#Catherine Sakai

[dragontopaz]

B5 rewatch: Mind War

They are a mystery. And I am both terrified and reassured to know there are still wonders in the universe, that we have not yet explained everything. Whatever they are, Ms. Sakai, they walk near Sigma 957. They must walk there alone.

[iconuk01]

"They walk near Sigma 957..."

[dearemma]

JULIA NICKSON in BABYLON 5

[thirddoctor]

Best Babylon 5 Character

Best B5 Character Contest

[frigidreads]

To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M Drennan, a review

[mylittleredgirl]

another b5 thought i will never get out of my head is what Would Have Been if michael o'hare had been able to continue on as sinclair, mostly how catherine sakai was clearly being set up to have anna sheridan's fate. and when i tell you that would have gutted me. i might never have recovered. as it plays out we suffer for sheridan's sake, taking the cue from him seeing how much he mourned his late wife, but if we had known her? after seeing how jeff and catherine had woven in and out of each other's lives but could never let go and finally got it right??? and then we mourn for her with him when he is already holding so much sorrow?? and then?????

[unearthlytraveller]

Babylon 5 Rewatch: Chrysalis

30 years ago, fans of B5 had to wait three months for the first season finale. I'm not willing to do that.

I'm going to break here, because if there is any episode from season 1 that should not be spoiled, it's this one. And I'm going to spoil it below.

I remembered this as the best episode of the season. And, it is. It's not even close. Everything the season has been putting into place comes together, and the world falls apart. That moment when Garibaldi manages to give that warning from sickbay, and the crew rush to warn about the assassination attempt... only to find they are too late. It still gives me chills all these years and rewatches later.

I was unsure how I was going to feel about this episode. Part of the reason for that is because I last watched this in 2010 or 2011. Back then, the idea of a return to fascism seemed laughable. Today... it does not. And I can't deny that real-world context changes things. It's hard to enjoy the sci-fi drama when it doesn't feel all that speculative. But there's a line Sinclair says that struck me.

"Just that I've had this feeling lately that we're standing at a crossroads, and I don't like where we're going. But there's still time to choose another path. You can be part of that process"

The first sentence I remembered from before. The second two... I did not. And as small as it seems, it actually made me feel more hopeful to hear it.

Another thing that struck me on this watch was Londo. Signs and Portents was his first step down the path to darkness; this is his second. And yet, he is genuinely shocked by the consequences of his actions; and we end with him keeping vigil with Ivanova. It won't last, of course, but it's a reminder that he's not an intrinsically or purely evil character; there is much good in him. That's why we like him, and why he is tragic despite all he will do.

G'Kar gets to really show the range of his character. He starts in strutting villain mode, and the scene were his latest sexual partners leave his quarters is one of the funnier moments of a generally dark episode. But as the episode progresses, we see his other side. He seems far less keen in his government's aggression when talking in his chambers; he immediately understands the implications of the attack on Quadrant 37; and in the shuttle scene, it is Na'Toth who speaks of retaliation while G'Kar offers Ivanova condolences and is more reflective.

Garibaldi has come under criticism in recent episodes for his actions, and justifiably so. So it's interesting that we start this episode with Petrov, who Garibaldi was apparently willing to help get a second chance. We also get to see both his investigative chops, figuring out the assassination plot... but also his blind spots. Or as Walker Smith said back in TKO,

"One of these days, Garibaldi, you're going to learn to watch your back."

Delenn starts a change that is in both the biggest and smallest of the ambassadors. I, of course, know what will come out of the titular chrysalis. And yet while the physical changes will be dramatic, Delenn as a person arguably changes the least among the main cast. A little something I've always found amusingly ironic.

Sinclair has a pretty rough time of it. He makes a pretty awful proposal, fails to save the president, fails to meet with Delenn and get the answers he wants... He gets the last line of the season, though, and it's a great one.

"Nothing's the same any more."

This is the season finale, and so we say goodbye to a lot of things. The last time that Mira Furlan will wear that specific make up as Delenn, for one. But we also say goodbye to Caitlin Brown's Na'Toth, Michael O'Hare's Sinclair, and Julia Nickson's Catherine Sakai. Some of these actors will make guest appearances, but even now I feel somewhat sad about these departures.

