Rewatching episode 15 “Grail” was something of a milestone in my rewatch of Season 1.  It is the first episode that I really dont have much of an opinion on one way or the other.  It is basically fine.  It does not sink to the depths of a “Infection” or a “Believers” but it also does not get as good as something like “Signs and Portents”.  In many ways the script by Christy Marx, could have been ported over to any scifi show with small changes and would probably work just as well.  I guess when you have 22-episode seasons to fill you get some lukewarm episodes in addition to the stinkers and the triumphs.  

Grail has a pretty straightforward structure once it gets going.  Garibaldi and Sinclair have just sat down to lunch when they get interrupted by Delenn and Lennier, asking why they are not going down to customs to greet their distinguished visitor.  Sinclair agrees to go, and orders an amused Garibaldi to accompany him.  

While everyone prepares we get a short scene of a human mobster named Deuce played by William Sanderson(apologies to N’Grath), shaking down a construction worker named Jinxo for information on how to sneak contraband into the station.  He demands payment, and to show how serious he is, he lets the guy watch as he feeds someone that was going to testify against him to some kind of alien.  The tentacles retract back into an encounter suit and Deuce claims that he has Ambassador Kosh working for him. 

Back from the credits, and right into the B5 courtroom, there is a small cameo from the shows Director of Photography John Flinn as an aggrieved human suing an alien race for abducting and experimenting on his ancestor.  Jim Norton plays Ombuds Wellington, who seems pretty done with the whole case. 

Sinclair, Garibaldi and the Minbari are on hand to welcome Aldous Gajic to the station.  The humans are less than pleased that they were dragged down to meet someone seeking the Holy Grail and quickly move on.  Gajic takes no offense, and is played in a dignified manner by David Warner.  Sinclair explains briefly to Delenn that no on Earth would take Aldous’s mission seriously, and she explains the Minbari perspective on what they call “true seekers”.  

Plots literally collide when Tom Booker’s Jinxo bumps into Aldous in a clumsy attempt to pickpocket him.  Garibaldi watches it happen and promptly scoops the thief up.  He demands that Aldous accompany them to settle it with the Ombuds.  

Sinclair meanwhile is getting briefed on another brain wipe victim, and we see the woman from earlier in the medlab.  Franklin explains that the victim is alive but her mind has been completely destroyed and he does not know how.   Garibaldi arrives and has some cop dialogue about wiping out the homeless on Babylon 5 to cut down on the crime.  His attitude changes when he realizes that the victim was his star witness. 

The Ombuds decides to kick Jinxo off the station, and he goes ballistic, insisting that if he leaves it dooms everyone on the station.  Aldous intervenes and the judge hands Jinxo over to him.  Deuce manages to grab him on his way out to remind him of his deadline before he gets called up.  Without the witness the case against Deuce is dismissed. 

Jinxo explains to Aldous that there is a Babylon 5 curse, and if he leaves the station will be destroyed.  Aldous, being a dude who is looking for the holy grail, is accepting of the belief.  Jinxo explains that he helped build all five of the stations.  On each of the projects the moment he took leave or had to be away, the stations were sabotaged, collapsed, or in the case of Babylon 4 just winked out of existence.  Aldous kindly points out that his nickname should be Lucky, since he avoided dying in any of the accidents.

The command staff are discussing the brain wipes, and Franklin thinks that it is an alien from Centauri space.  The moment they suggest to Londo that one is on the station he runs off to his quarters while promising to send all the info he has.  The command staff go through the records, and resolve to start hunting for the Nakaleen Feeder. 

Delenn has her meeting with Aldous, and explains that they did not find any record of the grail.  They also explain a bit about Minbari culture to Jinxo.  They then visit Londo, who tries to shake them down for some bribes but is thwarted by the work ethic and honesty of Vir.  As always Vir is not a very good Centauri according to Londo.  

Aldous sits and explains his quest to Jinxo, apparently he began it after losing his family in an accident and meeting the previous grail seeker.  They are interrupted by some thugs sent by Deuce.  Aldous beats them back with his staff, but the Ombuds is not so lucky and gets kidnapped.  Aldous tries to take Jinxo with him to see Kosh, but Jinxo panics and runs off.  This time the thugs get the drop on Aldous while Jinxo runs off again.  

Jinxo manages to find Sinclair, and they rush to rescue Aldous and the Ombuds from the feeder which has been posing as Kosh.  Security bursts into the room before the feeder can eat either man, though the shootout leaves Aldous dying.  Aldous has Sinclair witness him bequeathing everything he has to Jinxo. 

Sinclair, Delenn and Garibaldi escort Aldous’s body to its transport.  They are joined by Jinxo, now going by Thomas, who is carrying the staff, and wearing the seeker outfit.  The staff gather to watch Thoma’s ship clear the jump gate.  They discuss the curse as they watch the ship leave.  Garibaldi and Sinclair relax a bit but Ivanova insists that sooner or later “boom”.  

As always, a reminder that you can watch the episodes on Tubi with ads.  

Next week we go eye to eye with “Eyes”.  Two guest stars will come in, but only one matters as it is the great Jeffrey Combs!

The Good

• We get some expansion on life on the station.  It is nice to see that there is a primitive court system on the station, even if it seems like it is all bench trials with no attorneys present. 
• I like the idea of criminals taking advantage of how mysterious Kosh always acts. I also really like that Kosh is happy that everyone is intimidated by him. 
• David Warner was a good get, I just wish they had gotten him for a better role, in a better episode.
• William Sanderson actually managed to infuse some menace into his character, despite usually playing sad sacks. 

The Bad

• Tom Booker was probably the only guest star in this episode that was disappointing. 
• The effects on the feeder looked about Fallout 1 level.  Its a low budget show after all, but they should have tried harder to stay away from CG.  

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• We get some hints at what happened to the previous Babylon stations.  Sounds like things were always a bit harsh on Earth given that the first three stations seemed to have been sabotaged by isolationist terrorists.  
• More importantly we get our first mention of something strange happening to Babylon 4.  This will be important as the series progresses.
• Two things are introduced in this episode that would later be retconned by later episodes, or ignored.  Babylon 5 having an internal measure of time called “cycles” and the Minbari only having two castes. 
• It is interesting and somewhat concerning that on Babylon 5 there are no juries and no attorneys.  It could be because it is a frontier station, though I imagine the real reason is the production budget.