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Review: Into the Fire
by Carl Lefler
July 20, 2002
Spoiler-free quick review: An important and must-see
episode in the Babylon 5 series. This episode contains some great battle scenes
and an intriguing philosophical argument between the two adversaries' opposing
viewpoints. It's probably not that satisfying an end for most people's tastes.
Not one of the best B5 episodes out there but probably the second most important
episode of the series after "Sleeping in Light".
Spoiler- Heavy Point-by-point Review: Well it's a little strange that my first review would be about the episode that ended a major story arc within the Babylon 5 series. "Into the Fire" is, of course, the episode that ends the Shadow War. And it's quite an unusual episode as well. Prior to when the series began running on TNT I had only watched parts of a couple of. So when TNT started showing the syndicated episodes I saw almost every single episode and enjoyed them a lot. But I have to admit that when I first saw this episode at that time I was disappointed by it. I had been watching the show every weekday for over three months. Watched as J. Michael Straczynski slowly developed the Shadow plotline and then... boom! It was over.
I felt cheated.
I thought that's it? That's the way it ends?
I don't feel that way anymore. But I'll go into the reasons why further in my review.
The episode begins with Lorien and Ivanova searching the Galaxy for more First Ones to use in
the battle against the Shadows and the Vorlons. They contact a new First One
ship which responds to Lorien's signaland this newly discovered race of
First Ones is nearly as old as the Vorlons. As usual the ship is an unusual
design. There's nothing run-of-the-mill about the design of ships on Babylon 5.
The scene shifts to Sheridan leading a group of White Stars in an attack against a Vorlon observation post. The attack is an impressive visual effects sequence to open the episode with. The attack is obviously to blind the Vorlons to Sheridan's fleet movements through hyperspace. And it's a huge fleet too. Sheridan has amassed a great fleet of thousands of ships from two-dozen races.
Back on Centauri Prime we join Londo who is now Prime Minister after the death of Cartagia. Then Damian London unfortunately shows up. Damian London's character The Minister is the most annoying character ever created in this series. His screeching voice is like listening to fingernails on the chalkboard. I really don't know what JMS sees in characters like this. The Minister makes the Ferengi from Star trek look good by comparison.
One thing I have to say about the Centauris in general and then I'll get back to the review. When I first tried to watch B5 before it came to TNT I was turned off by two things. Londo and Vir. I had heard great things about the series and a lot of people had recommended that I watch it. I really hated Londo and Vir back then and they were the chief reason that I decided against committing to the show.
Over the years I have warmed to the character of Londo. I also
find myself cutting Vir a lot of slack. I still don't like him that much though.
Stephen Furst has moments of great comedic timing and did a particularly good
job in the previous episode in his reaction to having taken a life. And he's a
fine director particularly with "The Illusion of Truth" episode. But as you
can see I am biased against most of the Centauri on the show though I am
learning to appreciate them better.
Back to the current show: Lorian explains that his race is immortal but they can die from illness or injury, just not from old age. Of his race he is the only one left. And Lorien was born naturally immortal rather than as a development by scientific means. Lorien's race discovered the Vorlons and Shadows when they were infant races.
The dialog between Lorien and Ivanova is great. It's some of the best writing in the episode. His observation about love being transitory is fitting considering what will occur with her character at the end of the season.
Londo is told by Minister of Information of Morden's involvement in Lady Adira's death. Londo then flies into a rage screaming, "He played me! He played me like a puppet!" Peter Jurasik plays the scene perfectly as a man realizing he had been a pawn and that his true enemy wasn't Lord Reefa but Morden and the Shadows. But in effect by allying himself with them in the first place he had caused the death of his love. Knowing Londo though I figure he probably didn't blame himself in anyway for it.
Back at Coriana 6 Sheridan once again uses nuclear weapons to
take down a foe. Nuclear weapons seem to be a weapon of choice for JMS to use in
his stories. Or maybe he just feels Sheridan, like Ivanova, likes things to go
boom. He's used nukes against the Black Star, against the city on Z'ha'dum, and
the aliens in Thirdspace. The only thing used more often in B5 is using ships as
battering rams to take out an enemy ship. Don't worry, I won't go into how
many times that technique has been employed over the years on his shows but I
had to laugh when the Valen rammed the attacking ship recently in Legend of the
Rangers.
Returning again to Centauri Prime we see that Morden is healed. The Vorlon planet killer
is stated to arrive in hours. The Centauri guards kill the invisible Shadows
accompanying Morden. Londo blows up
the island of Cellini in what looks to be another nuclear-type weapon (2 nuke
attacks in
1 episode! A record!). After the destruction of the Shadow vessels Morden issues an
ominous threat that will later come true.