Caitlin Brown's decision not to return is understandable based on what I've read; that she only came on as a favour when the actress who played Ko'Dath developed an allergic reaction to the makeup, and would never normally be stuck in such a low-profile role. Still, I enjoy season one where her and Andreas Katsulas give such great presence to the Narn. I don't think they ever fully replaced her.

Michael O'Hare's departure is bigger, since he was the star of the show. And, of course, there was that scene in Babylon Squared. It's amazing that JMS made such a big deal about how B5 was planned in advance, and yet was able to handle this and still make a show with such compelling foreshadowing. Sure, there are places were things don't quite line up that the obsessive fan can see, but they're easy to overlook. As for O'Hare himself, I hope he acheived some respite from the mental illness that forced his departure before his tragic early death.

Least important to the show was the character of Cathering Sakai; Nickson only had three appearances this season, the last of which before Chrysalis was 16 episodes ago. I mostly just want to mention that, if you want to know her character's fate, read To Dream in the City of Sorrows. It's a good book; not great, not really able to stand by itself aside from the show, but certainly better than most of the tie-in novels.

With season 1 over, will I continue to season 2? Not immediately. The real-world connections will only get stronger, and I'm not ready for that right now. Later? Maybe; we'll see.

Finally, I've been adding my CCG cards, and let's do that one more time. What choice could there be, but this one:

[aramais]

the power in a name. my @jrwi-art-exchange web weave for @propheticscrwup! enjoy ^-^

ashe winters, jrwi wikia // what do you see?, rachel roberts // cozy winter 2022, grace safford // winter, wikipedia // snow, moon, and flowers, sakai hoitsu // beyond arctic and alpine: the influence of winter climate on temperate ecosystems, ladwig et al. // alice's adventures in wonderland, lewis caroll // a black bird with snow covered red hills, georgia o'keeffe // blow, blow, thou winter wind, william shakespeare // hades, supergiant games // the beautiful season, max ernst // the darker sooner, catherine wing // into death bravely, jimmy santiago baca // snow and mist, john atkinson grimshaw // the lonely death, adelaide crapsey // [season's greeting card], friedrich voldemberge-gidewart // december 31st, richard hoffman // the shortest day, carson ellis // the last snowfall, vienna teng // the runaway, robert frost // untitled, cecilie okada // winter psalm, richard hoffman

[stitchlingbelle]

The First One shows up to fry Catherine Sakai.

My kid: “What is that? A Biblically Accurate Angel?”

[rukbat3]

Babylon 5 Rewatch - Mind War

This is a post I originally wrote several years ago for Mark Oshiro’s Mark Watches blog. I don’t really plan to edit them before posting, so there may be some references that don’t make sense. If you see words that look like gibberish, they are actually rot13, which was our way of discussing spoilers. There are plugins you can install to decode the text (Cryptext is the one I use), or you can copy/paste to rot13.com, or just ignore it.

Hooray! Catherine Sakai is back! This means she’s going to be a recurring character, not just a single-episode romance character! I love how in this episode you can see the conflict between their two jobs, but it’s not a huge deal; it’s just something they’re learning to navigate. [season 1] Nyfb, unun, V sbetbg nobhg guvf yvar jurer Fvapynve gnyxf nobhg univat gb znxr ohqtrg phgf va pbafgehpgvba. Guvf vf rknpgyl jul V ybir O5. Gur pbagvahvgl srryf fb betnavp.

As you can see farther down, I think the way that G’Kar interacts with Catherine is so interesting. From everything we’ve seen about his character so far, we absolutely buy into Catherine’s interpretation of his actions. And the episode itself basically leads us to think he’s up to something nefarious. But no! He really was just trying to help. It gives us another level of insight into his character that makes us think maybe there’s something more to him than just the loud, brash, antagonistic person we’ve seen before.

As far as the main plot of the episode, it’s Star Trek comes to Babylon 5! (Or if you’re me, the other way around. The first time I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I gasped when Chekov first appeared and said, “It’s Bester!”) There’s not much more I can say at this point. We get some hints of shady doings happening back on Earth, but whether anything more will come of it is yet to be seen.

