#shadow dancing

[bhloomest]

[myimaginaryradio]

Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb

[twilightofthesandwiches]

What is your Favorite Song From Billboard’s Top Singles of 1978?

"Shadow Dancing" - Andy Gibb

"Night Fever" - Bee Gees

"You Light Up My Life" - Debby Boone

"Stayin' Alive" - Bee Gees

"Kiss You All Over" - Exile

"How Deep Is Your Love" - Bee Gees

"Baby Come Back" - Player

"(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" - Andy Gibb

"Boogie Oogie Oogie" - A Taste of Honey

"Three Times a Lady" - Commodores

"Grease" - Frankie Valli

"I Go Crazy" - Paul Davis

Voting ended onJan 13

[ddddannita]

I've memorized her breathing

A tempo much too easy to give into

The soundtrack of the fall

[secretboudoir1]

[parrhesiac]

I have to say, the handling of addiction and recovery on Babylon 5 sometimes jumps out at me.

The beginning of Shadow Dancing, Stephen Franklin has been walkabout for days now, and we see Zach Allan talking to Garibaldi about it. And you know both of these guys know what it's like.

And Garibaldi feels like maybe he didn't handle it right, with confronting Stephen about his addiction to stims, and maybe he should have followed him, gone with him, instead of letting him walk away. And you and I know, there was no way for that to work. And maybe Garibaldi technically knows it, but in his gut, it's personal. You don't want your friend to have to hit rock bottom. You don't want your friend to have to go it alone. Garibaldi, in addition to being an asshole, is a compulsive fixer.

But they're having a little meeting here, Michael and Zach, and no matter what Zach feels about the weird details of Stephen's quest to turn his life over to his higher power, he knows it's part of the process. You can't shortcut recovery for someone.

And look at Stephen.

He admitted he was powerless over the stims, and that his life had become unmanageable.

He came to believe that a power greater than himself could restore him to sanity.

He made a decision to turn his will and his life over to this higher power as he understood it.

He made a searching and fearless moral inventory of himself.

He admitted to himself, to his higher power, and to Garibaldi the exact nature of his wrongs.

As a Foundationalist it's not like Franklin believes in God, but he was entirely willing to be rid of his defects of character ...

... and humbly went about the standard process for removing those shortcomings.

Now, we don't know about his list of people he has harmed or his amends to them, but we do know that when he does come back, he is committed to a better way of dealing with his life, which probably involves the usual continued inventory and willingness to admit wrong and make amends. The 12-step program is built into the plot, recognizably and yet without lampshading it.

And so Zach, and JMS for that matter, is reminding us: it's OK if someone is going on their process of recovery, and you're not part of it right now. The point of recovery is not that you can save people. It's that no matter what has happened, you can get better. And so can they.

"Look: he's gotta get his head screwed on straight. You can't do that for him."

And on we go into the episode.

[thethirdromana]

Shadow Dancing!

This series is really going to make the most of every possible 'shadow' pun, isn't it?

I think they all deserve four-poster beds with canopies. I mean, it's not a lot to ask.

Once again Minbari culture sounds exhausting. I'm just imagining trying to sleep with my husband staring at me the whole time.

The Franklin storyline suddenly got bleak.

Can't help but think that this show would be a lot shorter if Kosh would just have communicated clearly.

(Amazing battle scenes, but I feel like I never have anything to say about those).

OK, I complained about Sheridan's dead wife backstory at the start. But the one good way to rescue a dead wife backstory is if she suddenly turns out to be a living wife. So - this is fun.

[greysectorpod]

On this week's episode, we discuss: how do Shadows dance?