The Hour of the Wolf

Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri

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Now THIS is what I call a season opener!!! "Matters of Honor" was pretty good, but this--THIS was absolutely WONDERFUL. One of my very favourite episodes of all time, one that I KICKED myself for not having taped it when I saw it for the first time several months ago, and also the beginning of an entire set of SEVEN wonderful episodes in a row. Early Season Four in general is my VERY favourite part of B5. It was full of humour, touching moments, character development--and absolutely DELIGHTFUL guest-star characters, which I will get to later. First, let's get the "switching-to-a-new-season" stuff out of the way:
As you may have noticed, we have a new theme song. Although some of the pictures go back to the SECOND season (Vir's credit especially was obviously shot a LONG time earlier 'cos he's way heavier in his credit than he is on the actual show! The "New and Improved" Vir has such a delicate little pointy (!) face, he looks like an ELF! It's a BIG improvement.), and practically none of them are actually NEW as far as I can tell, in general I like this theme song. I like how every character gets to say one of the lines, and the music is just wonderfully dark, ominous and DRAMATIC. I love it. New faces--not really NEW, but Lyta Alexander has been bumped up from recurring character to regular status.
Okay, now onto the episode proper. There were two main plots and a subplot which only got one scene here but will become important later on. Let's start with the first main plot, that of Ivanova and the others trying to find out if Sheridan is still alive.
The episode begins with a scene in which the distraught and angry Ivanova, Delenn, G'Kar and Lennier are trying to get the League of Non-Aligned worlds to keep themselves together because the war, contrary to popular belief, is NOT over. (Ivanova: "This would be a lot easier if YOU'D just agree to MY proposal!") Not only are they refusing to help our guys attack Za'Ha'Dum, but they are pulling their ships away and refusing to help the station itself anymore. Ivanova SAYS that they have to attack Za'Ha'Dum while the Shadows are still hurting (they do know about the thermonuclear explosion) but the League, as voiced by the astute Gaim Ambassador, sees right through them to the REAL reason they want to go to Za'Ha'Dum--to see if their Captain is still alive. They refuse to have anything to do with the idea and walk out.
Later on, we have some Vorlon hijinks. Lyta refuses to tell Delenn what's really going on because she "doesn't have a choice", and when Delenn goes to New Kosh and asks him for help in convincing the League Worlds to back B5, he uses the word "irrelevant" so many times in the same scene I was beginning to wonder if he was a BORG or something! ("Shadows are irrelvant. We have always been here. In time, you will service...us.") Well, that didn't get anywhere. Then Lyta comes into Ivanova's quarters--which are a total mess--to find the Commander at least 3/4ths of the way towards becoming "one with her inner self" and depressed as all Hell. After a nice conversation about wolves and vodka, Lyta suggests that they could take the White Star to Za'Ha'Dum by themselves and that with her telepathy, she could not only hold off any Shadow ships in the area for a few minutes, but also attempt to contact Sheridan through the piece of Kosh Classic she thinks he has in him. "There's more to this...connection...between you and the Vorlons than you're telling us about, isn't there?" probes Ivanova.
Silence.
They end up following Lyta's insane suggestion anyway, knowing full well that there won't be anyone to come after THEM should they die in this attempt.
Once there, Ivanova tries to contact Sheridan through normal channels while Lyta--well, her eyes go totally, completely, solid BLACK. It's a FREAKY effect; she looks like one of those UFO-type aliens! (Which in the B5 universe are called "Vree"). They attempt to contact him for a few minutes until this weird floating hologram (?) of a Shadow head, all huge, comes up in space and says something to them in chitter-speak. This evidently has some telepathic content to the message too 'cos even though I didn't hear anything, all the characters report hearing words of great sadness, longing, words that know all about them, in their respective fathers' voices. (Another parallell between the Vorlons and Shadows--Kosh talked to both Sheridan and G'Kar in the guises of THEIR fathers). It gives them the "screaming willies" and they "initiate the getting the hell out of here maneuver." This scene gave Lennier another chance to shine, I must say, I do LIKE the more sarcastic, smart-mouthed, cynical turn he's taking. It's a welcome character development.
Back on the station, Vir tells Ivanova the sad news he's learned from the Shadows' associates (when Londo's not there, they leave their messages with him) that Sheridan was seen falling into a two-mile-deep pit right before the explosion, so he's most likely dead. The pole-axed Ivanova staggers weakly away with Vir pathetically, desperately trying to cheer her up. This was so very...very...VIR!