I would like to highlight two scenes, though. The first is Talia’s description of what it’s like when telepaths make love. It’s very evocative, and I have always found this scene to be particularly memorable. Naq vg’f fhecevfvatyl vzcbegnag zhpu yngre ba va gur fubj. Abg gb zragvba znxvat pregnva guvatf jr svaq bhg nobhg gur Cfv Pbecf rira zber ubeevslvat. And the second is Jason Ironheart’s explanation of what the Psi Corps experiments were aiming to do. “Think about it. You want to assassinate someone, so you get a telekinetic. He reaches into a person's throat and gently, quietly, with a thought, he pinches the carotid artery shut. The blood stops; the brain starves; the target dies; and then you just let go. Murder without a trace.” Absolutely chilling.

There’s a third scene not directly relating to this subplot, but relating to telepaths in general that I think it’s important to discuss. And that’s the scene where Talia is explaining to some random guy what it’s like to be a telepath and they share an elevator with Garibaldi, who is obviously thinking something sexual about Talia, which she picks up on. I feel like we get a scene like this one in a lot of books/shows/movies where mind-reading is a thing, and it’s often played for laughs, as it is here. But for me, there are a lot of questions raised by this brief moment. In a world where the existence of telepaths is widely known, how responsible is Garibaldi, who is not a telepath and presumably hasn’t received any form of mental training, for controlling his thoughts? What if he hadn’t known Talia was a telepath? Would that make it okay? On the other hand, he’s just overheard her talking about how hard it is to block out strong emotion. Does that give him more responsibility to control himself then before?

Because if he can be held responsible, then it seems to me that what he did to Talia is a form of sexual assault, or at least harassment. But are we okay with what amounts to a form of thought policing? Once you open the door to punishing someone for what may well have been a stray thought, there are any number of ways that could be abused. On the other hand, why should all the responsibility lie with Talia, or any other telepath to protect themselves? I don’t see any easy answers here.

[season 4, TV movie] Nyfb, jung vf vg va guvf frevrf nobhg gryrcnguf naq gur zra jub ner vagrerfgrq va gurz va ryringbef? Vg arire tbrf jryy!

Favorite scene: The two scenes that G’Kar and Catherine Sakai have together often get mixed up in my head when I’m thinking about this episode, so I can’t really pick one over the other. In each of them, G’Kar says something I really love. In the first, it’s “No one here is exactly what he appears. Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair. And not me.” This is borne out in the events of this episode, at least in G’Kar’s case, which makes you wonder: How right is he about everyone else? V nyfb ybir guvf dhbgr orpnhfr vg frrzf gb zr gung vg’f bar bs gur birenepuvat gurzrf bs gur fubj va trareny. Ab bar vf rknpgyl jub gurl nccrne ng svefg tynapr. Abg rira Orfgre! In the second scene, I love G’Kar’s explanation of what Catherine saw at Sigma 957, but I love what he says next even more: “They are a mystery. And I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the universe—that we have not yet explained everything.” And when you put both scenes together, I find them collectively eye-opening about what this show is trying to do, not just with the character of G’Kar, but with the world of the show in general. Vg’f rfcrpvnyyl vagrerfgvat gb pbzr onpx gb gurfr fprarf nsgre lbh’ir svavfurq gur fubj naq guvax nobhg whfg ubj evtug T’Xne vf.

[dragontopaz]

B5 rewatch: The Parliament of Dreams

We're over each other.

Who says? Who says I got over you and you got over me?

[b5popup]

Hey thanks so much for running this! Could I sign up for: 1. Lyta Alexander, 2. G'Kar, 3. Talia Winters, 4. Susan Ivanova, 5. Kosh, 6. Na'Toth, 7. Catherine Sakai, and 8. Elizabeth Lochley?

these are such excellent choices! ✨️ Here's your list of prompts:

2 & 7 - What are we going to do? 2 & 4 - Vanilla dreams 5 & 6 - “You can go anywhere else in the whole universe, but you can’t go home.” 3 & 6 - You remember what happened the last time you showed up. 2 & 8 - Rejection 7 & 8 - 7 appears in 8’s dreams 1 & 5 - When we had it all 5 & 7 - What kind of a game is this, anyway? 1 & 4 & 7 - Sorceress 1 & 4 - 1 tells 4 a secret they’ve never told anyone else 3 & 8 - “Either you’re doing an incredibly shitty job or you’re no longer in control of the people who work for you.“ 1 & 7 - Caught 2 & 3 - Voices in my head 3 & 4 - What we do behind closed doors 1 & 6 - Doodle 5 & 8 & 6 - Yours truly 1 & 8 - Eager to please 6 & 7 - the street of an unfamiliar city at night 2 & 5 - A kiss to shut them up. 4 & 6 - a mysterious trail found in the woods 1 & 2 - Happiness looks good on you 6 & 8 - “How many people have you killed?” 3 & 7 - “Just admit it, you have feelings for them.” “Only the worst ones.” 4 & 5 - What are you doing here? 3 & 5 - Strangers passing in the street 1 & 3 - a dusty, forgotten attic 4 & 7 - Charm 2 & 6 - “Shut up, I’m trying to confess my love to you.” 4 & 8 - Rebellion 5 & 8 - Violets in bloom

[jenniferstolzer]

Happy B5 Day everyone!

