A-Plot: Brother Theo and his monks are back, with a focus on one monk, Brother Edward (Brad Dourif http://goo.gl/mj7Ap3). He's a model monk, kind and service-oriented and artistic and all-around nice. But he starts to have visions of weird things — dire serial-murderer-catchphrases painted on the walls in blood, black roses, dead women with black roses stuffed in their mouth, freaky stuff like that (http://goo.gl/w1SCfb, http://goo.gl/fDwSQu). This couldn't have anything to do with the beginning-of-episode mention of how capital punishment has been abolished and instead heinous criminals undergo "death of personality," wiping their minds and turning them into drones who want to serve the community (http://youtu.be/eVQyzHJwThY), could it?
Of course it (more than a bit heavy-handedly) could. And Brother Edward, as a member of an order that gets seriously into research projects, starts researching to put the pieces together, coming to realize that, yup, he's a mindwiped serial murderer, the Black Rose Killer (http://goo.gl/OpcDIc). In a somewhat contrived but nicely shot scene, he tells Theo all of this (http://goo.gl/5hMYYw). "How could they do it? They say it’s humane, merciful. Do you know what it’s like to wake up one day and discover you’re a monster, a murderer? What if I had died Theo, never knowing what I had been? How can I confess my sins to God if I don’t even know what they are? The mind forgets but the stain remains with the soul." Theo tries to convince him of the all-forgiving grace of God, but Edward flees.
But not really. Seems that the clues and mental/emotional tweaking that have led to Edward remembering his past (including a passing Centauri telepath-for-hire) were orchestrated by the husbands and brothers and families of the women he murdered, who are out for the revenge that the namby-pamby justice system denied them. Edward figures out they are coming, and waits for them in prayer (http://goo.gl/T2NWfW). All the others back down at the last moment, but one of them (http://goo.gl/ckexQ1) decides to execute their vigilante justice, which Edward doesn't resist. This couldn't have anything to do with his earlier mentioning that he's never been sure if he'd be able to stand up for his moral beliefs like Christ did in the Garden of Gethsemane, could it?
Of course it (also a bit heavy-handedly) could, but that's okay because when Sheridan and Garibaldi and Theo find a crucified / beaten / dying Edward, he's found his true moral center and has atoned for his sins (helped by some deathbed shriving by Brother Theo http://goo.gl/yzTyGj). It's actually a very emotional scene, to be honest, even if it feels manipulative, well-performed by all.
The guy who did the deed gets caught, of course. And, a few weeks later, Sheridan and Theo are having a discussion about the whole matter, where Sheridan still has a mad-on for what happened to Edward, and realizes he's caught up in confusion over vengeance vs. justice vs. forgiveness. Which is a cue for the newest member of Theo' order to pop his head into Sheridan's office — the now-mindwiped guy who committed Edward's murder, intentionally recruited by Theo, and ready to be sent back to Earth for training (http://goo.gl/VdSxDU). Sheridan has to (kinda-sorta) let go of his anger and vengeance-seeking (http://goo.gl/Re12cR), and accept the new monk as the new person he has been made into ("You must excuse the Captain, Malcolm. You interrupted his train of thought. I believe you were saying that forgiveness is a hard thing but something ever to strive for. Were you not, Captain?").
It's a plotline full of (as noted) beating of foreshadowing and moral points with a bat, but there are still some powerful moments, many of them spiritual in nature. Though Joe Straczynski is an atheist, he treats believers (at least nice ones) with respect, and that plays out here. There's nothing very arc-ish about the plot, but, occasional clumsiness aside, it's a pretty good one, helped by a strong acting job by Brad Dourif and direction by Adam Nimoy.
A good compilation of key Edward moments here: http://youtu.be/8m9GQ3thO8o
(As a part of this plot, we get to see Brother Edward interviewing Delenn and Lennier about their faith (http://goo.gl/lNrXrE), in which we learn (a) the Minbari have no gods, but that "We believe that the universe itself is conscious in a way that we can never truly understand. It is engaged in a search for meaning. So it breaks itself apart, investing its own consciousness in every form of life. We are the universe trying to understand itself" (though how that fits into the whole "Minbari souls into human bodies" thing isn't quite clear), and (b) Valen, the great Minbari religious leader and founder of the Gray Council, appeared out of nowhere only a thousand years ago, "a Minbari not born of Minbari," to lead them in a great war. Yeah, pay attention to that stuff – http://youtu.be/bJfbSPZ9wu4)
JMS refers to this as a "Twilight Zone" sort of plotline, which it is in spades. It's also emblematic of the dangers that Joe faced as one of the first TV series creators to have a high-profile, engaged presence in social media (well, what passed for them in 1995). After the concept of mindwipes was introduced a year or so earlier, a fan speculated on the boards about someone on the station realizing that he was a former murderer whose memories had been suppressed. That forced JMS to shelf that very (this very) storyline, until the fan actually actually got a notarized release to let Joe use the idea. There's a fine line between "plot speculation" and "story ideas," and it's a line that makes it difficult for series writers to be too involved with fans.
