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Some more scattered Babylon 5 thoughts
I haven't rewatched more B5, but I was watching various early episodes earlier this week for vid clipping purposes, and I'm still thinking about that.
I mentioned in the previous post that watching early episodes makes me notice how well the foreshadowing is set up. It's pure coincidence that Londo's arc is the one that never really had to deal with any major actor swaps or other broad changes, but it makes me realize how meticulous the planning and groundwork for it was, even in season one. (And probably some of the others, is the thing - it's just that Londo's arc is the one where all, or at least most, of the early groundwork got to play out fully.)
For example, Delenn isn't as much of a major player in Londo's storyline as G'Kar and Vir are, but she still gets a clearly defined arc with him. It's definitely significant that Delenn and Londo are the people who go to Epsilon 3 with Draal, and Draal bringing up the Third Principle of Sentient Life directly regarding Londo (the capacity for self-sacrifice). Delenn is the person who hears Londo's brief speech about wanting to die on his feet, doing something brave and noble - and she'll be the person he sacrifices his life for, 20 years later, exactly like that, except neither of them knows it yet.
It's just such a beautifully meticulous string of dominoes being laid with them, knowing now in the early episodes where they end up. I knew just enough of Londo's eventual outcome to appreciate that to an extent when I watched "A Voice in the Wilderness" the first time, but knowing now how directly his self-sacrificial death relates to Delenn, specifically, it's really wonderful to see how the groundwork is laid there, as well as with some of the season 2-3 Delenn and Londo scenes: the way the two of them swing very far apart while he's working with the Shadows, even Lennier's regret in season 3 about having risked his life to save Londo's. (Which pays off much later in ways they could never have known then.)
I love the care and detail with which each of his major relationships was built up from start to finish (Londo and Delenn, Londo and Vir, Londo and G'Kar).
...
This is more just kinda something I was thinking about than directly related to episodes I rewatched, but it occurred to me that the Cartagia arc - early season 4 - is the part of the series where Londo and Vir actually become friends. There's definitely caring between them earlier, and protectiveness (mutual even, it's really interesting how Vir blames himself for letting G'Kar into Londo's quarters in the Dust episode, even though as Londo points out there was really nothing he could have done) but I feel like there's an equality between them in the Cartagia arc that they've never really had before, or could have had before. In season one, their dynamic was far too unequal for actual friendship - Vir is much too tentative, Londo is far too awful to him, the awareness of the social/hierarchical gap between them is too huge. Then in season 2-3 there's the Shadow situation pushing them in opposite directions, as much as Vir still clearly does have probably more loyalty to Londo than Londo deserves.
But in the pressure cooker of Cartagia's court, they're both on more-or-less equal footing for perhaps the first time ever, and there's a lot more, I guess, open emotional intimacy between them than they've ever had before. Vir hiding his face against Londo's shoulder when they're having to watch G'Kar being whipped, and Londo physically keeps himself between Vir and Cartagia during that scene ... and later on there's the conversation they have when Vir is drunk (Londo actually managing to be comforting for a change, making one of his asymptotic approaches and near-misses with apology), and the two of them holding onto each other when the Shadow ship shows up, and of course the hug at the end. They come out of that whole thing so much closer than they went into it.
This makes me regret that they never really get a lot of interaction in the show after Cartagia, aside from a few moments here and there. They have some lovely scenes in "The Long Night of Londo Mollari" and then Londo handing off the ambassadorial duties in late season five is also really nice, but there really is an absolute dearth of scenes for them otherwise. We very rarely see them hanging out in Londo's quarters like we did in earlier seasons. (Vir himself isn't in the show very much from the end of the Cartagia arc onward, which is really too bad. I would happily have had a little less Byron in season five and a little more Vir ...)
I mentioned in the previous post that watching early episodes makes me notice how well the foreshadowing is set up. It's pure coincidence that Londo's arc is the one that never really had to deal with any major actor swaps or other broad changes, but it makes me realize how meticulous the planning and groundwork for it was, even in season one. (And probably some of the others, is the thing - it's just that Londo's arc is the one where all, or at least most, of the early groundwork got to play out fully.)
For example, Delenn isn't as much of a major player in Londo's storyline as G'Kar and Vir are, but she still gets a clearly defined arc with him. It's definitely significant that Delenn and Londo are the people who go to Epsilon 3 with Draal, and Draal bringing up the Third Principle of Sentient Life directly regarding Londo (the capacity for self-sacrifice). Delenn is the person who hears Londo's brief speech about wanting to die on his feet, doing something brave and noble - and she'll be the person he sacrifices his life for, 20 years later, exactly like that, except neither of them knows it yet.
It's just such a beautifully meticulous string of dominoes being laid with them, knowing now in the early episodes where they end up. I knew just enough of Londo's eventual outcome to appreciate that to an extent when I watched "A Voice in the Wilderness" the first time, but knowing now how directly his self-sacrificial death relates to Delenn, specifically, it's really wonderful to see how the groundwork is laid there, as well as with some of the season 2-3 Delenn and Londo scenes: the way the two of them swing very far apart while he's working with the Shadows, even Lennier's regret in season 3 about having risked his life to save Londo's. (Which pays off much later in ways they could never have known then.)
I love the care and detail with which each of his major relationships was built up from start to finish (Londo and Delenn, Londo and Vir, Londo and G'Kar).
...
This is more just kinda something I was thinking about than directly related to episodes I rewatched, but it occurred to me that the Cartagia arc - early season 4 - is the part of the series where Londo and Vir actually become friends. There's definitely caring between them earlier, and protectiveness (mutual even, it's really interesting how Vir blames himself for letting G'Kar into Londo's quarters in the Dust episode, even though as Londo points out there was really nothing he could have done) but I feel like there's an equality between them in the Cartagia arc that they've never really had before, or could have had before. In season one, their dynamic was far too unequal for actual friendship - Vir is much too tentative, Londo is far too awful to him, the awareness of the social/hierarchical gap between them is too huge. Then in season 2-3 there's the Shadow situation pushing them in opposite directions, as much as Vir still clearly does have probably more loyalty to Londo than Londo deserves.
But in the pressure cooker of Cartagia's court, they're both on more-or-less equal footing for perhaps the first time ever, and there's a lot more, I guess, open emotional intimacy between them than they've ever had before. Vir hiding his face against Londo's shoulder when they're having to watch G'Kar being whipped, and Londo physically keeps himself between Vir and Cartagia during that scene ... and later on there's the conversation they have when Vir is drunk (Londo actually managing to be comforting for a change, making one of his asymptotic approaches and near-misses with apology), and the two of them holding onto each other when the Shadow ship shows up, and of course the hug at the end. They come out of that whole thing so much closer than they went into it.
This makes me regret that they never really get a lot of interaction in the show after Cartagia, aside from a few moments here and there. They have some lovely scenes in "The Long Night of Londo Mollari" and then Londo handing off the ambassadorial duties in late season five is also really nice, but there really is an absolute dearth of scenes for them otherwise. We very rarely see them hanging out in Londo's quarters like we did in earlier seasons. (Vir himself isn't in the show very much from the end of the Cartagia arc onward, which is really too bad. I would happily have had a little less Byron in season five and a little more Vir ...)