Every year on Jan 26, I celebrate the anniversary of my favorite television show airing by posting up a wallpaper collection of past fanart of mine. Some of the above is very old, but some of it was created last year for @babylon6comic. Click below to see past b5 day collections!

2021,2020,2019,2018,2017,2015

Apparently I skipped a year in 2016 but that's okay lol Enjoy everyone! Faith Manages!

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 S01E06: Mind War

First

Previous

ToC

Space chase!

Catherine must enjoy her job, because she’s a very wealthy woman from that quantium from the planet she previously surveyed. Or it’s a very convenient way to get her offscreen whenever the plot demands. edit: or, as it happened, a convenient way to get on ON screen when the plot demands! I am pleasantly surprised!

Michael Garibaldi don’t be a creep, also you’re not in love. My girl Talia is going to marry my girl Susan and you’re going to watch Daffy Duck and be chill.

WALTER KOENIG?! That’s Pavel Chekov! My guy! Mr Bester, fine. But he’s Chekov in my heart.

I’m ready for some serious dirt on this seriously dystopian Psi Corps. And ready to find out why this rogue telepath appears to also be using telekinesis!

Who watches the watchmen, indeed, Ivanova?

So Talia is a level 5 telepath, which burns out or kills 50% of telepaths who attempt the rank. (if I recall what she said to Sinclair correctly) The rogue telepath is level 10, as all instructors are. And these psi cops are level 12. How many telepaths do they burn through to get others trained adequately? And do they actually burn out, or are they being disposed of and the testing dangers are exaggerated to cover it up?

Hah, and Jason immediately comes to Talia after she’s passed her scan.

G’Kar is being weird to Catherine. Polite. Eloquent. He hasn’t put forward this much effort at being polite and agreeable to anyone for the entire show so far. His “no seriously, this is in good faith,” argument here reminds me very much of Garak from Deep Space 9.

Let me pass on to you the one thing I’ve learned about this place. No one here is exactly what he appears. Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair, and not me. My warning is sincere. Ignore it at your own peril.

Power boosting in the psi corps and it’s an arms race. And there’s experiments, and Jason was experimented on. That never goes well, historically speaking. I wonder if some inspiration for River in Firefly was taken from this episode.

So, telekinesis is actually a thing in this universe, but they’re insanely rare, and half of them are insane. And Jason got telekinesis as well as highly boosted telepathy from the experiments - the former of which was actually, secretly, the goal.

Walter Koenig is so delightfully terrifying in this!

I can’t imagine G’Kar is going to be so seemingly straightforward as to take send this heavily armed cruiser to attack Catherine.

Yeah, telekinetics controlled by the CIA sounds absolutely horrifying, and that’s basically what Jason is describing here. Also, a space station is a horrible place to have a telekinetic mind quake.

I’m not kidding at all when I say these special effects delight me. Apparently I’ve been craving a sci fi show of a certain age. But they’ve mostly been space explosions and lightning - not that I’m complaining! They’re lovely space explosions and lightning. But I freaking love this force field.

Some jump point info I’ve been craving - for this jump, Catherine leaves from and also arrives at a jump point structure. Do they have to send the physical infrastructure at sublight speeds to each new location?

Poor Jason. This is very River Tam without a Simon Tam.

“Good old Psi Corps. You guys never cease to amaze me. All the moral fiber of Jack the Ripper. What do you do in your spare time? Juggle babies over a fire pit? Oops, there goes another calculated risk.” “You’re not helping the situation.” “Lady, you are the situation.”

You tell them, Ivanova! Ms Kelsey looks delighted at the prospect of handling-or-murdering Jason, while Walter Koenig looks ominous as hell. They’re a good horror duo. I’m horrified.

