The 4400 is over. I do not say completed but I would be surprised if there was any continuation now the actors and production team has dispersed and given the way the final episode ended. It ended more satisfying than I had been left to believe but I believe there was a possibility that had public demand been greater and ratings higher then another season may have emerged.
Tuesday December 8th 2009 began well and early although the dreams had not been pleasant and I woke for the third time feeling I needed to have slept for longer. I wrote, or more accurately rewrote on going downstairs and did not breakfast until after nine. Then the planned day changed with a phone to call announce that the car was ready for collection. I decided first finish the writing and then packed up and made my way, listening to the BBC Newcastle which was interviewing a couple from Jarrow who won £2.7 million in the National Lottery North East two years. The husband in his early sixties had been made redundant and then worked for a local supermarket on the fruit and vegetable counter. They had switched channels after watching the Bill at nine o’clock and when the numbers came up the husband realised he had them within in his two lines but it was only when checking on the Teletext he realised he had the winning six and a share of the jackpot estimated at £2.7 million.
The coupled had commented at the time that if there were ten winners that would be £270000, a fortune given their circumstances. They had phoned their daughter and then the National Lottery live after getting out a magnifying glass to make sure they had the telephone number. The husband had not been able to speak and needed a tot of brandy and they had then spent the night giggling. The following day they were taken to a National Lottery Office in Liverpool for the ticket to be verified and then a local bank manager came with the checked to arrange to pay it into the bank of their choice.
I was so intent on listening to the interview that I went past the turning off the Newcastle Road to the Car Body Care centre and then taking the left turn, did I really say right and right yesterday, and on merry go round first reaching the metro station and then going around a housing estate , but worse was to come because the road I then took, instead of reaching the Newcastle Road once more went under it and into the large industrial area North towards the riverside and on a route I had never had cause to previously travel. There was nothing more to do than to reverse. Collecting the car and checking in the hire car only took a couple of minutes, The replacement lockable petrol cap means an additional key. The back shelf cover was no long automatic. The drivers rear door still has locking and unlocking problems but appears to work. The most disappointing aspect was that the front paint scratch was unattended. I suspected this was the position given the problems created by what had happened. I decided to take the vehicle as it was It is a box on wheels compared to the rounded lines of the courtesy car with its radio controls on the steering wheel. If I ever win the lottery! I once was in position to have a monster saloon complete with air conditioning, which was a bonus on a trip to the South of France. The experience appeared destined not to last, there is no free lunch, there is always the downside for every upside and of an overall accumulation for everyone individually and collectively.
The 4400 has ended and a review of some of the extras confirms what I thought all along. There was only a flimsy storyline in the beginning and the 4400 was a number selected because it sounded good, with original title such as The Bright Light. The writers accept they switched from developing the main theme from stories about the returning 4400 to the idea of the Promicin being able to bring out special abilities any people. And from being produced only by Isabelle for the government at 17000 doses sufficient for 3 years for a small unit of specially trainee soldiers 20 reduce to 10 through the fifty fifty, to any individual having taken the shot and survived being able to produce unlimited supplies and someone developing the ability to distribute the power as a viral infection thus creating the situation where half the popular die and half develop special abilities. This changed the master plan to affecting the future in a positive way to creating a new super people state and the debateable proposition that the powers would collectively be put to good use.
The final episodes and the end pieces also confirms my feeling that the writers became bogged down in trying to find new abilities which might interest the public and make a storybook. In the closing moments the director of the unit develops the ability to turn a pen into a flower, what a power and social significance when compared to the lass that is able to transform a polluted river into drinking water. There is admission in the extras that this was a filler moment and that having moved away from individual stories centring on the special abilities they were interested in showing new abilities within the budget and decision to end the series by attempting to answer the various questions which the Fourth season had posed. I suspect the writers intentionally left the door open raising several questions in case another season was commissioned. So how did it all end.
