Category: Babylon 5

Time for another bridge episode, in which Things Happen, but more as a chain of events than as a unified chapter in the saga.

A-Plot: After the War to End All Wars, there are … wars. Or at least battles, as various of the weaker races are getting someone or someones nibbling at their frontiers, bushwhacking ships, and otherwise causing problems. Delenn catches wind of this and is cheesed to find out that the Minbari — who have traditionally protected these folk — simply aren’t. It turns out the Grey Council’s breaking (courtesy of Delenn herself) is causing the three castes to edge toward civil war, with the Warrior Caste leading the charge. (Of course, we hear all of this from some Religious Caste members, so take it with a grain of spoo.)

Delenn checks out a squadron of White Star and goes hallooing off in a likely pattern. They run across a Pak’ma’ra’ ship being taken down by some Evil-Looking Evil Ships — at which point the Guest Minbari if the Week, Forell, holds a gun on Delenn and convinces her to have the fleet follow the Drakh vehicles to their mothership.

Turns out the Drakh are refugees — but powerful ones — who are simply looking to carve out a place to live. Forell fills in Delenn on all the horrors of the cold civil war going on back home (his own family was ejected from one Arctic city and most of them died on the way to another). He’s proposing an alliance between the Religious Caste Minbari and the Drakh, as leverage against the martial strength of the Warrior Caste. (The Worker Caste can, as always, go pound sand.)

One of the Drakh come on board and, sadly, the “if it looks evil, it probably is” vibe is strong with them. It’s a nasty-looking specimen, given an interesting aspect by a blurring field around it that causes it to seem not entirely in real space. It and Delenn chat, and she realizes that, yeah, these guys are refugees all right: the last ones to depart Z’ha’dum before blowing it up. They’re former Shadow followers and, as the B-team, are mostly out to wreak havoc — and, once they figure out who Delenn is and her role in the defeat / departure of the Shadows, to seek vengeance.

Space battle, yadda-yadda, the White Stars escape, though not without one of them being taken out by the Drakh (who are no push-overs). Once in hyperspace, Delenn orders the ships to turn around and, when they unexpectedly return, blows the Drakh mother-ship to flinders.

Delenn wraps things up (after Forell dies from battle wounds) as noting that (a) there are still bad guys in the galaxy, and (b) she really needs to visit Minbar to figure out WTF is going on.

B-Plot: Franklin and Marcus try to get a handle on what’s going on with the Martian rebels — who, in turn, don’t trust the B5ers one bit. Most of the folk there are actually allies up from Earth, and there are lots of conflicts going on about the tactics to use — most notably, terror bombings that kill civilians as well as EarthGov security forces. Fortunately, Number One, the 90s Rock Star leader of the Rebels, is against that, so the gosh-that’s-quick romance between her and Franklin doesn’t have a moral ambiguity to it.

Franklin gives a stirring speech (with Marcus’ help) to the Rebels, and gets them to play along with B5, work to oust President Clark, and to stop the bombings for now. That done, Franklin can go play doctor with Number One, while Marcus stands guard, playing with his … pike.

C-Plot: Sheridan is fed up with EarthGov propaganda being broadcast at B5, mostly because a lot of it is about him. A lot of it is also laying the groundwork for another Earth attack “errand of mercy” against the station.

ISN REPORTER: … as reports continue to come in about the harsh conditions aboard what was once the shining beacon of EarthForce, Babylon 5. Messages smuggled out indicate that humans continue to be subjected to cruel oppression by alien groups aboard the renegade outpost. And every day more people are asking, “When will Earth intervene? How much longer can we allow our citizens to endure this mistreatment?”

After kvetching about it for a while, he decides to go into the propaganda biz himself, setting up the War Room as a new broadcast center, the Voice of the Resistance, with Ivanova as the reluctant “voluntold” star. If they can get their message out, he’s convinced, the will of their EarthGov and EarthForce opponents will be weakened.

Ivanova is not amused.

Meanwhile: Delenn reminds Sheridan (and the studio audience) of Sheridan’s change since being at Z’ha’dum.

Overall:  I guess there’s a story in the A-Plot, barely, but really this is more revelations, discussions, and moving of the chess pieces to discover what the new board looks like. In the end, we have a new enemy, a crisis developing among an ally, a strategy to deal with another enemy, and Franklin has someone to lock lips with.

The introduction of the Drakh is logical, even cool, as an idea, but they never come across as more than dime store alien villains, esp. once the blurring effect stops being used. They are not as menacing, nor as interesting, as the Shadows, and their potential development as “Oh, that’s us if our side had lost”never has time to gel in the Great Plotline Reshuffle of Season 4.

The Mars bits are vaguely interesting, but I never found Number One credible, as written or as cast. She’s just too strikingly gorgeous — and (I believe) the only female resistance fighter we see. The debate over terror as a tactic is given pious short shrift — there’s no plausible argument made for it aside from “We’ve got to show them we mean business,” and it’s condemned mostly for pragmatic public relations reasons.

Sheridan’s Voice of the Resistance the idea is a new and noteworthy step on the road to independence.

One interesting idea played with is the social and political fall-out from major events.  The Minbari are falling apart, the traditional patterns of power and balance thrown all out of whack by the breaking of the Grey Council and the impact of the Shadow War. The Mars Resistance, on the other hand, isn’t quite sure what it wants: a free Mars, Clark eliminated, or an overthrow of EarthGov.

Characterwise, there’s not a lot to say. Delenn gets some of the best lines, both her reminder to a worried Sheridan as she’s about to embark (“John, it pleases me that you care for what I have become. But never forget what I was, who I am, and what I can do”) and her command to take out the Drakh mother ship (“End this”). Everyone else goes through their paces, and only the oddly breakneck pace of Franklin and Number One mashing lips (and other body parts) really stands out as being off.

In sum, like “Racing Mars,” this is entertaining TV, but nothing special.

Most Dramatic Moment: Having narrowly escaped the Drakh into hyperspace, Delenn decides to teach them a lesson for their destruction of one of the White Stars, by turning back around and kicking their butts.

Most Amusing Moment: Marcus and his pike, standing lonely guard.

Most Arc-ish Moment: Delenn and Sheridan come to a temporary parting of the ways, as she heads back to Minbar to clean up her mess, and she lets him focus on his work without worrying about her.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5 —   (Rating History).

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 10-14 of the season)
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings
• Sundry Thoughts

Next episode:  The return of G’Kar and Londo, and the Voice of the Resistance gets its debut in “Conflicts of Interest.”

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

Life’s been busy. Really busy. And with so much very good genre TV on these days, it’s take a while to start getting back to the B5 Rewatch … but here we go!

With this episode, the B5 begins opening up a new front, both in terms of the story and in terms of the setting of the series. The title stays the same, but the tableau definitely grows in size. The only problem is that there’s not a lot of there there — the episode trundles along without any big reveals or even much of a story. Just like Franklin and Marcus, we travel from points A to B, with just a few moments to amuse us along the way.

A-Plot: Marcus and Franklin continue “on the Road to Mars,” though not without first making unxpected contact with Captain Jack (no, not that Captain Jack) (nor that Captain Jack), their entre to the Mars Underground. They learn that the Mars Colony knows next to nothing about B5 since the news embargo and EarthGov propaganda started, and haven’t heard anything about the Shadow War.

The Underground are not sanguine about accepting Marcus and Franklin at face value, especially with rumors of assassination squads being sent in “from the outer sectors.” Things go from bad to worse when their DNA doesn’t match up the way it’s supposed to. Things get weird when Captain Jack tries to assassinate the Underground leader, “Number One,” only to be foiled by Franklin; a shot by Marcus hits some sort of weird alien thingie that was on Jack’s back, but Jack flees.

Examining the critter (which appears to be one of the Keepers we’ve seen on Centauri Prime), Franklin determines that it might have been controlling Jack, and realizes that Jack’s been hinting at stuff in his conversation with them. They contact him by communicator, but after he explains that he was being controlled, the creature is still embedded with him and will take him over again. He suicides with a thermal grenade on the transport tube just as it starts to regrow.

Franklin ends up going on a date with Number One as they await the other Underground leaders gathering in a few days.

B-Plot: Ivanova stages a small coup to kick Sheridan out of his office and get him to take some PTO. Sheridan, at loose ends, finds that pretty much all the TV channels from home are embargoed except for that defaming interview that Garibaldi give a few eps ago (“The Illusion of Truth“). He tracks Garibaldi down and they end up in a confrontation, between Sheridan’s self-righteousness and Garibaldi’s paranoia. Sheridan sees the former Security Chief’s actions as undermining their cause, while Garibaldi sees Sheridan having abandoned the cause to build a cult of personality around himself. Sheridan storms off, to the apparent interest of three shadowy individuals.

Those three engage with Garibaldi later on, presenting themselves as others who are concerned about Sheridan as he is. Garibaldi’s no fink, but they are persuasive in convincing him that Sheridan really is a threat to the people and values Garibaldi holds dear.

Sheridan tries to reconcile later with Garibaldi, but when an alien throws herself at Sheridan’s feet, Garibaldi gets rough with her, and, in the ensuing confrontation, whallops Sheridan in the jaw. Sheridan stops Security from arresting him, but warns Garibaldi that next time he’ll fight back.

Garibaldi goes back to the folk who talked with him earlier, convinced that Sheridan has lost it — that he has to be stopped for his own good.

GARIBALDI: I think he’s lost it. He’s started to believe the things everybody’s been saying about him, bought into this hero worship thing. It’s become about him, not what we’ve been saying, not what we’ve been fighting for. If he could see straight, he’d see it to, he’d agree with me. In the end, we’ll lose everything we’ve been working for because of one man.

WADE: That’s what happens when the man begins to matter more than the cause. Are you with us?

GARIBALDI: I won’t hurt him.

WADE: We won’t. Just give him to us, when we tell you to. We’ll see to it that he gets the help that he needs. Are you with us?

GARIBALDI: [After a moment] I’m with you.

Meanwhile: Ivanova addresses the problems of supply shortages by suborning black marketeers and smugglers, using both carrots and sticks. Rather than smuggling weapons and drugs, B5 will pay to have them smuggle in machine parts, food, and other needed supplies (but no drugs, weapons, or other naughty things). In return, B5 will keep them maintained and in operating order — and overlook any past illegal activities.

IVANOVA: We’ll upgrade your data systems and supercharge your engines. If they have an accident, we’ll repair them. And your ships will have accidents sooner or later.

SMUGGLER #1: My pilots don’t have accidents.

IVANOVA: They will. I’ll see to it.

SMUGGLER #1: You wouldn’t dare.

IVANOVA: I’ve got a 200 megawatt pulse cannon on the forward cargo bay that says otherwise. Suffice it to say that the odds of you having such an accident are greatly reduced once you sign with us.

Delenn springs another courtship ritual on Sheridan, who’s just about ritualled out — until he learns it’s about discovering their sexual compatibility. He shows up at her quarters later — only to discover that this particular ritual is witnesses / chaperones. Outside the door of her bedroom, at least.

Overall:  “Racing Mars” doesn’t get anywhere significant, but it travels down the story road pleasantly enough. The A-Plot starts to outline the players and parameters of the Mars Rebellion. The B-Plot more fully establishes the rift between Sheridan and Garibaldi and where things are going from here. Meanwhile, Sheridan and Delenn get closer, Ivanova gets more command experience, and life goes on. Except for Captain Jack. But the end of the episode really doesn’t show any hugely significant changes from the beginning, and the in-between is more vignettes than a story in itself. Even JMS admits this is a “furniture moving” show, simply getting from points A to B

Rowan Kaiser in the AV Club article linked to below notes that B5 was still of an era where the characters had to be heroes, and that this limits where the story can go. Though the show plays with grays and occasional moral ambiguity (esp. with G’kar and Londo), the Human and Minbari protagonists are all too often Heroes whose way forward is always to be more Heroic.

If B5 were done today, Sheridan might be visibly tempted by the adulation of the crowds, at least a bit, all in the name of leading his righteous cause. Garibaldi’s concerns would seem less crazy, or at least have some plausibility. Heck, even the Minbari-ritual-of-the-week would be less of a play for humor and more an examination of the profound differences between Earth and Minbari cultures, and how difficult a road both Sheridan and Delenn have ahead of them. Instead, Sheridan is shown as being clearly in the right, and Garibaldi either crazy or corrupted.

If there’s room for a reboot of B5, it’s to see the same story without the forced framework of White Hats vs Black Hats, where protagonists have more distinct feet of clay, and  heroism and love may ultimately win but don’t necessarily conquer all along the way.

Most Dramatic Moment: The conclusion of the episode, as Garibaldi, going full “Sincere Judas” (a la Jesus Christ, Superstar) agrees that Sheridan needs to be put down, for his own good and the good of the cause.

(Honorable mention to Captain Jack’s suicide.)

Most Amusing Moment: Identities to steal for fake identicards are scarce, so Captain Jack ends up giving Marcus and Franklin identicards indicating they are a married couple honeymooning on Mars. Marcus spends the rest of the episode playing the role deliciously, mostly to make irk Franklin.

MARCUS: Just my luck. First time in my life I’m a war hero and nobody knows about it. And worst of all, I’m married to you.

FRANKLIN: Well, that’s not my idea.

MARCUS: Oh, you say that now. Tell that to your mother. She never stopped calling us about it. “So when’s the big day, I’ve got to pick out patterns. Your father isn’t going to live forever,” and on and on and on and on.

FRANKLIN: I hate this. I really hate this.

MARCUS: You’re just nervous, that’s all. You’ll get used to it. [To Captain Jack] Next thing, he’ll be locking himself in the bathroom all night.

What’s also neat about this is that it’s not presented as something outré, and the humor is more about marriage than about homosexuality. Neatly done by JMS, subtly filling in the history of the 23rd Century in showing that gays are part of the normal world without actually preaching about it.

(Honorable mentions to Lennier’s inquiry of Sheridan “the morning after” (“Woo-hoo?”) and to Marcus and Franklin playing “I Spy” in the hold of the ship (“And that’s when I shot him, your honor.”).)

Most Arc-ish Moment: Probably goes with the most dramatic, as Garibaldi’s actions will lead to some significant plottiness for him and Sheridan.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5 —   (Rating History).

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 10-14 of the season)
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings
• Sundry Thoughts

Next episode:  Arguments with the Resistance, unrest on Minbar, and stirrings in the shadows, in “Lines of Communication”

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

Delenn finally gets an episode mostly to herself — though it’s also all about her relationship to the men in her life: Sheridan, Lennier, and her mentor, Dukhat.

Moreover, it’s an answer to a question from Dr. Franklin, long ago: “What did you do in the war?”

A-Plot: Delenn is summoned back to Minbar by her clan to justify her relationship with Sheridan, since bestiality cross-species breeding, even if you’ve been gone all trans-species, is still kind of frowned on back home. Before she goes, she goes through the third night of her “hanging out watching Sheridan drool in his pillow” ritual, before sneaking out. If things don’t go well back on Minbar, she won’t be allowed to return, so, of course, she doesn’t tell Sheridan anything about it. Fortunately, Lennier, ever-faithful (“I have pledged myself to your side”), doesn’t let her sneak past him, and he goes along with her.

The ritual she will go through is called “The Dreaming,” to determine her true motivations for hooking up with Sheridan. It involves Lennier serving as her second and psychic anchor, a big swig of bubbling liquid from a chalice, a ritual chamber, and walking around in the fog reliving one’s past.

This is, of course, the heart of the episode, an extended flashback, wherein we learn that acolyte Delenn was mentored by Dukhat, the greatest Minbari leader since Valen.

He’s wise, forceful, sensitive to but exasperated by Minbari politics, and physically imposing. He calls on her opinion, teaches her spiritually and politically, and sponsors her to her position on the Grey Council.

In return, she (naturally) adores him as a father figure.

Two other morsels of interest: Delenn has a fascination with an as-yet-unencountered barbarous race called the Humans, and when she gets inducted into the Grey Council, the Triluminary glows blue, something it’s never done before.

Some time thereafter, when the Grey Council cruiser and escorts encounter a fleet belonging to a barbarous race called the Humans, tragedy ensues as the ol’ “Let’s approach them with gunports open as a sign of respect” routine is interpreted (to an accompaniment of Soul Hunters) as “OMG, THEY ARE APPROACHING US WITH GUNPORTS OPEN, FIRE ON THEM FIRST!” from the humans.

In the first attack, Dukhat is mortally injured, barely manages to whisper something to Delenn, and then dies. The GC is deadlocked as to whether to pursue the fleeing Humans, and Delenn, overcome with grief, cries havok and lets loose the dogs of war.

MORANN: Delenn, we need to strike back, but the Council is divided. Should we follow them back to their base, take revenge, or do we wait, try and find out what happened? Your’s is the deciding vote, Delenn.

DELENN: [Cradling Dukhat’s head in her lap] He was the best of us. They struck without provocation. There was no reason! Animals! Brutal! [Lays down Dukhat and stands.] They deserve no mercy. Strike them down! [Beats on Morann’s chest in grief and anger.] Follow them back to their bases and kill them, all of them! All of them! No mercy! No mercy!

By the time she realizes and regrets what she’s done, it’s too late to stop the Earth-Minbari conflict from becoming a jihad …

The conclusion Lennier thinks the clan leaders will come to is that her relationship with Sheridan as an attempt to atone for starting the war, which won’t be seen as sufficient reason for the cross-species hanky-panky.

Delenn realizes there must be more, so she does the Dreaming thang again, with Lennier and the clan leader Callenn along. This time we can hear what Dukhat was struggling to tell her while dying: “There was a purpose in my selection of you. Your heritage. You are a child of Valen.”

Aha! Lennier confirms through some records he swiped that Delenn is, in fact, a descendent of Valen, a/k/a Jeffrey Sinclair (via “War Without End“). That’s why the Triluminary was aligned to her, and the fragments of Human DNA in her help explain how her whole “chrysalis” transformation into a Minbari/Human hybrid was able to work. It also means that it’s perfectly acceptable for her to be shacking up with Sheridan; indeed, there must be a lot of Valen’s genes in the population, making arguments to Minbari purity problematic.  That particular detail is going to be kept secret, though; Callenn agrees to her returning to B5, but with the excuse that it’s part of some old Minbari bride-swapping-after-a-war tradition.

