Zocalo: Spoiler-Free Discussion of “The Exercise of Vital Powers”

So, there’s a whole lot of discussion and much is learned in this episode. The frozen telepaths are back and Franklin is trying to do something with them. Good thing Lyta happens by. Garibaldi finally meets his new boss, who just might be more of a super-villain than Garibaldi’s current view of Sheridan. Talk about it all here without going forward.

7 thoughts on “Zocalo: Spoiler-Free Discussion of “The Exercise of Vital Powers””

    1. Well, maybe not *total* bullhockey. Certainly it’s not a real quote, but it does seems to be a decent-enough summary of Aristotle’s teleological “activity in accordance with virtue,” as well as more recent neoAristotelian conceptualizations of the good life (Foot, MacIntyre, Nussbaum).

      …I’m your actual eudaimonist psychologist, and I endorse this reply. 🙂

      1. A comment there claims traces it to ep.17 of a 1991 Murder She Wrote and suggests JMS used it there. JMS has no script credit until the following 1991-92 season, episode 2, then episode 5, named “Lines of Excellence.”

        ‘Jessica accidentally discovers a box of computer tapping which leads to murder when she trades in her typewriter for a computer.’

        From Wikipedia; and IMDB, which adds the extra-explanatory notes that it’s also about hacking and blackmail. I’m an author of fiction and I endorse this linguistic chaos. 1991 computers will hurt you.

  1. Rewatching this episode, it occurred to me that Edgars talks about this conspiracy or informal organisation of major corporations that are going to take care of President Clark. I didn’t find it very convincing, because up till now we haven’t seen any evidence that major corporations are interested in mucking around with politics. Psi Corps yes, rogue intelligence agencies yes, but corporations?

    1. We haven’t seen it much onscreen, but it would be rather improbable to me that major corporations wouldn’t be involved in trying to influence politics, so I’m prepared to give it a pass.

      Arguably, though, we have seen it a little with IPX’s involvement in mysterious things.

  2. I’m in the spoiler-free comment thread this time! Hmm. Nice place you have here on this side of the jumpgate…

    Anyway. Since nobody else commented on it, here I am quite a bit later putting my two cents’ worth: It makes sense that Michael and Lise have a version of the same argument several times over. Chewing old fat is a time-honored tradition between exes.

    Trust me on this. Seriously.

    That they come out of this iteration in a somewhat healthier place? That’s good character growth, yes indeed.

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