It begins with a diversion. In Daddy’s Little Girl I was unsure why the story had been written except to bring back Richard and his wife to play happy families with a young and innocent Isabelle. Surely not? Richard kidnaps Isabelle disclosing that he has been staying with 4400 returnees and he is back to regain contact with his daughter. However he has a secret plan which involves kidnapping Isabelle and getting her to drink water prepared by another returnee that can reverse the aging process. She is taken back to her babyhood before the transformation and then his wife is added. This however lasts only a brief period of time and he realises he has taken away Isabelle’s personality and arranged for her to return to being a young woman but still Promicin free and allergic. However this all a fiendish plot of the future or at least some of them!
It will be remembered that Tom was taken to a special clinic by the government and given an injection which is to turn him into one of the Marked, beings from the future who take over the bodies of prominent people in the world in order to prevent others from the future helping to change the present in such a way to prevent the catastrophe of the future. In One of Us the change takes place and Tom learn who the others of the Marked are, and surprise surprise one is the boss of Homeland Security who comes to the Seattle area with bodyguards to overseas the response to the 4400, the re-emergence of Jordan Collier and the Promicin takers One of Tom‘s early assignment is to kill the man with the ability to solve past assassination riddles and who thought he could identify the Marked. Another is to stop Maia having visions so Tom injects her with the Promicin suppressant and Maia gets sick. He has already commenced an affair with the new boss of the Seattle based 4400 monitoring unit, and she like Diana has seen and enjoyed La Dolce Vita, thus indicating what, I believe nothing other than one of the writers liked the film or the company agreed to a product placement which is all the fashion these days in terms of maximising income and profit. However Diana and his boss become suspicious.
Meanwhile Doc Burkoff is close to working out how to identify those who will die if they take Promicin and Shawn goes on the box to alert folks that they should hang fire as the forecaster will be available within weeks. This does not suit Jordan and Kyle who want the world to become just Promicin Positives with the rest dying away, literally. They kidnap Burkoff. Richard having lost his wife again and arranged for the conversion of Isabelle back into a young woman is captured and confined in the Government and Isabelle is made Promicin Positive by the Marked and given all her old powers back with her first assignment the capture of Jordan Collier.
Ghost in the Machine is another divertissement. Maia is given a great birthday present from the power to take people back to times when they were happy. She is taken back to her parents or more accurately her parents are brought to her. The main story of Ghost in the Machine is a man who wants revenge on the Software corporation headed by another of the Marked. The man has suffered a stroke and is on a life support system but gains the special power to manipulate markets after taking the Promicin. When Tom, now of the Marked, finds out the information and passes it on to the CEO of the software company, they agree the culprit must be stopped. When the family fails to cooperate Tom crashes his vehicle to cause the systems failure of the life support system and the man dies thus bringing the system back to normal. In reactivating Isabelle a fail safe device has also been fitted which will kill her if she disobeys and fails to carry out instructions.
In the penultimate episode- Tiny Machines, Diana and the unit boss work out how to neutralise the Marked with Tom. This involves killing him with a radiation dosage and using Shawn to revive. First they need to capture Tom and for this they enlist the help of Maia who pretends to be helping Tom by saying that she had mislead him by not saying she had a vision in which Diana has gun and is about to kill Tom.
So we come to the Great Leap Forward in which what happens in the separate storylines is interwoven to create the grand climax.
The catalyst is Shawn’s brother who has taken the Promicin on finding out from Burkoff that he has a 90% plus chance of not being rejected. However his special power is to be able to give people Promicin in the form of an airborne virus, thus half the population in his immediate vicinity gain special powers whether they like it or not and the other half die. The young man only realises this when his mother gets sick and is taken to the local hospital where the 50:50 killing starts. The virus has no effect on those with Promicin already and Diana and Dr Burkoff because of his separate Promicin making experiment are also immune. The younger brother then seeks Shawn’s help and with Burkoff’s help and that of Diana works out that the reason she rejected the shot was because of a body constituted immunity and which fortunately for the world is already manufactured as a health supplement and in branded medications which means that the population can be protected either from unwittingly gaining special powers or its side effect of death!
Thus we have a situation it will be possible for everyone to be tested if they wish to determine if they are able to take Promicin without the likelihood of the side effect, or take an inexpensive over the counter drug to prevent the effects of the wonder drug if they are unwittingly exposed. People therefore have the choice to remain as they are or find out if they have special powers. Obviously this is one of the great flaws in the whole series- the random nature of special abilities which given the way the goodies and baddies of the future are able to control in other ways is obvious nonsense. It should have been one or the other and this reflects the lack of an overall series integrity and the admission by the writers that they switched between the final season outline, ideas development and the requirements of the network and their paymasters.