Delenn and Lennier return, and all is, for the moment, well.

B-Plot: After the PR shellacking B5 took last episode (“Illusion of Truth“), Sheridan decides to start making contacts with other groups on the outs with Earth, as part of a long strategy against the EarthGov.  He decides to send Franklin and Marcus off to Mars to contact the rebels there. We cut back, briefly, at the end to see it turning into a Road Movie, with Marcus driving Franklin crazy with his war-staff fidgeting and singing. Those two make a great team.

Meanwhile: Before heading to Mars, Franklin outfits G’kar with a prosthetic eye. Unfortunately, he only has human cybernetics which, though they work, leaves G’kar with one eye looking human. On the other hand, G’kar also learns he can take the eye out (for recharging) and that he can actually remotely see through it. Hijinx will, most likely, ensue.

And Zack has finally gotten his own cool Minbari-made uniform, even if he manages to insult the tailors (who then retaliate in a very amusing scene).

Overall:  It’s cool seeing more of the backstory revealed — indeed, to learn that there is still backstory to reveal. Learning of Delenn’s heritage, as well as her role in the Earth-Minbari War, was fascinating. The weight of that secret (as well its role in her own father’s death) has to still be staggering; ironically, though”atonement” is made out not to be the primary justification for Delenn hooking up with Sheridan, it in retrospect colors nearly everything she’s done until now.

The mingling of Human/Minbari heritage is also an interesting development, and ties into both the Sinclair-Valen thing as well as the way-early-days note that Minbari souls were transmigrating over to Humans (as proven by examining … well, Jeffrey Sinclair). It also makes the Sheridan/Delenn pairing a bit less weird (though it makes the Sinclair/Delenn flirting early on moreso).

Mira Furlan’s acting in the episode is solid, and she handles the flashing-back switch to the old makeup well. She also manages to do a good job as many different Delenns — eyes-downcast acolyte, doe-eyed colleague of Dukhat, vengeful warrior, uncertain challenger of clan rules, sexy lover of the captain. It’s a good episode, and good episode for her.

Reiner Schone as Dukhat leaves me wanting more. He’s clearly the inspiration for much of what Delenn becomes — inquisitive, outspoken, political, and a leader. She even quotes his line to her when Lennier first arrives on B5: “I cannot have an aide who will not look up. You will be forever walking into things.” His death is a tragedy, not just for the resulting war but because a Minbar under his leadership would have been a much stronger ally against the Shadows.

The most subtle role here is that played by Bill Mumy as Lennier. In some ways, this is a golden opportunity for Lennier –a chance to get Delenn away from Sheridan and back to Minbar, a possible solution for his unrequited love. But the nature of that love is such that he cannot betray Delenn to unhappiness — instead, he supports her however he can, traveling with her, serving as second in the Dreaming, and overall counsel as the plot progresses. He does it thanklessly, even as he knows that it will only help her return to his insurmountable rival.  It’s cunningly written, and well played.

Most Dramatic Moment: Dukhat dies in Delenn’s arms, and then she’s given the deciding vote over whether to pursue the fleeing humans.

Most Amusing Moment: There’s actually a tone of humor in what is overall such a dramatic episode. I have to give top nod to Franklin and Marcus, On the Road to Mars.

[Franklin and Marcus are on their way to Mars, in a transport’s cargo bay. Marcus is flicking his battle pike open and closed, over and over again.]

FRANKLIN: Is this really the best ship you could find?

MARCUS: Yes.

FRANKLIN: Smells like the inside of a Martian pleasure dome on Sunday morning.

MARCUS: Wouldn’t know about that.

FRANKLIN: Don’t make me come over there and take that thing from you.

MARCUS: Helps me relax.

FRANKLIN: Marcus, this is the kind of conversation that can only end with a gunshot!

MARCUS: [Puts away the pike.] Would you like me to sing instead?

FRANKLIN: No.

MARCUS: You haven’t heard me!

FRANKLIN: Marcus, please!

[Marcus starts to sing the Major-General’s Song by Gilbert & Sullivan. This is sung in full in the end-credits, complete with Franklin screaming.]

A close second is Zack and the Minbari seamstresses.

Honorable mention to G’kar playing with his new eye. After all the angst of the past season, it’s good to see that mischievous grin again. (Video here, but includes some spoilers from a later episode.)

Honorable mention as well to Ivanova staggering out of the lift after having gone to some Drazi religious ceremony / mosh pit, looking just as bedraggled in her Green Leader sash as one might expect.

Most Arc-ish Moment: The expository reveal of the whole Sinclair-Valen-Delenn connection and its meaning both for Minbari as a whole and for Delenn in particular.

Overall Rating: 4.2 / 5 —  A good story, some neatly-crafted connect-the-dots worldbuilding, and an opportunity for Delenn to shine. (Rating History).

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 7-9 of the season, plus “Thirdspace”)
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings
• Sundry Thoughts

Next episode:  Franklin and Marcus make it to the Red Planet in “Racing Mars.”

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

Though it was actually filmed during Season 5 — part of the deal with TNT for that season was a set of TV movies — this film is set during Season 4, and is generally recommended to be played (as part of the timeline) between 4×08 “The Illusion of Truth” and 4×09 “Atonement.”  One many levels, though, the precise fit doesn’t matter, because this is a stand-alone effort, neither carrying on any backstory nor setting up anything that comes into play later.  Part of that is inevitable due to the displacement in the chronology; part of it is the nature of TV movies. In any case, it’s a fatal flaw in an otherwise decent romp.

[B5 Rewatches have been slow of late — playing lots of catch-up with Actual Currently Running TV has played havoc with the schedule. Sorry about that.]

Ivanova’s Starfury squadron, while protecting commerce, finds a massive, derelict, million-year-old Artifact drifting through hyperspace. It’s gobsmackingly huge and mysterious, so, of course, it gets towed back to B5, whose folk start to carefully examine it. They’re able to fend off the other races wanting to poke at the Artfact (i.e., steal anything that looks like a weapon or cool tech), promising that anything discovered will be shared. They are less able to fend off InterPlanetary Expeditions (IPX), which shortly thereafter arrives on the scene to check things out in a more trained fashion. Sheridan reluctantly agrees to using their expertise, but insists that any discoveries have to be shared.

But things with the Artifact are not as they appear. Lyta has been having visions of doom and destruction. The station’s power is starting to fluctuate. People are having bad dreams about looming menaces and strange cities, people are having fugues where they say vaguely menacing things about needing to get the Artfact up and running, fights are breaking out, etc., etc.

Eventually (amidst IPX shenanigans and poor judgment calls by several people), they discover the secret of the Artifact. It’s a doorway to another level of reality, going beyond hyperspace to “thirdspace,” designed by the Vorlons in their hubris and pretensions to godhood (you can trust this, because Lyta channels the echoes of Kosh to tell Our Heroes about it). (It could also be used as an incredibly fast transport system, which is why IPX is jonesing after it.)

What the Vorlons didn’t realize was that in thirdspace there were even bigger, badder critters, high-tech and telepathic, who had already destroyed all other life forms in their dimension and were thrilled to find a new place to similarly destroy. The Vorlons had barely been able to close the door, but some of them who had been psychically dominated (!) managed to get the )Aartifact lost in hyperspace.

Meanwhile, of course, IPX has powered up the Artifact, half the people on B5 are murmuring “Imhotep” … er, trying to murder the other half the people on B5, the station’s power is being drained to open the portal, the Big Bads are coming (twice as daunting as anything the Vorlons or Shadows every looked like), and a huge force field is protecting the Artifact from direct attack by the White Stars and Minbari cruisers and Starfuries that have been launched against it and the scout ships that have emerged.

Sheridan comes up with a cunning plan — take a EVA suit out, with a tactical nuke, sneak around the back of the Artifact during this huge battle going on (the force shield is being drawn to the front of the ship against incoming fire, you see), plant the nuke, then get out of Dodge. Remarkably, the plan works (despite pursuit by a tentatcled critter): the Artifact is destroyed, the remaining Thirdspace ships destroyed, and all that remains is cleaning up the mess.

Sheridan muses about the lies he tells the general public (basically covering up the Vorlon connection, as well as the use of the now-lost-but-possibly-recoverable Thirdspace tech). Lyta, meanwhile, muses on what other past mistakes by the Vorlons she now realizes are waiting out there to bite them in the ass in the future.

We never find out, of course, because it’s a stand-along flick.

One sad continuity hole must be noted: why the heck didn’t they (finally) enlist the help of Draal and the Great Machine down on the planet? There are a dozen meta reasons why not, but from an internal story standpoint it makes no sense.

On the other hand, we had William Sanderson reprise his role as Deuce from the first season episode “Grail,” which was nice to see.

Overall:  Overall, it’s competently done, the FX are nice, the menace is appropriately menacing, all the actors involved get some good and funny lines and some action sequences, and for all that the thing is a disappointment. The sense of a bigger canvas, of stories that tie into other stories, of menaces that will actually come back to haunt later, is missing, especially in retrospect. There’s also not much of a grand lesson or moral to the story (unless it’s There Are Some Things Man and Vorlons Are Not Meant to Know, which is an odd message for B5). It is, in sum, a massive Monster of the Week episode, with Lovecraftian overtones, and it does that decently but it only takes you so far in the B5 universe.

That and the whole cunning plan thing was pretty goofy.

In short, I agree with the AV Club review: “‘Thirdspace’ is Babylon 5 re-imagined as a big, dumb action movie.” Or, as Bruce Boxleitner later mused, “When in doubt, nuke ’em.” There are worse things, but there are also so many better ones.

JMS pretty much agrees with the assessment. In the script book for the episode he says:

As it is, if you get really down to it, the actual plot of “Thirdspace” is as superficial as asphalt: a machine is found, bad stuff starts to come out of it, they blow it up real good. Fade to black.

Here’s a compilation of the Big Battle (with overdubbed music, sorry about that):

Most Dramatic Moment: See “Most Arc-ish Moment.”

Most Amusing Moment: There are actually a couple. One would be Vir stammering to Ivanova in a casual, mine-ridden fashion, that he dreamt of her the previous night. Which dream she had shared, actually, as both of them had been seeing visions from the Artifact, looking out on a terrifying city. Unfortunately, while his dream segued into being seduced by Centauri women, Ivanova’s turned into being taken by tentacles …

But the better amusing scene was Zack getting the gumption to spill his guts to Lyta  on the elevator, telling her how he feels about her and wanting to be build a relationship. Lyta, meanwhile, is obsessively half-mad with the visions and with the Vorlon memories welling up in her, so she only glares at him. Which he, of course, being a nice guy, takes as a rebuff and wanders off, hopes and feelings crushed, and she wanders off, the whole discussion forgotten.

Bottom line is — I like you. I’ve liked you ever since you got here. And I know things have been tough on you lately. And I know — I know I could do right by you. Eh, I’m not the captain, I don’t bring home the big bucks, and I’m nothing to write home about. And I know there’s a big gap between us and the kind of life you lead that maybe I could never understand. Well, maybe I could understand. Maybe I could try. You’re the kinda person that makes a guy want to try. There’s something about you, frankly, I’m nuts about.

So, uh, I think it would be great if maybe I could see you once in a while. Hey, listen, you don’t have to answer now. Y’know, take your time, think about it for a while. Not to imply that you have to have an answer, because you don’t, you don’t owe me one, that’s for sure. I think, I think that I could care for you. You’ve been through a lot. And I guess I just wanna do for you–

Oh. Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to offend you. This was probably the wrong time. Both had a hard day, gotta work together, you know how that goes. It’s just, uh, awkward. So maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s best that we don’t.

Poor Zack.

(Interestingly, that scene was written and filmed after main shooting, when the run time looked short.)

Most Arc-ish Moment: The Vorlon backstory here is nice, insofar as it points out (in case you forgot) that they had egos as big as a planet-killer. In theory, Lyta’s half-remembering mutters at the end — “One mistake. One mistake out of so many, so many others …” — should be the arc-ish moment, if anything had ever come of it.

Here’s the “feature” that is on the disc for the movie.

Overall Rating: 3.0 / 5 —  Decent Monster of the Week episode, nothing more, lacking the narrative thrust of the regular series. (Rating History).

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 7-9 of the season, plus “Thirdspace”)
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  Back to continuity with “Atonement,” as the show starts to broaden its stage to beyond B5 and Delenn gets called on the carpet.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

Every single plotline comes to a fiery conclusion as the series reaches its finale and — er, wait, this is only the 6th episode out of 4 of 5 seasons? How does that–?

A-Plot:  The Alliance fleet is racing toward its rendezvous, wiping out a Vorlon listening post along the way. (Both recollection and early setup for both the Vorlons and the Shadows had them as veritable gods in power — but as they become more real opponents, both have their limitations, becoming more very-powerful-but-still-vulnerable people.)

Ivanova and Lorien (who has a little list) track down the last of the remaining six First Ones to get them into the plan, then head at high speed for the rendezvous. There Sheridan and the fleet are waiting for both the Vorlons and Shadows to arrive. He knows they don’t stand a chance, but hopes that the “truth” will set them free before they are destroyed.

Just after Ivanova catches up with them, both powerful fleets do arrive, the Vorlons sending their planet-killer to Coriana 6, as they begin to engage with the Shadows. Sheridan ups the stakes by triggering some nuclear charges that draw both the fleets against his side. Massive Space Battle Ensues. The Vorlons refuse pleas to not destroy the planet, so Sheridan is forced to call in the First Ones, who target and wipe out the planet-killer. Even more and bigger space battling ensue.

Meanwhile, the Vorlons and Shadows both are fed up, and, through Lyta, attack the minds of Sheridan and Delenn directly — which, according to Lorien, was Sheridan’s plan all along.

Sheridan debates with a female figure in a block of ice — a mental representation of the Vorlons — while Delenn talks with a variety of people she knows from B5 — chaotic presentations of the Shadows. Both sides seek to get agreement — destruction of darkness, or freedom from domination, nurturing through obedience or advancement through conflict. Both sides present a binary choice that the Younger Races must choose between Order or Chaos.

But Sheridan and Delenn both reject that false dichotomy, in favor of the truth: that the Younger Races no longer need to be controlled by the Vorlons or the Shadows, but can determine their fates on their own.

At which point, both the Shadows and Vorlons realize that Lorien has been in contact with Sheridan and Delenn the whole time, and has been broadcasting their experiences to the whole fleet. But that might not be enough, as a Shadow plant-killer cloud engulfs the fleet, threatening to destroy it.

That brings things down to a debate on the bridge of the White Star flagship between Sheridan / Delenn and images of a Vorlon and a Shadow. The latter try to play hardball, and the Shadows launch missiles at the flagship — but other fleet ships move to intercept, creating a living blockade to protect them.

DELENN: You can kill us one by one, and those who follow us, and those who follow them, on and on, every race, every planet. Until there’s no one left to kill. You will have failed as guardians. And you will be alone.
SHERIDAN: It’s over because we’ve decided it’s over. Now get the hell out of our galaxy! Both of you!

Lorien encourages them to leave, that it’s time to give up their self-appointed roles as guardians. Both Vorlons and Shadows — suddenly much more timid and fearful — agree to depart beyond the Rim, but only if Lorien comes with them. He agrees, and Lorien, Vorlons, Shadows, and First Ones all fade away.

LORIEN: I waited a long time for someone to find me. Now, like the others, I find I hate to leave. But none of us can stay behind this time. That was why it was necessary to find all the remaining First Ones. This — is yours now. And you have an obligation: to do as we have done. To teach the races that will follow you and, when your time comes, as ours has, to step aside and allow them to grow into their own destiny. If your races survive, if you do not kill yourselves, I look forward to the day when your people join us beyond the Rim. We will wait for you ….

The Shadow War is over, and the fleet returns to Babylon 5.

B-Plot: Londo starts clearing the palace of Cartagia’s supporters, and prepares to let Morden know that he’s revoking the Shadows’ permission to remain on Centauri Prime. But that plan is interrupted by Londo being informed by the Intelligence Minister that his earlier investigations (quashed by the late emperor) shows that Londo’s old flame, Adira, had been assassinated not on Lord Refa’s orders, but by Morden (who then used the event to get Londo back into his circle).

Londo is utterly devastated. The grief for his lost love, the horror over what he’s done since then, and, yes, the anger over Morden’s manipulations and his own gullibility — “He played me! He played me like a puppet!” — all combine to crystallize Londo taking control of the situation once and for all, with terrible consequences to come.

That leads to Morden being dragged to the throne room by guards. Londo informs him him that the Shadows have to leave the island of Selini, which Morden declines to order; the Shadows are convinced the Vorlons will not destroy Centauri — a sentiment Londo realizes is simply speaking out of fear. He has his guards kill the invisible Shadows escorting Morden, which they do. Londo looks at the burn marks.

LONDO: I will have to have that painted over, I suppose.
MORDEN: You’re insane.
LONDO: On any other day, Mr. Morden, you would be wrong. Today? Today is a very different day.

Londo demands one more time that the Shadows leave; when Morden tries to play tough ball, Londo makes it clear he’s prepared to destroy the Shadow vessels, which Morden scoffs at.

MORDEN: You don’t frighten me, Mollari. If you try to attack our forces, you’ll lose.
LONDO: Yes, your ships are very impressive in the air, or in space, but at this moment, they are on the ground.
MORDEN: Right, they’re on the ground. But they can sense a ship coming miles away, so what are you going to do Mollari? Huh? Blow up the island?
LONDO: Actually, now that you mention it …. [pulls out a remote detonator]
MORDEN: NO!

The island of Selini is destroyed by multiple nuclear devices, placed there undercover even as most of the civilian population was evacuated. Morden is dragged out, raving promises of retribution for what Londo has done.

LONDO: What I have done? Oh, Mr. Morden, I have not even started with you yet.

Which ends with a special gift to Vir, fulfilling something he once replied to Morden when asked what he wanted (way back in Season 2):

 

 

Vir is directed to the garden by Londo, where, as we pan up, we see Morden’s head on a fence spike. Looking about, Vir gives a little wave, just as promised, and smiles.

