#017 - B5 1.16 & 1.17 - "A Voice in the Wilderness, Parts 1 & 2"

01/31/23 • 80 min

1 Listener

Discerning Lurkers Portal: A Babylon 5 Podcast

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.)

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 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...

Previous Episode

#016 - B5 1.15 - "Eyes"

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...

Next Episode

#018 - B5 1.18 - "Babylon Squared"

1 Recommendations

This week we review one of the best episodes of season 1 and the first part of Babylon 5's only time travel arc, "Babylon Squared."

Not being as familiar with this episode, maybe not seeing it before, what was Dave's first impression? Was he pleased, frustrated, or a little of both, with this episode's teasing nature?

How well (or not well) is the governing structure of the Minbari explained? Does this Delenn subplot in this episode help explain it any better?

What is the deal with the Zathras character?

What are the co-hosts' favorite moments & quotes from the episode?

What are the co-hosts's opinions of the question, "Fasten or zip?"

What were the co-hosts' few nitpicks about the episode, and which co-host brought up one actor's performance as one of them?

How does the story arc we get in Babylon 5 differ from the one we were going to get before certain real-life changes in the cast required adjustments in the story?

Who from JMS's real life inspired Zathras' odd speech pattern?

What story point in this episode was intentionally left vague to provide some flexibility when re-addressing the storyline a couple seasons later? And, how much did that flexibility end up being necessary?

Did the co-hosts agree on their psi-rating scores for this episode?

And, what was Dave curious about in the Spoiler Zone?

Listen now for the answers to these and other questions as we do the math on..."Babylon Squared."

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...