TV: Babylon 5, S3 Disc 1

Season 3 is where threads from the arc begin to pay off.  Following Kosh's appearance to close out season 2, there's a definite sense from the first four episodes of a change in status quo.  However, like many series that have a lengthy mythology, the early season is on the surface more interested with introductions to the show for new viewers, and none of the first four are particularly memorable, with only the opener carrying much long-term weight.






Episode 1: Matters of Honor

We open a contender for B5's most generic episode title with horrible exposition from Sheridan to catch us up on the post-Fall of Night status quo wrt Ambassador Kosh, explaining things both characters already know.

The bathroom's on my side of the line.

On the Shadow side, there's another change of the status quo: Londo -- nervously, uncertain it can be so easy -- severs his ties with Morden. who characteristically takes his severance with equanimity. He draws a line across the galaxy, Peter-and-Bobby fashion, and notes he wants one planet on the edge of Centauri space, one that happens to have a Ranger training base on it...  And as Londo wishes to dissolve his association with the Shadows, Morden has asked Lord Refa, who gladly lends a hand.  Oops.

Next we meet ranger Marcus Cole, he of the dry british accent and van dyke.  He's come to join the cast as the resident ranger.  He also takes an instant liking to our second-in-command... Marcus has barely escaped the Centauri-Drazi front lines from the aforementioned training base... 

Deciding that the episode isn't full enough of plot points, Sheridan endangers his command by skipping out on B5 to help evacuate the camp.  His reward is the Def White Star, the first of the Rangers' fleet of Minbari-Vorlon ships.  Massively overpowered and faster than anything its size, the White Star gets its first combat test lifting the planetary blockade on the Rangers' training base, and then a much more difficult exam when a Shadow ship pursues them.  Delenn is petrified at the sight of it, but the WS combined with Sheridan's outside-the-box thinking tricks the Shadow to destruction.

While Sheridan is confident the Shadows cannot identify their new ride, is it honestly difficult to figure out?  It clearly has some Minbari design aesthetics (those fins!), Vorlon hull patterns, and, perhaps most importantly -- it showed up to lift a blockade on a world with a direct Minbari interest. 

In the background of this, Earthforce Intelligence is making a show of a fact-finding mission to determine the origin of the Shadow ship from Keffer's black box.  And note here B5's state-of-the-art 22nd-century AV rig, with built-in 19" CRTs (as demonstrated multiple times here, the other races have mastered overhead projection displays...) Delenn feigns ignorance*, Londo relates his dream from The Coming of Shadows,  G'Kar shows him his ancient Book of G'Quon which contains a sketch of a Shadow ship more than a millennium old.   He leaves satisfied that none of the major races have direct knowledge of the ships.

Which pleases a senator back on Earth, who, (big reveal) is chummy with Mister Morden -- Morden can apparently zip from B5 to Earth and back, quick and easy.  Morden also has a pet Psi Cop, who mentions "accelerating" their plans...

While on B5, one final adjustment to the status quo: a bimonthly war council consisting of... well, most of the cast not presently aligned with the Shadows.  Except G'Kar, who gets to suffer more than his fair share of indignities this year...

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* Delenn maintains the "we can't let them know that we know" argument; yet with Shadows actively staking out Ranger territory it seems a safe bet they already know that we know.

Pros: Cool new ship!  Nice to have a visiting EA rep without direct ties to the Clark faction.,,
Cons: While commendable for laying the groundwork of Sheridan leaving B5 on secret missions, it's still a lame TV contrivance that he's able to get away with it at all, much less indefinitely.


Then: B+
Now: B

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Episode 2: Convictions


Babylon 5 gets its own unabomber.  Narn and Centauri ambassadors accuse one another of being the terrorist.  Lennier is hurt in one of the bombings (which happens conveniently just as both Delenn and Londo walk through an area) and spends much of the episode in medlab as Londo uncomfortably provides bedside monologues that illustrate the old, lovable Londo is not completely gone.

It's all set-up for one of those hoary dramatic devices: trapping the two mortal enemies in an elevator to express their mutual grievances. Londo advocates cooperation to escape, but G'Kar is more intent on a lesson in passive resistance.   Jurasik doesn't get much to play with here, but Katsulas' giddy response to the chance of watching Londo die (without invoking the 500-Narn penalty for actually murdering him) makes it worthwhile.