Londo is jovial and ebullient. With the last of the Shadow influence on Centauri Prime gone, the Vorlons will give their planet a pass. But Vir realizes, even as a Vorlon planet-killer begins to eclipse their sun, that there is still one bit of Shadow influence remaining: Londo himself.

Londo begs Vir to kill him, but they’re all spared that fate as a call for reinforcements by the Vorlons at Coriana 6 comes through at the last moment, and the Vorlons turn away.

Later, hearing the word of how things ended in the Shadow War, Londo muses that he will likely head back to B5 for a while himself, to let the dust settle … even as he decides how to react.

VIR: I think you should feel happy.
LONDO: Yes perhaps. But every time I have been happy the universe has conspired to do something nasty to me.

Oh, Londo — so swept up in visions of the future and prophecies of doom. Poor, poor Londo …

Overall:  It’s a huge, massive blow-out of an episode, with more ships flying around blowing others up and being blown up in turn than you can shake a stick at. It was mind-blowing in the original airing, and it still holds up amazingly well today.

The resolution of the Shadow War, and the “dawn of the Third Age” (one where the Younger Races are in charge of their own destiny) is grandly epic and quintessentialy Joe: it’s not a matter of winning by overwhelming force (no matter how many cool ships are flocking with improbable density) but by winning hearts and minds, initially convincing the other races that they need to fight, and then convincing the Vorlons and Shadows that, even though stronger, they have lost.

Indeed, one of the great magic tricks of the show is that the more that is revealed of the Vorlons and the Shadows, over the course of 3+ seasons, the weaker they become — the veritable Oz-like men behind the curtain. There’s never any question that either faction, or even the survivors of a war between the two of them, could still wipe out every other challenging race. But Our Heroes realize that’s not what’s at stake. The two sides not just blinded by their ideology, but are weakened by it, shells of their former selves, strong on the outside, shaken and weak on the inside. They’re bullies who are blustered into backing down, and that’s a remarkable resolution. They’re divorced parents, less interested in the kids’ welfare than in sticking it to their exes — and when called on it, their personal illusions are shattered, and they are shamed into withdrawing from the field.

Bruce Boxleitner and Mira Furlan act as true partners here, at last, and manage grandiose dialog as epic, not corny.  Though there are occasional stretches.

SHERIDAN: It’s a new age, Delenn. A third age.
DELENN: Why third?
SHERIDAN: Well, we began in chaos, too primitive to make our own decisions. Then we were manipulated by forces from outside that thought they knew what was best for us. And now — now we’re finally standing on our own.

I’m sure that all sounded a lot better back when the series was being developed.

The B-Plot is as excellent as this whole arc has been in previous episodes. Peter Jurasik deserves a particular call-out, once again, for his work with Londo. He goes from urgent and business-like, to overcome with grief and anger (when he learns about Adira), to lethally jovial when chatting with Morden, to joyful at his success in getting rid of the Shadows, to horror-stricken when he realizes that he is now why the Vorlons are coming, to self-sacrificial in begging Vir to kill him … to quietly bewildered and paranoid in finding himself in a happy ending … at least for one night.

Ed Wasser gets a proper send-off as Morden — uncomfortable and frightened, but still glibly trying to control the situation, until his allies / masters are destroyed. At which point, his final fate per Vir’s wish is lovably fitting. Speaking of whom, Stephen Furst’s Vir isn’t the focus here, but his final moment with Morden is perfection, and his support of and loyalty to Londo show him to be far removed from the bumbling fool of his first introduction.

One could argue with some justice that the B-Plot is as critical as the A-Plot. For all the bombast and Boom!s of the Shadow War, for all the grand philosophy and epic struggle, the personal moments, triumphs, joys, and sorrows of the B-Plot anchor the episode as something much more than myth.

Finally there’s the whole meta level. The Shadows are defeated! The Younger Races are free! The Centauri / Narn crisis is over! Huzzah, all the things that the show has been focusing on since Day 1 are resolved!

So … what’s left?

We’ll just have to see ….

Most Dramatic Moment: Almost too many to count. Honorable mention to Sheridan shouting at the Vorlons and Shadows to get the hell out of the galaxy, Londo dealing with the Shadow problem, Londo begging Vir to kill him — but it has to be Londo learning the truth behind Adira’s death, and realizing how he was manipulated by (and thus responsible for) her death. He is a man broken by grief, and reforged into something terrible.

Most Amusing Moment: There isn’t much humor here, except a clever joy in Vir’s visit to the garden and seeing Morden’s head on a pike.

Most Arc-ish Moment: Sheridan and Delenn arrive back at B5, and muse over the First Ones having departed.

DELENN: Strange. The galaxy seems somehow smaller now that the First Ones are gone forever.
SHERIDAN: Feels like the magic’s gone.
DELENN: No. Not gone. Now we make our own magic. Now we create our own legends. Now we build the future. Now we stop —
SHERIDAN: — being afraid of shadows.

It’s hokey, but it’s the perfect wrap for the episode, as we look out of the White Star at Babylon 5, no longer all alone in the night.

Overall Rating: 5 / 5 — An amazing payoff, visually and dramatically, for the series to date. (Rating History).

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 5-6 of the season)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  “Epiphanies,” in which celebrations are celebrated, a favorite villain returns, and enemies left behind start picking up the pieces and striking back.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

One plotline comes to an end (sort of), while another ramps up, and everything alternates between black comedy and moving tragedy.

A-Plot: Londo is pressing the conspiracy against Cartagia forward as fast as he dares. He meets with other disaffected officials who are more reluctant to act than he is. He meets with G’Kar, telling the Narn his chains will be weakened so that, when presented before Cartagia, he can break free and distract the guards (but not harm the emperor, as Centauri retribution would be horrible). And he gets a delivery from Vir — a hypo of fast-acting nerve toxin that will kill without a trace.

All is in readiness.

And not a moment too soon, as Cartagia’s behavior becomes still more erratic. He invites Londo along to be his post-apotheosis High Priest. He engages in tomfoolery with the court jester before gacking him off-screen for lèse-majesté. (“Humor is such a subjective thing, don’t you think, Mollari?”)

Oh, and the day of the trial, he has G’Kar’s chains replaced.

G’Kar enters, in chains, Christ-like, then breaks free and starts (un-Christ-like) punching out Narn. Londo flees with the emperor, fumbles his Wield Hypodermic roll, then fumbles his Diplomacy roll. Fortunately, Vir is there to pick up the hypo, then stand there as Cartagia impales himself on it. Sic semper tyrannis.

As epilogue, Londo convinces the assembled nobility (in on the plot or not) that it was Cartagia’s hearts that failed. As two emperors now have died after dealing with the Narn, Londo orders that the Centauri leave and let the Narn rot on their own. They’re willing to do so — and, not part of the plan, they name him as the new Prime Minister.

Vir goes on a bender, having just killed a man with his own hands (more or less).

VIR: Tell me, Londo — how much more until I can look in the mirror and not see myself? Because I keep looking, and I’m always there. And I don’t want to see me right now.

LONDO: You’re behaving like a fool. You did what was necessary. You saved the lives of millions of our people. He had to be stopped. He —

VIR: Don’t you understand I’ve never done anything like that before?! […] Did you know, all I ever wanted was a good job, maybe a small title, nothing fancy. A wife I could love, maybe even one that could actually love someone like me . I never wantd to be here, never wanted to know things I know, or do — or do the things I’ve done. Ah, Londo, look what you’ve made of me.

LONDO: I know. I know, Vir. I never wanted you in that hall. I never wanted you to — […] I cannot tell you that the pain will go away. I cannot tell you that you will ever forget his face. I can only tell you that it was neccessary. That you may have helped to save our people. You did a hard thing, but your heart is still your own, and it is a good heart. You would not be in such great pain otherwise. It means there is still hope for you, and for that — I find I still envy you.

G’Kar makes his way into the throne room after the Centauri have left, to see the pillaging of the decor. The Narn want to appoint him as their new dictator, to carry bloody reprisals back to the Centauri, but G’Kar demurs, not wanting to replace one tyrant with another. One of the Narn tries to argue with him, sounding a whole heck of a lot like a Season 1 G’Kar.

G’LON: But the Centauri —

G’KAR: Are a lost people! They are to be pitied. They are already on a course for self-destruction. They do not need help from us. We must redress our wounds, help our people, rebuild our cities —

G’LON: We must strike back!

G’KAR: No. [Turns away.]

G’LON: I never thought you a coward, G’Kar. We suffered and died during their occupation. Where were you? What have you endured?

G’KAR: What have I endured?

And G’Kar, late of the dungeons of Centauri, the scars of the lash on his back, with but one eye left, can only burst into laughter at the absurdity, and wander away.

The three regulars here (as well as the late Emperor, Wortham Krimmer) all do a fine job, and the suspense is nicely ratcheted up again and again. The resolution — Cartagia dead, Londo in power, G’Kar rejecting power, and Vir distraught — are all played letter perfect (though Vir’s “What was it all for?” speech is written too clunkily for anyone to say well).

JMS had originally planned for Londo to do the killing, but “Vir” stepped forward in his mind at the last minute of the writing process and demanded to d do it. And it’s perfect. If Londo killed Cartagia — well, what’s more blood on his hands? But for Vir to do it instills him both with honor and admiration (from the audience) and with disgust and horror. His hands would have been bloody, regardless — now it’s literal blood (well, more direct bloodiness), and it gives the character a painful, shameful secret that he can be flogged with for many, many episodes.

A special note has to go out here to Jurasik and Furst for their interplay — pre- and post-assassination. The two of them have never been closer, thrown together by circumstance and the need to trust against implacable odds.  It’s beautifully done.

B-Plot: Meanwhile the Great War is heating up. The Vorlons are still blowing up Shadow-tainted planets with their planet-killer. The Shadows have started striking back at Vorlon-tainted planets with their own planet-killing swarms. Ivanova notes they’re like “giants in a sandbox,” stomping on things willy-nilly, without even noticing the harm being done.  The ends have outweighed the means.

The Alliance of Light is back together — but even with the many, many ships circling B5, they’re not strong enough to take on either side, let alone both.

But Sheridan notes that it’s all taking place around the edges — attacking allies of the other side, but not tackling each other directly.  So he’s formed a cunning plan — get the two sides to confront each other, rather than dancing around each other, gacking civilians while taking no serious losses of their own.

The problem is, time is running out. The Vorlon fleet is headed toward Coriana 6, a world with billions of inhabitants. The Vorlons they can track pretty well, but the Shadows are the random element. So Sheridan has to lure them in. He sends part of the fleet to slow the Vorlons, and plans to leak info to the Shadows that the Alliance is putting together a base at Coriana 6. To get the Shadows to play, though, it’s got to be a convincing leak. So Sheridan orders Capt. Ericsson of a White Star (who looks a lot like a Very Serious Tom Hanks, but is actually Bryan Cranston, Walter White of “Breaking Bad”) to let his ship be destroyed so that the intel can be found in the debris.

It’s meant to be a grim and serious moment, and it is, but it’s diluted by being played for effect (Sheridan gives the order in front of other Alliance representatives, so that they know that the Rangers / B5 are willing to give up their own in this struggle). And it also comes across as something of a cliche — strong upper lip and manly oblique speech and the heavy burden of command and dulce et decorum and …

Well, it does work, dramatically, but not as well as one might hope. Very Serious Tom Hanks is very serious, but he’s also a random Ranger, never before seen, so his heroic self-sacrifice doesn’t engage the viewer. Sheridan/Boxleitner (whose agonizing decision-making scene was also edited out) emotes a bit too openly, even while clearly knowing the Right Thing to Do and ruthlessly pursuing same.

And JMS can’t resist going back to back to his Tennyson’s “Ulysses” one more time, voiced over by Sheridan (from a note left on the desk by his predecessor, Sinclair) as he and Delenn head for their ship.

Though we are not now of that strength,
Which in old days moved earth and heaven,
That which we are, we are.
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate,
But strong in will, To strive, to seek,
To find and not to yield.

Ivanova/Christian gets a bit more meat to chew on in this ep, both horror at the Shadow weapons, awe at the fleet being assembled, and determination and fear about being involved in the final showdown. Sheridan tells her she won’t be coming with the fleet, that he needs her to gather more First Ones. She reminisces about her mother’s suicide. Then,

IVANOVA: Whenever someone’s said they’d wait for me, or come for me, it’s never come true. I can’t do that any more, John. Not unless I’m sure.

SHERIDAN: What do you want me to do?

IVANOVA:  Make me a promise. Not as a friend. Not as my commanding officer. As one soldier to another. Don’t protect me. Don’t hold me back. Promise me that whatever happens, I’ll be there with the fleet at the end. I have just enough trust left in me to believe you.

It’s a great scene, and some of her best work so far in the season. (A later scene between her and Lorien, discussing his past, gets shifted to next episode.)

Overall: I’ve commented before on the breathless pace of B5 this season, and this episode demonstrates that whole-heartedly. From the perspective of twenty years on, my recollection had been that Cartagia was around for most of an entire season, rather than being wrapped up in five quick episodes (though, of course, the knock-on effects of death will linger for the rest of the series). It’s worth noting that while I’d have love to have seen this dragged out for longer (other plots, other madnesses, abortive attempts), JMS still makes the quick rise and fall of The Madness of Emperor Cartagia work.

The Great War parts aren’t quite as satisfying, since they are mostly build-up — raising the stakes, making some minor sacrifices, revealing the Big Plan, and let the chips fall where they may … next episode.

As noted at the top, one of the more remarkable things about the episode is the way it veers between black comedy and pathos.  One scene, Vir is joking with Londo about how many words Cartagia might get out when he dies. Another, Vir is devastated by having actually administered the blow. It’s remarkably effective.

Most Dramatic Moment: Vir, distraught at what he has become — conspirator and regicide.

Most Amusing Moment: Cartagia is chatting with Londo, and the court jester starts to imitate him. When the Emperor turns and sees him — the whole Court holds its breath … only to let it out in relieved and nervous laughter as Cartagia plays along, riffing humorously with the jester. Whom he later kills with his own hands because, well, it’s good to be the Mad Emperor.

Most Arc-ish Moment: Londo has been acting as selflessly as Londo knows how. He wants to get Cartagia out of the way to save his people. So when he gets rewarded by being acclaimed Prime Minister by the Court — he’s honestly taken aback for a minute … before realizing that’s the best way to leverage further power to get the Shadows off of Centauri Prime …

Overall Rating: 4.4 / 5 — A glorious rush forward, with a fitting end for Cartagia, but only a build-up for the Great War’s conclusion.  (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 5-6 of the season)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  “Into the Fire,” in which the series ends, in a blaze of glory. Except that it doesn’t. And a favorite character dies. And another favorite character gets his wish. Be there. Aloha.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

“Apotheosis” is “The fact or action of becoming or making into a god; deification.” There are three gods in this episode — or, rather, three individuals who either consider themselves gods or are treated as gods by others: Sheridan, Ulkesh, and Cartagia. This is their story.

A-Plot: The Vorlons are continuing to hit stations, outposts, and “small” colonies where there’s been any sign of the Shadows. B5 is acting as the clearing-house for information, but all they can do is have Ivanova broadcast news updates and the locations for worlds that are currently taking refugees. (This bit is revisited multiple times during the episode, and is an effective way of ratcheting up the tension and the progress of this new enemy.) Even with the prospect of shipping refugees down to Epsilon 3, things are going to get far worse.

Sheridan has a plan — but announces he’s realized that no such plan can be carried out while New!Kosh (Ulkesh) is on board. The answer is to get rid of him. Sheridan approaches this with a full idea apparently in mind, in consultation with Lorien, all of which feels a bit — off to everyone.

The first step is to send a security team off to expel the ambassador. That goes about successfully as one can imagine, Ulkesh possessing a force field capable of holding off the small arms fire.

Next, Lyta comes to him and says she’s learned there’s a piece of Kosh still being held by a human. Ulkesh is torqued at the effrontery of mere mortals.

He follows her … into a trap: a big electricity thingummy, backed up by security forces with many, many PPGs. Eventually Ulkesh’s headpiece blows off, and the Vorlon is loose, looking like a squiddy, fishy energy being, batting and blasting at the foes it can see. Delenn tries to rescue a downed security guard, is about to be struck down by Ulkesh, and Sheridan interposes himself, remarkably, in the blast. After a few, long moments, Lorien gives the high sign and — Sheridan releases the last remnants of Kosh from his body! (Following video dubbed in Russian, but you’ll get the idea)

Kosh and Ulkesh thrash and battle, blast through the ceiling, flash along the hull, slip into Ulkesh’s ship (which has forced its way out of B5) — which then explodes. Yowzers!

Meanwhile, Sheridan has collapsed. Lorien comes over and passes energy into Sheridan, reviving him. That raises some questions that are answered when Delenn visits Sheridan (and Lorien) in his cabin later. It turns out that, yup, Sheridan died on Z’Ha’Dum — but he was revived, temporarily, by Lorien’s own life force. And by “temporarily” they mean about twenty years, after which time he’ll … just … stop.

Delenn is gobsmacked and grieving, given how long Minbari and Humans normally live. Sheridan says some inspirational stuff, then seals the deal by offering her an engagement ring. Which she tearfully accepts. Curtain.

Well, there are plenty of thrills in this plotline. The compression issues, though, continue to plague the season, as the whole idea of picking a fight with, then kicking off, the Vorlon (or even that Ulkesh is an insurmountable threat if he remains) is something that should have been spun over a couple of eps. The actual confrontation is most fraught from the viewer’s sense of what it represents (OMG THEY’RE FIGHTING THE VORLON!), but the actual execution in FX is slightly dodgy and close, and it all seems to wrap up far too quickly.  (The glimpse of what the Vorlons really look like when they’re not projecting themselves as angels was, though, kind of cool.)

Sheridan is determined and grim, and we understand why by the end — he’s on a time table. Worse, his status as The Guy Who Lived (at Z’Ha’Dum) is causing people on B5 — ordinary civilians — to get really reverent toward him, which, coupled with Garibaldi being surly and Lorien being cryptic, would make anyone a bit grim. Alas, organizing a take-down on Ulkesh is not not going to make his reputation any less illustrious.

