Soul Hunter
Reviewed by Emperor Cartagia
Click HERE to see a picture from this episode.
Okay, I have one word to say to anyone who has not yet seen this episode: DON'T!
It was, without a doubt, the WORST Babylon 5 episode I have EVER seen. Great Maker, this almost made me throw up! I used to think "A Late Delivery From Avalon" or perhaps "Exogenesis" were bad--now I see that they were only mediocre. THIS is the true meaning of BAD.
What made it so horrible? Corny acting from the guest stars. (And this is coming from someone who LIKES such over-the-top characters as Cartagia and the No Name Minister Dude, mind you! But there is quite a large difference between FLAMBOUYANT acting and BAD acting.) A hokey, done-to-death plot. And more.
First of all, the "plot". The idea of mystical beings that steal people's souls is hardly new. Now, if it had turned out that this guy was just a joke, a looney, who THOUGHT he was taking people's souls, that might have made it bearable. Even better would have been if he was a con artist of some kind. But nooooo, he was a real Soul Hunter after real souls.
My first and biggest problem with this is of course the pseudo-religious aspect of the whole thing. I mean, the writer is not ONLY expecting us to believe that souls are things that you can actually SEE (they look like little glowing lights; like you're surprised), but he practically shoves the idea that souls even EXIST straight down our throats. I, for one, am NOT religious and would prefer not to have this kind of flarn FORCED upon me, thank you very much.
But besides being offended, my main problem with this episode is that it was STUPID. It was clumsily written, had a boring, predictable, and one-dimensional plot, no originality, overdone acting, and REALLY corny special effects. What was up with that N'Grath character? I mean, I know B5 has only half the budget of Star Trek, but I could practically see the STRINGS! Surely they could have done better than THAT?!
The ONLY things of any worth in this episode were a few tantalising tidbits about Deleen, the death of Dukhat, a bit of Minbari culture, and an intriguing mention about a bunch of aliens moving to Earth these days (why?). Oh, and Franklin gets introduced. Other than that--put this in the round file! BLECK!
If you have someone that you are trying to convert to B5--DON'T show them this one. It will scare them away. Just tell them "Delenn is actually Satai Delenn of the Grey Council; Minbari believe in reincarnation; they have a new doctor now, his name is Franklin, you'll meet him in later episodes; and aliens are moving to Earth." and then hit the fast-forward button.
(Keela pops "The Long Night" into her V.C.R. to wash away the bad taste and renew her faith that B5 CAN actually make GREAT episodes when they try...)
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