We finally meet the man behind the curtain, Franklin & Lyta try their best, and Garibaldi is tested like he’s never been before. Welcome my friends. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5.
Spoilers ahead.
1. Mars is Like a Strong Whisky. Burns Going Down and Burns Coming Back Up.
Those of you who also read my Riverdale reviews know I’m a sucker for pastiche so you can imagine my surprise and glee when the episode opened and we have Garibaldi narrating in his best hard-boiled tone about Lise and Mars. I was less gleeful when that tone slowly gave way to something more akin to the regular workings of Babylon 5, which is by no means a bad tone; I was just hoping the episode would embrace the trappings of classic noir more than it did. That said, we did get a lot more than one might think.
There’s the constant mistrust between the protagonist and their client because the client is hiding something vital, there’s a former flame who has moved on but whom the protagonist still has lingering feelings for, and there’s a conspiracy known to the audience but not the protagonist. It may not be as moody as I was expecting but it definitely was tense.
Moreover, Garibaldi has always styled himself as the kind of person who would lead a noir: the man against the world, the rugged, loner individualist who will do anything to stop criminals, be that a corrupt politician or a murderer on the street. The only thing he’s missing in his own estimation is a fatal flaw, though the audience can see it. This informs his every action and explains why he ends the episode where he does, as a tragic figure starting down a dangerous and destructive path, one which is already forcing him to compromise his morals.
2. When is a War Justified?
Writing this in the latter half of 2021, as an American, the above question is fraught and complicated. It was complicated when Straczynski and Babylon 5 were wrestling with it in 1997 too but it’s perhaps even harder to approach now. I won’t try to approach it more than I did in “No Surrender, No Retreat” but I wanted to bring it up because this question drives Garibaldi and is what Edgars uses to get him to his side. While it’s true Garibaldi’s personal falling out with Sheridan is what underpins his distrust of this new war, even if he won’t admit it to himself, the idea of attacking Earth- not fighting Earth Gov, notably – is distasteful and unconscionable to him regardless.
Garibaldi feels it isn’t right to take up arms as the military against one’s own world and this episode does a good job of showing how Sheridan’s actions can be viewed in a sinister light. It also reinforces his claim that he’s been different since coming back from Z’Ha’Dum, which until he started pushing for the telepaths that still had Shadow tech in them to be prepped for mysterious reasons, I didn’t see. This is one of the failings of this season because I’m not sure if we’re meant to be seeing Garibaldi as potentially correct or wholly wrong.
If the latter, JMS has done a good job, as Garibaldi has already been shown to be a compromised viewpoint. If the former is true, we haven’t gotten nearly enough questionable moments from Sheridan to justify Garibaldi’s mistrust. I don’t buy his argument that there is a before and after Z’Ha’Dum with regards to his willingness to attack Earth but, then again, I’ve always read Sheridan as a commander rather than a diplomat like Sinclair. I do buy that Garibaldi sees this as a betrayal and an extension of the fallout they had. Hopefully we’re given an episode later for me to really break down how they each think they’re the only ones in the right with regards to their fight.
I’m sure the truncated season is what drives this feeling as we haven’t been given the same amount of breathing room we’ve enjoyed before. It’s a shame but considering how good these episodes are even while rushing, it’s fairly easy to set aside and enjoy the whole.
Continued below3. I Wish I Could Be Of More Use, Sir, But I Don’t Watch Television. I Prefer My Fireplace.
When Bester last appeared, I had a sneaking suspicion that William Edgars might have been a plant by him to help drive Garibaldi away from the B5 command staff. He’s still performing that role but I think it’s safe to say that not only is Edgars NOT working for the Psi-Corps but he’s also definitely a real person.
Played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Edgars is exactly who you think he would be like. He’s a smooth talker, confident in his position, and knows the game intimately. He’s also uncaring about life, distrustful of others, and only afraid of people he cannot buy, be they good or bad. Garibaldi, unfortunately, doesn’t fit in that last category.
For those who were, like me, wondering why his voice sounded familiar in past episodes, it’s likely because you’ve watched Batman: the Animated Series where he played everyone’s favorite snarky, long-suffering butler: Alfred Pennyworth. I’d say I hope he gets to be as snarky here but I don’t know if it would be as endearing coming from the likes of Edgars.
4. Murder is Such a Strong Word. I Prefer Ending an Existence.
There are two different threads related to telepaths in “Exercise of Vital Powers.” The first is of telepaths as a metaphor and the other is of them as a faction in the upcoming conflicts. As a metaphor, “Vital Powers” reckons with a then-nascent notion of the information age as well as the older fear of the surveillance state. It doesn’t do it head on or in any applicable way as commentary because it’s not meant to. It’s meant to use that fear as a way to understand a fantastical concept and then ask the question: if this were real, how would people react?
Garibaldi’s fears of telepaths mirrors a very real fear of a lack of agency in one’s life that comes from the knowledge that you are, at all moments, tracked and can have your most private thoughts looked at without your consent and, most importantly, potentially without your knowledge. It’s a fear that’s more prevalent now than in 1997, I would argue, and so it becomes easy to apply this framework to bots & algorithms, and ultimately on the people who run & create them, rather than telepaths. But it quickly becomes fraught to apply it as a 1-to-1 metaphor so I won’t, especially when you factor in Edgars’ campaign to eliminate telepaths’ telepathic abilities…or kill them in the process.
This is where the idea of telepaths as a faction comes into frame. They’re going to be a major part of whatever conflict is coming, whatever that may be. Psi-corps, the Shadow telepaths, Lyta, Edgars’ experiments, they’re all going to be important, in one way or another, and “Vital Powers” makes sure we know it.
5. I’m Just a Shadow of Myself
Speaking of Lyta, after Bester’s machinations and her rejoining the corps, she’s now able to take on more jobs and it seems that Franklin has just the job for her: helping him save the telepaths ensnared by the Shadow tech. It goes about as well as expected but we learn a few things about them, the tech, and the creatures who put the tech in their heads, who might be related to whoever abducted Garibaldi too.
It’s a bit of a harrowing plot because of the mental state of the one guy they’re trying to save. He stabs Franklin and then tries to kill himself, yelling “Who am I? Why am I?” and is only saved because Lyta is able to shut his brain down. It’s telling that Lyta isn’t really bothered by the whole thing and I don’t know if that’s because she’s compartmentalizing, if it doesn’t phase her, or if I just am missing something. I like it though. She provides a good foil for the increasingly frazzled Franklin, who is worrying that maybe Garibaldi is right about Sheridan.
And maybe, just maybe, he is.
That about does it for now. Join me again in a week for the aftermath of Garibaldi’s decision to fully throw in with Edgars, another trip to Mars, and perhaps a check-in with some of our other favorite crew members on the station where everything changed in the year of destruction and rebirth.
Continued belowThis is Elias. Signing out.
Best Line of the Night:
Garibaldi: “I’m gonna look stupid.”
Wade: “You know, at certain times of our lives we all look stupid. The key is not to mind it.”