B-Plot: Londo is informed (through the genial but still-skin-flaky Mr Morden) that the Vorlons are wiping out Shadow-touched planets. But not to worry, since the Vorlons

MORDEN: … will never attack Centauri Prime. Small colonies, deep range planets, sure, but to destroy a world as big as this? No. They don’t have the will.

The Shadows have no idea that the Vorlons have grown a pair and upped the stakes. Or else they’re feeling desperately optimistic.

Londo is flabbergasted in turn when the Emperor refuses to order the Shadows away, even supporting their request to put the Centauri fleet at alert to fend off the Vorlons. And flabbergastment turns to gobsmackery when Cartagia secretly countermands the fleet order to Londo later on, their meeting held in Cartagia’s secret office, which is populated by the heads of his former enemies and inconvenient allies (the one closest to Londo a face cast of Andreas Katsulas).

CARTAGIA: You and I, Mollari — we will turn Centauri Prime into an inauguration pyre, to commemorate my ascension into godhood. The fire of our world will light my way. Yes, you see it, don’t you? If I become a god, how will our world survive without me? I cannot just abandon it, that would be cruel. And anyone who followed me would obviously be inferior. Best to put them out of their misery. I will take it all with me, in spirit. Don’t send the ships. Let it burn, Mollari — let it all end in fire.

And for those who remember Kosh telling Emperor Turhan how the coming conflict will all end — “In fire” — shudder just a little bit more.

Londo, once out of Cartagia’s presence, calls up Sheridan (“Londo? Probably calling collect.”) to confirm the Vorlons’ movements. They’re about seven or eight days from Centauri Prime. Yikes.

Londo, though, has a plan, if he can convince the Emperor without losing his own head. He points out that a god without worshipers is, well, yeah, a god, but not an acclaimed one. He dodges the canny suggestion that he’s asking to be left out of the coming conflagration by suggesting that the Emperor accompany him and G’Kar back to Narn for G’Kar’s public trial and execution. The Narn will see his splendor and great justice, and spread the word throughout the galaxy.

It’s a bravura performance and perfectly framed piece of manipulation … and Cartagia seems to fall for it.

The stinger for the episode is Londo visiting Cartagia, who is down in G’Kar’s cell to oversee his transfer to the ship  to Narn. Cartagia doesn’t like the way G’Kar is looking at him, Narnish glare and all. Londo demurs offering a suggestion and hustles off, at which point Cartagia casually comes to a decision.

CARTAGIA: No, I don’t care at all for the way he looks at me. Pluck out his eye.

GUARD: Which one?

CARTAGIA: I don’t know … doesn’t matter … that one.

And the doors close as we fade, appropriately, to black.

This ep does a great job of upping the stakes in this whole plot thread. Londo was already out to take down Cartagia — now he, too, has a deadline. Worse, even though he successfully manipulates Cartagia, the emperor still holds all the cards, the offhanded mutilating of G’Kar demonstrating that quite vividly. Both Jurasik and Krimmer are doing solid work here.

Meanwhile: Garibaldi keeps feeling resentful about people handling him with kid gloves — and with some justice, as there’s another possible threat that nobody’s questioning, but that he’s keeping an eye on through the security cams: Lorien and Sheridan. Zack’s a bit shocked, but …

GARIBALDI: Then how come nobody’s grilling the captain? He breezes in here, says he’s back from the dead, feeling a lot better now, thank you very much, and everybody buys it. “Boy howdy, that’s great, yessir, great to have you back.” Meanwhile, I get the third degree and “are you okay, Chief?” every time I sneeze. Does this make any sense to you?

But while he’s justifiably paranoid about that and about Sheridan, he’s completely bottling it up regarding his own memory gaps and flashbacks.

His concerns aren’t helped when Sheridan basically says to his face that he can’t reveal his plan concerning the Vorlons to Garibaldi — but then sends him off to “arrest” the Vorlon ambassador, an apparent suicide mission. His reaction leads the others to note that he seems a bit — cranky.

Once Ulkesh is out of the way, Sheridan started contacting the Alliance worlds, pulling together a huge fleet of warships to fight the Shadows and the Vorlons, as Ivanova explains to Garibaldi.

GARIBALDI: And then what?

IVANOVA: Then what what?

GARIBALDI: If we lose, there is no then what. If we win … what next? We’re still renegades, I don’t think there’s anyone left on this side of hte galactic core we haven’t honked off, we can’t go home — sometimes I don’t know what scares me more, winning or losing.

IVANOVA: And I thought I was depressing.

Yeah, things aren’t going well with Mr Garibaldi, and Jerry Doyle is doing a fine job selling it.

Overall: More rush-rush, as we hurtle toward even bigger climactic scenes in the next few eps. Everyone is on their toes and doing fine work, but when the drama and/or action dials are twisted to 11 practically every minute, it starts to get hard to grab a breath.

Most Dramatic Moment: Cartagia’s madness reaches its apex. “Let it all end in fire.” Goosebumps time.

Most Amusing Moment: Cartagia casually offering Londo a snack has he sits down amongst the heads of the Emperor’s “Shadow Cabinet.” The absurdity amidst the horror equals a nervous chuckle in the human brain.

Most Arc-ish Moment: The breakout, battle with, and death of Ulkesh (and Kosh). The Vorlons stand — er, float — revealed, not angels, not gods, but creatures of energy and rage — and creatures that can be defeated.

Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5 — Lots of fun, but rushed in time and cramped in space.  (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 1-4 of the season)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  “The Long Night,” in which one plot comes to fruition, and another starts really kicking up the action.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

As Kosh used to say, “The avalanche has started; it is too late for the pebbles to vote.” This episode wraps up two plotlines, advances another one in a stomach-lurching fashion, and tees up the primary conflict for the first half of the season.

A-Plot: Delenn stand alone and bereft during her intial recap voice-over. “Everyone I hold dear is gone.” Well, except Lennier, of course (poor Lennier). Everyone else is gone off somewhere, gone mysteriously in some cases, or, in Sheridan’s, gone for good.

(Ironically, this is the first episode since the pilot were every actor featured in the main titles sequence is actually in the episode.)

Lyta is beginning to look and act like a battered wife. New!Kosh (okay, his official name, only revealed in one of the novels, though considered canonical, is “Ulkesh”) — Ulkesh is still riding around inside of Lyta, doing mysterious stuff, but treating her as a beast of burden, and not one he takes care to groom and care for, let alone respect. Entries and exits are painful (and Pat Tallman had some pointed comments to Joe about some of that unintentionally ribald dialog), and Ulkesh had dictated that she strip her room down to a bare mattress (and, presumably, a few changes of clothes) so that she is not “distracted.”

Despite that accepted mistreatment, Lyta still has a bit of spunk in her, so Delenn is able to convince her to help find out what the Vorlons are up to.

Meanwhile, Ivanova and Marcus are off in a White Star in search of First Ones for the Wild Bunch ride to Z’Ha’Dum coming up. They engage in some chit-chat, Ivanova discovers that Marcus is still a virgin, and Marcus hints at some mysterious love of his life that he hasn’t revealed himself to yet, but that he hopes he can woo successfully. Ivanova, thick as a brick, doesn’t catch on.

But they do catch on to a massive — thousands of ships — Vorlon fleet out in hyperspace, slinking along under cover, including a massive miles-long ship of unknown purpose.

Back on B5, Delenn is having to deal with a different conflict. It’s not enough that most of the former Alliance members have broken away to protect their own homeworld against the Shadows eventually striking back, they’re beginning to turn on Delenn and her plan to head off to Z’Ha’Dum. If the Shadows aren’t disturbed, maybe they won’t come back for a long time … Things are beginning to look ugly and riotous in the Zocalo …

… as Sheridan reappears, back from the dead and twice as scary, Lorien off to the side.

DRAZI: Captain, we’re sorry. We thought you were dead.
SHERIDAN: I was. I’m better now.

Sheridan gives a rousing St Crispin Day speech from one of the catwalks, gets the crowd pumped, and all’s (temporarily) right with the world, complete with a bit of snuggling from Delenn.

That joy lasts long enough for all Our Heroes — including Ivanova and Marcus (returned) and Lyta (nursing some psychic bruises from having tried to illicitly scan Ulkesh) — to gather ’round in Sheridan’s office. (Ivanova gives him a hug, which is touching.) Sheridan briefs them on what he learned about the Shadows and the Vorons (the whole Chaos vs Law thing), and how their conflicts have been spiraling out of control.

Which goes right with what Lyta scanned and what Ivanova and Marcus saw and have followed up on since. The Vorlons have attacked a world out in that sector, once that had a Shadow base on it. They didn’t just destroy the base — they destroyed the whole planet, including the 4 million inhabitants. Lyta confirms that’s the plan — radical galactic surgery, excising any planet touched by the Shadows.

And if B5 and the Alliance had no chance of stopping the Shadows, what chance have they of standing before the Vorlons?

There’s all sorts of goodness in this plot, which is wide-ranging and complex, but gives all its players a chance to shine. Sheridan’s speech is inspriational, Delenn’s desperation (then joy) very real, Marcus’ banter touching, Lyta’s plight palpable.

Who’d think that all wouldn’t be the highlight of the episode?

B-Plot: Londo and Vir keep getting deeper and deeper. They run cross an impromptu party in Emperor Cartagia’s throne room — featuring a battered G’Kar dressed in leather motley, a jester’s hat on his head, being tormented by the guests. Later, they run into a disgusted Cartagia in the gardens — after a subsequent, lengthy, and personal hands-on torture session, nobody can get G’Kar to say anything, or even scream. The Emperor is firm (as he casually washes the blood from his hands, then uses the water to fertilize some plants): If G’Kar won’t scream next time, he’ll die.

Which is all enough to take kind, gentle, there-must-be-a-better-way Vir to tell Londo, yeah, let’s moider the bum.

VIR: Londo — what I was saying before — about finding another way? I was wrong. Kill him.

Londo goes and visits G’Kar’s cell and berates the Narn for letting the pride of silence overwhelm the practical necessity of survival, not just for himself but for his people, whom Londo has promised to free if they can get rid of Cartagia. G’Kar demurs, but Londo will have none of it.

G’KAR: We do not oblige conquerors. If I give him what he wants — if I beg for mercy, cry out — I would no longer be a Narn.

LONDO: And if you’re dead? Are you still a Narn then? No. You’re food for Cartagia’s pets, and your people ar still prisoners. They, too, are no longer Narns. Only slaves. And then dead slaves. Is that what you want, G’Kar? Is it? [G’Kar closes his eyes.] One scream. That’s all. One scream and he will let you live, and we both can get what we want.

G’KAR: You don’t know what you’re asking. You don’t understand —

LONDO: Yes, I do! Yes — I do.

Londo is all about pride swallowed and ego quashed to survive. He empathizes with G’Kar more than the latter can dream.

That night, Londo and Vir are roused out of bed and shuffled off to Cartagia’s private torture chamber (“Very few who ever come in here leave again. You should feel honored.”). G’Kar is strung up, and a man with an energy whip starts in on him. Cartagia informs them that the charge goes up with each stroke. If it gets to 40, it will mean G’Kar’s death.

The count rises. The pain flashes on G’Kar’s face, horror and nausea on Vir’s, rapt interest on Cartagia’s, helpless frustration on Londo’s. As the number rises, Londo mouths to G’Kar, Scream. Scream. But the Narn keeps his silence until after the 39th stroke, letting out then a howl of agony, personal betrayal, and anguish.

I had not forgotten the flogging scene — as brutal for watching Vir and Londo’s faces as watching G’Kar’s — but I had forgotten how fast it all was. The flogger can barely keep up the pace with Cartagia’s cadence. It robs the scene of some of its dramatic impact, for the rush, and in a better world (where every minute of screen time counted) it would have gone at about half the pace (and the more savage for all that).

C-Plot: But whatever did happen to Mr Garibaldi? Zack’s got some info, from Marcus’ request, but tells Ivanova that he can’t get hold of G’Kar to pass it on. Instead, he follows up on it himself, leaving a squad of ships after a craft they think Garibaldi should be on.

The mysterious spacecraft ejects Garibaldi in a life pod, then self-destructs rather than be captured. Aboard the life pod, a shrink-wrapped Garibaldi gets a light show across his noggin and his eyes snap open. That’s probably not good.

He’s passed back out when he’s brought to B5 — insert all sorts of MedLab excitement. Zack is happy to have him back, but worried about how it all played out.

Garibaldi insists on being there when a strange ship arrives at the station — and access the docking bay using command protocols. Thus he’s there when Sheridan (sight unseen until the big A-Plot reveal) arrives, and is there when he gives the Big Speech.

He’s also there in Sheridan’s office during the A-Plot end-game, and he’s giving Lorien the hairy eyeball the whole time. When asked, he gives answers that seem paranoid —

GARIBALDI: I’d just like to know who our new best friend is over here.

SHERIDAN: His name is Lorien. That’s all you need to know for now.

GARIBALDI: Yeah, who decided that?

SHERIDAN: He did.

GARIBALDI: Well, isn’t that convenient?

SHERIDAN: Michael, what the hell is that? I told you, I trust him.

GARIBALDI: I know, I know, secrets on top of secrets. I’m getting too old for this stuff.

— but that are actually valid things to be concerned about. Sheridan’s back from the dead, and from Z’Ha’Dum — and he has a new BFF alien whose identity he won’t reveal Just Because. And everyone’s supposed to trust Sheridan (and Lorien) about this? Be relieved, sure, but Garibaldi’s a professional paranoid, a security guy who trusts nobody. For the moment, his suspicions seems actually legit, if you don’t know everything that’s going on (as the viewers do).

Overall: I saw a recent IMDb poll about “most Christ-like figure in TV and Movie SF/Fantasy.” John Sheridan was there, for obvious reasons — a leader bringing people together, who dies and is resurrected and makes all free from the death and darkness of the past (the Shadow/Vorlon conflict). But as this episode makes clear, G’Kar could play the Christ role as well, complete with flogging. Or perhaps Moses, suffering greatly but, in the courts of the mighty, wresting his people free. Or perhaps Buddha, overcoming earthly pride and attachment for enlightenment.

As for the Vorlons, George Santayana once said, “Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.” That sounds right about where our favorite encounter-suited First Ones are. They’re willing to kill as many of the Younger Races as they can if it means they can take out the Shadows once and for all, oblivious to what their original goals were. As Denis Diderot said along the same lines, “From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.”

Sheridan and Garibaldi are both back — for now. But rather than making everything better, everything’s gotten a lot worse. The Shadow War is hurtling at full tilt toward an unexpected swift climax, as is Emperor Cartagia’s reign of terror. Hold onto your shock frame!

Most Dramatic Moment: Honorable mention to Sheridan’s Big Speech, and Londo & G’Kar’s cell discussion, but it has to be the climax of the flogging scene. Every actor is spot on, the sheer blackness of the background focuses the eye on the the horror, and, pacing aside, it’s gutwrenching to watch.

Most Amusing Moment: Ivanova and Marcus banter about, which reveals that Marcus is a virgin. Ivanova quips softly, “And I thought the First Ones were scarce.”

Honorable Mention to Emperor Cartagia’s kvetching about how the Imperial torturers, now unionized, insist on calling themselves “pain technicians.”

Most Arc-ish Moment: I’ll cop out and say it’s the final scene, with the band back together. Everyone — everyone human and Minbari and Lorien — is there, and everything is cued up for the next set of conflicts, both cosmic (dealing with the Vorlons) and personal (Garibaldi’s paranoia).

Overall Rating: 4.7 / 5 — Lacking the resolution of a perfect episode, it’s still just damned good TV.  (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 1-4 of the season)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  “Falling Toward Apotheosis,” in which gods — want-to-be gods and seen-as-gods — begin to collide with their fates.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

The balls started rolling last ep pick up speed this time out. There feels like about 2-3 episodes of activity going on in this single outing, and even the most quiet of plotlines pushes forward at high speed. In so doing, we see a lot of the ways characters have changed from the past, like hothouse flowers forced to bloom.

A-Plot: G’Kar has already made a lot of accelerated off-screen progress in tracking down Garibaldi, by way of finding that a Starfury was salvaged somewhere, getting a piece of it, and tracking down the seller. Questions, refusals, and bar brawls ensue (enlivened by Marcus showing up unexpectedly). That gives the two of them a chance to chat, where G’Kar confesses he’s doing all this because Garibaldi is his friend, and he’s never had a friend who wasn’t a Narn. Marcus, in turn, confesses that he’s never had a friend who was a Narn (which feels a bit odd, since there’s no real sign of friendship between the two of them before this; rather, Marcus is clearly there because it’s a beau geste, a chance for him to seek self-destructive glory in the service of others).

Unfortunately, G’Kar has apparently lost his Underground Resistance Savvy since his younger days, since he pretty quickly gets himself captured by the Centauri military.

Which is fine, because that’s when the storyline (which could have taken an entire episode) gets really interesting. Emperor Cartagia, still batshit crazy and bat-bite dangerous, summons Londo to give him a “gift” — G’Kar, bound and delivered. Londo’s shocked and dismayed, but (of course) graciously accepts the lunatic emperor’s largess.

Later, Londo visits G’Kar in his cell, and it’s a key scene for both characters. For his part, Londo realizes that as much as he’s hated G’Kar, he takes no joy in the latter’s capture and imminent torture to death.

LONDO: If you wished to die, you could have simply told me. I would have attended to it, quickly. With at least a measure of dignity.

and

LONDO: You have never been a friend to me, but what he will do to you — I would not wish on anyone.

Further, he needs G’Kar, to assist in his plan to kill Cartagia. If Vir is the only Centauri he can trust, G’Kar becomes the only other being beyond that who can be trusted as well, and who and can assist in saving his people — a sad realization for Londo, who once saw the Narn, and G’Kar in particular, as the bete noir of his people’s existence. And the horrible irony is that Londo — triumphant, in a high position in court, in the place he always wanted to be, and terrified of it — is now dependent on someone who he’s hated, someone who is in the worst possible and least powerful position anyone could imagine.

For his part, the Narn plays it cagily, willing to trust Londo only so far, and willing to assist him only if Londo promises to see to it that Narn is free. Londo leaves, his once greatest enemy now an ally.