The reason for the capture of Jordan is to turn him into the Marked and therefore to betray and destroy the mission movement he has created. Isabelle having completed her part believes she is then free to join Richard who The Marked have promised to arrange his release from prison. However back at the ranch Kyle has taken over the leadership of the movement and is working with Shawn and Diana to bring order to the City while the authorities ensure everyone has the antidote and also work out how to cope with a city half full of people with special abilities- they become abilities if they are positive developments and powers if they are negative (My terminology). However faced with killing the man she has come to love, (I know I forgot to mention this development), she cannot go through with her assignment knowing that to fail will end her life. Therefore she atones for her earlier behaviour with self sacrifice.
Meanwhile Tom decides that he will pretend to remain of the Marked and seek to free Jordan and learn what his former colleagues are still up to. However he gives his game away on learning that Isabelle has been sent off to kill his son, and is captured by the National Intelligence leader, who in turn has told the head of the software company his use in the adopted role has ended and he kills himself to enable the being to be transferred to another. Jordan is kept alive for the full conversion after Isabelle has carried out her mission and Tom is kept alive so the Mark can find out how he managed to shake off the implanted being. Isabelle having decided not to kill Kyle comes to rescue and manages to dispose of the National Intelligence Director and her bodyguards before she also dies.
There is a moving last scene where Tom, Kyle and Shawn’s attend the funeral of the younger brother and Shawn’s mother. It is not clear what happens to the body of Isabelle or her incarcerated father, although there is a photo of him among the final stills. Before the solution to the Promicin virus is discovered it enters the Unit centre killing half of those present but the former boyfriend of Diana survives and he develops the ability to travel to places and situations he likes in photographs. There is the suggestion he will make it again with Diana and play happy families with Maia. Tom will play happy families with the head of the Unit having discarded his former wife and Alana.
Jordan with Kyle his right and left arm adviser and instructing interpreter of the new bible take over the running of the city which in the final shot is to have become Promisc City. Diana worries about what will happen and Maia does not reassure her by saying we will be in charge and it will be better.
There are lots of questions left such how will it all work out. Will beings from the future still try and intervene in Seattle and the world as it changes? Even if the current batch of the Marked are dead as Tom gives their names to Jordan as a thank you parting gift will another group come back from the future? Will Tom take the shot which his son gives to him in another of the final scenes? Given that we know of the random nature of the special powers and that they can be used negatively and harmfully as well as positively will the Government of the USA stand back? Will the powers be given to third world countries and to presently opposing political systems and religions for example?
Midweek also saw the final episode of the first season Babylon 5 and this was much more satisfying. On Tuesday the episode concentrated on the relationship of the good station medical director who started to run a free clinic among the poorer classes of station revealing the ship liner construction with the ambassadors and other influentials occupying the higher levels and the chancers and adventurers the underclass inability the bowels of the station.
On Wednesday, Garibaldi the station security Chief learns of a plot to kill someone important. Although Garibaldi learns that the plot is to kill the President who is travelling in Earth Force One and informs station Commander Sinclair it is too late as the communication system is jammed and the plane explodes. The Vice President has managed to escape and is sworn in. The explosion is described as an accident and although Sinclair attempts to provide the evidence to the contrary he is blocked and the information disregarded. However this is a minor part of the big picture.
The final episode of the first season began with Ambassador Mollari of the Narns and Ambassador G’Kar of the Centauri arguing over territory and violations before a meeting the Council. Mollari is accusing the Centauri with G’Kar denies when in fact Mollari has been persuaded to create an incident which will lead him to be regarded as a hero. G’Kar returns to his home world to find out what is what and tells his assistant that there is someone else out there.
Mollari does not know is that he is being used by a master race to ferment dissent between the civilizations who are members of the Babylon 5 Council. The mysterious race have no obvious solid physical form, thus we are introduced to the Shadows. Mollari is beside himself on learning that 10000 Narns have died. There were 9000 deaths in Seattle from the Promicin virus.