Jason, no. You’re still Jason. It’s OK. You can be becoming but also be yourself. This is a trauma reaction called depersonalization, it’s normal bby. He needs a weighted blanket and an EMDR therapist. Instead he’s got Psi Cops who are absolutely killing the unnerving vibe. Immaculate villain presentation. Not so good for the case of PTSD Jason is rapidly developing.

More special effects! I am delighted. Psi Corps dirt and 90s CGI. I’m in heaven.

Talia, earnestly: “He wants to see you [...] I know it’s asking you to take a terrible chance, but it’s the only one we’ve got.” Sinclair, confidently: “All right. Where and when.”

😭The trust for his crew! and maybe also a smidge of that death wish from the war. Also, telepath sex sounds both terrifying and extremely hot. But mostly terrifying. Like, that’s a little extra. Eye contact is a little much for me sometimes, but go ahead and make your soul a mirror, Talia. You do you babe. I bet Susan will be into it.

What in the fuck is Catherine gotten into. Seems like G’Kar was not kidding about weird, dangerous shit floating around this area. Good thing he’s gonna turn up before she crashes.

Jason’s bit about Psi Corps’ control fixation reminds me of Terry Pratchet’s bit about evil being when you treat people as things to be controlled instead of persons. Believe him, Sinclair! He’s been 1000% more polite than Walter Koenig and Ms Murder.

Secret ops! Secret ops! They’re definitely going to be able to keep it secret from the two, level 12 telepaths hanging around looking for secrecy in general.

“Please. No, don’t make me do this. You cannot harm me. You cannot harm one who dreamed a dream like mine.”

OH SHIT he really can vaporize people. (and get harmed a little by that utterly delightful ray gun. How is it that it looked ten times more fake than the phasers in Star Trek TOS from the 60s? Amazing. And again - not a complaint.)

He supernova’ed! This is amazing. This is the best episode.

Sinclair and Garibaldi are a little too good at blackmailing people and covering up evidence.

*whispers* telekinetic Talia. Telekinetic Talia! Telekinetic Talia?

I like this strange relationship G’Kar seems to be cultivating with Catherine. He’s not like this with anyone else.

Eldritch beings hanging out in the universe, cool!

“They are a mystery and I am both terrified and reassured that there are still wonders in the universe and we have not yet explained everything. [...] They must walk there alone.”

This episode delighted me in every way.

Next!

[thirddoctor]

Best Babylon 5 Character Contest

Title is pretty self-explanatory. Who is the best (or at least your favourite) Babylon 5 character?

I didn't want to leave anyone out because all the characters add something vital to the story, so there will be 32 options, half of which I'll post today and the other half tomorrow. The winners will go on to the next round, and so on till we get down to the final two characters and can crown the ultimate victor.

All match-ups will be chosen randomly. Posts will be tagged #b5poll.

This is just for fun, so don't take it too seriously! Regardless of who wins, each character is part of what makes the show so special.

Polls will be listed below as they get posted.

Round 1:

David Corwin vs. Ta'Lon

John Sheridan vs. Byron Gordon

Mr. Morden vs. Vir Cotto

Londo Mollari vs. Marcus Cole

Talia Winters vs. Brother Theo

Zathras vs. Milo Virini

Number One vs. Ulkesh

Delenn vs. G'Kar

Na'Toth vs. Lennier

Stephen Franklin vs. Neroon

Lyta Alexander vs. Zack Allan

Elizabeth Lochley vs. Susan Ivanova

Alfred Bester vs. Lord Refa

Michael Garibaldi vs. Cartagia

Catherine Sakai vs. Jeffrey Sinclair

Kosh vs. Warren Keffer

Round 2:

Susan Ivanova vs. Alfred Bester

Jeffrey Sinclair vs. Talia Winters

Number One vs. John Sheridan

Michael Garibaldi vs. Londo Mollari

Delenn vs. Stephen Franklin

Vir Cotto vs. Kosh

Lyta Alexander vs. Lennier

Ta'Lon vs. Zathras

Round 3

Zathras vs. John Sheridan

Vir Cotto vs. Jeffrey Sinclair

Londo Mollari vs. Susan Ivanova

Lyta Alexander vs. Delenn

Round 4

John Sheridan vs. Susan Ivanova

Delenn vs. Vir Cotto

Round 5 - Final

[yumyumpod]