TV: Babylon 5, S5 Disc 2

Episode 5:  Learning Curve

The B is a check-in on the Ranger training, featuring a return for Turhan Bey as Generic Minbari Elder #1.  He makes an official visit to Delenn to advance the information that other member races of the IA are now permitted to undertake Ranger training. 

In the A, the third guy who thinks he runs B5's underworld announces his move by murdering heavily indebted gamblers, followed by informants.  Then he runs afoul of one of Turhan's Ranger acolytes and decides to make a statement.  It's the second time this season someone's used an unfortunate Ranger for this purpose, and the Anla'shok now exhibit a rapid decline in approximate fighting prowess from just-below Aragorn to somewhere near Worf.   The trainee recovers, leading to a beat-down for the crime boss, while every Ranger on the station watches and makes pedantic commentary about their techniques.

There's something of a C plot in the unwelcome return of the Garibaldi-Lochley argument,  this time in the mess, which ends with Lochley finally admitting she was one of the "bad guys," but not one of the child-murdering, planet-bombing types.   Since everyone who remained even nominally loyal to Clark had one of two motives, either ambition,  or, given Clark's brand of Dumbest Despotism Ever, abject ignorance, she offers a curious choice of high moral ground: "I only really understand three words: loyalty, duty, honor."  And so by defending her past record, she strongly indicts her capability to command in the present.  Smart!  So smart, the Earthers in the audience applaud as she exits!

Lochley further undermines her purported ability to command by likening the Rangers to vigilantes for their reprisals on downbelow's new Capo, and enthusiastically claiming ignorance of their cultural differences.  Did she do any reading before coming to B5?

* They do at least mention old N'Grath, B5's original Kingpin..

Pros: Turhan Bey's a sight for sore eyes, but this is still diminished returns.
Cons: Yet another small-potatoes menace.

Then: B-
Now: C-

Episode 6: Strange Relations

This week's A features another of B5's greatest go-to plots with a little more life in it: Bester arrives with a Corps unit to bring Byron to heel.  The more interesting angle is Garibaldi's vendetta for Alfie, but it's hamstrung by the predictable obstacle of the continuing Garibaldi-Lochley feud.  Michael wins no subtlety points for charging right into Lochley's quarters (where Bester is regaling her with "Descartes walks into a bar.." jokes), but she ups the dumb ante by punching Michael as he starts to explain, and then shrilly threatening security with court martials if they don't drag him to the brig.   This at last resolves their fight when she finally admits that she received the job of B5 commander because she had a Vegas marriage to Sheridan when they were young and fraternization was encouraged.  Garibaldi weighs in on how ridiculous a source of tension this was.  When the characters comment on the writing...

Later, called on her behavior by Sheridan, Lochley reveals she knew about Bester's history with the both of them (apparently Garibaldi's reprogramming was widely-reported within the EA) and has decided to ignore it as payback for Sheridan allowing Byron sanctuary.*  Since she's brought this to the fore again, she notes that Sheridan did not give Byron protection from EA prosecution.   This indicates the entire subplot of Byron's telepaths is even dumber than it seems on the surface: keep the wanted, rogue teeps on a station where their persecutors have legal authority.   This from a man who has more alien contacts than anyone in the universe, a huge amount of pull with the Minbari (who had previously sheltered human teeps back in season one), and has on his staff a guy who used to run the fricken underground teep railroad!  Having Byron on B5 is the worst kind of writer artifice.

Bester runs into further complications with Lyta, who has been drinking Byron's kool-aid for two episodes.  Bester, of course, has already heard this, and uses the opportunity to see a test of Lyta's enhanced abilities before pulling back for reinforcements.  This scatters the teeps, resulting in half of them being arrested.  When all seems lost. Lochely pulls a Sinclair-esque  regulations rabbit out of her hat to keep them, sadly, on B5 for a few more episodes.***

The B involves an attempt to kill Londo in the least-subtle way imaginable: bombing his transport to Centauri Prime.**  Luckily, he was unable to get aboard due to an earlier accident in the cargo bay.  Again, Lochley has done some homework (or this scene received little makeover from when it was written for Ivanova) noting Mollari's "thousands" of enemies.  Further, the same security log shows the evidence that Garibaldi (whom she recognizes by ID code number!) pulled her confidential file prior to landing in the brig.

This is such a concern that Delenn presses G'Kar into duty as Londo's full-time bodyguard, ensuring he'll be on Centauri Prime during the future glimpsed in War Without End. 


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* It's never explicitly stated, which means JMS probably didn't intend it, but this motive at least gives Lochley some badly needed development.

** Consistent with The Fall of Night, the Centauri love bombing transports, though Zack's expert analysis shows the job of B5 security chief could be done by any one of the series' viewers...