On to the subplot--Zack finds someone in Garibaldi's quarters, but it's not the Chief as he hoped, but rather G'Kar, who is in there looking at Garibaldi's stuff to remind himself of Garibaldi's soul. They have a great conversation about "The Egyptian God of Frustration" (one of the FUNNIEST lines in the entire show, in my opinion). G'Kar feels that no-one is caring about Garibaldi's fate the way they should be; they're all worried about the Captain only. So he takes it upon HIMSELF to go and rescue Garibaldi. This will become big later on, but for now it's just one throwaway scene.
And now onto the GOOD stuff. Londo's appointment to the Royal Court on Centauri Prime. Ooohhh, I just LOVE all this stuff! This episode has so many intensely interesting scenes with the Centauri I could just watch it again and again and again. THIS, my friends, is why I TRULY adore "The Hour of the Wolf". I think the episode in general is quite good, yes, but the REAL reason is, of course, for the Centauri. But with me, when is it ever NOT?
First of all, we are reunited with that foofy little No-Name Minister Dude from "Sic Transit Vir". He gets a LOT to do in this episode--wonderful lines, including his fussy explanation of why Londo's black coat had to be cleaned and best of all, his quavering, deathly-scared description of what happens to those who criticise Cartagia. He's a fop among fops, but he's FUN.
One of my favourite lines--he's telling Londo that he has to act properly impressed when he meets Cartagia. Londo's answer:
"I have met Cartagia three times before. Twice when he was an infant, and he had a marked tendency to drool. (I wonder if he has kept the habit...) And once when he was 15 years old, trying to look up some young ladies' dresses. I PROMISE you, I will be JUST as impressed with him now, as I was then." And it goes FWOOOSH right over the fluttery little dork's 6-inch-high curled crest. (And is it just my T.V. set, or is the No-Name Minister Dude a bit of a redhead? Well, auburn, anyway...)
Speaking of Cartagia, get ready to hold your hands over your ears 'cos I am going to gush about this character. LOUDLY. Please try to put up with it just this once. I PROMISE I will not gush this much over him in the reviews of the other four (only four! pout.) episodes he's in, just this one, the introduction--in which he gets a lot more to do than in any of the others.
As you may have guessed, I rather like Cartagia--not as a PERSON mind you, but as a character, which is a completely different thing, judging from the fact that I let him host an entire PAGE on my website, (the Humour Palace), his is one of the "voices" that I go into when I write reviews, mainly when I hated the episode in question (naturally, I wouldn't sic a VILLIAN on an episode I LIKED!), the fact that out of all the pictures available for this episode I chose HIM as the cover illustration for this review, I write under his name at both "Gav and Peloso's Interactive Story Site" AND the Warner Bros. B5 message boards... I'm sorry, but I just ADORE this character! He is easily the most FUN villian B5 ever had!! Sure, Bester gets better lines and Morden is more subtly scary, but who needs subtle when you can be FLAMBOUYANT? Subtle--pah! Give me an OVER-THE-TOP, decadent, wildly unpredictable (and, dare I say it: beautiful! Hey, I know of at least 7 other women who agree with me) madman ANY day of the week! Wortham Krimmer, who not only normally plays GOOD guys but has even won awards for doing so, was delightfully NUTS as Cartagia, proving that he can also play a villian as well. (Not to mention that he looks so RIGHT in those gorgeous Regency-era clothes, I think he must be one of those people who was "born in the wrong century.") Cartagia is just so deliciously unpredictable, both physically and mentally. At first you think he's just an ornamental pretty-boy--vain, languid, air-headed, and decadent (a word he even uses on himself.) Heck, the VERY first time we see this guy, he's PRIMPING in a mirror!
It isn't until later we find out the real truth...
First, Londo meets with the person who "summoned" him, Mr. Morden (!) who has come to talk like HE'S going insane as well, shed his skin, and tell Londo about Emperor Cartagia's alliance with the Shadows. This is one of the most chilling and disgusting scenes I have ever seen in Babylon 5. I was beginning to regret my decision to watch the show while eating supper! Morden is going on about flesh being a prison while reciting nursery rhymes and casually molting all over Londo's floor, while Londo looks like a ghost, all pale whitish-blue, and the lighting has "shadows" galore. A CREEPY scene.
