The action starts to build up a bit after a couple of lack-luster bridging episodes. There’s an actual story here and everything.
A-Plot: Garibaldi is a popular guy, and his Private Investigation seems to be doing well. He even shows some signs of being something other than a paranoid nut-job to one of his clients, which is deeply refreshing. That’s the high point of his status quo, though, as things spiral down from there. Sheridan, who’s kind of a dickconcerned about Garibaldi’s erratic behaviorticked off out to close a potential security breach, has Zack remove Garibaldi’s link and PPG (and hold-out PPG). Garibaldi takes it with ill grace toward Zack — which means that when Zack discovers later that Garibaldi still has some secret security system access, he cuts it off. That causes Garibaldi life-threatening difficulties, which lead at last to a final confrontation with Sheridan …
Wade, leader of Garibaldi’s anti-Sheridan handlers friends, hires him (as an “expendable”) to protect someone passing through the ship — which someone turns out to be his old Martian flame, Lise Hampton, now remarried. It seems her husband, William Edgars, the industrial and medical tycoon on Mars, is trying to get smuggled in a possible cure for a potential plague that would wipe out telepaths. Other parties are interested in seeing the cure either destroyed or in their own hands, and Garibaldi has to protect Lise to from one such group, a set of telepaths with lethal intent. Garibaldi manages to protect Lise and get her and the vial of serum on their way, doing so through some clever back doors in security that only he would know about (and which, being cheesed at Sheridan, he’s happy to exploit). He also pulls a trick on the telepaths, leading to their ambush by station security and their suicide-by-poison-tooth (as they ominously proclaim “To the future!”).
Garibaldi succeeds in his main quest, but by the end is even further on the outs with Sheridan (who’s understandably irked about the number of dead bodies that need tidying), and has broken his relationship with Zack, his protege.
Lucky for him, he’s now reconciled, to some degree with Lise, but, more interestingly, her mysterious husband calls the station and offers him a job on Mars, marking the next step in an interesting plotline for Mr. Garibaldi.
B-Plot: Sheridan calls Londo and G’kar — absent for the past few episodes — to meet with him. Given the skirmishes and piracy and Drakh raids along the borders of the Non-Aligned Worlds, he’s proposing to repurpose the Rangers as peace-keeping forces and patrols, using the White Star fleet to keep the peace. To convince the various regimes involved that this isn’t a power play, he’s further proposing to kick off said patrols in the border zone between the Centauri Republic and the now-free Narn space. Londo bristles at the imposition of sovereignty, and G’kar’s clearly uncomfortable with the arrangement (and the meeting) — but Sheridan presses them for an agreement.
Ivanova and Zathras, zany as ever
C-Plot: Ivanova’s ready to kick off the “Voice of the Resistance,” except for one problem: power. It will take a lot to broadcast through hyperspace and overcome Earth’s jamming. Franklin suggests the Great Machine on Epsilon III below might be able to broadcast power to them for their use. Ivanova shuttles down and encounters Zathras — or, rather, one of Zathras’ nine brothers, all of whom were named Zathras (pronounced unrecognizably differently).
IVANOVA: Let’s try this again.
ZATHRAS: As you wish.
IVANOVA: Zathras came with us to Babylon 4. Zathras stayed in the past with Valen. You’re Zathras. Therefore, you went into the past.
ZATHRAS: No, that was not Zathras. That was Zathras.
IVANOVA: This is Commander Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5, and this is the first official broadcast of the new Voice of the Resistance. We’re sending this signal out to every ship that wants to hear the truth, to our fallen comrades and freedom fighters on Mars and Proxima 3, and to Earth, which, despite what you may have heard, is still our home and still the one dream that we are as loyal to now as we ever have been. Over the last three years, ever since President Clark took over after arranging the assassination of President Santiago, you have been hearing nothing but misinformation, propaganda, and outright lies. Now we’re going to tell you the truth. We’ll keep telling it until they shut us down, or until Clark steps down and returns Earth to the hands of its people. You can kill us, you can bomb our colonies, destroy our ships, murder innocent civilians, but you cannot kill the truth — and the truth is back in business.
