B5 Rewatch: 3×08 "Messages from Earth"

So far, the B5 team have just been quiet conspirators regarding the problems back on Earth. Now they find themselves having to take action …

A-Plot:  Our Heroes learn (http://goo.gl/jOqLHz) that an abandoned Shadow vessel was found on Mars (http://goo.gl/urQGxN) several years back, and that Earth Gov and Psi Corps (http://goo.gl/5TlR4r) have some sort of undefined relationship, which led to that vessel being “rescued” by the Shadows (http://goo.gl/1m6mS2, http://goo.gl/3GzCZn, http://goo.gl/G0n7nR). Now Earth has found another one, buried on Ganymede, and the Clark government plans on taking it home, to use its technology both for defense and, potentially, against all humanity.

Sheridan decides to cowboy off to the Solar System in the White Star (http://goo.gl/ZoXLNf), with Delenn and Lennier (http://goo.gl/CHLoVg), to destroy the Shadow vessel. One nice bit of character work is how the other command staff try to talk him out of it. Ivanova is all gloom-and-doom: they’ll be detected on the system’s long-range scanners and outgunned by the EA fleet. Franklin urges caution, suggesting maybe later will be better, when they are more ready. Garibaldi cuts to the worst case scenario, asking if Sheridan is willing to fight with EA ships.

They get there after the Earth folk have activated the Shadow vessel, where we learn that all such craft have a living creature at their center as a merged being (Delenn reveals that the Minbari apparently know a lot more about the Shadows than she’s mentioned before. cough). But the human pilot wasn’t properly prepped, and the vessel goes mad, destroying the Ganymede base (http://goo.gl/UQB49b, http://goo.gl/tD7cft).  After some futile shooting at it, enough to get its attention, Sheridan takes the White Star down into Jupiter’s atmosphere, just deep enough into the gravity well that they’re able to barely get back out again, but the not-fully-with-it Shadow vessel is not.

The next challenge is when Sheridan’s former command, the Agamemnon, arrives in high orbit and demands their surrender. For whatever reason, the White Star isn’t fast enough to escape, and Sheridan refuses to fire on his old ship. Delenn hits on the idea of opening a jump gate in the high atmosphere, despite the explosion risk. They do so, and get away, huzzah.

(A nice chunk of this plot can be found here: http://youtu.be/dH-LjWYO5VA (or http://youtu.be/_jlXPWVZt94 in German) and http://youtu.be/MLs32hObjlw)

A-Plot (flip side):  The show starts with ISN broadcasts — these are playing in the background around the station, but also being watched, worriedly, by both Sheridan and Ivanova.  The talk is about how pressure is building on the Clark government, which has been further damaged by testimony from his personal physician about his abrupt departure from Space Force 1 (“Hunter, Prey”).  Various senate hearings are going on, and the Clark administration, which claims it’s all a bunch of poppycock, is trying to distract folks by mentioning those mysterious Shadow vessel pictures (“The Fall of Night”) and how they are determined to get to the bottom of that possible threat to Earth (a dubious assertion, blown up by information in the A-Plot about how EarthGov already knows about the Shadows).

After the A-Plot mission is all over, we see more on ISN about how an alien vessel attacked and destroyed the Ganymede base, but was in turn hunted down and destroyed by the Agamemnon.  The Clark administration promises that these increasing threats will be met by a new plan — which, at the very end of the episode, turns out to be an announcement on ISN of martial law being declared on Earth.

The use of ISN for these meta-plot tracking “messages from Earth” is very nicely done, and will continue to be a tool used to give the characters, and viewers, further insight into what’s happening outside the station.

B-Plot: Speaking of dire Earth stuff, Night Watch is ramping up the pressure on the station, with new Head Thug holding meetings and reporting that Earth has determined the government and even the military are riddled with conspirators and alien stooges, arrests to follow soon.  The local Night Watchers are advised to keep an eye out for sinister goings on at B5, which raises the question of Sheridan disappearing from the station for four days (the A-Plot; the activities taken to make it seem like he was still around apparently not standing up to close scrutiny).

Zack, of course, remains increasingly uncomfortably in the middle, under increasing pressure from Head Thug to try to get in good with Garibaldi and learn what sort of shenanigans Sheridan is up to (http://goo.gl/oCFUSQ, http://goo.gl/xfmZkn).  This will have to come to a head soon …

The biggest problem with this plotline is that the face of the Night Watch keeps changing, both in big representatives from Earth and in station personnel leaders.  Each one does a more or less decent job as a McCarthyite Thought Police drone, but the changing faces make it more difficult to empathize with Zack’s conflict, and how he might resolve it.

C-Plot: Sheridan and Delenn aren’t quite boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but their professional lives (http://goo.gl/87gntH) are becoming more entangled, and they’re sharing small kindnesses (http://goo.gl/303mcH) and personal dialog (http://goo.gl/6Qji6b, http://youtu.be/pbrryrR56-s) in a way that colleagues don’t.