Back again to the Coriana system. The Shadow planet killer cloud arrives. There's already a Vorlon planet killer and it seems Coriana 6 and its billions of inhabitants are in deep spoo. There are some very impressive battle scenes. Nobody can really complain that this episode lacks action. There's some very impressive use of CGI in the battle sequences. The First Ones show up and take out the Vorlon planet killer. The Vorlons then proceed to call in all of their ships as reinforcements.
Londo finally gets his much deserved revenge against Morden in a
rather gruesome scene in which Vir's previous wish (In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum) for Morden
comes true. Londo meanwhile succeeds in eliminating all of the Shadow influences
by the time the Vorlon planet killer arrives at Centauri Prime but fails to see
himself as something that the Shadows have touched and influenced.
In an interesting sequence in which he realizes that he's jeopardizing the lives of his people Londo asks Vir to kill him. I had sometimes wondered in the past whether Londo was really as patriotic as he would have others believe. Or whether he was solely a self-centered politician bent on achieving power and using his love for the Republic as an excuse to accomplish his own ends. I think it's mostly out of a love for his own people but as long as he can achieve power at the same time, why not? That he allowed himself to be bonded with a keeper to save his people and his final sacrifice on their behalf does prove this point.
The only time I believe Londo went against the good of his people in order to achieve his own ends was when he renewed his association with Morden in order get get his revenge on Lord Reefa. He had apprehensions about allying the Centauri with the Shadows before and yet risked his people's safety for his own personal matters. Despite his words that as long as his people were safe let the rest of the galaxy burn. He knew better.
Back again at Coriana 6, Lyta becomes possessed by both the Vorlons and the Shadows. Her bright glowing eyes represent the Vorlons as they bring Sheridan into a telepathically created zone. Her dark eyes representing the Shadows transport Delenn to a similar setting.
Within this telepathically created construct, a sort of dark
limbo, Sheridan and Delenn are separately brought before the Shadows and the
Vorlons. Sheridan's encounter with the Vorlons occurs first. The representation of
the Vorlon is of a cold, veiled woman, frozen in ice. This is a symbolic depiction
of the Vorlons obsession with order, rigid and unmovable.
The Shadows on the other hand are chaotic, shifting, constantly changing form. The Shadows appear before Delenn to state their position in the form of Marcus, Ivanova, Lennier, Dr. Franklin and finally as Delenn herself. I have to give credit to Richard Biggs here because he does well in his short scene. There are a lot of quick cuts here between the Vorlons with Sheridan and the Shadows with Delenn. These encounters are both relayed to the others in the battle by Lorien in order to show the other races just what's at stake.
It is these scenes that, for a lot of people slow the episode down to become an anticlimactic disappointment. And that's too bad because, as Lorien had explained before, the war cannot be won by force. Sheridan's fleet even with the First Ones simply cannot withstand a battle with both the Shadows and the Vorlons. The enormity of that would most likely destroy his entire fleet as well as Coriana 6. This is, after all, a war of two opposing ideologies: order vs. chaos.
The Vorlons and the Shadows were meant to be guardians and shepherds for the younger races. But in effect they had become, as Sheridan put it like two parents arguing over the children. And so they have turned the galaxy into a sort of cosmic custody battle. And, as in most custody battles, the children are the ones to suffer despite the best intentions by selfish parents.
In the end both the Shadows and Vorlons give the opposing newer races one final chance as the Shadow planet killer cloud arrives. At this point the First Ones that were called in to be the big guns become rather irrelevant. The point is rather for the younger races to band together. The other ships surround the White Star, sacrificing themselves in order to protect Sheridan.
In this the younger races have made a necessary step. To stand up for themselves and face off against almost godlike beings. And in doing so they prove a point. That they can stand on their own, fighting legends. The time for the First Ones is passed and the younger races will now step up and become the shepherds for new races and hopefully not follow in the mistakes made by the Shadows and the Vorlons.
As with most of the three seasons before it this episode has many similarities to events in the Lord of the Rings. As the older almost mystical beings leave the human race behind, in this case to pass beyond the rim. Lorien returns to bid farewell to Sheridan. Telling the younger races of their obligation to teach the new races and then to step aside.
The scene shifts back to Vir and Londo on Centauri Prime. Londo states his opinion that he believes the universe conspires to ruin things for him whenever he's happy. it's an interesting viewpoint considering the pain he personally has caused to millions or even billions throughout the galaxy by his own actions.
The episode ends with John and Delenn returning to Babylon 5. The third age has now begun for them. In the first age the races were too primitive be be of any consequence. During the second they were manipulated even down to their DNA by other powers. And now it's the third age. Their age. And they can stand on their own. Making their own magic, creating legends and creating the future.
All in all a pretty intriguing and maybe just barely satisfying end to the long Shadow War story arc. It probably would have benefited if it had been a 2-part episode like A Voice in the Wilderness or War Without End. And it may not stand on many people's list of top ten B5 episodes. But it's still a damn interesting episode and a rather gutsy choice by JMS. It's absolutely worth a watch considering that it ends the Shadow War arc.
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