Commander Sinclair proposes marriage to his girlfriend. Delenn intervenes indirectly to say she needs to tell him what happened to him on the Minbari ship, (I thought he had been taken back to the home planet) and why as a consequence her race had surrendered to the Earth Alliance when they were at the point of victory. She has a meeting with Ambassador Kosh after her assistant makes preliminary contact on her behalf. Kosh reveals himself to Delenn and she tells him he will not see her again in her existing state. Kosh tells Commander Sinclair that “It begins,” and then reminds Sinclair that he has forgotten what happened to him on the Minbari ship. When Delenn tries to explain what happened Sinclair decides to take a rain check and go in search of Garibaldi who is found shot in the back, by his traitorous assistant, When Ivanova is seen watching the good doctor trying to save Garibaldi’s life she is joined by Ambassador Mollari who expresses concern and a wish to remain on watch with her. We know his motives are not what they seem.
Delenn can wait no longer and enters a cocoon Chrysalis. The episode is called Chrysalis but attaches a device with the information for Sinclair about what happened and his part of the Great prophecy. Sinclair’s last words in the episode and season are “Nothing is the same anymore” Thus the episode is packed with crucial development as part of the master plan and leaving the audience eagerly awaiting the second season. I have not checked if season two begins tomorrow or we have to await until the New Year. Such is life and there is so much to do before my next trip.
The X files last two episodes do not have a summary available on Wikipedia which says a lot for their value. In All Souls Sculley investigates the death of Catholic children and this brings her into Catholic mythology, monsters and devils as well as angels on a mission. In the Pine Bluff variant Sculley suspects Mulder is up to no good until being told he is participating in a deep cover special mission. The bottom line is that the USA government is experimenting with a killer biological agent which can kill anyone locally without remaining in the atmosphere through aerosol can. I failed to understand the double bluffs and complex involvement of the government.
Things were much simpler in Spooks which I will leave until Friday when the next episode is also being shown. It is a top notch spy series. Wednesday was also a good day in arranging to get the car sorted and listening to PMQ’s and then seeing the Autumn financial statement being delivered to an excited House of Commons.
Tuesday December 8th 2009 began well and early although the dreams had not been pleasant and I woke for the third time feeling I needed to have slept for longer. I wrote, or more accurately rewrote on going downstairs and did not breakfast until after nine. Then the planned day changed with a phone to call announce that the car was ready for collection. I decided first finish the writing and then packed up and made my way, listening to the BBC Newcastle which was interviewing a couple from Jarrow who won £2.7 million in the National Lottery North East two years. The husband in his early sixties had been made redundant and then worked for a local supermarket on the fruit and vegetable counter. They had switched channels after watching the Bill at nine o’clock and when the numbers came up the husband realised he had them within in his two lines but it was only when checking on the Teletext he realised he had the winning six and a share of the jackpot estimated at £2.7 million.
The coupled had commented at the time that if there were ten winners that would be £270000, a fortune given their circumstances. They had phoned their daughter and then the National Lottery live after getting out a magnifying glass to make sure they had the telephone number. The husband had not been able to speak and needed a tot of brandy and they had then spent the night giggling. The following day they were taken to a National Lottery Office in Liverpool for the ticket to be verified and then a local bank manager came with the checked to arrange to pay it into the bank of their choice.
I was so intent on listening to the interview that I went past the turning off the Newcastle Road to the Car Body Care centre and then taking the left turn, did I really say right and right yesterday, and on merry go round first reaching the metro station and then going around a housing estate , but worse was to come because the road I then took, instead of reaching the Newcastle Road once more went under it and into the large industrial area North towards the riverside and on a route I had never had cause to previously travel. There was nothing more to do than to reverse. Collecting the car and checking in the hire car only took a couple of minutes, The replacement lockable petrol cap means an additional key. The back shelf cover was no long automatic. The drivers rear door still has locking and unlocking problems but appears to work. The most disappointing aspect was that the front paint scratch was unattended. I suspected this was the position given the problems created by what had happened. I decided to take the vehicle as it was It is a box on wheels compared to the rounded lines of the courtesy car with its radio controls on the steering wheel. If I ever win the lottery! I once was in position to have a monster saloon complete with air conditioning, which was a bonus on a trip to the South of France. The experience appeared destined not to last, there is no free lunch, there is always the downside for every upside and of an overall accumulation for everyone individually and collectively.
