lennier and why. Hmmn. Maybe there's hope for him (Sheridan) after all...
But by far the best scene of this plotline was Lennier's farewell scene with Vir. Those two are so GOOD together, the two little over-used and underappreciated sidekick people. I loved their scene in the early third season and wished they would have done more; I missed seeing them together. This scene was even better than the first one. First, they go on about Vir's drink being called a "Shirley Temple", and how Lennier has never heard of that TEMPLE in all his studies of Earth religions, but he will have to go there, since Vir says "it's reeeeeaaaaalll goooood." (meaning the DRINK!) Absolutely hilarious, but laughter gives way to sniffling as the two stand up and first just shake hands, then hug each other. It was so ADORABLE! And I loved Vir doing the Minbari triangle-hand-salute thingie. Awwww....
Now onto the main plot. Londo is arguing with Zack about how he doesn't want his brevari to be impounded (according to station regulations) and he is getting MEAN. Delightfully so. "Do you understand brevari? No, I can see you don't, you have that vacant look in your eyes that means 'Hold my head to your ear, you can hear the sea!'" (I CRACKED UP at that line.) Then Vir, who is practically having a nervous breakdown behind him, gives it a go, pulling Zack away from Londo and trying to sweetalk him. Whereupon, Londo promptly takes out one of the bottles from the shipment, starts drinking it behind Zack's back with a big grin on his face--and collapses dramatically to the floor, unconscious!
At first, Vir is convinced that the wine was poisoned. "What is it with this place?" he rants in the Zocalo, his voice gradually getting louder and louder. "I mean, last week President Sheridan was almost assassinated and now someone's trying to poison Londo! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!! DON'T YOU HAVE SOMETHING BETTER TO DO WITH YOUR TIME?!! GET A HOBBY, READ A BOOK--" (great line, and it shows you just how incredibly far Vir has come--the old Vir would never have cut loose and screamed with anger in a public place like that; he was way too shy and unsure of himself.) But as soon as Garibaldi calms him down, he explains that it was NOT poison, it was a heart attack.
Well, it's not like we're surprised. I mean, come on, the guy is overweight, middle-aged, drinks a lot (not as much as he used to, but still, a lot), and is always under a lot of stress AND he has a very hot temper, which in Human terms would mean high blood pressure, no WONDER he's had a heart attack! A wonder it didn't happen before.
Wait a minute, I can hear you saying, don't Centauri have TWO hearts? If he loses one, can't he just keep going, albeit maybe he'll have to take it easy more, on his remaining heart? No. First of all, the "extras" on Centauri anatomy (ahem) are NOT "spares", they are all needed. Secondly, as this episode tells us some interesting new stuff about Centauri biology we didn't know before, their two hearts are different from each other. The right heart, which is much easier to operate on, is more like an ordinary Human heart, the left one is a bundle of solid nerves and blood vessels that bascially purifies the blood and helps it get to the extremities of the body better. It's the LEFT one that had the attack, and it's almost impossible to operate on. So all Franklin can do is give him drugs to thin out his blood so it can get around the blockage easier, but beyond that, it's up to Londo. All they can do is hope. We see Vir worrying about him, which is very poignant (at one point, he puts his hands up against the glass divider and goes "Don't die, Londo. Please don't die." and I got a lump in my throat, oh, geeeeezzzz...sniff.) and even Sheridan and Delenn watch over him worriedly. I liked Delenn's line about how "sometimes I even liked him, despite myself." Awww...Nice to know that even "the villian", "the disgusting lecher", etc, has FRIENDS. Like I always said, he is NOT all evil, he still has likeable qualities. But he HAS done bad things in the past. And this episode is really all about payback.
Londo does this in a series of weird dream-sequences that are linked, in a strange way, to things happening outside him. He can still hear, but he's only semi-conscious. So when he hears Delenn wishing him good-luck in real life, he goes into a dream in which she is a fortune teller--who shows him his PAST, not his future, and says that he is dying, and only a word--just one word--will save him. But she will not say what it is. Then we get REALLY weird as he finds this panel on the floor which leads to--his heart. (This was a gross-out moment, as you can SEE the thing pulsating. Bleargh. On the other hand, it was interesting finding out what a DOUBLE heartbeat sounds like...) I am not kidding, this actually happened. And it only gets WEIRDER.
The next vision, I think, is the one where he's talking to Sheridan. This was the one where you're in real life, in a normal corridor, and all of a sudden everything TILTS and you're back in the dream--without the scenery even changing! Freaky. He finds a table in the Zocalo full of all kinds of fancy wine bottles, ALL of which are empty. ("The metaphor is getting a bit thick, don't you agree?") and chats with Sheridan about what it's like to be dead. Londo says that he has been "dead" several times--to his first wife, the dancer, the only one he truly loved, which his family FORCED him to divorce or else he'd be "dead" to them, and he tells him about his death-dream, and says that for some reason he always had the feeling that Sheridan would be there, but never understood why he felt that. The (And he WILL be--not RIGHT at his death, but moments before, as shown in "War Without End, Part II".) As they discuss what it feels like to KNOW what you will die in abotu 20 years or so (hey, parallells...), Sheridan's outfits shift eerily. First he's wearing an ordinary Earthforce uniform, then a plain white shirt wiht uniform pants, then that black Minbari rebel uniform, then the robes of the Entil'Zha, just like Sinclair used to wear, and then finally a long white robe with a hood, and then he transforms into a ball of light and goes through the ceiling. (I TOLD you this was a weird episode!) "No!" cries Londo, "Don't leave me here, like this! Don't leave me alone!"