On the flip side, Ivanova and Marcus (GIFfy http://goo.gl/gjcEbN; http://goo.gl/6tXGWK) are … well, he’s a bit over-the-top smitten, clearly, sending her special breakfasts and all (http://youtu.be/yVEJDwaTMfk;  http://goo.gl/qcBQU0) … but as someone who hates a lack of control and certainty, this is not the time when she wants to open up to a relationship (esp. given how the last couple here on B5 have gone) (http://goo.gl/bntT4x).  There’s actually a really nice scene here where Ivanova (as only Ivanova can) explains why Marcus and his presence bug her so much.

IVANOVA: I don’t know how to relate to you! How you fit in to anything here. I mean, where are you in the ranks? Above? Below?
MARCUS: Left? Right? In a box by the door…?
IVANOVA: Ever since you’ve come here we had nothing but trouble! You’re a loose canon!
MARCUS: He went of his own free will. He didn’t have to go.
IVANOVA: Yes, he did! And you knew he would the second he found out what was going on!
MARCUS: I’d rather assumed he would send me. Funny that. But if you’re right, and it was inevitable, why blame me?
IVANOVA: Because he shouldn’t have to be doing this. Because he’s got no business taking out that ship without me there to help him! Because we’re going against our own government! I don’t know where the hell I fit in any more, let alone you! And, dammit, because I don’t have anyone else to blame!

Great stuff, shifting some amusing rom-com byplay into actual characterization.

Marcus reciprocates with the world’s most amusing org chart (http://goo.gl/rwUKPV).

MARCUS: Now then, here’s you, right here, at the heart of everything. And why not? And here’s me. This is the captain, here’s Franklin, here’s my mom and dad — they don’t actually have anything to do with this, but it’s a very good picture of them, don’t you think? I think I’ve actually come up with a way to explain the organizational structure of Babylon 5 using the Ottoman Empire as a model. It gets a little confusing around this bit here, but one has to start somewhere.

And he makes her laugh, which is his devilish goal.

D-Plot: G’Kar isn’t languishing in prison, but seriously mellowing out, writing his memoirs (http://goo.gl/zpiOKE), chatting with Garibaldi (http://goo.gl/bsr6ix), and preparing to step out of the cell as something as yet uncertain.

Overall: A solid episode, with good character bits, some action and effects, nice direction by Michael Vejar, and a steady ramping-up of the tension.  Sheridan & Co. are beginning to realize they can’t simply lurk in the background any longer — how that issue will be forced, and what that means, will be the topic of the next two episodes. The growing stress for Sheridan — acting against Earth’s defense forces, even for a higher cause — is playing out well and, when not still being a puppy dog in his normal eagerness and demeanor, you can see it weighing on him.

Shout-out to Bill Mumy’s Lennier, who gets to play all of the non-Kirk-and-Spock roles on the bridge of the White Star, and still manages to get some good lines. (SHERIDAN: “Full power! Give me everything you’ve got!” LENNIER: “If I were holding anything back I would tell you.” GIFfy: http://goo.gl/sGbe76)

There are also a few flaws. The A-Plot has some great moments, but the actual battle against the Shadow vessel and the escape from the Agamemnon feel poorly blocked and too reliant (twice!) on “I have a brilliant and unorthodox idea that will work even though the odds are against it” type of scenarios to be considered really good writing.  This episode is better when it’s about personal conflict, not action.

This ep also gives a loud shout-out to little bits and bobs of continuity. You can take it simply on the surface, but someone paying attention will spot lots of textural goodies.  They’ll remember Interplanetary Expeditions (both their commercials and the last time they played an active role, back in “Infection”). They’ll recall when Garibaldi was able to get olive oil and anchovies shipped to the station (“A Distant Star”). They’ll note how events of a thousand years ago keep popping up.  They’ll remember that Clark’s physician, and his testimony, were the A-Plot of a previous episode (“Hunter, Prey”).  Heck, if they read the B5 comic books, they’d see a Garibaldi tie-in to the Mars story.  There’s a fine balance here between added details making things more cool for the devotee, and the storyline being accessible to the more casual viewer, something that modern TV producers and writers could take a lesson from.

Most Dramatic Moment: Ivanova watches ISN as martial law is declared. “And to confirm earlier reports, President Clark has signed a decree today declaring martial law throughout Earth Central citing threats to planetary security. He’s expected to provide information to support this action at a closed meeting of the full Earth Senate tomorrow. We repeat, Earth is now under martial law.”
Most Amusing Moment: Marcus shows Ivanova where he and she fit into the B5 org chart, as inspired by the Ottoman Empire (http://goo.gl/rrZXZ0).
Most Arc-ish Moment: Dr. Kirkish (http://goo.gl/xDxzlJ) and her (long) tale of the Shadow vessel on Mars.

Overall Rating:  4.0 / 5 — Good stuff, building on the past and ratcheting up tension for following episodes, marred mostly by some awkward action sequences.

– Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/052.html
– Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Messages_from_Earth
– IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517668/
– AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/babylon-5-exogenesismessages-from-earth-99181 (includes next ep)
– Kay Shapero: http://www.kayshapero.net/b5review/Messages.htm
– TV Tropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS03E08MessagesFromEarth

Next episode: “Point of No Return,” where Earth’s martial law reaches out to B5.

#babylon5 #b5