YGCTO Episode 13 - Za'Ha'Dum
Listen to Episode 13
Guestless
It’s been twenty episodes since we had one with just the boys, so we picked a good one to get into with just us (justice?). While the premise of this season is to get peoples’ reactions to Babylon 5, this is one we wanted for ourselves.
Za’Ha’Dum might be the most difficult episode to throw someone into with no previous B5 experience. It pays off parts of the Shadow war - but for the most part introduces more plotlines than it resolves. That’s intriguing for any long-term viewer, but meaningless to a newcomer. The impact of Sheridan dealing with Ana’s return would be completely lost on them - and that’s where most of the emotional punch comes from in this one,
Therefore, Dre and I are giving Za’Ha’Dum the room it needs to breathe and take it on guestless.
This Week’s Guest
No guest, just two bros shootin’ the shit about Babylon 5
Babylon 5 Season 3 Episode 22: Za’Ha’Dum
Za’Ha’Dum is a major episode of the series. JMS kept the title a secret until the day of release. It was the final episode of the third season. Sheridan’s long-lost wife had just returned in the previous episode’s cliffhanger. The warnings could not have been clearer or louder for Sheridan: “Do not go to Za’HaDum”.
So of course, Sheridan was always meant to go there.
Most viewers remember this one as the one with Shadow nAna. She gets to do the type of performance that begs the question if she’s a good or terrible actor. As an actor has to pretend she’s a human body puppeted by an alien species with the memory and knowledge of her past life. Then with that level set, she has to layer on convincing her husband who thought she was long dead AND has remarried to break a promise he made to several confidants. Including said new wife.
For a season finale, little is wrapped up and so much is left open. We get a payoff to the Shadow war by blowing up part of their planet, but the Shadows survive. Nothing is truly resolved there.
Mike’s Image Picks
Delenn creeps on Sheridan while he sleeps
I'll be watching you
Sheridan awakens and is very confused to see his dead wife
This is a problem
Balki Bartokomous gets the Morden treatment and tells Londo to leave
...and move in with your Cousin from Chicago
Franklin watches a cartoon where an invisible man sniffs at another invisible man’s brain ribbons
They smell like freedom
Interplanetary Expeditions finds a giant hairclip imprint on Mars
A new Apex Predator! How can we harness it as a weapon?
Zombie Anna makes her case to Sheridan and immediately throws his new wife under the bus
You should only listen to me, the re-animated corpse of your wife
She makes a good case, but isn’t helping her cause with faces like this:
Am I winking? Am I winking?
Corwin is chill as ever in his Abercrombie button-up
A man who found, knows and loves his place
Anna gets her big closeup…
A man who found, knows and loves his place
…before transforming into a wood form model doll by a Shadow ship
Shadows made me a formless dummy before restoring my curves
Sheridan gets a telepathic command from Kosh to jump
Now? But I really need a shower
Fulfilling the season end trope, Sheridan takes a forced wilderness leap
To Infinity and Babylon
The white star collides with Za’Ha’Dum, delivering the nukes
Not sure how Morden survived this one
Morden already seems to be taking on Centuri hair customs. It got him the runner up award for best hair of the episode after Marcus.
Blown up or not, I should always look this good
What Did We Learn?
When coming back from the dead to surprise your ex, avoid the new wife
Next Episode
That’s a wrap on season 3. We got 26 episodes out, several in the can and no intention of stopping anytime soon. If you listen and enjoy the show, be sure to leave a rating and description
For the next full episode, we cover Babylon 5: Season 4 Episodes 1 & 2 “The Hour of the Wolf” & “Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?” with Adam & Nate Flint from Mad Bread. Coming to you Sunday, January 25th.
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Cheers, all!