A-Plot: There's something weird going on at B5, as portrayed in the pre-credits sequence where a guy squealing in pain has some sort of weird insect-ish thing on his back (http://goo.gl/XbC82O) which gets absorbed into his skin, as others look on. Ick!
It gets worse. People are disappearing or wandering off from their normal haunts — including one, then two of Marcus' Lurker friends / contacts. Garibaldi is unusually uninterested in weird stuff going on, so Marcus ropes Franklin into checking things out. At which point they get captured by a whole tribe of low-affect pod-people.
Ultimately Franklin (who had already gotten a clue that something was going on during an autopsy of a botched absorption) and Marcus break free(ish) and confront the pod-people, including Marcus' dear Lurker friend, Duncan (http://goo.gl/0lHQG4, http://goo.gl/v5HG3o). The insectish critters are the Vindrizi, who are Long Game historians, recording goings-on over hundreds of thousands of years against the time when the galaxy as a whole falls into a Dark Age and the knowledge needs to be revived. They survive in alien hosts, drawn from the most destitute and hopeless who have nothing else to live for (the Vindrizi offer both purpose and healing from aches and pains).
After being convinced when Duncan rejects his Vindrizi symbiote (a one-way trip for him) and vouches for the whole gang, Franklin takes them under his wing. Duncan heads off, somehow independently wealthy, to travel and see the sorts of things he only perceived a whilst hag-ridden, and Marcus feels deeply, deeply guilty.
Overall, it's pretty conventional fare, and one could imagine Picard and Riker and Data all somehow involved in lieu of the B5 chars. The only noteworthy bits going on are (a) the first Franklin/Marcus team-up (http://goo.gl/dsxqNG) (we'll see lots of them in the future), and (b) Marcus pinging Franklin about Ivanova, whom he's clearly fallen for hard (we'll see lots of that in the future, too).
B-Plot: Regular C&C extra, then named C&C officer, and now promoted, full-fledged Lieutenant David Corwin is a possible fly in the ointment, since in his new position he might get in the way of all the anti-EarthGov stuff going on amongst the command staff. So Sheridan tells the ever-subtle Ivanova to feel Corwin out and find out if he could be brought into (or at least would be sympathetic to) the big Conspiracy of Light.
Thus this episode enters British Farce territory, with Ivanova setting up a tete-a-tete in her quarters to chat, and Corwin clearly interpreting this as her hitting on him (http://goo.gl/st5WYY, http://goo.gl/9fgHtk). He buys roses, brings them to her door, and then claims he just found them (which she both supports as "jeez, ain't that lame?" and cuts down as "wow, I love roses, isn't that romantic?" http://goo.gl/ki3CQy).
The interview with Corwin goes as one might expect — the squeaky-clean now-full-lieutenant is reflexively loyal to the chain of command and can't (ostensibly) comprehend a conflict between "orders" and "the best interests of Earth". Ivanova shoos him away, unaware of his misapprehensions, and lets Sheridan know that he can't be trusted with the Big Secret.
Later on, Franklin indirectly mentions to Ivanova that Marcus is interested in her, and she decides that he must have left the roses. She then returns them to him in a way that makes Marcus think that she's giving them to him, thus encouraging further romantic misapprehensions (http://goo.gl/I0q5tg). Shakespeare would be proud.
All in All: It's a remarkably light-weight episode, though well-executed. The A-Plot is paint-by-numbers "There's an alien threat, but only because we don't understand it" kind of story (though the basis of it is kind of cool). The B-Plot somewhat advances some characters but is so maneuvered into place that the viewer is having more fun chuckling over mistaken intentions than considering how poor Corwin might feel or the actual threat he might pose.
The acting is all competent — Franklin/Marcus make a great bickering old couple routine, one the voice of reason, the other the voice of passion. The guest star pod people are by turns low-affect creepy and high-affect sympathetic.
Joshua Cox as Corwin is sort of a deer in the headlights the full time, first over his promotion, then over his being hit on by his superior. He gleefully retreats into being a squeaky-clean Lawful Good Lieutenant. Joe Straczynski excels as fitting Everymen into these big epic plots — Zack, Corwin, Vir — as a contrast to the Big Damn Heroes around them. As (to memory) the high point of Lt. David Corwin, this is a great episode for the character, unwittingly sucked into the rarified atmosphere of the Conspiracy of Light and, through no fault of his own, falling short of greatness.
Ivanova is another highlight. She's as subtle as a brick, both oblivious to Corwin's misinterpretation, and jumping to conclusions about Marcus (early and late in the ep.). Clearly she's uncomfortable with another person trying to become emotionally close to her, the last few having not ended well.
Joe's notes on the episode: "My personal evaluation of the episode is that it's okay. The second half, I think, isn't as strong as the first half. Halfway through writing the episode, we had a problem come up in production that unexpectedly took me away from the script for about a week. (Nothing major, but it had to be dealt with and it took time.) Usually, I write copious notes on a script before I begin writing it. In this case, the story was so crystalline clear in my head that I just dived in, and was blasting away terrific when the hit came midway through. By the time I got back, I'd lost some of the fingerprints of the story, and had to kind of re-find them again. Mainly, I think the expository sequence at the end could've been done better. Needless to say, that's the last time I trusted myself without notes, no matter how well I "see" the episode in my head." Overall, he considered it the weak point of this season. I think that's overly harsh, but it's certainly one of the most conventional eps in S.3.
Most Dramatic Moment: Duncan rejects the Vindrizi in order to convince Marcus that they are telling the truth.
Most Amusing Moment: Ivanova arranges to meet with Corwin in her quarters to "talk," her intent being to have him alone to find out if he'd be amenable to be brought into the Conspiracy — and his facial expressions making it clear that he thinks she's asking him for a date.
Most Arc-ish Moment: Not a lot arc-ish here, aside from Marcus asking Franklin about Ivanova. Oh, Marcus and Ivanova …. Alternately, Marcus meetings with contacts on B5 give a bit of intel about goings-on in the 'Verse, including a build-up of Shadow forces along their border with Centauri space.
Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5 — A reasonable stand-alone, but a bit cliche, redeemed only by character bits.
– Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/051.html
– Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Exogenesis
– IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517649/
– AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/babylon-5-exogenesismessages-from-earth-99181 (includes next ep)
– Kay Shapero: http://www.kayshapero.net/b5review/Exogenesis.htm
– TV Tropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS03E07Exogenesis
Next episode: "Messages from Earth," where the anvils suspended over our heroes' status quo heads start to crash down with a vengeance.
