The greater mysteries at play begin, Psi Corps establishes itself as creepy and authoritarian, and Catherine plays a larger part than I remembered. Welcome my friends. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
Spoilers ahead.
1. The Ones Who Walk Away from Σ-957
A firm warning, a planet in the outskirts of space, and a mysterious happening that all but strands our intrepid surveyor in the darkness of space forever. This is the B-plot for the week and while it isn’t as involved as the A-plot, it’s larger importance to the structure of the show and to the bits of characterization we get makes it worth talking about. It adds another layer of complexity onto the show and onto G’Kar.
What does he know that we don’t? What are the Narn keeping secret out there and why? Is it because they fear it and cannot understand it, as G’Kar says, or is it something else? Also, G’Kar is at his most sympathetic here, kindly, with very little ulterior motive, and calm. Up until this point, G’Kar has been set up as a “villain” of sorts: conniving, duplicitous, hot-headed and a trouble-maker while still being a fully-realized and multi-faceted character.
Now, he’s been complicated even more and that villainous mode is being shed. He’s still all those things but that’s not all he is nor is he out to make mischief for no reason. He has a reason, he’s always had a reason. This is simply the first, truly altruistic thing he’s ever done, even if, that too, had a purpose.
The planet was also damn creepy.
2. Expanding Brain Meme
Psi-Corps agent Jason Ironheart (a TV name if I ever heard one) has become one with the memes. His brain has grown beyond our comprehension and only he can see the true beauty that lies within loss.jpg. While there’s no way the creators could have known the final image of a CGI star-dude in the sky would be used as a meme in the late 2010s, seeing it got a good chuckle out of me. This show was one of the first to use the internet for its fan-base so do with that what you will.
3. Bester Heck
Anton Chekov, what are you doing here? And why are you dressed so evilly? For all those scratching your heads out there, Walter Koening, the actor behind Star Trek’s Chekov, plays Bester, the Psi-Cop with the serious attitude problem. He does a great job of making telepathy and, well, everything look menacing and shady. He’s transparently evil but not in a way that’s cliché or over-the-top. You never know if he’s hiding around a corner, listening in, and he makes sure you know that. He’s the right amount of cold evil and gives just the best deliveries of the episode. He is Bester.
His presence also gives us a reason to distrust the Psi-Corps as an organization and to distrust other Psi-Cops. The only one we’d met up until this point was Talia Winters so Ivonova’s distrust towards Psi-Cops didn’t extend out to us. We knew why she hated them but not why the entire Corps shouldn’t be trusted. With Bester and his recently vaporized associate, we now have that reason.
4. Catherine Indiana Jones
I forgot to mention this last week but I want a spin-off with Catherine, going around from planet to planet, on adventures. So Indiana Jones in space. It’s too late now for this to happen but I know in my heart of hearts that such a show would have been so much fun! True, her actual job is surveying planets for businessmen and corporations but I’m sure they could have written their way around that.
Go back and look at her ship. Don’t tell me that it doesn’t scream sci-fi adventure. It’s rustic, rundown, and feels like a spaceship that’s seen some things. She’s been around the block and is basically Harrison Ford for the show. Based on her prominence this week, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t bring her up in the main cast last week. Well, unfortunately, she isn’t a part of it. Why? Well, you’ll just have to watch on to find out.
Continued below5. Stray Thoughts
-Is it just me or do the portals have the exact same color scheme as the portals from Portal? It’s -almost the same orange and blue, right? Valve, let me know if it’s true! On the subject of portals, I like how the colors clue us in as to which way the portal is opening: orange for outgoing ships, blue for incoming.
-While I love Garabaldi’s character, this episode highlights something about him that I’d forgotten about: the casual lechery. It’s not serious lechery, limited to implied thoughts and the occasional attempt at asking Talia out, and he isn’t a Nice Guy™, thank goodness, and he gets comeuppance right away but it’s played for laughs. In today’s climate, it’s one aspect of the character that was better off left in the past.
-I love the name mind quake. It can be menacing, were mind quakes a real thing, but just hearing the word is like hearing the phrase, “IN SPAAACCCEEEE,” with the 60s trailer voice.
-I forgot to bring it up earlier but this season is titles ‘Signs and Portents.’ It seemed fitting that this be the episode I remembered it on.
-Also, more orbs. What’s with this show and orbs?
That about does it for now. Join me again next week for a way, way, way too topical episode, some Centauri hijinks, and a scene about shoes and dancing on the station that wraps humans and aliens in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal . . . all alone in the night. This is Elias. Signing out.
Best Line of the Night:
“That’s not anatomically possible, Mr. Garbaldi. But you’re welcome to try.” – Bester