*** This scene is a striking example of B5's tell-don't-show philosophy.  Lochley asks if Bester's people have broken any regs that she could use for wiggle room in denying them custody of the teeps; Zack replies that no, they've kept so clean you could eat off them.    Lochley responds with a moment of distasteful consideration followed by: "Not an image I wanted this early in the morning, but thank you very much Mr. Allen."  Her facial expression wasn't quite enough to sell the idea, but throwing a seventeen-word response to that softball of a set-up is beyond overkill.   It's not distrust of just the new actor (longtime regulars not named Andreas or Peter receive similar treatment); it's distrust of actors in general.


Pros: Doyle makes the most of his reconciliation scene with Lochley.
Cons: Can't say that for Scoggins.  Also, the first candle-lit sing-along of the Cult of Byron.

Then: B-
Now: B-

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Episode 7: Secrets of the Soul

Franklin's been without a purpose in the season 5 status quo, and now he's got a new job of cataloging inter-species diseases.  Incontinent Pak'ma'ra, paranoid geritocracy Hyachs,* everyone will get a visit.

Continuing the slow crawl of Byron's arc, rogue teeps are streaming into B5.  As of last week, they had a 60 day stay on B5 before the Corps was free to come back and arrest them all, so B5 is acting as a teep motel.  Bester can only be happy about this!   Tensions in downbelow are on the rise, since Byron's cult is on the dole, and the mundanes can't even afford black clothes.  This leads to the gang-beating of Byron's shy, stuttering, apparently a one-in-20,000 stable teke, leading a reprisal gang-beating of the gang-beaters.

  Zack attempts an intervention on an unsympathetic Lyta, but it's too late: like all true believers on B5, she'll follow Byron into hell.  Or at least into bed, which takes a creepily communal-voyeur bent once Lyta's Vorlon-enhanced spine starts glowing.  It also spills the beans about the Vorlons' role in creating viable human teeps; and that leads another baffling character-turn-because-it's-in-the-script moment.  Now 2262 poster child for Teep Pride wants to be normal! Oh, all we lost! Fie!  Misplacing his anger on the other alien races, he's going to force the issue of creating telepath homeland.

Couldn't he just take the sleepers?


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* The Hyachs are so paranoid about their medical information getting out (long story; involves parallel evolution, genocide, dying race -- could've been the Centauri, and maybe should've) they exact absurd demands on Franklin: one copy of the data, and if he enters his password incorrectly once all of his life's work is deleted.   Everyone should do this! 

Pros: At least we're into Byron's third act..
Cons: The long-awaited return of Franklin's moral superiority.

Then: B-
Now: B-

Episode 8: Day of the Dead

The only episode of B5's latter three seasons not written by JMS.  Before, it would be a sign of off-characters and throwaway plots.   But this one's written Neil Gaiman, and if he can't do anything for the latter (throwaway plots are all the series has left), he amply makes up with some first-rate character work.

The B plot leads with some rare B5 stunt-casting: the guest appearances of Penn and Teller as renown terran comedy duo Rebo and Zooty.  Rebo wows the customs officials with some Wilde, and Zooty maintains Teller's silent shtick by talking via an electronic box containing the immortal soul of Harlan Ellison. 

The A plot is the Brakiri holiday sharing its name with the episode.  Once per two centuries, the dead return to offer closure to the living.   One can choose whether if it's nicely unexpected or a cop-out that none of the expected people with obvious death baggage receive the overnight visitations.  I lean toward the former, but would happily extend this episode...

Garibaldi's dead visitor is perhaps the most inexplicable: would-be one-night-stand Dodger, from way back in Gropos.  It's all puppydogs and ice cream with old-man Garibaldi, who is more interested in helping Lochley broadcast a nothing-to-see-here message than to cheat on Lise. Sigh.

Londo also receives a dead lover, Adira, whose ghost has been haunting him for years.  It's also an easy way to have a thread without requiring much time or dialogue.

Lennier (who is also a Zooty fan) has stopped off between training segments to see the Day of the Dead.  His visitor subverts audience desire: Morden, who gets his best pithy dialogue by telling Lennier things he doesn't want to know: that Delenn will never love him, and that one day (soon), he'll betray the An'la'shok. 

Lochley, being the new kid with no known ghosts,  has to do the expository heavy lifting with her Dead Best Friend Zoe, who had died like a rock star (aspiration of vomit).  That cleaned Lochley up: no more Hotel Chelsea, no more intravenous drugs or wine; no sir.  She went right into the academy and became the uptight Lochley we kind-of know and might someday like.

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Pros: Best character pieces of the season.
Cons: Rebo and Zooty's long night of the soul is heavy handed enough to be house-written B5..

Then:A-
Now: A-

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