 That single scene is the peak of the episode, and one of the better ones in B5. Characters change, and their relationships change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. It’s a scene not only of interpersonal ties but of self-examination, and both Jurasik and Katsulas play it with an amazing low-key intensity, as if the more softly they pitch their voices, the deeper the emotions and stakes run.

B-Plot: Meanwhile Delenn is fasting — starving herself to death, actually — in grief over Sheridan’s apparent death and guilt over having driven him away from her. Lennier (who loves her, of course, and whose main rival for her affections is now apparently gone) breaks her confidence to tell Franklin — who, in turn, tries to talk her out of it. He fails — and it’s noteworthy that the Old Franklin would next have drugged her and stuck a feeding tube down her throat, convinced of his own righteousness. He doesn’t — and that says something about the doctor’s growth.

Next thing we see, Franklin calls up Delenn and asks her to Sheridan’s room. He’s been sorting through the captain’s personal effects to see what should be put in storage, what sent back (somehow) to family on Earth, and he just happens to have stumbled across Sheridan’s video diary. He leaves Delenn alone to watch an entry from last May that he’s bookmarked.

SHERIDAN: Personal log, May 14, 2260. We actually had a quiet day today — it’s hard to believe with so much going on lately. Now that we’ve broken away from Earth, everything has hit the fan. It’s not what I wanted. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me, but it had to be done. The job now is to turn this around and make it into something positive. My dad always told me that’s the only way you deal with pain. You don’t surrender, you don’t fight it — you turn it into something positive. He used to say, “If you’re falling off a cliff, you may as well try to fly. You’ve got nothing to lose.” And in a way, I feel the same way about Delenn. During the war, I fought Minbari, I killed Minbari, saw many of my friends die at Minbari hands. Here I am, in love with one of them. For a long time, I thought about not saying anything, but — the moment my heart crossed that line, there wasn’t much I could do but see it through. Yeah, I’ve fallen off one hell of a cliff, but when I look in her eyes, I let myself think, maybe I really can fly.

It’s a moving moment — and it galvanizes Delenn. She calls together the White Star fleet, telling the Rangers commanding the vessels that they need a way to rally forces of Light, who have abandoned the war against the Shadows. They will do so Wild Bunch style, a last ride of whomever is willing to go, charging into Z’Ha’Dum against the Shadows, most likely to fall, but possibly to fly.

Yyyyeah. Maybe Franklin should have tried the feeding tube.

C-Plot: Sheridan, of course, is still alive. Except, Lorien explains, he’s not (as a check of his pulse confirms).  He’s been caught, trapped between moments of time — Tick, he’s alive, Tock, he’s dead.

LORIEN: Between moments. When we are born, we are allocated a finite number of seconds. Each tick of the clock slices off a piece of us. Tick. A possibility for joy is gone. Tock. A careless word ends one path, opens another. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Always running out of time. Yours is almost used up. You’re between seconds — lost in the infinite possibilities between tick and tock. Tick. You’re alive. Tock. Well, it was a good life, but a short one. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

It’s an evocative speech to the viewer, but Sheridan refuses to believe it, refuses to give in to being dead, because he’s sure he’s critical to the cause against the Shadows.

There’s lots of rambling, pseudo-philosophical conversation between the two of them, complete with wordplay and cryptic utterances by Lorien, but we do glean a few apparent facts. First off, Lorien is millions of years old — not just one of the First Ones, but the First One. What he’s doing there is a bit mysterious (he’s “waiting” for “someone to talk to”), but the Shadows know he is there (hence their always returning to the planet after defeat), as do the Vorlons. His true form is not as Sheridan sees him, but we (and Sheridan) catch glimpses of it now and again — a swirling light, holding Sheridan in darkness, chanting the Vorlon and Shadow questions, “Who are you? What do you want?” to him over and over again. (Later he adds, “Why are you here?” to the repertoire.)

Lorien also casually asks, “Did you know you have a Vorlon inside you? Well, a piece of one.” Kosh’s fragment in his head, along with Sheridan, are enough to trap him there, perhaps for an eternity, because neither are willing to die.

LORIEN: You can’t turn away from death simply because you’re afraid of what might happen without you. That’s not enough. You’re not embracing life, you’re fleeing death. So you’re caught in-between, unable to go forward or backward. Your friends need what you can be when you are no longer afraid — when you know who you are, and why you are, and what you want. When you are no longer looking for reasons to live, but can simply be. … You must let go. Surrender yourself to death. The death of flesh. The death of fear. Step into the abyss — and let go.

Sheridan has to find a reason to live, not to avoid dying — a JMS theme that was first posited by Garibaldi to Sinclair back in “Infection.” Sheridan, at least, has an opportunity to answer: as he begins to fade into the darkness, he can come up with only one. “Delenn.”

(Interestingly enough, that call out to Delenn after the flashbacks wasn’t in the shooting script; instead, in the darkness we see Sheridan’s face. “Will this work?” Then Kosh’s image. “I do not know … I am afraid.” And Sheridan, “Yes.”)

I had forgotten how long and wordy this whole subplot was, some of it interesting, some of it tedious, all of it weird. It’s hard to parse out which parts are science fictional, which psychological, which philosophical — which makes sense if we’re talking about a conversation with God (or the nearest equivalent), but which also pulls one out of the reality of the plot.

The final moments, as all goes dark, are still oddly affecting. The fear in Sheridan’s voice and features is palpable. A good job by Boxleitner.

D-Plot: So, whatever did become of Mr. Garibaldi? We, the viewers, know he was hauled off with his Starfury inside of a Shadow vessel. We know, from Marcus’ research, that the salvager of that Starfury was tipped off by Interplanetary Expeditions, which has been known to deal with both Shadow artifacts and Earthgov / Psi-Corps before.

And now we know that he’s trapped in a little round room, going stir crazy, being asked questions by a calm voice, and pounding the walls. The voice wants him to settle down, and tell what he remembers after being taken from B5. When Garibaldi gets too violent, he’s gassed — then a someone in Psi-Corp uniform and a gas mask comes in and looks down on him.

Overall:  I mentioned above that this episode highlighted character changes. I’m going to narrow that down a bit, and say that it focuses on characters learning to let go. G’Kar refuses to let go of his friendship for Garibaldi, and ends up suffering mightily. Londo lets go of his hatred of G’Kar, and grows. Franklin lets go of his ability to solve everything. Delenn lets go of her guilt over Sheridan’s death and is able to take action (foolish or not). And Sheridan lets go of life, to end up … where?

Only Garibaldi is unable to let go, in this case of his secrets, and so he remains trapped.

It’s a very busy episode, lots of this and that and other things, and four robust, intense plotlines. Does it feel a bit rushed? Yeah. A lot here would have been better served being spread out a bit. But it still largely works, because these characters and the situations have already been well-established, and the viewer can fill in what was missing.

Most Dramatic Moment: Londo and G’Kar confront their mutual hatred inside the Centauri cell. Londo has been describing the gruesome torture G’Kar will face.

G’KAR: And does this please you?

LONDO: No. No it doesn’t. Once, long ago — no, not even then.

Most Amusing Moment: Marcus and G’Kar have some nice banter, especially over Marcus’ battle pike. “I like it.”

Most Arc-ish Moment:  Sheridan metaphorically jumps once more.

SHERIDAN: [In the dark] What if I fall? How will I know if you’ll catch me?

LORIEN: I caught you before.

SHERIDAN: What if I die?

LORIEN: I cannot create life, but I can breathe on the remaining embers. It may not work.

SHERIDAN: But I can hope.

LORIEN: Hope is all we have.

Overall Rating: 4.2 / 5 — Good meat, but a bit rushed.  (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 1-4 of the season)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  “The Summoning,” in which our two wayward party members — Sheridan and Garibaldi — return. But all is not well with one, the other, or both.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

The end of Season 3 of “Babylon 5” brought a near-end of the PTEN “network” of stations. Warner Brothers (eventually) found the budget to support more of the one show that was making them any money from it — but only for one season further. The result was Joe Straczynski taking two years of master story arc and compressing them into a single year. That meant S.4 turned out to be feverish in conflict and plot advancement, one episode chaining to the next, and lacking in the slower-paced “breather” episodes that helped make the big moments feel all the bigger.

The new season started with “The Hour of the Wolf,” following on from the events of “Z’Ha’Dum.” Sheridan is missing and presumed dead. Mr. Garibaldi has vanished. A new season main titles has appeared. What else could go wrong?

A-Plot: On Babylon 5, things are not going well. Ivanova is shell-shocked at the apparent death of Sheridan, going through the motions and drinking heavily each night. Delenn is not much better, fasting and praying for his return, Lennier helplessly watching on.

Ivanova, for all she spends a lot of the early episode moping around in grief, remains in serious denial about what’s happened to Sheridan. She knows the basics, and people keep telling her things like this …

… but it just doesn’t sink in, and she keeps hoping against hope that the Captain will turn out okay.

Ivanova tells Lyta, a bit later, how this all feels to her, and where the title of the episode comes from:

IVANOVA: Have you ever heard of the hour of the wolf?

LYTA: No.

IVANOVA: My father told me about it. It’s the time between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. You can’t sleep, and all you can see is the troubles and the problems and the ways that your life should’ve gone but didn’t. All you can hear is the sound of your own heart. I’ve been living in the hour of the wolf for seven days, Lyta. Seven days. The wolf and I are now on a first-name basis. In times like this, my father used to take one large glass of vodka before bed. “To keep the wolf away,” he said. And then he would take three very small drinks of vodka, just in case she had cubs while she was waiting outside. [Takes a drink]  It doesn’t work.

Garibaldi’s disappearances is almost secondary to Ivanova and Delenn, but not to G’Kar and Zack; the Narn explains to the acting security chief that Garibaldi gave him a second chance, so he feels honor-bound to track him down.

With Sheridan gone (and everyone knowing that nobody goes to Z’Ha’Dum and returns), and with the Shadows in abeyance for the moment, the Alliance of Light is breaking up, the various races pulling their ships from the station in order to shore up and rebuild their own defenses.

Delenn confronts a hitherto-absent new!Kosh about what the Vorlons are up to and gets little satisfaction. They are no longer interested in Sheridan, considering him “Irrelevant. … He has opened an unexpected door. We do now what must be done now. His purpose has been fulfilled.”

Lyta is on a short (and painful) leash with new!Kosh, but she knows they are up to something. She approaches Ivanova, suggesting they mount a hit-and-run rescue mission to Z’Ha’Dum with a White Star; her telepathy can both hold off the Shadows for a short time and search for the old!Kosh influence in Sheridan.

The two of them, along with Delenn and Lennier (way to gut the Alliance if you fail, guys), head out to Z’Ha’Dum, and start trying to reach Sheridan both by comlink and telepathy. No sign of Sheridan, but the Shadows detect them, and the Big Many Eyes in Space (last seen in “Voices of Authority“) focuses on them, draining their will. Ivanova even orders the ship to put down on the surface, but instead it zooms back into hyperspace; Lennier had a dead man’s switch programmed.

Faced with the reality that Sheridan is gone, Ivanova decides she has to carry on in his name.

A good story line, if a bit passive. The menace of the Shadows is both broken and reestablished, and Ivanova, Delenn, and Lyta are all ready to gird their loins and start picking up the pieces. Seeing the three of them together at the bow of the White Star was a treat I’d forgotten about; I’d have watched a spin-off with just that trio.

The portrayal of the Shadows is intriguing in its brief glimpses. Their fear and dismay over what has happened is palpable; like the Vorlons, they don’t handle their own deaths well. The Big Many Eyes in Space (or “Eye,” as it is referred to) mentally speaks in “a voice of infinite sadness” and appears to Ivanova and Delenn both as their own fathers (imagery that the Vorlons also use). We get fragments here, but it’s the closest the Shadows have come to feeling like real beings, not distant, god-like monsters, and one can see how they could gather allies to themselves, even humans.

Christian’s portrayal (and Joe’s writing) of Ivanova bugged me a bit. I get that Sheridan is a friend, and his loss hurts her. I get that she’s been under a lot of stress, and the weight of taking on Sheridan’s role is daunting. And I realize that she has father issues and, having lost one (her own), and recently another (Sinclair), losing a third (Sheridan) is a baseball bat to the head. But her reaction here seemed a bit over the top, a bit too thousand-yard-stare. Drinking? Yeah. Shuffling zombie-like through the halls? Not so much. Her finest moments are when she’s storming at the Alliance diplomats.

Furlan’s Delenn is fine; she’s got some of the fire in her belly again, seriously torqued off at new!Kosh, but aside from that she doesn’t get to do a lot this time out. Someone had best nudge her to remind her she’s Ranger One still.

Tallman’s Lyta gets a big re-introduction this time, and her appearance in the credits indicate she’ll be spending more time with us this season. She’s still being buffeted by the fates; her relationship with old!Kosh was as acolyte to great guru, even lover; new!Kosh treats her as a servant, and a not-highly-valued one at that. Her apologies to Delenn early on are almost shocking given the previous air of determination she’d carried. Her willingness to stand with Team B5 bodes well.

Katsulas’ G’Kar and Jeff Conaway’s Zack Allen get a nice scene in Garibaldi’s quarters. Zack doesn’t do much (aside from demonstrate he doesn’t know how to enter a room), but he does get the funniest line in the ep. G’Kar, both there and in the episode-starting voice-over, is in full Zen Narn mode, contemplative and serene, but still directed toward righteous action. Garibaldi gave him another chance, so he’ll rescue Garibaldi, case closed. Both actors do a fine job.

B-Plot: On Centauri Prime, Londo arrives to take up his position as head interplanetary security advisor to the Emperor. He’s limbered up and ready to play politics as usual. Only the Emperor, Cartagia, seems a bit … off. Far too relaxed and decadent and both not playing the political games and much firmer in his orders than Londo was expecting.

Londo is is left off-balance, at the very least, but then is further shocked to discover that the Shadow representative on Centauri Prime is his old friend, Mr. Morden — horribly burned and scarred, but still alive. He’s the one who requested from the emperor that Londo be sent along to help coordinate the Shadows’ new plan.

MORDEN: The incident at Z’Ha’Dum has forced us to look for outside support sooner than we had intended. My associates are moving some of their forces off  Z’Ha’Dum to ensure their safety, in case certain parties decide to take advantage of the situation. They did it before, a thousand years ago — planted their ships like sees all around the galaxy. In exchange for certain — favor, Emperor Cartagia has agreed to loan us a small piece of Centauri prime.

LONDO: […] He’s mad.

MORDEN: If there’s a madman on the throne, it’s because you and Refa put him there. He’s your responsibility. And you are mine.

LONDO: […] I don’t care. I won’t do it.

MORDEN: Of course you will, Mollari. Because you’re drawn to power. Because we’re friends. And because you’re afraid of what someone else might do in your place.

All this culminates in Londo being called out to watch the Shadows’ arrival, overhead — and, yup, there’s that prophetic dream sequence he had, waaaaaay back in “The Coming of Shadows“. Well played.

He goes to confront Cartagia, and learns what he was beginning to suspect is true: the Emperor is mad. Part of the madness is in little things — radical fashion changes, for example. Part of the madness is in typical things — folk who criticize the Emperor tend to disappear.  And part of the madness is in horrifyingly dangerous things — he’s made an agreement with the Shadows to let them base some of their ships there, in exchange for …

LONDO: What did they give you?

CARTAGIA: The one thing I have ever wanted. Read the old books, Mollari. They talk of the ancient gods. They talked about them. Their power is beyond description; the power to create, the power to destroy. And now it’s ours by association.

LONDO: If their power is so great, why do they need to hide behind us, hmm? They want to use us as shields. When the war comes here, our people will be the first to die.

CARTAGIA: Some are always sacrificed for the greater good.

LONDO: What greater good?

CARTAGIA: Why, mine, of course. I thought you understood. The Emperor is the soul of the People, Mollari, the center of the Republic. If the whole world should perish, as long as the Emperor goes on, we go on. The first emperors, the greatest of us, were themselves proclaimed deities by the gods of old in exchange for loyalty. They became immortal, their names remembered for generations, prayers offered even today in their temples. And now the gods of old have returned. Through them I will become a god myself. It’s my destiny. I’ve known it all my life. It;s what I was born for. When the time comes, our people will gladly lay down their lives to elevate me to godhood. What are the lives of a few million when compared to the glory of becoming a living god?

Londo is terrified, but he’s also angry, and a patriot. A smart man, perhaps even the old Londo from the early days of the series, would, like Minister Virini, hunker down, smile, and present as small a target for Cartagia as possible. Londo, instead, summons Vir from B5; when he arrives, Londo takes him into a new conspiracy: they must kill the Emperor. As Morden told him, Londo and Refa are responsible for Cartagia being on the throne. Londo will take take that responsibility, even if it kills him. And his comrade.

LONDO: Vir, it is a terrible truth but as one accumulates power, one loses friends. One only has those who wish to use you and those you wish to use. And yet, in all of this, you have somehow managed to walk through the corridors of power and not be touched. I can only assume you have not been paying attention. And still, the hideous truth is: you are the closest thing I have to a friend. I’m as shocked and dismayed by this as you are, but there it is. I need a friend, Vir. And I need a patriot. You are both. Will you help me?

Jurasik makes it clear that he’s ready for this season to be his, even if he’s no longer on the B5 station. His attempts to slip into the old politicking mode are smoothly executed, and his aghastness at Cartagia, Morden, and the parking of Shadow vessels on Centauri Prime (but mostly at Cartagia) are delightfully done.  It’s not an overly dramatic or key role this episode, just part of touching base with all the characters, but he handles it flawlessly and believably.

Furst’s Vir finally gets some action. He’d had a lot of small scenes over the past half-season cut out for time, but here he not only gets to relay, apologetically and look-on-the-bright-sidedly to Ivanova what the Shadows have relayed to the Centauri about what happened to Sheridan, but he gets pulled into Londo’s conspiracy. He gets to play hapless near-naif, badly needed comic relief, and sincerely nice guy, all at once. It’s going to be a good season for him.