The 4400 has ended and a review of some of the extras confirms what I thought all along. There was only a flimsy storyline in the beginning and the 4400 was a number selected because it sounded good, with original title such as The Bright Light. The writers accept they switched from developing the main theme from stories about the returning 4400 to the idea of the Promicin being able to bring out special abilities any people. And from being produced only by Isabelle for the government at 17000 doses sufficient for 3 years for a small unit of specially trainee soldiers 20 reduce to 10 through the fifty fifty, to any individual having taken the shot and survived being able to produce unlimited supplies and someone developing the ability to distribute the power as a viral infection thus creating the situation where half the popular die and half develop special abilities. This changed the master plan to affecting the future in a positive way to creating a new super people state and the debateable proposition that the powers would collectively be put to good use.
The final episodes and the end pieces also confirms my feeling that the writers became bogged down in trying to find new abilities which might interest the public and make a storybook. In the closing moments the director of the unit develops the ability to turn a pen into a flower, what a power and social significance when compared to the lass that is able to transform a polluted river into drinking water. There is admission in the extras that this was a filler moment and that having moved away from individual stories centring on the special abilities they were interested in showing new abilities within the budget and decision to end the series by attempting to answer the various questions which the Fourth season had posed. I suspect the writers intentionally left the door open raising several questions in case another season was commissioned. So how did it all end.
It begins with a diversion. In Daddy’s Little Girl I was unsure why the story had been written except to bring back Richard and his wife to play happy families with a young and innocent Isabelle. Surely not? Richard kidnaps Isabelle disclosing that he has been staying with 4400 returnees and he is back to regain contact with his daughter. However he has a secret plan which involves kidnapping Isabelle and getting her to drink water prepared by another returnee that can reverse the aging process. She is taken back to her babyhood before the transformation and then his wife is added. This however lasts only a brief period of time and he realises he has taken away Isabelle’s personality and arranged for her to return to being a young woman but still Promicin free and allergic. However this all a fiendish plot of the future or at least some of them!
It will be remembered that Tom was taken to a special clinic by the government and given an injection which is to turn him into one of the Marked, beings from the future who take over the bodies of prominent people in the world in order to prevent others from the future helping to change the present in such a way to prevent the catastrophe of the future. In One of Us the change takes place and Tom learn who the others of the Marked are, and surprise surprise one is the boss of Homeland Security who comes to the Seattle area with bodyguards to overseas the response to the 4400, the re-emergence of Jordan Collier and the Promicin takers One of Tom‘s early assignment is to kill the man with the ability to solve past assassination riddles and who thought he could identify the Marked. Another is to stop Maia having visions so Tom injects her with the Promicin suppressant and Maia gets sick. He has already commenced an affair with the new boss of the Seattle based 4400 monitoring unit, and she like Diana has seen and enjoyed La Dolce Vita, thus indicating what, I believe nothing other than one of the writers liked the film or the company agreed to a product placement which is all the fashion these days in terms of maximising income and profit. However Diana and his boss become suspicious.
Meanwhile Doc Burkoff is close to working out how to identify those who will die if they take Promicin and Shawn goes on the box to alert folks that they should hang fire as the forecaster will be available within weeks. This does not suit Jordan and Kyle who want the world to become just Promicin Positives with the rest dying away, literally. They kidnap Burkoff. Richard having lost his wife again and arranged for the conversion of Isabelle back into a young woman is captured and confined in the Government and Isabelle is made Promicin Positive by the Marked and given all her old powers back with her first assignment the capture of Jordan Collier.