In the B, Kosh's appearance has conferred a pan-species blessing on the station, and faithful of dozens of worlds have been trickling in to share.  All the groups seem to get an entry interview by one of the main cast; how efficient. One such group is a troupe of monks --  JMS's second homage to  A Canticle for Leibowitz, introducing Brother Theo as the one who does the talking (Louis Turenne, the original Draal).  Since image recognition software has made no progress in 250 years, we quickly find a use for the monks: laboriously viewing security camera footage from every bomb site to identify the perp.

Turns out he's a station maintenance new hire-turned-terrorist in the early-90s Falling Down mold.  Through strenuously contrived circumstances, Sheridan is his hostage as Garibaldi's men (on foot!) search the station for the additional bombs the fiend has planted.

Spoiler: the station is not destroyed.

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Pros: G'Kar having-way-too-much-fun.
Cons: Completely forgettable one-off, never to be referenced again.

Then: C-
Now: C-

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Episode 3: A Day in the Strife

This is an episode with several threads.  The "A" plot has, nominally, the most screen time, but the other threads are more important in the long term.

A-plot: an automated probe of some unknown alien origin* arrives in the Euphrates sector and promises B5 a massive knowledge base upgrade if they can answer its detailed questionnaire.  Much of the episode is devoted to the humans scrambling to provide answers, or else the probe will detonate and destroy the station.    Just look at those Star Trek hallmarks: mysterious probe, literary SF traditions, threat to the ship/station...   One could be forgiven for thinking this is a plot dusted off from some spec writer's drawer and sold to Babylonian Productions...

With time running out, Sheridan deduces it's a "berserker" probe, for its love is ticking clock.  At the last possible instant, he belays sending answers to the probe, and, demonstrating a script that wants to have its cake and eat it as well, he has a maintenance bot follow after it to a safe distance and then report answers.  The ensuing thermonuclear explosion (B5 loves them nukes) destroys the bot, showing Sheridan was double right!

In the B  plot, Uncle T'om has arrived as the Centauri-sanctioned Narn ambassador.   He struggles to get the local Narn to accede to his authority, but, surprise, they reject him in favor of the hard-liner G'Kar.   In a nice nod to continuity, his bodyguard is Ta'Lon, the Narn Sheridan rescued from the Streib ship in All Alone in the Night.   While the new Narn ambassador is sent quickly sent packing, Ta'Lon is a minor recurring character all the way to the end of the series.

The C plot  sees Londo calling in a favor from Delenn: posting Vir to Minbar as a Centauri envoy.  This will get the conscientious Vir out of Londo's hair as well as further develop his conscientiousness.

The D plot is Garibaldi, one addict to another, calling out Franklin on his use of stims during his 36-hour medlab shifts.  Franklin is indignant, which only illustrates that he's going to hit bottom soon. Very soon.

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* The probe reaches B5 even though it's traversing at least one of the major races' territories to do it.  Recall that B5 is located in neutral space between the interstellar powers.   Yet it arrived there unmolested, and none of the other alien races know of it.  Sheridan should have asked Delenn and Kosh...

Then: B-
Now: C-

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Episode 4: Passing Through Gethsemane

One might well conclude that Brother Theo's monks were introduced simply for this episode, which revisits the "death of personality" concept from Quality of Mercy back in season one.

The rose becomes a warning.

Brother Edward (guest-starring Brad Dourif. which means the monks finally have a second brother with a speaking part) is the former  "black rose killer."  Relatives of his victims have tracked him to B5 and begin telepathically gaslighting him to crack the mindwipe.  The programming is  so strong that early in the episode, Brother Edward waxes fond about the biblical tale of Gethsemane, wondering if he could make the same choice.   Will this telegraph his eventual disposition when the angry mob finally comes for him?

Shockingly! The leader of the angry victim mob is sentenced to death of personality, and becomes a new brother for Theo...

In the B, Lyta Alexander has returned.  She's used up her reward from outing Talia in Divided Loyalties on a transport to Vorlon space, where, nearing the end of her life support they finally contacted her, and now she's Kosh's personal attache and, um, partner.   Pat Tallman thankfully works hard to distance herself from the mugging, irritating Lyta of DL, but she won't be officially back in the cast until next season.  For now she is used in her rogue-teep capacity, running errands the Corps would never allow...*



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* Psi Corps never makes an attempt to replace Talia.  Given the command staff's certainty that Psi Corps would keep the Talia situation hushed, the best way to preserve a veneer of normalcy for both sides would be to bring in another P5.

Pros: Continuity, sweet continuity.
Cons: Pat Tallman, heavyhanded foreshadowing..

Then: B-
Now: B-