It’s the final episode of the season! And, damn, a great way to wrap things up in a huge cliff-hanger to get people to eagerly await Season 4!
(The irony being that (a) there was a very real probability there would be no S.4 when the episode was filmed, and (b) the episode was held to be run the week before S.4 began. Sigh.)
A-Plot: Really, that’s almost all of it.
Anna Sheridan is back, as we saw in the last minute of “Shadow Dancing.”And after a flustered Delenn exits, stage left, Anna and John have a long talk — and Sheridan’s hobby of “collecting secrets” meshes very neatly with Anna’s promise to tell him the full truth behind everything that’s going on … if he just comes with her to Z’Ha’Dum.
The episode is pretty remarkable in terms of giving the Other Side — the Shadows — an even break in justifying their position. Everything in the ep, at least on the surface, conceivably works to balance against three seasons of pro-Vorlon cheerleading (led by the Minbari). We all know Delenn’s been deceiving people and managing information right and left — by her own confession, here, she kept the possibility of Anna being alive away from Sheridan so that he didn’t halloo off to Z’Ha’Dum and, as prophesied, die. The Vorlons have obviously been managing things, in terms of only selectively revealing their true guises (guises that are deeply manipulative), influencing the Younger Races, keeping secrets, stealing people for their purposes …
Anna eventually “convinces” John to travel to Z’Ha’Dum, where he meets (alongside Anna and Mr. Morden) Justin, “the middle-man,” a leading human rep for the Shadows. And then the three of them make the pitch to Sheridan.
A million years ago, the first wave of intelligent races were wandering the galaxy and beginning to head out “beyond the Rim” into the broader universe. Two races stayed behind — the Vorlons and the “Shadows” — to “shepherd” the races that were beginning to develop. The Vorlons were order-focused, Lawful, establishing rules, guidelines, directives, covertly and overtly influencing the races in their charge, even down to a genetic level (including fostering telepathy amongst Humans). The Shadows, in contrast, were conflict-focused, Chaotic, forcing natural selection (genetically, socially, technologically) between the galactic races through warfare and other conflict; only the strong survive, but those who survive are stronger.
JUSTIN: It’s really simple. You bring two sides together, they fight. A lot of them die. But those who survive are stronger. Smarter. And better.
This dichotomy has led to a Long Game war between the Vorlons and Shadows, the last flare-up being a thousand years ago. In the present cycle, Sheridan is the pivot point, the “nexus,” around whom the conflict will rotate. The Vorlons have teed him up to build cooperation between the races, a guided and controlled peace. The Shadows want him to give that up and fight on behalf of humanity über alles, promoting the development of his own race over the others. (And, if he doesn’t, they’re ready to take out his support network, starting with all those Shadow vessels that appear around B5 …)
The Shadow’s ideas are all deceptively attractive (just ask Ayn Rand), and even if you don’t buy their position (or means they use to their end) it certainly makes the Vorlon “Father Knows Best” stance quite a bit more questionable as well. And given Sheridan’s sense of betrayal regarding the information Delenn withheld from him, one could even see it being persuasive.
But Sheridan’s too compassionate and honorable a guy to toss the other races under the bus. And he’s seen a future (in “War Without End“) where the Shadows and their allies have devastated Centauri Prime when the other races were not there for them. Worse, the Shadows have torqued him off — because it seems that even though that female survivor of the Icarus looks like Anna and talks like Anna, Franklin has found implants similar to the ones put into the telepaths in “Ship of Tears,” telepaths who were set up to be pilot/processors for the Shadow vessels. Anna’s personality, as she was, has been destroyed by being part of such a vessel fora time, and no matter what higher philosophy Sheridan might consider, discovering that deception and the resulting sense of vengeance drive his final decision.
Which is to bring the whole shebang down. He knew about the implants before agreeing to go to Z’Ha’Dum, so he’s set up the White Star (crammed with Chekhovian multi-megaton explosives) to drop right into the Shadows’ lap. Which means his lap as well — but at the last moment shade-ghost-psychic-Kosh-in-his-head urges him to “Jump! Jump now!” into the giant pit in the middle of the underground Shadow city …
(And in French.)
And with the destruction of the city in Z’Ha’Dum, and Sheridan’s death, the Shadows depart from B5 …
In “The Shadow of Z’Ha’Dum” Kosh warned Sheridan, “If you go to Z’Ha’Dum, you will die.” Sheridan’s prophetic hero response was, “Then I die. But I will not go down easily, and I will not go down alone.” Nor does he.
It’s a remarkable episode. It ties together themes and hints and threads that have been set up for three years of the series. It’s got action (gunfights! space ships! blood!). It’s got drama (Anna! Delenn! Ivanova! John!). It’s got profound questions of trust (Anna! Delenn! Kosh!). It’s got long philosophical discourses (conflict vs cooperation, nature vs nurture, law vs chaos). It plays with the fundamental questions that have been earlier established (Sheridan unsuccessfully tries to pin down Justin with “Who are you?” while the setup with Anna hits Sheridan from a dozen direction regarding “What do you want?”). And it ends with both a huge BANG and with a elegy/epilogue voiced over by G’Kar, setting up things for the next season … I couldn’t imagine that combination working in any other TV show, and Joe pulls it off on Babylon 5.
Boxleitner does an excellent job here, varying from long periods of being gobsmacked over Anna’s return, to betrayal by Delenn, to suspicions of Anna, to grim nobility with Garibaldi, to the deceit and disgust of dealing with the Shadow Trio, to the calm and forthright love of his message to Delenn, to making the final, decisions to take the Bad Guys out, and then to jump. He’s the centerpiece of this ep, and fully lives up to it.
