Discerning Lurkers Portal: A Babylon 5 Podcast

We are finally back with another Babylon 5 episode review, this time taking a look at 1.12 "By All Means Necessary."

Which two characters were the saving grace of this episode?

Did the co-hosts like the main subplot centered around the dock workers?

Did the co-hosts enjoy Sinclair's creative solutions to the workers' issues and/or the diplomatic and interpersonal issues between two ambassadors?

Which guest actor performance did the co-hosts like and which one did they not?

What were the co-hosts' favorite quotes from the episode?

What were the co-hosts' issues with the Eduardo character?

What were some of the flaws in the resolution to the episode?

What did the co-hosts think of the negotiating skills of the Orin Zento character?

What kinds of hoops did JMS's then-wife have to go through to write this episode without there being any sense of nepotism?

What kinds of bizarre subplots and character inclusions were in early drafts of the scripts?

What/who is the Rush Act named after?

What questions did Dave have for Todd in the Spoiler Zone?

Listen now for the answers to these and other questions as we try to negotiate the episode..."By Any Means Necessary."

If you'd like to contact us, our e-mail is [email protected].

We might have separate Facebook & Twitter accounts "soon" (okay, *eventually*), but for now, you can also check us out at the sites for our "parent" podcast, The Discerning Geeks Portal, where we take a discerning look into other geeky topics with an additional co-host and with a frequent focus on movie reviews.

Facebook: Discerning Geeks Portal

Twitter: @DiscerningGeeks

Public domain music used in this episode...

Intro / Transition Into Spoiler Zone / Outro: "P----'s Lullaby" by Alexander Nakarada via FreePD.com (Note: This song sounds perfect for the intro to season 1 of the podcast, but it has an unfortunate name that includes the last name of a war-loving leader of a certain Eurasian country that has recently attacked & invaded another country in 2022. From now on, I'm just going to sensor the P-word in the name of the song.)

This week, we cover the first of Babylon 5's only two-parters, "A Voice in the Wilderness, Parts 1 & 2."

Which co-host(s) wonder how previous survey crews somehow missed the Great Machine and deemed Epsilon 3 a dead world?

Do our co-hosts have bad memories, or are there reasons why portions of this two-parter seem easy to forget?

What did Draal mean being going "to the sea"?

How did the co-hosts feel about the further development of the background Mars subplot? Is Mars too much in the background?

What were the co-hosts' favorite moments?

Which guest actor will return later but playing a different character?

Were Sinclair & Garibaldi wrong for their protectiveness over Ivanova, who's tough enough to take care of herself?

When going through quotes in Green Sector, which co-host loved an exchange between Londo & Garibaldi, and which co-host loved a tirade by a cranky Ivanova?

Which co-host is a little worried Garibaldi might be a creeper?

Which tiny little pause by a cast member led one of the co-hosts to reading a snippet from an interview in which that actor admitted to a certain level of disbelief before doing what he did in that scene?

Which co-host made an unexpected connection between the lyrics of the "Hokey Pokey" and something more serious that was revealed in the episode?

Which character do the co-hosts really miss, and how many episodes have gone without that character in them?

Did the co-hosts have a lot of nitpicks for this episode?

What were the business-related reasons JMS was encourage to write a two-parter like this?

What led JMS to totally re-write the script for this two-parter?

Did the co-hosts have similar or different final grades for these episodes?

And, what spoilers did the co-hosts cover in the Spoiler Zone?

Listen now for the answers to these and other questions as we explore "A Voice in the Wilderness."

If you see a 5-star rating system, remember to click on 5 stars if you love us or 4 stars if you hate us. Don't bother with the other three stars. I really don't understand why they're even there. ;)

If you'd like to contact us, our e-mail is [email protected].

Facebook: Discerning Geeks Portal

Twitter: @DiscerningGeeks

Public domain music used in this episode...

Intro / Transition Into Spoiler Zone / Outro: "P----'s Lullaby" by Alexander Nakarada via FreePD.com (Note: This song sounds perfect for the intro to season 1 of the podcast, but it has an unfortunate name that includes the last name of a war-loving leader of a certain Eurasian country. From now on, I'm just going to sensor the P-word in the name of the song.)

Greetings, Discerning Listeners, and thank you for stepping through the portal with us for the very first episode of The Discerning Lurkers Portal: A Babylon 5 Podcast. Also, Happy Anniversary, as we release this episode on the 29th anniversary of the premiere of "The Gathering," the pilot TV movie, starting it all on 22 February 1993. Apparently, the modern gift for 29th anniversaries is furniture. I'll take a new bedroom suite, if anyone's buying.

We will be taking a discerning look, episode by episode, of Babylon 5, one of the best sci-fi TV shows ever and a favorite of the hosts, Dave & Todd. In our first episode, we'll talk a little about what drew us to Babylon 5 and about the structure & content of each of our episodes before diving in to our review of "The Gathering" itself.

We'll explain a little of that structure here...

Blue Sector: We start with a brief episode summary & logistical info like episode order, writer, and director.

Red Sector: This is open discussion about the episode's subplots, world-building, and things we generally liked.

Green Sector: This is a deeper focus into characters, performances, and quotable dialogue (three of the best aspects of Babylon 5).

Brown Sector: Even the best things in life aren't perfect. Here, we'll highlight flaws & nitpicks.

Grey Sector: We'll wrap up with trivia, behind-the-scenes info, and our scores for the episode (based on the Psi Corps P-rating system of P1 to P12). Then, we'll say a preliminary goodbye to newer viewers before delving into spoilers for future episodes as our very last item. Note: One of the co-hosts has not seen quite all of Babylon 5 himself, so even in the Spoiler Zone, our other co-host will be cautious of revealing certain big spoilers too much or too soon.

