Babylon 5 Rewatch: “A Late Delivery from Avalon”
An excerpt:
To the episode’s credit, it never tries to seriously sell us on the idea that McIntyre is the real Arthur. (Cole presenting his “the Vorlons coulda done it like they did Jack the Ripper!” theory is mostly there to cut off fan arguments on the Internet at the pass.) But it’s also to the episode’s detriment that we spend so much time on McIntyre-as-Arthur that the PTSD story gets short shrift.
It’s not too terribly much of a detriment, though, because it’s Michael Fucking York, and he’s an absolute joy to watch playact at being the King of the Britons. He completely throws himself into all three roles he’s called upon to play: King Arthur, a soldier in a denial so heavy it sends him into catatonia, and David McIntyre. Honestly, I could just watch an entire episode of him and Andreas Katsulas as a drunk, adrenaline-soaked G’Kar babbling at each other over mead. On top of that, Jason Carter’s at the top of his game here, giving us a Marcus Cole who really really really wants McIntyre to be King Arthur because after all the shit he’s been through, a real hero would be a nifty thing.