Garibaldi has a backup identicard. For the moment.
Overall: There’s a distinct up-tick in the action and intrigue in this one. The motivations of the various forces manipulating Garibaldi aren’t always clear (or even necessarily united), but there are clearly wheels within wheels. There’s enough dickishness on Sheridan’s part about all of this to give at least a certain credence to Garibaldi’s paranoia, and the events of this episode mark a clear push in a new direction for the former security chief.
That said, the core of this episode — the chase through the bowels of B5, under pursuit, amidst the soap opera of Michael and Lise’s former relationship — is the dullest part of the story. The peripheral bits — confrontations with Garibaldi before and after, as well as the B and C plots — manage to mostly overcome that weakeness.
Most Amusing Moment: Ivanova’s encounter with Zathras — no, not Zathras, Zathras. Some quick banter over four minutes, all in a single, un-cut take. Delightful.
IVANOVA: We’re trying to put together a facility to broadcast messages back home and to the other colonies. We’ve got all of the pieces we need, but–
ZATHRAS: But not having enough power to reach far places! Yes, Zathras understand. Everyone always coming to Zathras with problems. Great responsibility but Zathras does not mind. Zathras trained in crisis management!
IVANOVA: That’s great, but–
ZATHRAS: But only Zathras have no one to talk to. No one manages poor Zathras, you see. So Zathras talks to dirt. Sometimes talks to walls. Or talks to ceilings. But dirt is closer. Dirt is used to everyone walking on it. Just like Zathras. But we have come to like it. It is our role. It is our destiny in the universe. So, you see, sometimes dirt has insects in it. And Zathras likes insects. Not so good for conversation, but much protein for diet. Hmmm, ha, ha, ha, very good! — Zathras fix now. Come, this way.
Originally Ivanova was supposed to meet with Draal, but the most recent actor for that was unavailable, so it was (fortuitously) rewritten for Zathras instead.
The scene is marred only by Claudia Christian’s too-broad expressions and vocalizations dealing with the madness that is chatting with Zathras. In contrast, she does great in an earlier scene with Franklin:
IVANOVA: If we gonna broadcast all the way to Earth, we need a hell of a lot more power than what we’ve got now. I don’t know where we’re gonna get it. I’ve been working on this for days. I don’t have a clue.
FRANKLIN: What about Epsilon 3? During the war, we evacuated a lot of the wounded down there for safekeeping. Now, I spent a lot of time looking around. There’s enough power down there to broadcast clear to the Rim.
IVANOVA: [Without a beat of hesitation] Or, just a crazy thought, we could try Epsilon 3.
FRANKLIN: Yeah, you could do that.
IVANOVA: I mean, it’s the logical choice. Anybody could see that in about two seconds. Only a fool would fail to see that.
FRANKLIN: Well, I wouldn’t …
IVANOVA: It’s absolutely obvious.
FRANKLIN: Well, I wouldn’t have thought of it for sure.
IVANOVA: You’re far too modest Stephen.
FRANKLIN: No no, that’s why you get paid the big bucks after all.
IVANOVA: Yep, that’s my job. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I think there’s a shuttle with my name on it waiting for me.
Cranky Sheridan is cranky.
Most Dramatic Moment: Sheridan, in his office with the lights down low, brooding — then sending Zack off to strip Garibaldi of his old security access and equipment.
If Garibaldi weren’t being played for such a tin-foil-hat kind of guy, one could almost see his concerns over Sheridan and “absolute power” as being not outrageous.
Getting the old diplomatic team back together again.
Most Arc-ish Moment: G’kar! Londo! In the same room together! And the first hints of the interstellar alliance that is to come …
Runner Up is Garibaldi in passing watching the conclusion of the Warner Bros. “Duck Amuck“cartoon (1953), wherein Daffy is under the control of strange and power forces which control the very reality around him. Sort of like Garibaldi himself …