The biggest loss at Z’Ha’Dum in the S.3 finale was the thought of never again seeing Morden, esp. after a strong performance in the Shadow Trio trying to turn Sheridan. Fortunately, there was plenty of solid rock between him and the big boom, so we get Ed Wasser back for this season. And he does a nice job adding yet another layer to Morden, this time as more than a bit unstable, slowly picking the flaking skin from his hands and rambling aloud. Morden’s been traumatized, and he reflects the fear the Shadows are feeling right about now. It’s good to know we’ll be seeing more of him.

Finally, Wortham Krimmer shows up this ep as Emperor Cartagia. There are so many ways this role could have been played, but Krimmer sets the tone wonderfully. Megalomania, sure, but not ranting. Menace, but not mustache-twirling. You can see why people follow him, and you can definitely see why people fear him. If you weren’t going to get John Hurt back for a reprise of his “I, Claudius” Caligula, you would have a hard time finding someone better for this role.

C-Plot: On Z’Ha’Dum, a huddled figure in rags is staggering through various caverns. It drops a service bar — Sheridan’s. Eventually it stops and — yup, it’s Sheridan, who builds himself a fire (conveniently there are apparently ever-burning sconces on the occasionally dressed walls in the caves and passages he is navigating). A figure comes along — tall, alien, elegant.

SHERIDAN: Who are you?

LORIEN: Who are you?

SHERIDAN: How did I get here?

LORIEN: You were born.

SHERIDAN: Why am I alive?

LORIEN: Well, that is the question, isn’t it?  Do you mind if I share your fire?

SHERIDAN: No.

It’s an odd little closer. Its purpose is to show that Sheridan is still alive (though not yet answering how, or where, or anything else), and to introduce his new companion, Lorien. But we already were spoiled that he’d be alive by the main titles for the season (which show him), and the drama of the first two plotlines doesn’t seem to sift through into here. We don’t get an emotional read on Sheridan, let alone his visitor, leaving things … hanging.

Overall:  As a season opener, it’s a fairly quiet episode. There’s a bit of action, a lot of inward-directed drama, but nothing much happens but to establish the new status quo: Sheridan’s “dead,” the Alliance is in tatters, the Vorlons are scheming, the Centauri are being run by a madman, G’Kar is looking for Mr Garibaldi. With more time, all of these would have been played with a bit more; as it is, only some of these new truths will last very long.

Though the A-Plot is where the action is supposed to be, the B-Plot is what really grips. The former is marking time, reminding people of what’s going on and who the various characters are. The B-Plot has some real drama and menace to contend with.

Most Dramatic Moment:  Lots of small moments, in all of the plots. I think the most dramatic is when Londo is forced to retreat from the throne room, having nearly been guilty of lèse-majeste against Cartagia, having learned of the extent of the Emperor’s madness, and realizing that reason and politics are not going to be enough to save his people (or his neck).

Most Amusing Moment: Zack and G’Kar discuss a poster of Daffy Duck in Garibaldi’s room.

G’KAR: I was studying this image. Is it one of his household gods?

ZACK: No, that’s Daffy — yeah, well, in a way, I suppose it is. It’s sort of the Egyptian God of Frustration.

G’KAR: [Laughing] Most appropriate. Thank you.

That narrowly beats out:

IVANOVA: Lennier, get us the hell out of here!

LENNIER: Initiating “Getting the Hell Out of Here” maneuver.

Most Arc-ish Moment:  The final scene with Sheridan and Lorien is portentious, but I have to give the nod to Londo’s vision of Shadow vessels flying overhead finally, awfully, coming true.

Overall Rating: 4.3 / 5 — The slower parts (A-Plot) are done well; the more intense parts (B-Plot) are done very well. It’s not a WHAM episode, but it’s solid storytelling. (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (covers eps 1-4 of the season)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode:  “Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?” That’s the question G’Kar wants to answer, assuming he doesn’t get killed or captured in the process. Sheridan just wants to know what’s happened to himself.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

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.

In a cut scene, Vir goes to Ivanova to pass on that warning. In another cut scene from the tag, it turns out Londo stuck around during the Shadow incursion, despite the warning:

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:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

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.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

z MINUS 7 DAYS …

It’s the penultimate episode of Season 3! Big external battle! Big internal battle! And the galaxy’s most awkward moment!

A-Plot: Okay,so the main plotline here is the Big Payoff for all the fanboys and fangirls, as Delenn convinces the allied worlds to contribute Lots of Ships, combined with Lots of White Stars, to be a force to reckon with against the Shadows, who are plotting a big moral-busting slaughter of refugee ships in the one sector they’ve left untouched.

And the plan works, as Sheridan leads the charge into a massive Battle of Sector 83 against the Shadows that has the fanboys and fangirls creaming their pants over ALL THE SHIPS! FIGHTING ALL THE SHIPS!

It is, in fact, very cool. And, in the end, the Good Guys drive off the Shadows, though at a tremendous cost. It’s full of coolness and awesomeness, and tons of amazing SFX and (well, like I said, ALL THE SHIPS!). The character bits sort of dwindle in the blinding light of the battle, but, for the moment, that’s okay …

(One does wonder where the Vorlons were in all of this.)

This all leads to the C-Plot. But, meanwhile, and interwoven …

B-Plot: … Franklin is still on Walkabout. But, being the kind of guy he (and JMS) is, he gets involved in a mugging, and ends up getting knifed. So all the “go on a walk until you find yourself” turns into “crawl in a pool of blood until you start hallucinating about yourself chiding yourself for being a narcisissitic, running-from-adversity, pretty-much-all-the-criticism-that-anyone’s-ever-leveled-at-you asshole (“What a bunch of self-indulgent mealy-mouthed Foundationist crap!“).

So I’ve ragged on Franklin before, and Richard Biggs along with him. But this is the big payoff episode, and Biggs hits it out of the ballpark, taking all of the “Well, Franklin’s made some mistakes, but now he’s off on a noble quest to find himself and put it right” crapola in just the right, cynical, snarky light, and kicking his alter ego in the ass to save himself and become a productive (and somewhat self-actualized) member of society again. This ep justifies all the Franklin angst and melodrama we’ve been dragged through, because the character gets dragged through worse and the actor  nails it perfectly.

In the end, Franklin is back, reconciled to Garibaldi and back in charge of MedLab, but in a (relatively) healthy, non-OCD, non-stims-driven (or driven-to-stims) way. “I’m alive. Everything else is negotiable.” Bravo.

C-Plot: Sheridan and Delenn, post-smoochies last time, are sliding emotionally closer as events drive them more tightly together. Sheridan wants her to stay back on B5 during the impending battle, but Delenn deftly distracts him with Minbari custom and the promise of sex. Not that this overcomes Sheridan’s gallant impulse, but it redirects it efficiently.

After the Big Battle (and somewhat-Pyrrhic Victory), Our Heroes are trying to figure out what happens next, now that the Shadows know Babylon 5 is the center of their opposition. That leads into some somewhat-awkward fitting of events back into the Big Dream that Kosh gave Sheridan in “All Alone in the Night.” Some parts of (somewhat lamely) explained way, but there are still intimations of “the man in the middle” who is coming after Sheridan, and is, in some fashion, Sheridan’s counterpart.

(Cue creepy shots of a Shadow vessel spawning a small ship that flies off into space …)

And now we get to Delenn’s flash-forward on “War Without End.” Seems the Minbari have a courtship custom, where, when things are getting serious, She gets to hang out in His room while He sleeps, to see what His true, sleeping, relaxed, honest face is. So there’s Delenn, ogling John under the covers, liking what she sees, playing with his snow globe …

… when in walks  a shadowy figure … “Hello. You must be Delenn. I’m Anna Sheridan. John’s wife.”

Shatter goes the snow globe. Gulp goes the audience. “Z MINUS 2 DAYS” goes the over-title.

Meanwhile: Marcus & Ivanova are off as scouts for Our Heroes, hanging out until the Shadows show up, at which point they’re to signal the fleet and hightail it out of there. Needless to say, things don’t go smoothly, but in the meantime we get both a nicely dramatic scene (Marcus offers to teach Ivanova Minbari, and demonstrates “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met” as a sentence, offering as a translation “My words are inadequate to the burden in my heart”) and an amusing scene (Ivanova tries to figure out how to sleep on those damned sloped Minbari beds).

Overall: A definite WHAM! episode. The space battle is spectacular, the Franklin scene justify three seasons of the character (and the two intermingled are full of joint poetry and parallelism). And, of course, the arrival of Anna Sheridan drives the next, and final, episode of the season.

Everyone hits there marks here. Sheridan and Delenn avoid mawkish sentimentality, instead coming across as an authentic couple. There’s a bit more stereotyped “star-crossed lovers” bits for Marcus and Ivanova, but those parts still work. Garibaldi gets some decent scenes, and, of course, Franklin steals the character-driven parts of the show (though, overall, everyone remembers ALL THE SHIPS! rather than his poignant psychodrama).

Most Dramatic Moment:  Franklin throwing down, emotionally, with himself should probably get this. Two of the scenes are particularly brutal and effective. But, honestly, I’ll be the fanboy and turn to the heart of the big space battle, where we intercut between huge FX shots and silent shots of Sheridan, Delenn, Ivanova, and Marcus, barking orders or reacting to occurrences.

The big battle here is, honestly, one of the best in SF TV. It’s not a single ship-to-ship thing, but fleet-vs-fleet, with Sheridan giving commands (with Delenn’s support) to most effectively use his forces as the battle wears on . The visuals don’t necessarily reflect it (though they reflect the cost), but the dialog makes a huge difference here, sufficient that we can eventually fade to just the music and watch it happen …

Most Amusing Moment: Okay, for basic vaudevillian physical humor, Ivanova trying to figure out a way to sleep on the Minbari beds (and her final, and abortive, solution) win the day.

Most Arc-ish Moment:  Well, that would certainly be the last 30 seconds of the episode, when we not only fulfill a time-flash-forward, but reintroduyce Bruce Boxleitner’s John Sheridan’s wife, and set up a ton of pain that will affect the rest of the series.

Overall Rating: 4.9 / 5 — It’s all just damned good, as good as B5 gets (at least from this perspective moment in the rewatch). Drama, action, occasional humor, big FX, big battles (external and internal), and big, arc-ish goodness, hampered only by some awkward filling-in-the-gaps on a past dream sequence that most viewers don’t even remember. (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode: “Z’ha’dum.” Season finale. Z Minus 0 Days.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

So, yes, I confess I am a sucker for the ominous count-down: Z MINUS 14 DAYS …

The first of the Final Three for the season, this episode jettisons the smaller, lighter stories we’ve recently had and dives back into the epic.

A-Plot: Centauri politics come to a head, as Lord Refa and Minister Virini arriving on B5. The Emperor, are concerned that the conflict between the houses and allies of Refa and Mollari are getting to the point of being disruptive to the Republic, and Virini basically demands they settle it, one way or the other. Refa is more than happy to make the case that he’s been more useful, and Londo’s clearly “gone native” hanging out on B5. Londo, for his part, offers to get rid of a major thorn in the Centauri’s side, and puts in motion a plan to capture G’Kar.

Londo, of course, is driven by multiple motives. He thinks Refa is a threat to the Republic with his war-mongering. He’s concerned about his own position and personal safety. And, of course, Refa was (he believes) the person who had Londo’s love, Adira, killed.

His plan is both brilliant and fiendish, executed ruthlessly by Londo — and is, in fact, a plan within a plan, not to snag G’Kar, but to kill Refa. Refa thinks he’s intercepted and usurped Londo’s scheme, but finds himself stuck on Narn, in the catacombs, with Centauri troops whose loyalty is to House Mollari, and a bunch of angry Narn whom he thought he was going to capture. A beating to death ensues, but only after G’Kar plays a holographic Londo message to him, listing out his crimes against the Narn as well as his  role in the death of Londo’s beloved Adira.

Londo is bitterly ruthless throughout this storyline — given his anger and grief over Adira, that’s hardly surprising — and willing to go to any extent for his revenge. He enlists G’Kar in the plot (though we never actually see how and when that happens). More importantly, Londo (ab)uses Vir on multiple counts: first, viciously blackmailing him into (Vir thinks) betraying G’Kar, then letting Vir be captured and interrogated by Refa’s forces to let the latter “discover” the plot. By the end, even though it was for a good (well, good-ish) cause , Vir’s majorly torqued, and the relationship between him and Londo may be broken beyond repair.

Ultimately, Londo gets just what he wanted: revenge on the killer of Adira, stability and safety for the Republic, and security for his own position. Little does he know that he’s only truly gotten the latter. Adira’s true killer, Morden, is still at large. And things are hardly stable or safe back at the Imperial Court, as we’ll discover next season …

G’Kar gets a bit of what he wants, too, though it give him little joy, perhaps because he has to work with Londo to make it happen, acting as his adversary’s hands. He sees his homeworld again, but it’s a devastated, chilled place. He gets revenge on Refa, though in the end he merely instructs the other Narn to make sure the head and face are identifiable, then walks away during the killing. He gets two thousand of his race freed, but has to hope that the Centauri will decide to cover up what has happened, rather than follow through on the standard retribution of 500 Narn for every Centauri killed.  It’s  bittersweet set of accomplishments, which may be why Katsulas plays G’Kar so quiet, withdrawn, through this entire scene.

Everyone else here performs excellently as well, comfortable in their parts and adjusting accordingly. Jurasik and Furst as Londo and Vir, of course, steal the show, though special mention needs to be made of William Forward’s fine, and final, turn  as Lord Refa, out-ruthlessed and out-smarted by the man he sought first to control, then destroy.

B-Plot: Brother Theo (in, sadly, his last appearance on the show) has arranged for a visit by a number of clerical brethren (though no sistren): a black baptist preacher, a rabbi, an imam, and a Buddhist priest. (Alas, the latter two show up only briefly, then vanish). The plot is not much as such.  It’s mostly way to exposit about what’s going on back on Earth (the tightening reins of power, control of the media, misinformation about B5, but a growing underground movement).

At one point, the preacher wanders (?) into Sheridan’s office, to find the Captain working late (again), and gives him some unsolicited sage counsel on sharing the burden of leadership (and on how obvious it is that Delenn is smitten with him, a subject that makes Sheridan very uncomfortable).

The last use of this portion of the story is as a counter-point to the A-Plot. As the baptist preacher holds a raucous service (though oddly the traditions haven’t changed much at all in 250 years), and a singer belts out a joyful, get-up-and-clap-your-hands old gospel hymn “No Hiding Place Down Here,” (passage from Revelations; here’s a different cover) we cut back repeatedly to Refa trying to flee the Narn, being corralled by them, and then disappearing into a mob of fists and kicks.

 (Clearer version of the above, but in German, here.)

As the song goes:

And when the sinners gonna be runnin’
At the knowledge of their fate,
They’re gonna run to the rocks and the mountains
But their prayers will be too late.

You know, they never thought about Jesus,
Not knowing the end was nigh,
But they’ll be running trying to find a hiding place,
When it comes their time to die.

There’s no hiding place, no hiding place,
You know, there’s no hiding place down here.
I went to the rock to hide my face
But the rock cried out, no hiding place,
There’s no hiding place down here.

No hiding place, indeed.

The B-Plot doesn’t really cohere as a story, more as elements that go on while other stuff is happening. But they’re good elements, and Mel Winkler does a great job as the Reverend (who gets to channel/preach several of JMS’s favorite themes).

C-Plot: Sheridan is getting “cranky” and “grouchy” and “crotchety” in his workaholic obsession with how the War is going (and his inability to figure out the Shadow tactics). Delenn is trying to cheer him up, drag him away from work (yes, it’s not like Delenn is never obsessive-compulsive), and keep him sane.

Ultimately, after the previously mentioned prodding by the preacher, John realizes he needs to open up a bit to her, treat her more as a partner, which doesn’t solve any of his problems, but lets him share them a bit. And, as part of that, they discover something: in the particular area of space the Shadows have been attacking, their individual attacks have been random (though highly effective), but when taken as a whole, there’s clearly a gap in the center of the sector — a place where refugee ships have been fleeing to. Which implies an upcoming slaughter, so it’s lucky for Our Heroes that Delenn’s secret factories in Minbar have cranked out dozens White Star class vessels, commanded by Rangers, for the battle ahead.

Which provokes a smile (and more) from Sheridan, and cheers and huzzahs from the audience — the latter of which immediately quiet down when the screen fades to black and the ominous text “Z MINUS 10 DAYS” comes up.

As with the B-Plot, there’s lots of decent stuff here, but it doesn’t make for a coherent narrative — less of a plot than some story elements to cut back to. The Sheridan / Delenn relationship is finally beginning to feel a bit more natural. Boxleitner’s Sheridan is still looking and acting tired and stressed, looking for both a path forward and the means to pursue it. Furlan’s Delenn has shifted (intentionally, for Sheridan’s sake, though perhaps a bit too much so) from ominous prophet to perky cheerleader (apparently being Ranger One is not taking up much of her time or giving her much stress as yet) and devoted helpmate.  There are some awkward moments (Delenn can be too perky), but it’s starting to click both for the characters and for the viewers. And so, as new White Star fleet is revealed, it doesn’t seem startling for Sheridan to give Delenn a huge kiss …

Meanwhile:  B5 is taking all those telepaths it was recruiting last week and is divvying them up onto allied ships as (one hopes) protection from the Shadows. In turn, G’Kar offers up still more Narn to serve as the teeps’ bodyguards; since the Narn have no telepaths to contribute, it’s the least they can do, and G’Kar’s clever enough to realize they will be targets; when Ivanova protests that they have already guaranteed their safety, he comments, “I’m sure that will be a great comfort to their grief-stricken family when a Shadow agent cuts them up into spare body parts.”

In the A-Plot we got some prolonged shots of Narn — a world that looks like it was designed by Brutalist architects (except for one graceful domed building, in ruins, a specific homage to Hiroshima), and which is now suffering from a nuclear winter scenario after the Centauri bombardment. Nicely done.

Overall: A good episode. There’s really one main story here, the A-Plot; the other two “plots” are collections of moments that can be bundled in a number of different ways, but mostly provide a “back on the station” way to frame Londo’s long con on Refa.