Furlan, meanwhile, neatly rings the changes from intensely uncomfortable (new girlfriend confronted by ex-wife) to guardedly conflicted (yes, I love you, John, but, no, I would never dream of telling you everything), to devastated (watching John’s time-delayed message to her).
Christian’s Ivanova gets more to do here than she has for a while. She’s the one who gets to deal with the Shadows dropping in to wipe out B5 if Sheridan doesn’t go along with them. She’s also the one who senses (psychically, I assume) that Sheridan is gone …
Katsulas is in a supporting role in G’Kar for most of the ep, setting up the explosives on the mantel and up in C&C for expository purposes later. But his final voice-over is perfect, sad and contemplative and stirring and melancholy and powerful.
G’KAR: It was the end of the Earth Year 2260, and the war had paused, suddenly, and unexpectedly. All around us it was as if the universe was holding its breath, waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both. G’Quan wrote, “There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way.” The war we fight is not against powers or principalities. It is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future. Or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born … in pain.
Melissa Gilbert does quite nicely as Anna Sheridan, always playing at 97% credible, but just that 3% askew to make the audience question whom they should believe. Her perky demeanor is perfectly creepy-menacing, her candor and seeking after intimacy inherently offputting, her professions of affection leaving you wondering if it would bother you more if they were real or fake.
Jeff Corey (longtime TV vet, including turns on an excellent “Outer Limits” and a truly awful “Star Trek”) plays Justin, the “middle-man” (or “the man in the middle” as he was referred to in Sheridan’s Kosh-induced dream in “All Alone in the Night” ).
Aside from always making me wonder why Mark Twain is working for the Shadows, Justin is the key articulator of the Shadow philosophy, in turns charming and ruthless, and always madly gesturing with each phrase. He’s the Sheridan equivalent on the Dark Side, a leaders and influencer who, himself, answers to others’ orders and influence. Corey succeeds with a (sadly) one-off character who’s supposed to be of great significance (and gets short-changed by showing up so briefly).
And Ed Wasser gives one of his best runs at Morden, moving beyond the snark and smirk to a person of passionate anger, completely bought into the teachings of the Shadows, disgusted with Vorlon manipulation, and greatly irked at Sheridan for not seeing how obvious the righteousness of their position is.
All in all, an excellent tale.
(Though I have to mention one tiny niggle: where was New Kosh in all of this? Was he aware of Anna’s return and contact with Sheridan? Or Sheridan’s departure for Z’Ha’Dum? Or his plan while there? Given Old Kosh’s warning that he would not be there to help Sheridan if he went to Z’Ha’Dum, what’s New Kosh’s thoughts on all of this? Or is he lying low, not wanting to meet the fate of Old Kosh?)
Meanwhile: Londo has received a promotion to special adviser to the Emperor on security matters. He sees through the honors (in a lovely one-off scene with Vir) as being actually a leash, bringing him under the close scrutiny (and implicit death threat) of the Court. That’s where we’ll find Londo most of the time in S.4, as B5 continues to expand its setting. In the meantime, one of Morden’s associates shows up to strongly suggests Londo get off of B5. Quickly.
LONDO: [Having another drink at the bar, talking to a passed out patron.] So you see, I knew it would work out. As long as I am here, nothing can happen to Babylon 5. I have … a destiny, you see. Yes … [Sees his reflection in the glass.] Nice shark. Pretty shark. You have grown back your teeth, yes?
(I quote the line because it’s a lovely call-back to a past episode, in this case, the pilot episode of the series, “The Gathering.”)
Garibaldi gets a couple of odd scenes. One is with Sheridan, gruffly examining their relationship, as Sheridan uses him to free up the White Star (and load it with explosives); the implication of trust that he’ll do the job and back Sheridan’s play without question is both macho and moving, and will be quite a contrast to next season.
The second Garibaldi scene is at the end, where he takes one of the Starfuries out to futilely face down the hovering Shadows. When they retreat, they nab his Starfury and take it, and him, with them …
Overall: A fabulous season finale, that both pays off plots that have been roaming around for up to three years, as well as increasing the stakes, throwing in some drama and tragedy, and leaving you with the question … what the hell are they going to do next?
Most Dramatic Moment: Crikey, there are so many. Sheridan dealing with Anna’s return. Sheridan confronting Delenn. Sheridan passing along orders to Garibaldi. Sheridan turning on the Shadows. Sheridan telling Delenn (by time-delay) that he loves her. The Big Jump. G’Kar’s epilogue.
Yeah, I’ll have to give it to the Big Jump, epitomizing the bravery, despair, action-in-hopelessness, defiance, and Vorlon-manipulation that exemplifies B5.
Most Amusing Moment: Not much amusing, to be honest.
Most Arc-ish Moment: Sheridan calls Delenn out on her dishonesty, manipulation, and Vorlonesque withholding of information “for your own good.” Even one of B5’s paragons has feet of “greater cause” clay (albeit called out by B5’s other paragon and Great Hero).
Overall Rating: 5.0 / 5 — Okay, I’ll give this one a perfect score. It pays off in everything, every character gets a moment in the sun (even a brief moment with Lennier and an obligatory Worried Doctor scene with Franklin), plot threads are tied off, others are spun for the next season, the rhetoric is grand and moving and lyrical and epic — and it’s all just jolly good dramatic fun, aside from Sheridan dying at the end and everyone feeling angsty about the future …. Kudos to JMS on the writing, Adam Nimoy on the direction, and the cast on all the acting. (Rating History)
And that wraps up the first full-length TV series season every written by one person. And though there were a few clunkers here and there, a hell of a season it was …
Other Resources for this episode:
Next episode: The first episode of Season 4 (the season where Joe was told he had only one season left, and started distilling the storyline down): “The Hour of the Wolf.” Tick. Tock.
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