Thank you for joining us on this journey as we review one of our favorite shows. "The Gathering," a story of an assassination plot against the space station's most recently arrived alien ambassador, is just the beginning of our adventure. If all goes according to plan (and, there's no guarantee it will), we hope to commemorate the importance of the numbers 3 (among the Minbari) and 5 (for Babylon 5 itself) by releasing subsequent episodes on the 25th of February and the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 30th of March. Starting in April, we'll probably settle into a less nutty, weekly schedule.

If you'd like to contact us, our e-mail is [email protected].

We might have separate Facebook & Twitter accounts soon, but for now, you can also check us out at the sites for our "parent" podcast, The Discerning Geeks Portal, where we take a discerning look into other geeky topics with two additional co-hosts and with a frequent focus on movie reviews.

Facebook: Discerning Geeks Portal

Twitter: @DiscerningGeeks

(With this episode being released on 02/22/2022, I was tempted to schedule it to publish at 02:22 AM Eastern. But, I'll settle for midnight because I want to make sure it uploads okay before I settle down for the night.)

Public domain music used in this episode...

Intro / Transition Into Spoiler Zone / Outro: "Putin's Lullaby" by Alexander Nakarada via FreePD.com (Note: I know with current events going on around Ukraine in February 2022, a song with "Putin" in the title is unfortunate, but I can't help it. That's the name of the song, and the song was picked out weeks ago when the first half of it sounded perfect for a Babylon 5 intro (with a few "swoosh" sound effects added to the end of the intro for added punch).

We're back to talk about the Babylon 5 episode "Grail." Note: We're now going by the JMS-preferred order of episodes, so this one is next instead of "TKO" which was next in the original air order.

What are Todd's & Dave's overall opinions of this episode?

What was one of the main strengths of this episode?

Why did Lennier say there were two castes of Minbari instead of three?

Who were the very experienced & recognizable guest stars in the episode...and one that was...not so experienced?

Which usual member of the crew made an acting cameo in this episode?

Which lines of Ivanova dialogue from this episode are among fans' favorites to quote?

Which actor wins the Character Superlative this episode for...{exact award redacted}...a certain overactive facial movement?

Which co-host has issues with some of this episode's special effects?

What behind-the-scenes information does the script book have about this episode and the involvement of its writer, Christy Marx? How did she get the job? What parts of writing the script did she like the best or find most difficult?

Where does one guest character's last name, Gajic, come from?

Did Dave & Todd agree on their grades for this episode?

Was there any need for a spoiler zone this time, and what is this episode's main contribution to the overall story arc?

Listen now as we...truly seek...the answers to these and other questions, as we wholly review "Grail."

If you'd like to contact us, our e-mail is [email protected].

You can also check us out at the Facebook & Twitter sites for our "parent" podcast, The Discerning Geeks Portal, where we take a discerning look into other geeky topics with an additional co-host and with a frequent focus on movie reviews. Note: We're a little behind on Twitter again, but we've been posting on Facebook quite a bit about re-uploads of some our classic episodes with slightly improved audio quality.

Facebook: Discerning Geeks Portal

Twitter: @DiscerningGeeks

Public domain music used in this episode...

Intro / Transition Into Spoiler Zone / Outro: "P----'s Lullaby" by Alexander Nakarada via FreePD.com (Note: This song sounds perfect for the intro to season 1 of the podcast, but it has an unfortunate name that includes the last name of a war-loving leader of a certain Eurasian country. From now on, I'm just going to sensor the P-word in the name of the song.)

Continuing to view episodes in the JMS-preferred order, the bottle episode "Eyes" is the next installment up for investigation.

What level of enthusiasm did the co-hosts have for this episode?

What were the interesting aspects of the Ivanova / Harriman Gray interactions?

Is this the only episode in which Major Atumbe is mentioned? (This isn't a rhetorical question. I'm actually asking, because I'm not sure.)

Which events from earlier in the season get name drops during Col. Ben Zayn's interrogations of the B5 staff?

Harriman Gray is played by Jeffrey Combs who's probably well known for his guest roles in Star Trek shows. How many appearances? How many shows?

What Garibaldi quote from this episode confused Todd and in what way?

What were two of Dave's favorite character moments from the episode?

What one thing or person encapsulates all of Todd's issues in Brown Sector?

Where does Dave stand on Todd's main complaint?

What is the main conundrum involving the motivation, mental status, and timing of the Ari Ben Zayn character?

How did this episode end up being the responsibility of script supervisor Larry DiTillio, and what were his challenges?

What circumstance led to one quick interior scene being done with computer graphics, and why was that perfectly fine with Garibaldi actor Jerry Doyle?

Which actor got caught by JMS trying to sneak the weird name of his band's next album into some alien dialogue?

Why is the episode called "Eyes"?

And, what do we cover in the Spoiler Zone this week?

Listen now for the answers to these and other probing questions as we take a deep look into..."Eyes."

Don't let this podcast be for your eyes...uh, ears...only. Tell others about us and rate us wherever you receive your top secret podcast communiques. If you see a 5-star rating system, remember to click on 5 stars if you love us or 4 stars if you hate us. Don't bother with the other three stars. I really don't understand why they're even there. ;)

If you'd like to contact us, our e-mail is [email protected].

Facebook: Discerning Geeks Portal

Twitter: @DiscerningGeeks

Public domain music used in this episode...

Intro / Transition Into Spoiler Zone / Outro: "P----'s Lullaby" by Alexander Nakarada via FreePD.com (Note: This song sounds perfect for the intro to season 1 of the podcast, but it has an unfortunate name that includes the last name of a war-loving leader of a certain Eurasian country. From now on, I'm just going to sensor the P-word in the name of the song.)