Babylon 5: Jews in Space

I've been watching Babylon 5 on DVD and just finished the first season. In the episode titled, TKO, Ivanova has to face the admonition of her Rabbi who makes the expensive trip all the way from Earth to B5 to assist her in sitting Shiva for her dead father. First off, it was good to know that about two hundred years into the future people will wear retro-eighties stylings but rabbis will still don the cloth of the early Twentieth Century. Rabbi Koslov could have been a character on a Saturday Night Live skit where a Rabbi comes to minister to Jim Kirk in a Star Trek spoof. The guy comes off the shuttle with nothing but his Torah, his black hat and his Russian accent. At first I began to wonder, "Did B5 actually just 'jump the shark'?"

It gets better. Not only does Ivanova have to fend the good intentions of Rabbi Koslov but Garibaldi's friend, Walker Smith, comes to B5 in order to try out for the part in Karate Kid Part XXIII. Or was it Bloodsport Part XXXX? By the time I hear that it was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind, I'm pretty convinced of it.

Walker Smith isn't really on B5 to attend the Ralph Macchio convention; he's there to compete for the (highly suspect) Mutari tournament. This is probably the most ridiculous excuse for a contest that a human can't enter since Anakin Skywalker got into himself a podrace. I try to give a writer credit when they have to invent a contest that, "no human in the entire universe can ever compete." We really don't have any idea what that could be since everything we can think of to put on film would probably be a human-based event.

These guys have to come up with something better than an overblown NASCAR race as in podracing, or a no-hold-barred fighting event that looks more staged than "Professional" Wrestling. From the looks of him, Walker Smith could have kicked his opponent's butt with his eyes closed. Wouldn't a little more threatening figure or someone who actually knew how to fight martial arts (like say Darth Maul?) been a better choice? That guy looked like a reject from Mystery Science Theater! The storyline didn't jibe for me, especially the whole abbreviated mentor relationship between Walker and the other creepy alien.

Back to the Jewish angle: At first, that didn't ring true for me either. The Rabbi seemed a little stereotypical to me, especially in a science fiction show. Then a funny thing happened on the way to the Temple, it grew on me. The thing that struck me most was how the writer's made Ivanova more human by bringing her religion into direct conflict with her feelings for her father. We learned a lot about her from this episode: Her turmoil, her motivation and the basis for her strength of character. Being Jewish myself, I had an emotional attachment to Susan Ivonava for her religious struggle. There is something grounding about going to service and timeless about being part of a ceremony that spans ages. It produced a good juxtaposition to see this Rabbi representing one of the oldest religions helping the second-in-command of Earth's premier outpost Space Station sit Shiva for her estranged, dead father.

While I am not a big fan of modern characters being thrust into a fantasy world to show our reaction to that world, one of the things I appreciate about good science fiction is when they introduce a little authenticity. What I mean by that is the characters, setting, and culture have basis in "our" world. While most SciFi or Fantasy takes place in alternate realities or made up universes there is something to be said about grounding the viewer or reader. Orson Scott Card does this in his fiction by drawing on cultural bits that we are familiar with and down paying the bang, whiz aspect of technology. Lord of the Rings, both the books and the movies, do this by depicting a gritty realism to the story and characters. LOTR looks and feels like history instead of fantasy. Star Wars did it with the "used universe" concept, which was a little lost in the prequels.

I make fun of the cheap effects and costuming in B5 but what it does it does very well. The characters are solid and believable, even if the stories are uneven. The one thing that works overall in B5 despite being just north of cheesy is that the characters are very strong. JMS did an exceptional job of fleshing out his characters' backgrounds and motivations. They seem very human, even the aliens. So far this is the strength of the show, characterization and conflict.

That being said, I have been told that it gets better and I am one for giving a show a chance even through the rough patches. Season Two is on its way via Netflix and I will be waiting anxiously to return for a second dose.