Delenn and Sheridan both at one point told him to "turn around", if he wanted to live--and G'Kar was standing there. Vir, who is talking to him in a totally dark room, nothing else around, finally convinces him to do so. Not at first, though. Londo thinks that since he "knows" that he is not going to die until he's much older, he should be safe now. Vir points out that prophecy is only viewed as such if it comes true, if it doesn't, it's metaphor. "Do you want to live?" he asks, just as Delenn did. "Yes."
"Then turn around." Vir orders. Londo finally screws up his courage and does so, facing G'Kar.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, his condition is getting worse; he's gone into shock and seems to be having some kind of seizure; they have to strap him to the medical bed.
Then it gets REALLY weird (like it wasn't already!). G'Kar gets right up in his face and screams about how he said NOTHING!! to stop the attack on the Narn homeworld. It shows flashbacks of Londo, looking horrified, standing on the deck of the Centauri flagship as the mass drivers make short work of Narn back in "The Long, Twilight Struggle" (one thing good about this episode--at least all the flashbacks are from episodes I LOVED). And then the scene changes and they are back in Cartagia's little "playroom" (i.e., torture chamber--erm..."room of the pain technicians"?) and G'Kar asks Londo if he remembers THIS place. Yes, he says. And G'Kar screams in his face that he said, "NOTHING!!" The sin of Omission vs. the sin of COmission. Even though it wouldn't have helped, he could have said just one little word, even if it wouldn't have done any good, he was a witness and it was his obligation to speak out. Now, here is where I disagree. I mean, Londo was trying to help G'Kar's homeworld here TOO, and he WAS all sad and remorseful about it. True, that was only shown in subtle tones of voice and looks in his eye, not blatantly said in words, but you could TELL it bothered him. I thought they were being just a tad too mean to Londo in this episode! (Not to mention that whole "You no longer exist in my universe" thing from "Epiphanies".) But that is pretty much made up for by the fact that we get to see G'KAR play CARTAGIA!
No, I am NOT kidding. This episode has to be seen to be believed! As Londo stands there whimpering and begging to know what he has to do to live, what is the word G'Kar and everyone else wants him to say (and in real life, he goes into massive shock and the doctors have to rip his shirt open to get the heart-shocker-things--I forget what they're called--on his skin, and I did not NEED to see his tentacles, thank you very much! What was that about "going blind at the sight of Londo naked"...?), he suddenly finds himself chained to the post in the torture chamber and dressed in rags, just like G'Kar. The guard (same guard) pulls out the electro whip and gets ready to beat him. And on the throne, dressed all in white brocade is...G'Kar. REALLY. This was HILARIOUS; he TOTALLY went into Cartagia's campy mannerisms. It was ODD seeing G'Kar do this, he's so macho all the time, and to hear him pitching his voice real high and fluttering a lace handkerchief while batting his eyelashes and lounging with his legs crossed daintily was BIZZARRE!! But FUNNY! I'll bet Andreas Katsulas just ate that up. He was obviously enjoying himself. (And now, why am I being forcibly reminded of that practical-joke "episode" that Straczynski wrote to get back at Andreas and Peter for a joke that they pulled on HIM at a convention, which had G'Kar getting extremely in touch with his...erm..."feminine side"...? If you've heard the story you KNOW what I'm talking about. "You may have conquered my world, but you never conquered ME..." hee hee hee) Otherwise, it was a very dramatic scene. Just as in the original, Vir--and Londo!--look on while, this time, Londo is being whipped. Instead of a scream, G'Kar prissily demands "a word. Just one word." and the strokes on the whip rack up, with the same lighting-fast editing and creepy lighting of the original scene. Only this time, it's also intercut with scenes of the doctors in medlab desperately trying to save Londo as his condition gets worse and worse and worse, and the closer he is to "40" in the dream, the closer he is to dying in real life. Until he screams at 39, just as G'Kar did in the real scene, and G'Kar gives him a prissy, sadistic bug-eyed smile (I'm sorry, but Cartagia does it better. These mannerisms only work if the guy doing them is pretty to begin with!). Londo then slumps to the ground yelling, "Sorry! I'm SORRY!" and crying--
-- --and in real life, he's okay.
Sorry. That was the word. Sorry.
Well, I coulda told ya THAT...
Then we end the show with him sitting up in bed, eating hospital food (ugh, been there, done that--and I notice they're STILL feeding Jell-O to surgery patients--that was a nasty flashback and a half to my own surgery in 1982, but let's not get into that...) and he asks Vir about this legend he just read about. (It's on a SCROLL, too. Just when you thought these guys couldn't get any MORE Romanesque...) Vir elaborates, explaining how Centauri believe that sometimes, if a spirit is trapped in a body that's not good enough for it, it'll attempt to KILL the body so it can be free. It's a huge battle that either leaves the person changed afterwards profoundly--or dead. But this only happens when the spirit is really really good "we're talking, like, major angelic here" (Vir turns VALLEY BOY?! Now I've heard everything...) and the body is like "just totally depraved and VILE and DISGUSTING..." he goes on and on while Londo gets this "HEY!" look on his face, then bumblingly apologises, in true Vir fashion. Overall, it's a sweet scene. And you realise--this means that even if Londo IS "totally disgusting" on the outside, he also has a "major angelic" spirit inside. So basically it's saying that he has a good part and a bad part, that he's a mix.
We already knew that!
A weird episode, but except for a couple of gross-out moments, quite good. Everyone gave good performances, and, of course, Peter Jurasik, whom this was a showcase for, knocked my socks off and across the room. Bravo!
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