Most Dramatic Moment:  Vir mans up and refuses to lie to G’Kar to entrap him. Londo cruelly breaks him down, promising Vir that if he doesn;t obey then his family will be disgraced, impoverished, “whipped through the streets” and destroyed.  It’s unclear (even in retrospect) how much of that was a serious threat, and how much was to sway Vir and so snag Refa, but that Londo even makes that level of threat, knowing Vir will consider it real, marks a permanent change in how the two will relate in the future — something they both realize.

Refa’s pursuit and death is a serious runner-up.

Most Amusing Moment: There’s plenty of friendly-rival banter between Brother Theo and Rev. Dexter, and some teasing banter between Delenn and Sheridan at the beginning of the episode. And it’s a hoot to see Lennier (very briefly) deciding the proper way of getting into the singing and dancing at the service.  I have to give it, though, to Refa having to dodge back to avoid a gesture by the holographic Londo; it’s well-staged (since it’s an optical effect), lends a wonderful air of verisimilitude, and show’s who’s really in charge during the scene.

Most Arc-ish Moment:  I’d have to say it’s John and Delenn’s kiss (thanks to time travel, her first and his second with each other), but the very next thing that happens — “Z MINUS 10 DAYS” comes in a close second.

Overall Rating: 3.9 / 5 — a very strong A-Plot, the rest of the episode being good but scattered. (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (includes next episode)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode: “Shadow Dancing,” filled with Big Battles, external and internal.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

Oh, my.

B5’s third season is considered one of the best, and certainly some of the best eps in the series are in this season. As such, “Grey 17 Is Missing” is such a clunker, it’s infamous just for that.

Joe Straczynski has officially apologized for the ep — at least for the A-Plot (with one notable exception that I’ll mention below). The B-Plot is much more interesting, engaging, and noteworthy, and the greatest mystery about “Grey 17 Is Missing” is why the episode was named, and spent so much time on, the weakest half of the narrative.

A note on the structure of B5:  Humans do not possess (as the Minbari, Centauri, and many other races do) the secret of artificial gravity. Thus, their ship and stations rely on centrifugal force (spin) to simulate gravity. As the map (source) shows, there are different colored sectors for various purposes on the station.

Movement within the station on the lifts is three-dimensional. Because of the use of rotation for gravity “up” is towards the core, “down” is toward the hull — which means that “lower” levels will have higher “gravity,” more core-ward levels lower “gravity.” This distinction is generally ignored during the show except when there’s discussion of zero-G in the core shuttles, as in “The Fall of Night” when Sheridan initially falls very slowly because he’s starting from the core.

What’s unclear is that when you’re referring to a level — “Grey 17,” for example — are you dealing with (a) an actual toroidal level (that presumably stretches the length of the station, albeit with bulkheads and relabeling as different colors as you go fore or aft), or are you dealing with (b) a vertical slice of the station (multiple levels perpendicular to a particular spot along the core).  B5’s writing goes both ways — you have the sense that a lift is going “up/down” (which would be the case for (a)) — but that implies that Grey 17 is really level 17 in the Grey section of the station, and connects with Red 17, Green 17, etc.). But the writing also gives the impression of (b), that as you go further back into the station you go deeper into Grey sectors — but that means that Grey 17 would be a slices of multiple levels from the core to the hull, which also doesn’t tie into how the sectors are presented.

In short, B5 tends to be written as though the station is a very tall building, but the rotational aspect of the place means that’s simply not true. Especially when you get to this episode …

A-Plot: It turns out there’s a “missing” Grey level . The schematics show 30 Grey levels, but taking the lift one by one gives you only 29.  Garibaldi discovers, through a Series of Improbable Events, that there’s a level that’s off the charts — the elevators skip over it, and even the numbering scheme doesn’t mention it — you go from Grey 16 to Grey 17, and there’s a level in-between.

(How this was set up, how the level labels were posted in error, and why nobody ever noticed this is never, ever addressed in the show, except to handwave about how quickly the place was built. Yes, that’s dumb.)

It also turns out that this level is inhabited by a human apocalyptic cult, seeking purity of thought in understanding that the universe is seeking self-awareness (a previously mentioned Minbari concept), and then purity of body by being hunted down by a Zarg, “the most dangerous creature in the sector,” who appears to be an Alien/Predator Rubber Suit Guy, and one of the worst FX on the show ever.

JMS admits everything about this plotline is a train wreck of his own doing, but his’ one denial of blame is that the production meetings and the script all note clearly that the Zarg is never to be fully seen, only hinted at; the director. John Flinn, instead played contrary to past experience and fully lit the Rubber Suit Monster on more than one occasion — which, as it turns out, looked appalling like a Rubber Suit Monster.

The cult is run by Robert Englund (known better in genre films as Freddie Kruger), who spends endless periods of time pontificating on his theory of the universe. How he and the others ended up there, how they managed to hide the level (assuming they did), what they do when not listening to preaching or being eaten — is never really explained, either.

In the end, Garibaldi confronts the Zarg by using a combination of a steam (!) pipe and some bullets (!) that he coincidentally (and for reasons that even he can’t explain) was playing with at the beginning of the episode and just happened to put into his pants. And, faster than you can say “Hey, didn’t Kirk do this in a rather less unrealistic fashion in the Star Trek episode ‘Arena’?” the Zarg is dead (apparently one bullet is all it takes, ooh, scary), and Garibaldi eventually breaks out of Grey 17 and regales Sheridan with the tale.

It’s awful. It’s stupid, It’s one incredibly dumb concept, and story element, and writing technique, and FX shot after another. This is a 1.2 rated episode chunk that makes “TKO” look like Hamlet. The only thing it has going for it is watching Garibaldi get more and more frustrated, and that’s because that’s what every viewer is feeling.

As JMS puts it in the script book, “Half of this episode I love. The other half should be tied to a rock and dumped into the ocean, me with it.”

‘Nuff said.

The entirety of the A-Plot is included in the 18 incredibly long minutes below. Watch it, and despair:

B-Plot: With Sinclair gone, the Rangers need a new leader, a new Ranger One, a new Entil’zha. The obvious candidate (apparently) is Delenn, who has no desire for the job, but recognizes the inevitability of it.

Enter Neroon, her old warrior caste nemesis. We saw him parading around with the body of Branmer in “Legacies,” and upsetting the balance of the Grey Council in “All Alone in the Night.” Now, with the Grey Council broken, he’s on B5 to keep Delenn from becoming Ranger One. Part of it is warrior caste tribalism — they were traditionally in charge of the Rangers (though the group had been disbanded until Delenn started it back up again). Part of it is … well, actually pretty rational analysis of the situation. Delenn comes off (in his eyes) as a mad priest who has overthrown the existing power structure (the Grey Council), and now is attempting a military take-over. “A religious zealot compelled by ambition to take political and military power? Always a bad idea.”

And, if you ignore the framing of Delenn obviously being a hero-protagonist, Neroon is absolutely right. Imagine a B5 episode where we learn that a high ranking member of the Minbari religious caste is building his own fleet, training his own spies and shock troops, and is convinced by prophecy that he knows the One True Path for Minbar and the galaxy. Oh, and he’s undergoing strange body modifications and consorting with aliens and fomenting rebellion in the government. That would make an obvious villain for at least an entire season. Why is Delenn (who has done some pretty tricksy political maneuvering, lying, and shaping of destinies across the earlier seasons) therefore automatically accepted by us as a hero who is correct and justified in what she does? Because that’s how the story is written, especially this season.

Whether petty or profound (or both) Neroon swears to her that he will stop her, no matter what. Which she interprets as a death threat, Minbari traditions aside, which she relays to Lennier, who (being deeply, passionately, “purely” in love with Delenn) twists her orders not to tell Sheridan anything about this by telling Marcus, instead. Marcus, of course, being a Ranger, a Romantic, and a Guy with a Death Wish, is more than happy to face down Neroon in a battle of Minbari staff fighting, a duel to the death … which Marcus, of course, inevitably, loses.

Except, of course, he wins, by demonstrating to Neroon how dedicated the human Rangers are to Delenn. Now, this could have made Neroon more determined to purify the Rangers by taking over and getting rid of the humans. Or it could have made him more paranoid about how Delenn is building up a Cult of Personality around herself. Instead, his self-righteousness and resentment “die,” which lets him spare Marcus, and acknowledge Delenn as the new Ranger One.

Also, they share a joke with Marcus in MedLab. Humor: it is the Way of the Warrior.

This plotline is infinitely more interesting, more engaging, more action-packed, more character-driven, more arc-driven, more better, than the A-Plot. Unfortunately, it comes across as rushed because, well, Garibaldi needs more screen time with the Rubber Suit Monster and the Annoying Cult Leader.

Here’s that portion of the episode:

The actors in the spotlight here are all solid. Delenn is reluctant but determined (though Mira Furlan still goes a bit heavy on the eye-rolling conflicted-upset looks here and there).

Bill Mumy as Lennier is growing steadily darker and more determined, coming just short of insubordination to Delenn’s orders, and then arguing with her about it — and, honestly, arguing with impact and righteousness that Delenn is not yet ruthless enough to successfully lead Rangers in war.

LENNIER: Delenn … all we know is that we will die. It’s only a matter of how, when, and whether or not it is with honor. He did what any of us would have done. Respectfully, Delenn, I think this is the one thing about your position you do not yet understand. You cherish life. Life is your goal. But for the greater part to live, some must die or be harmed in its defense, and yours. There is no other way.

Yeah, remember those words, Lennier.

Jason Carter as Marcus is alternately jovial and passionate, and just as clearly on a collision course with destiny. His dedication to the Rangers, and Delenn, are what turn Neroon around, ever-so-grudgingly, and his sense of devil-may-care humor is what seals the deal.

And, most importantly, John Vickery as Neroon carries his key role perfectly. He hates humans, he hates Delenn, and he hates the situation he’s in, but he’s got damned solid reasons for doing so, and for mistrusting the path that Delenn has set the Rangers and Minbari on. He doesn’t trust her as the audience does — and, in so doing, raises some specters of doubt about her in a refreshing way. For all that the early seasons of B5 are about freedom and self-determination, the middle and later seasons are about heroes and the moral obligation to follow them. Delenn and Sheridan are the heroes of the saga, leading the others without question. G’Kar and Londo can be (and are) morally compromised and can be called to task; Sheridan and Delenn cannot. It’s rare that either of them are sincerely challenged as to the righteousness of their cause — Neroon does it to Delenn here (even while Lennier is telling her she needs to be more righteous), and Sheridan will face a major confrontation next season — though it’s always framed as Our Heroes being wronged. So it’s interesting and valuable to see those rare occasions when it does happen, and the figures of myth are, like the Vorlons, questioned.

C-Plot: B5 Needs Telepaths! Our Heroes are actively recruiting any teeps they can find for the Shadow War — with the problem that even when they find one, the teeps usually back out once they discover what they are wanted for. (Can you blame them?)

Ivanova tracks down Franklin, who had his Underground Railroad list of escaping telepaths, to see if that will help with the recruitment effort. Conveniently (for the script), stim withdrawal seems to take an inordinately long time to kick in, so Franklin’s feeling pretty sucky right about then. That said, he’s already sick and tired of people tracking him down, and exacts a promise from Ivanova that he will be left alone, no matter what. She agrees, because, of course, you always make promises to drug addicts in withdrawal who are hanging out in the equivalent of Skid Row that you’ll just leave them there until they work things out.

The excuse for the stim withdrawal feels authorially convenient, but at least it’s addressed. That B5 is going after telepaths is useful information, though here it’s played mostly for yocks and to drive a scene with Franklin to set him up for bigger problems down the line. Meh.

Overall: The A-Plot sucks. The B-Plot is pretty darned good. The C-Plot is mediocre filler.

Most Dramatic Moment: Marcus explaining to Neroon why he’s willing to fight to the death — first by creed (“I am a Ranger! We walk in the dark places no others will enter! We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass! We live for the One; we die for the One!”) then, a scosh later, and about to be killed by Neroon:

NEROON: Why? Why all this? Pride? Duty? You’ve been trained well, but you must’ve known you couldn’t win! So why do it?

MARCUS: For her. We live for the One … we die for the One. Isil’zha, sendi … in Valen’s name.

Well played by Carter. (And, by the way, for those going all, “Hey, look, another JMS Lord of the Rings reference,” um, no.)

Most Amusing Moment: Marcus rising out of apparent unconsciousness in MedLab to talk with Neroon.

NEROON: Strange that a human in his last moments should be more of a Minbari than I. Perhaps it is true what Delenn said: that we are not of the same blood, but we are of the same heart.

MARCUS: The next time … the next time … you want a revelation … could you possibly find a way … that isn’t quite so uncomfortable …?

Most Arc-ish Moment: Well, I guess Delenn becoming the head of the Rangers.

Overall Rating: 2.5 / 5 — Not the worse episode of B5 ever, but the nadir of Season 3, entirely due to the A-Plot (and not helped much by the C-Plot). (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (a good chunk of the “hero” commentary above was inspired by Rowan Kaiser’s observations)
• J Paul Halt
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode: “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place,” an episode with a very long name and a very fitting end for a character.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

So, yeah, after the game-changing “Interludes and Examinations,” and the epic “War Without End” double-episode, almost anything that could come along would be anticlimactic. Which, sadly, “Walkabout” is.

(And, yes, it was originally supposed to come after “Interludes and Examinations,” and makes in some ways more sense there, but the vagaries of PTEN’s mid-season hiatus force the rearrangement so that the two-parter wouldn’t be split across multiple months.)

A-Plot: My recollection of the “Franklin goes off to find himself again” arc is not very favorable, and this episode does nothing to encourage me in rewatching it.

There’s nothing really good here. Franklin is apparently magically over withdrawal from stims and, while everyone else is fighting the good fight, has decided to take a “walkabout” through the station to see who he really is. He tries to explain it all to Garibaldi, but it still comes across more as mumbo-jumbo and psycho-babble than anything real.

It doesn’t help that, of all the gin joints on all the levels of Babylon 5, he has to step into Cailyn’s. She’s a sultry bar singer Down-Below, far too talented for that kind of a dive (we keep being told). Of the things that date B5 to its mid-90s origin, any time they deal with contemporary music is one of them. Even if you argue that Cailyn’s music is sort of classic Billie Holiday blues, the orchestration by Chris Franke is very, very 90s light soul jazz. (To be fair, Erica Gimpel sings quite well. And actually acts pretty decently.)

Franklin, of course, falls for Cailyn, who seems to pick up on that fast and ends up inviting back to her room. After a bit of sex, and her finding out that he’s a doctor, she hits him up for some narcotics. He refuses, so she sneaks out his ID card after he falls asleep. Next thing you know, there she is, collapsed on the floor of her quarters, unresponsive.

So, a “drugs are bad” tale for Franklin? Naw. Turns out she has a fatal disease, only 6 months to live, so she’s spending it Down-Below where she can offer up her talents to make the folk there feel a bit better. She just needed more narcotics for the increasing pain, but Franklin feels like an ass for having misinterpreted. He asks the folks in MedLab to give her whatever she wants, then heads on his way, like Bill Bixby, missing only some sad piano music at the end.

(No, really, I was missing sad piano music. Instead, I got more 90s jazz, even over the end titles.)

It’s an annoying plotline on any number of levels. Franklin’s very smug about his “walkabout.” He’s irritating in his relationship with Cailyn, which is layers upon layers of cliche. It’s irksome that his love interest would, of course, be a black woman (and, yes, mid-90s, but it’s still irksome). And then he decides to leave, rather than support her over her remaining months. Which is just as well, because the refracted glass “looking at Franklin’s (shattered) soul” bit was reaching the breaking point.

The idea of going walkabout on B5 is also annoying. I mean, it’s just not that big of a place, and it’s very centrally organized. I mean, sure, 250,000 people, “all alone in the night,” but it just doesn’t feel that big.

Plus, every minute spent with Franklin trying to “find himself” is a minute not spent with the heating-up war against the Shadows. That was part of JMS’ master plan, to spread things out a bit — and Franklin’s fall and rise during his walkabout is a very personal story for him. Unfortunately, for me, it just comes across as too annoyingly conventional.

B-Plot: Back in “Ship of Tears,” Our Heroes figured out that those massively powerful Shadow ships were potentially vulnerable to telepathy. With Lyta’s return to the station, Sheridan is determined to put that matter to the test. He sets up a battle between the White Star and a Shadow ship to see if she can put the kibosh on the bad guys.

After some initial shrinking back from mental contact, Lyta summons her inner “I’m upset about Kosh being killed” and paralyzes the Shadow ship they take on. The White Star manages to take it out, huzzah, even though that means shutting down the jumpgate engines in order to reroute power, Scotty, er Lennier!

And then, of course, four more Shadows arrive. Fortunately (and against his initial inclination), Sheridan has brought some backup — a Minbari cruiser with three more telepaths on board. They (and a bleeding-from-the-eyeballs Lyta) manage to pin down the Shadow vessels so that [C-Plot] can come in and save the day.

(I love the way the Shadow vessels shrivel up when they “die”.)

In the end, the remaining Shadow vessels flee, which is — dammed encouraging.

This particular plotline is fairly good — there’s some nice space battle-battle, a bit of suspense, and some general advancement of the War arc. But it’s also a bit disjointed, with time split with other plotlines, and ends up feeling more like a check-the-box “We’ve confirmed the vulnerability of the Shadows to telepaths” kind of meta-plotline advancement than a decent story on its own.

That said, Minbari telepaths seem kind of … twitchy.

C-Plot: The G’Tok — the Narn cruiser that B5 protected from the Centauri — is back for a visit. This leads to amusing seen with Londo, but more importantly, it’s another possible resource for Sheridan to take out on his “experiment” against the Shadows. G’Kar discusses it with Na’Kal, her captain, but Na’Kal thinks it’s a fool’s errand, and that all remaining Narn ships need to be slowly gathered so that they can eventually take back the Narn homeworld.

When Garibaldi hears about this, he wigs out, and basically throws the (Narn holy scriptural) book at G’Kar, pointing out that B5’s forces protected the G’Tok even though they might not have, and that G’Kar needs to either lead or stop pretending he’s part of the team.