Ghost in the Machine is another divertissement. Maia is given a great birthday present from the power to take people back to times when they were happy. She is taken back to her parents or more accurately her parents are brought to her. The main story of Ghost in the Machine is a man who wants revenge on the Software corporation headed by another of the Marked. The man has suffered a stroke and is on a life support system but gains the special power to manipulate markets after taking the Promicin. When Tom, now of the Marked, finds out the information and passes it on to the CEO of the software company, they agree the culprit must be stopped. When the family fails to cooperate Tom crashes his vehicle to cause the systems failure of the life support system and the man dies thus bringing the system back to normal. In reactivating Isabelle a fail safe device has also been fitted which will kill her if she disobeys and fails to carry out instructions.
In the penultimate episode- Tiny Machines, Diana and the unit boss work out how to neutralise the Marked with Tom. This involves killing him with a radiation dosage and using Shawn to revive. First they need to capture Tom and for this they enlist the help of Maia who pretends to be helping Tom by saying that she had mislead him by not saying she had a vision in which Diana has gun and is about to kill Tom.
So we come to the Great Leap Forward in which what happens in the separate storylines is interwoven to create the grand climax.
The catalyst is Shawn’s brother who has taken the Promicin on finding out from Burkoff that he has a 90% plus chance of not being rejected. However his special power is to be able to give people Promicin in the form of an airborne virus, thus half the population in his immediate vicinity gain special powers whether they like it or not and the other half die. The young man only realises this when his mother gets sick and is taken to the local hospital where the 50:50 killing starts. The virus has no effect on those with Promicin already and Diana and Dr Burkoff because of his separate Promicin making experiment are also immune. The younger brother then seeks Shawn’s help and with Burkoff’s help and that of Diana works out that the reason she rejected the shot was because of a body constituted immunity and which fortunately for the world is already manufactured as a health supplement and in branded medications which means that the population can be protected either from unwittingly gaining special powers or its side effect of death!
Thus we have a situation it will be possible for everyone to be tested if they wish to determine if they are able to take Promicin without the likelihood of the side effect, or take an inexpensive over the counter drug to prevent the effects of the wonder drug if they are unwittingly exposed. People therefore have the choice to remain as they are or find out if they have special powers. Obviously this is one of the great flaws in the whole series- the random nature of special abilities which given the way the goodies and baddies of the future are able to control in other ways is obvious nonsense. It should have been one or the other and this reflects the lack of an overall series integrity and the admission by the writers that they switched between the final season outline, ideas development and the requirements of the network and their paymasters.
The reason for the capture of Jordan is to turn him into the Marked and therefore to betray and destroy the mission movement he has created. Isabelle having completed her part believes she is then free to join Richard who The Marked have promised to arrange his release from prison. However back at the ranch Kyle has taken over the leadership of the movement and is working with Shawn and Diana to bring order to the City while the authorities ensure everyone has the antidote and also work out how to cope with a city half full of people with special abilities- they become abilities if they are positive developments and powers if they are negative (My terminology). However faced with killing the man she has come to love, (I know I forgot to mention this development), she cannot go through with her assignment knowing that to fail will end her life. Therefore she atones for her earlier behaviour with self sacrifice.
Meanwhile Tom decides that he will pretend to remain of the Marked and seek to free Jordan and learn what his former colleagues are still up to. However he gives his game away on learning that Isabelle has been sent off to kill his son, and is captured by the National Intelligence leader, who in turn has told the head of the software company his use in the adopted role has ended and he kills himself to enable the being to be transferred to another. Jordan is kept alive for the full conversion after Isabelle has carried out her mission and Tom is kept alive so the Mark can find out how he managed to shake off the implanted being. Isabelle having decided not to kill Kyle comes to rescue and manages to dispose of the National Intelligence Director and her bodyguards before she also dies.
There is a moving last scene where Tom, Kyle and Shawn’s attend the funeral of the younger brother and Shawn’s mother. It is not clear what happens to the body of Isabelle or her incarcerated father, although there is a photo of him among the final stills. Before the solution to the Promicin virus is discovered it enters the Unit centre killing half of those present but the former boyfriend of Diana survives and he develops the ability to travel to places and situations he likes in photographs. There is the suggestion he will make it again with Diana and play happy families with Maia. Tom will play happy families with the head of the Unit having discarded his former wife and Alana.