B-Plot: Lyta Alexander returns to B5. And she does so in style, aboard Kosh's ship (http://goo.gl/mYfSju), having finally found a way to get to the Vorlons and now in their employ as Kosh's attache. As the first human who has ever ventured to Vorlon space and returned to tell the tale, everyone from the command staff to Londo want to know more. To the former, she's friendly, but non-committal (http://youtu.be/CzkPZMH1kSA). To the latter (http://goo.gl/x3jlH0), she makes it clear she's no longer bound by Psi Corps rules, and that means bugging, let alone threatening, her is not a good idea. _"I'm not with the Corps any more. That means I'm not bound by their rules. So if someone were to tun me in, I'd find him. And before they took me, I'd plant a nightmare deep in his mind where no one else could find or remove it. And that person would spend every night for the rest of his life, screaming."_
Indeed, Lyta's independence Corps is made clear when she is used by Sheridan and Garibaldi to get the truth from the Centauri telepath in the A-Plot. Lyta was always a more interesting telepath than Talia Winters, and, now unleashed, she'll play an important role in the coming episodes.
She's also got a new role, we only find out at the end. Yeah, she's working for Kosh now (and under his protection), and goes off on errands from the station for him. Except, from what we see at the close of the ep, she's actually leaving the station with Kosh inside of her (giving a whole new meaning to "attaché"). Also, she's also now equipped with Vorlon atmosphere gills. Yikes! (And one of the more enjoyable things in my life this week was having my daughter be totally creeped out by that whole final scene — http://goo.gl/bfHWUp http://goo.gl/LsIopk .)
Lyta is a strong, confident teep in this episode — maybe a bit scary-strong, a bit too brash. Part of that confidence comes from a near-religious fervor over having gotten in touch with the Vorlons (literally) and becoming their protected agent. It reminds me a bit of Sebastian the Inquisitor — when you think you are (literally) on the side of the angels, the feeling of righteousness in your (their) cause is unshakable. That gives Lyta … a very interesting road to travel.
In addition to Brad Dourif, already mentioned, the acting in this ep is solid. Delenn is intense in both answering and asking religious questions, and Lennier comes across as a history-theology wonk, as he should. Garibaldi gets to be the bloody-minded cop (GIFfy http://goo.gl/WNZDHK), and Sheridan — gets thrown for a number of loops that he has to deal with mostly through body language and facial expression, which Boxleitner does splendidly. Part-timer Brother Theo gets to be the avuncular and tragic voice of wisdom. Ivanova is the weakest link here, mostly because she's just around for a few laugh lines and because she's given not much chance to react emotionally to the return of Lyta Alexander, a telepath and the person who blew the personality implantation on Talia Winters, her lover.
Overall, a decent episode, with the arc-related bits in the B-Plot, well-acted, but still mostly low-key, letting everyone get a continued feel for How Things Are Now, so that they can be totally up-ended in relatively short order …
Most Dramatic Moment: Sheridan is confronted, by Theo, with the new monk. After shrinking away from him in horror, he's forced, rhetorically, by Theo, to accept the justice of the situation and the innocence of the man Sheridan instinctively loathes.
Most Amusing Moment: Londo tries to schmooze Lyta for some insight into the Vorlons, or else he might have to turn her in. Lyta in turn threatens to implant nightmares that will haunt him the rest of his life. Londo muses, after she's gone, "Nightmares. Hmph! The way my life has been going lately, who'd notice?"
Most Arc-ish Moment: Wait a second, Kosh is RIDING AROUND INSIDE OF LYTA'S HEAD some of the time? Crikey!
Overall Rating: 3.7 / 5 — Thought-provoking in areas, but clumsy in others, boosted by Brad Dourif's acting and overall helped by any scene that Lyta is in.
– Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/048.html
– Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Passing_Through_Gethsemane
– IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517677/
– AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/babylon-5-a-day-in-the-strifepassing-through-geths-98625
– Kay Shapero: http://www.kayshapero.net/b5review/Passing.htm
– TV Tropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS03E04PassingThroughGethsemane
Next episode: "Voices of Authority" brings back some of the big, epic stuff — emphasis on the "big."