We don’t see the scene with Na’Kal, but we do see the G’Tok arrive in the nick of time to help wipe out the Shadow vessel being barely held at bay by Lyta. Further, G’Kar has convinced the ships of a several other worlds to hop in to save the day, which is why the Shadows run — with plenty of witnesses.

It’s a good story line, delineating the conflict between rash boldness and over-cautious hesitancy, as well the need to act in unity and follow a leader. G’Kar and and Garibaldi both play well here, and it marks an advance forward on both G’Kar’s storyline and on the alliance that Sheridan is building.

D-Plot: The Vorlons have asked that B5 keep quiet about Kosh being killed, which they’ve agreed to do. Part of the illusion is dispatching a new Vorlon representative to B5, who will also be known as “Kosh” (even though he flies a red spaceship and has a more menacing-looking encounter suit). He certainly has the Vorlon crypticism down cold.

Meanwhile, Lyta has returned, shocked and heartbroken that “her” Kosh is dead. As far as she knows, nothing of him remains — at least not  in her own head.

When she reports to the New Kosh, he is quite cross with her, largely because she’s the messenger with a bad message: she wasn’t there to stop the killing (not that she could have) and Kosh’s mind wasn’t aboard her body at the time. He’s completely gone. That isn’t good enough for the New Kosh, who, once he’s done Vader-choke-holding her, calls her a failure and tells her to follow him.

Lyta later explains to Sheridan that the Vorlons are really upset about Kosh’s death: death, for them, is quite unusual, and, for all their strengths, they are “fragile” creatures.

In the end, Lyta learns a bit more about Sheridan’s dream before Kosh’s death, and has a couple of instances of hearing Old Kosh’s voice while Sheridan is around. Eager to get back in the Big V’s good graces again, she reports to the New Kosh that it’s possible there’s some trace of the Old Kosh left …

(Apparently, based on one of the novels and confirmed by JMS, New Kosh is named Ulkesh. But I like calling him New Kosh. Other nicknames on the boards at the time were Diet Kosh and Darth Kosh.)

This plotline is so much more interesting and intriguing than the A-Plot it isn’t even funny. New Kosh is even creepier and more cryptic than the old one. Lyta’s post-Vorlon Homeworld relationship with Kosh was ecstatic, religious, obsessive, highly intimate. At the moment, though, she’s not only feeling guilt over not having been there to help, but is now beholden to a much more abusive master. The question is, when will she realize it.

Overall:  Workmanlike acting, but nothing special, except for maybe Jerry Doyle calling G’Kar on the carpet. The plot is working overtime in too many directions to really gel completely, and the writing is, for the most part, fairly pedestrian. The space battles are not nearly as tense as they should be. Only the scenes with New Kosh got my blood pumping.

Most Dramatic Moment: Garibaldi throws down with G’Kar (see video above).

Most Amusing Moment: There are a number of amusing lines, but the introductory sequence between Londo and Garibaldi, dealing with the former’s upset over a Narn cruiser floating around out there.

LONDO: And what guarantees will you give me that the cruiser will not open fire on a Centauri vessel as it approaches Babylon 5, hmmm?

GARIBALDI: The same guarantee I gave you when I said that none of the other Narns would break into your room in the middle of the night and slit your throat.

LONDO: Mr. Garibaldi, you have never given me that promise.

GARIBALDI: You’re right. Sleep tight.

And here’s that scene (along with arrival of New Kosh).

Honorable mention must go to the cosmic ubiquity of Swedish Meatballs.

Most Arc-ish Moment: Lyta reports back to New Kosh that it’s possible there’s still some old Kosh floating around out there somewhere — or, rather, in someone …

Overall Rating: 3.3 / 5 — Entertaining TV, but a mish-mosh of plots and over-emphasis on a very non-inspiring love story. (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (includes next episode)
• J Paul Halt (some of the better analysis I read on the ep, and more positive than mine)
• TV Tropes
• Sci-Fi Musings

Next episode: “Grey 17 Is Missing,” the one episode Joe Straczynski has apologized for.

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)

After the dramatic storm that was “Interludes and Examinations,” what should be a key moment in B5 history falls almost a little flat. This two-part episode, resolving the “Babylon Squared‘ time travel puzzle from Season 1, and finally setting the fate of Jeffrey Sinclair, is rollicking goodness, but for all that the stakes seem smaller, the drama a bit less intense, and the resolution, while neatly crafted, more admirable than gob-smacking.

Part of that is, in fact, the previous episode, where we left everything in a dire state — a nascent alliance against the Shadows, bolstered by Vorlon intervention, but with Kosh dead and Londo back tragically in Morden’s arms. This tale, split over two episodes, completely kills any momentum from that story.

(Though, somewhat in its defense, “Walkabout” was meant to be the next episode, but got swapped out for after this pair in order not to split the two-parter over one of PTEN’s mid-season hiatuses.)

More importantly, by trying to be the complement to “Babylon Squared,” the main narrative loses its own individual value. When I was in high school, I wrote a Star Trek short story telling the episode “Mirror, Mirror” from the perspective of the alternate universe Kirk & Co., trying to both mirror the “real” universe actions while fitting into the glimpses we saw on that other side. It was fun, it fulfilled its purpose — and it was just not a very good story because it was more about the clever artifice than being a good tale in and of itself. And that’s where “War Without End” falls short.

There’s largely one narrative plotline here, with a few side notes, and it’s a long one, so I’ll summarize a bit more by character than plot.

Jeffrey Sinclair: This is really his episode(s).  Michael O’Hare had left the show under a cloud, staunchly defended by JMS but (so it was heavily rumored) kicked off B5 by the network for his uneven acting work — occasionally wooden, occasionally manic. (As it turns out, O’Hare was having serious mental illness issues, barely keeping it together until the end of the season, and resigning from the show rather than making production wait for him to get the treatment he needed. JMS kept that secret until well after O’Hare’s death.) This two-parter serves as a vindication for both the actor and the part. Sinclair goes from his critical work on Minbar as Entil’zha (leader of the Rangers) to an even more critical role: that of Valen, the religious Minbari leader who defeated the Shadows and formed the Grey Council (and whose presence began the transmigration of souls from Minbari to Humans).

O’Hare does a solid job in the role, having evolved naturally from the Jesuit-educated wry observer of life to someone who can toss off cryptic Minbari or Vorlon aphorisms with practiced monastic ease. His Sinclair remains in control the entire time, as elder eminence early on, then, when Sheridan is unstuck in time, as the clear leader of the protagonists — taking over the command chair without hesitation (or anyone’s protest). Better yet, he moves from a man uncertain of his destiny, to one who learns of and embraces it, even while having a kind moment for those he’s leaving behind — Ivanova, Delenn, and, especially, Garibaldi.

Zathras identifies him as one of the Ones — the “One That Was.” Ironically, it’s applicable to both the show and (in a paradoxically future tense) to his destiny as Valen. Darn clever, that Zathras.

One more small observation: one brief, poignant scene, as he sees Delenn take Sheridan’s hand on the bridge of the White Star, and gives a small, satisfied smile. He could be jealous, but instead he’s just at peace knowing that his old data-crystal-sharing partner has found love. Nicely done.

John Sheridan: It’s tough to be the Captain, then have the old Captain (well, Commander) come back in. The mutual respect between the characters is played up more than any rivalry — which would have been an easy cliche to fall into. Sheridan rolls, frustratedly, with the punches of being out of his depth in terms of understanding what’s going on, following both destiny and orders in a way that makes it clear he prefers to be the cowboy in charge. Boxleitner’s firing on all cylinders here.

Yet he also gets some great scenes mid-way through. Unstuck in time, Sheridan flashes forward 17 years to where he and Delenn have been captured by the Centauri. Here’s destiny striking him in the face, and the challenge he will face in both preventing that future tragedy, and in making the good parts come true (his relationship with Delenn — no pressure! — and their resulting son, David) is an underrated aspect to this episode.

Learning that he’s one of the Ones — the One Who Will Be — is a huge burden. Will it steady him, or make him do some reckless shit? How about … both?

Delenn: Mira Furlan does an excellent job as the Minbari with a Secret once more, this time her knowledge of Sinclair’s destiny as Valen. That tragedy, even if they succeed (as they have to) overlays everything she’s doing, unaware as she is that Sinclair already knows the secret.

Her role on the mission is a mixed bag, serving as a chess piece for the different efforts (including turning out to be one of the figures in the blue 2001 space suits — which the fanboys had always assumed were the same mystery character, presumably Sinclair who was seen taking his off at the end of “Babylon Squared”). That’s balanced by an intensity in her scene during Sheridan’s flash-forward, both before she knows it’s past-Sheridan she’s hugging and kissing in a cell, and then when she’s warning him of how much Bad Stuff in his life lies ahead (you’re not helping, Delenn) despite the Good Stuff, and how, of course he must not go to Z’ha’dum. She also gets a nice flash-forward herself a few episodes to someone dropping in at Sheridan’s room in the middle of the night …

Delenn is the One Who Is. Her role has been in getting the ball rolling with all this conspiracy and prophecy and alliance stuff, serving as the heir of Valen and Dukhat, and as the trusted ally of Kosh. That role is now over — Dukhat is long dead, and she’s exorcized those ghosts; Valen’s prophecies are at an end and she knows his secret; and Kosh, of course, is now dead. Now she’ll be a partner with Sheridan, the One Who Will Be.

Mira Furlan here gets an array of things to do, and does most of them well. She does get a little over the top in the Centauri prison cell — it’s an intense moment, but Delenn seems far more out of control than feels right for her. Most of the time, though, she does her professional job.

Garibaldi: Poor Garibaldi. He gets stuck either expositing, or getting exposition thrown his way, and out of the main action regardless, all because of the whole “bouncing through time more than once can be hazardous to your health” shtick.  Still, Jerry Doyle has some good moments — being unable to watch the last moments of future-Ivanova’s death, urgently certain that Sinclair must have left him a message (then having to guess the password).

Ivanova (and Marcus): They’re mostly along for the ride (and the badinage), tossing off quips and pushing buttons. This episode, unfortunately, emphasizes to me Claudia Christian’s limits as an actress. She’s good enough, especially working with a strong character like Ivanova, but her dramatic distress voice in the “destruction of B5” sequence just lacks the emotional oomph it should. That’s partly some poor words written, and maybe not the best direction, but the main weight needs to fall on Christian’s shoulders.

That said, one nice aspect to the episode was the reunion — and separation — of Ivanova with Sinclair, her mentor. Alas, the first scene (their meeting in C&C) got cut for time, and their farewell gets truncated for narrative blocking. A shame, that.

Marcus does get some good lines, and we get still more glimpses of the man hurling himself toward any opportunity for a brave, romantic death — offering, in this case, to pilot B4 back a thousand years. Alas, the beau geste is not for him — yet.

Londo: He only appears here in the flash-forward Sheridan goes through. It’s an astonishing role, though, nailed (as usual) by Peter Jurasik. It’s seventeen years forward, but Londo looks like he’s aged seventy — gray, shriveled, decrepit and coughing, hag-ridden by a Shadow-critter (first intro to that particular charmer), embittered by the devastation done to his homeworld, and (under the Shadowlings’ direction) more than happy to destroy Sheridan and Delenn for vengeance.

And yet — we also get the drunk-hag-ridden Londo, barely able to stand, but more rational and “himself” than before — one who’s willing to sacrifice himself to get Sheridan and Delenn to safety in exchange for their help freeing Centauri Prime … and willing to face his final fate at G’Kar’s similarly-worn hands.

A great job, both in writing and in acting.

Zathras: Talking about the actors and roles would not be complete without mention of Tim Choate’s Zathras, all-around henchman for Draal and the mission, never understanding the epic nuances, but understanding more than you might think, tossing off space-idiot-savant wisdom with un-self-conscious aplomb as well as explicating major plot points.

ZATHRAS: All Minbari believe is around Three. Three castes: Worker, Warrior, Religious. Three languages: Light, Dark, Grey. The Nine of the Grey Council: Three times three. All is three– as you are three. As you are one. As you are ‘The One.” You are the One Who Was, you are the One Who Is, and you are the One Who Will Be. You are the beginning of the story, and the middle of the story, and the end of the story that creates the next, great story.

Zathras is the character everyone remembers from this episode, and with good reason. He carries crates, fixes widgets, and gets to play a key role in the second-episode Mystery of the Blue Suit. Not too shabby.

SINCLAIR: So you’re not to say anything to me that might change the past. Understand?

ZATHRAS: Yes, Zathras understand. No, Zathras not understand, but Zathras do. Zathras good at doings, not understandings. Zathras honored to meet you for many reasons. [To Sheridan] Zathras also honored to meet you for other reasons.

SHERIDAN: Such as?

ZATHRAS: Oh, no. Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say. This was one. No, not good. Not supposed to mention “One” or “The One”. You never heard that.

SHERIDAN: What else is on this list of things you’re not supposed to mention?

ZATHRAS: Zathras does not remember. But if Zathras remember later, Zathras tells you.

Overall Production: Time travel shows are hard to do well. Doing it when you’re coupling an episode from Season 1 with a revisit in Season 3 is even trickier. Doing that when you lost one of your stars (and a centerpiece protagonist to the plot) is insane. But JMS managed to write and produce (with Michael Vejar working well as director) these eps to do just that, and interleaves both original scenes and even individual shots to not only neatly complement the original story, but to expand the whole thing, and turn what was a whiz-bang episode into a key chapter of the overall saga. That makes it a special episode — but is also the ep’s fatal flaw (see below).

It’s worth noting two “gotchas” that get put in the story that radically defy what fanboys thought they understood from “Babylon Squared.” The first is the overturning of the (obvious) assumption that B4 was being pulled into the future  as part of the up-and-coming Shadow War; that it turns out to be into the past for the previous war was a brilliant piece of misdirection, intended from the get-go. The second gotcha was the whole 2-Blue-Suit Monte trick, as everyone’s assumption that it’s Sinclair in the blue 2001 suit in the original episode (probably the initial intent) gets tangled up by having Sheridan in a blue suit as well, and then having it turn out that Delenn assumed Sheridan’s suit for the final scenes with Zathras; that was all pretty much made up for “War Without End,” but it works neatly.

(Here’s a key set of “Babylon Squared” scenes, which were edited partially into Part 2, which hits both of these.)

(Can’t imagine why anyone was misled.)

For the record, there are a few inconsistencies (including Sinclair’s weary “warning them” turning into his having tried to warn Garibaldi to watch his back). But the episodes pretty much feel consistent, and ultimately that’s what counts.

While Our Heroes (plus Zathras) are the majority of the cast, there are a couple of extras (beyond Zack, who does a good, workman job): the benighted Major Krantz and his lieutenant.  Kent Broadhurst (Krantz) is a lot less panicky than he was in “Babylon Squared” — either an improvement in technique, direction, or a subtle shift in the story. His nameless lieutenant, played by Bruce Morrow, is another not-quite-tripping-the-furniture extra from B5 Central Casting, an unimportant role that’s still somehow diminished by a it of awkward acting.

The Episodes That Weren’t: Originally, the first half’s action was to have been driven by Draal, rather than Delenn. But Draal’s actor — his second actor — turned out not to be available. That shifted most of the mission start-up and exposition onto Delenn’s shoulders. Which actually works fine, since it builds her up, even though we lose some great lines:

SHERIDAN: You want me to steal Babylon 4? Are you out of your mind?

DRAAL [as a projection]: No, I’m out of my body. My mind is perfectly intact.

More important of a variation was, as mentioned above, Michael O’Hare’s departure from the show, which came after “Babylon Squared” was written and filmed, and which meant that Sinclair being around for the length of the series wasn’t going to happen, which mean rewriting the whole “missing puzzle pieces” of “War Without End” (and Sinclair’s final fate) from scratch. B5 suffered mightily from actors leaving before their arcs paid off — O’Hare’s was arguably both the most significant, but also the one which JMS recovered best from.

Overall: It’s an episode of great moments, careful crafting, drama, foreshadowing, and backstory-explicating. Yet for all that, it feels (especially on rewatch, much less so when it originally aired) more like only great moments, rather than a cohesive, inevitable story-driven whole, as “Interludes and Examinations” was.  Too much of it is trying to fit the pieces together neatly into “Babylon Squared”– it does so, but at the expense of telling it’s own story. Still, it deserves to be on any B5 rewatch or Best-Of marathon.

Most Dramatic Moment: For me, I guess, it’s the transmogrified Mimbarized counter-Chrysalised Sinclair standing on B4, two Vorlons at his shoulders, introducing himself to the Minbari soldiers checking the place out. Though, honestly, the original “Babylon Squared” Zathras-under-a-pillar chat with Sinclair still gives me chills (“You have a destiny!”), Sinclair unsuccessfully trying to warn Garibaldi to watch his back, and drunk-yet-in-control Londo asking Delenn and Sheridan to help his people are all great moments.

Most Amusing Moment: Any time Zathras is on screen, especially “Zathras is used to be  beast of burden to other people’s needs. Very sad life. Probably very sad death. But at least there is symmetry.”  Okay, it’s funnier when you hear it.

Honorable Mention: Marcus gives his philosophy on luck.

Most Arc-ish Moment: Sheridan as Valen nails down some huge amount of background story. Londo telling Sheridan about how the Shadow War turned out is unexpectedly both happy and dire at the same time. Londo and G’Kar in their final scene, explained, fulfills future-looking prophecy (in a delightfully twisted fashion).  Flashforward-Delenn warning Sheridan about the pain to come (aside from their successes and their son) is chilling.  But I’ll have to leave it with Delenn’s flash-forward (though only a few episodes.) “Hello.”

Overall Rating: 4.3 / 5 — Some great moments, beautifully crafted, but hampered by some acting issues and being more of a puzzle solved than a story told. (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide – Part 1, Part 2
• Babylon Project Wiki – Part 1, Part 2
• IMDb – Part 1, Part 2
• AV Club
• Kay Shapero – Part 1, Part 2
• TV Tropes – Part 1, Part 2
• Sci-Fi Musings – Part 1, Part 2

Next episode: “Walkabout,” where Sheridan takes the war to the Shadows, Franklin’s story meanders onward, and there’s a New VIP on B5 …

(Google+ links to this post here and here.)