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By
Lars Joreteg
Review:
Crusade episode 4 - "The Path of Sorrows"
"I
forgive you" - unknown
"The
Path of Sorrows" is another great episode of Crusade.
Through interesting flashbacks this episode provides
a lot of background information about our characters,
as well as some intriguing revelations.
The
Excalibur has found a temple on a distant world, which
is said to bring healing to those who enter. Inside
they find a sphere containing a strange alien life form.
But what kind of healing could this creature possibly
provide? And does Galen know something about this creature
that he isn't telling the others?
The
main part of the plot is the flashbacks to crucial moments
in the pasts of Gideon, Matheson, and Galen that are
revealed due to contact with the telepathic alien. While
all the flashbacks provide interesting back-story, some
of them work better than other ones. I find Gideon's
story most intriguing, and I particularly enjoyed the
card game sequence. His past also poses several questions
- Was there a cover-up of the "Cerberus" incident by
the Clarke administration? What exactly is the "Apocalypse
Box"? How has it affected Gideon these last years? (It
clearly had a profound effect on the previous owner)
To what lengths will Gideon go to try to free himself
of the box? Does he even want to free himself of it?
Galen's flashback is also interesting, an emotional
farewell to his love. Matheson's flashback, however,
is the least satisfying. It does contain a lot of back-story,
our first real insight into the telepath war that took
place between the Babylon 5 story and Crusade. But while
the was a lot of interesting material, it would have
been come across much better given more airtime. Matheson's
change of loyalties would have been much more convincing
if it had been slower, with the true nature of the Psi-Corps
being slowly revealed to him. Nonetheless it was interesting
to see it unfold.
Peter
Woodward is excellent as Galen, as usual. He has a dark
side, which is clearly illuminated in this episode,
a deep anger at the universe. He is a man who cannot
accept that the universe has a purpose or structure
- even when he is given apparent proof. His last scene
with the message is very effective.
Not
much new is learned about Gideon (Gary Cole), but he
is solid as always. One wonders exactly how much this
box affects his behavior.
We
don't learn much more about Matheson's (Daniel Dae Kim)
personality either, although his "good guy" status is
pretty confirmed by now. I liked his conversation with
Galen in the bullet car, Matheson is likeable as always.
Max
Eilerson (David Allen Brooks) and Dureena (Carrie Dobro)
aren't given much to do in this episode, but they are
very effective in their scenes. I particularly enjoyed
the Max and Galen confrontation in the beginning. Max
is still my favorite character with his sarcastic attitude.
Still
no sign of Capt. Lochley or Dr. Chambers... :-)
The
standout guest star, in my opinion, was Mark Blankfield
as the card player. He didn't have much airtime, but
he was very effective. Sophie Ward also did quite well
as Isabelle. Another minor guest star was Gary Graham,
of "Alien Nation" fame.
There
weren't many effects in this episode, and nothing spectacular,
but they were enough to get the job done. They did a
great job on the main alien makeup though, The music
was not as good as in "The Well of Forever", but it
worked quite well in the Galen/Isabelle scene. Mike
Vejar's direction was very good, however. One scene
I particularly enjoyed was the Gideon/Matheson conversation
at the sphere near the end, as the camera slowly pulled
in. It very effectively conveyed the peacefulness of
the characters.
Overall
I think this episode is the best Crusade episode so
far, with interesting drama, great performances, and
many unanswered questions for the future (just the way
I like it) :-) I only hope Crusade will survive, so
we can get some answers to these questions.
Rating:
9/10
-
Lars Joreteg
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