Later, Londo is called out into the sand garden to see a "surprise" of Cartagia's but is not told what it is, only that he must come RIGHT NOW (this is to be a recurring theme...). Frustrated by not being able to find his snazzy black coat, which the Minister has sent out to be cleaned ("It had the air of having...travelled...long..."), he is forced to put on his old purple one that he used to wear in the first and most of the second seasons. He walks out into the courtyard, shields his eyes from the sun, and...
SHADOW SHIPS go flying overhead. OH MY GOD!! IT'S THE DREAM!! IT'S THE DREAM!!
Continuity right down to the last detail--they even made sure he was wearing the same outfit as he was in the dream, from two years earlier! I LOVE it!
Londo comes back inside, scared to death, but he hasn't seen NOTHING yet. Cartagia is at the window watching the Shadows, hopping up and down--LITERALLY, mind you--and giggling like a giddy schoolboy, his formerly lazy, languid attitude replaced by TOTAL hyperactivity!! (Someone needs to limit that boy's sugar intake. Just WATCHING this scene made ME feel hyper!) Londo attempts to get him away from the window, but the instant he tries to lay a hand on His Imperial Majesty's shoulder, WHOOSH the guard has a KNIFE right against the skin of Londo's throat and Cartagia's mood has SNAPPED into something completely different yet again. Now he's an cold, haughty aristocrat, snarling with barely repressed anger. ("I'm not REPRESSED anymore!" Sorry, wrong episode...) If you think he's nuts NOW, just keep watching! Londo tries to convince Cartagia that it is madness (you said it) to let Shadows onto Centauri Prime, but Cartagia says that they are GUESTS and that he's ONLY given them the Island of Celini. "It is strategically WISE to make alliances that might prove to be USEFUL!" he cries campily while practially dancing about the room with joy. What did the Shadows promise him in return for this hospitality? "The one thing I've always wanted...They are going to make me a deity, like the Emperors of old!" Cartagia gushes, his ENOURMOUS dark eyes bugging out of his high-cheekboned face. Sure, people will be killed, as Londo points out, but "What are a few million lives compared to the glory of becoming a living God?!!"
Can we say, "CALIGULA", boys, girls, and hermaphrodites? I wonder if "Cartagia" is a nickname meaning "little boots" in Centauri...
Londo is slowly...backing...AWAY...during the last part of this rant, scared to DEATH. He meets with the No-Name Minister Dude outside in the hallway. "He is INSANE!" he cries.
"It is not wise to say such things aloud", cautions the continually nervous--and now we know why!--little fop, looking carefully over each embroidered shoulder to see if anyone is listening. "Those who have done so have...disappeared... They say that there is a desk...somewhere...where he keeps all their HEADS...arranged, in a row....They say he SPEAKS to them, late at night..."
A Centauri "urban legend"? Read on...
There are only a few more scenes of this plotline and then the episode's over. First, Londo calls Vir to him to help with a plan he's forming, as there is no-one at the palace he trusts. "Oh, I am so sorry, I forgot about the time difference there." he says when he sees Vir in a white nightgown with his hair all rumpled up (but STILL standing straight up on end!) "That's all right," answers Vir, "I was just about to get up anyway. In another six hours or so."
Then we see His Royal Nutballness again, in a dark, shadowy room with freaky lighting, pick up a globe-lamp and set it down on a desk...full of SEVERED HEADS...and say, "Good evening, friends. I thought you ought to know. Today...was a very...GOOD...day..." What is this, the psychotic's version of "Dear Diary..."?
And then a great scene with Vir and Londo in which Londo removes yet another listening device in his room and Vir gets all the best lines. (Except for one.) "It is an unfortunate truth that as one accumulates power, one loses friends," Londo explains. "You have only those left who wish to use you, and those whom you wish to use. I do not know how you, Vir, have been able to walk through the corridors of power for as long as you have without becoming just as corrupt and ambitious as everyone else. I can only assume you have not been paying attention! But, the fact remains, that you are the ONLY person left I consider a friend. That is why I brought you here." Then he goes on to explain about how his plan could have unfortunate consequences--"That would be the 'dying' part, right?" queries Vir sarcastically. What is this plan?
Why, to KILL Cartagia, of course!
And so, this episode leaves you wondering if you're still watching science fiction, or have you suddenly switched universes into "I, Claudius" without knowing it...

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