Jordan with Kyle his right and left arm adviser and instructing interpreter of the new bible take over the running of the city which in the final shot is to have become Promisc City. Diana worries about what will happen and Maia does not reassure her by saying we will be in charge and it will be better.
There are lots of questions left such how will it all work out. Will beings from the future still try and intervene in Seattle and the world as it changes? Even if the current batch of the Marked are dead as Tom gives their names to Jordan as a thank you parting gift will another group come back from the future? Will Tom take the shot which his son gives to him in another of the final scenes? Given that we know of the random nature of the special powers and that they can be used negatively and harmfully as well as positively will the Government of the USA stand back? Will the powers be given to third world countries and to presently opposing political systems and religions for example?
Midweek also saw the final episode of the first season Babylon 5 and this was much more satisfying. On Tuesday the episode concentrated on the relationship of the good station medical director who started to run a free clinic among the poorer classes of station revealing the ship liner construction with the ambassadors and other influentials occupying the higher levels and the chancers and adventurers the underclass inability the bowels of the station.
On Wednesday, Garibaldi the station security Chief learns of a plot to kill someone important. Although Garibaldi learns that the plot is to kill the President who is travelling in Earth Force One and informs station Commander Sinclair it is too late as the communication system is jammed and the plane explodes. The Vice President has managed to escape and is sworn in. The explosion is described as an accident and although Sinclair attempts to provide the evidence to the contrary he is blocked and the information disregarded. However this is a minor part of the big picture.
The final episode of the first season began with Ambassador Mollari of the Narns and Ambassador G’Kar of the Centauri arguing over territory and violations before a meeting the Council. Mollari is accusing the Centauri with G’Kar denies when in fact Mollari has been persuaded to create an incident which will lead him to be regarded as a hero. G’Kar returns to his home world to find out what is what and tells his assistant that there is someone else out there.
Mollari does not know is that he is being used by a master race to ferment dissent between the civilizations who are members of the Babylon 5 Council. The mysterious race have no obvious solid physical form, thus we are introduced to the Shadows. Mollari is beside himself on learning that 10000 Narns have died. There were 9000 deaths in Seattle from the Promicin virus.
Commander Sinclair proposes marriage to his girlfriend. Delenn intervenes indirectly to say she needs to tell him what happened to him on the Minbari ship, (I thought he had been taken back to the home planet) and why as a consequence her race had surrendered to the Earth Alliance when they were at the point of victory. She has a meeting with Ambassador Kosh after her assistant makes preliminary contact on her behalf. Kosh reveals himself to Delenn and she tells him he will not see her again in her existing state. Kosh tells Commander Sinclair that “It begins,” and then reminds Sinclair that he has forgotten what happened to him on the Minbari ship. When Delenn tries to explain what happened Sinclair decides to take a rain check and go in search of Garibaldi who is found shot in the back, by his traitorous assistant, When Ivanova is seen watching the good doctor trying to save Garibaldi’s life she is joined by Ambassador Mollari who expresses concern and a wish to remain on watch with her. We know his motives are not what they seem.
Delenn can wait no longer and enters a cocoon Chrysalis. The episode is called Chrysalis but attaches a device with the information for Sinclair about what happened and his part of the Great prophecy. Sinclair’s last words in the episode and season are “Nothing is the same anymore” Thus the episode is packed with crucial development as part of the master plan and leaving the audience eagerly awaiting the second season. I have not checked if season two begins tomorrow or we have to await until the New Year. Such is life and there is so much to do before my next trip.
The X files last two episodes do not have a summary available on Wikipedia which says a lot for their value. In All Souls Sculley investigates the death of Catholic children and this brings her into Catholic mythology, monsters and devils as well as angels on a mission. In the Pine Bluff variant Sculley suspects Mulder is up to no good until being told he is participating in a deep cover special mission. The bottom line is that the USA government is experimenting with a killer biological agent which can kill anyone locally without remaining in the atmosphere through aerosol can. I failed to understand the double bluffs and complex involvement of the government.
Things were much simpler in Spooks which I will leave until Friday when the next episode is also being shown. It is a top notch spy series. Wednesday was also a good day in arranging to get the car sorted and listening to PMQ’s and then seeing the Autumn financial statement being delivered to an excited House of Commons.
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