Babylon 5 may be the show I have watched the most in my life.  I have seen it all the way through at least ten times over the years.  Because of that, these days I tend to jump around a bit when the mood to watch some strikes. It was not until I sat down and did this project that I remembered that we do not get a formal name for the enemy until this episode, nearly at the end of Season 2: The Shadows.  It is a fitting name for the overarching antagonist even if the show will eventually point out that it is a depressingly antagonistic name.  This episode also kicks off a meaningful background arc for one of our minor characters, and the fun of the long form story telling is that it will not boil over until the middle of the next season.

We jump into the season long story in progress, with a ship load of Narn refugees coming on board.  Zack and the chief discuss how horrible the situation is but also talk about turning some away as the constant flow of sick and injured is overloading the station’s medical capacity.  Even in the mid-90’s which some in my generation are already calling the good old days, there were concerns with refugees and how they can potentially overwhelm the resources of the well intentioned.  I dont know how much I believe that when talking about nations, but it is understandable for a space station.

Things shift over to Vir having a conversation with Mr. Morden.  Mr. Morden comes across as more aggressive with someone of Vir’s low rank and Morden orders him to sit and questions Vir’s dislike of him and asks him what he wants.  Vir’s response is one of the great moments of the season:

Morden: If restoring the Centauri Republic means nothing to you, what does? What do you want?

Vir Cotto: I’d like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I would gaze up into your lifeless eyes and wave, like this.

[He gives Morden a mockingly cheerful finger waggle.]

Vir: Can you and your associates arrange this for me, Mr. Morden?

Vir’s uncharacteristic venom brings things to an end and Vir leaves with the information Morden meant for Londo.

Garibaldi begins to chat with Sheridan about the Narn situation but gets distracted when the captain explains that he is going through his wife’s belongings.  Garibaldi asks if he can take a look at the flight and mission information of the Icarus. When he does he recognizes Morden on the crew roster, a crew that was all supposed to have died when the ship exploded.  Sheridan orders Morden arrested and brought to him immediately.  

The main B plot of the episode involves Talia! You remember her right? She gets approached by a friendly seeming Earth official named Pierce Macabee, played by Alex Hyde-White, and invited to an information session about a new Earth program.  He apparently works for a newly formed government agency called the Ministry of Peace, that is dedicated to peaceful relations with other nations and to promote peace within the Earth Alliance.  Nothing creepy about that.

Franklin meanwhile is struggling to keep up with the influx of Narn patients.  Ivanova finds out about his long hours and orders him to get rest and then eat a full meal.  Franklin tries to demur but she pulls rank.  Later Franklin talks with her about the trauma of losing patients.  Franklin takes the conversation in an intense direction when he bluntly asks Ivanova if she believes in God.  Ivanova talks about bing raised Jewish and being bat mitzvahed, before she admits that she does “most of the time”.  Franklin reveals that he is a Foundationist, a new religion that sprung up after humanity made contact with aliens.  Franklin lets on that his own faith is wavering in the face of so much death.

Morden gets busted by Zack at customs and thrown into the brig, where Sheridan stares him down.  When Sheridan reveals why Morden is there, he is remarkably unconcerned.  He gives a rote story about what happened and tries to explain away any confusion.  Sheridan is not having it and decides to keep Morden in the cell, pointing out that since he is a “dead man” then he has no rights.  Morden makes some vague threats in response.  When things cut back Sheridan has clearly been interrogating Morden for some time, having him go over and over his answers, trying to trip him up.  Morden still doesnt seem impressed with Sheridan or his predicament.  

In Talia’s plot our friendly Mr. Macabee unveils the Night Watch.  He explains it as a volunteer organization that will promote peace, and will pay anyone 50 credits per week to wear their arm band publicly.  He also explains that the Night Watch will be watchful for anyone that could threaten Earth’s internal peace, so that the ministry can embrace and educate people that have poor attitudes towards Earth.  

Sheridan is taking a break and is energized, telling Garibaldi that he is confident that Morden is on the verge of breaking.  Garibaldi reluctantly points out that they have been holding Morden for ten hours without charge, and that they have to let him go.  Sheridan tries to give him the brush off by assuming responsibility, but Garibaldi is the head of security and it is still up to him.  There is even a fun callback to Season 1’s “Eyes” when Sheridan repeats a line that the villain of that episode had about it being insubordination to interpret the regs for a senior officer.  Garibaldi threatens to quit and Sheridan takes him up on it rather than let Morden go. 

Sheridan gets pulled away from his interrogation, but not before ordering Zack to find Talia Winters.  He goes to his meeting with Vir, clearly intending to give the poor guy the brush off, when VIr says that he is there to request the release of Morden.  Vir informs the captain that Londo has arranged for Morden to be labeled as an official guest of the Centauri Republic which would give him diplomatic immunity.  Sheridan tries to use his illegal holding of Morden as a dodge, saying that immunity would only apply if he was charged with something.  He leaves and Ivanova takes her turn to confront him, Sheridan angrily responds that he is willing to throw everything away to find out what happened to his wife. 

The captain tries to get Talia to scan Morden, but she flatly refuses him.  She is completely unimpressed when the captain points out that Morden is technically dead.  Sheridan then does a dickish thing and arranges for Talia to be escorted out of the prison area past Morden.  Talia sees monstrous things around Morden and nearly collapses.  She ends up in Medlab and Franklin recommends some rest. Sheridan arrives to try and apologize, but Talia slaps him and leaves.  As Sherdian leaves he gets ambushed by Delenn and Kosh, who also demand the release of Morden, stunning him.  He gets invited back to Delenn’s quarters and she begins telling him about ancient races from millions of years ago.  She reveals that not all of the ancient races have left, that one race that remained is called the Shadows.  She mentions that the Shadows were defeated 10,000 years ago, and 1,000 years ago. She also reveals that one other ancient race remained to help in case the Shadows returned again:The Vorlons.  Kosh and Delenn then inform the stunned captain that the Shadows are once again returning and reclaiming their power.  Kosh projects images into Sheridan’s head showing him exactly what happened to the Icarus. They landed on Z’ha’Dum and the Shadows killed them all.  Delenn implores the captain to let Morden go, so that the Shadows dont find out that others are aware of their return, which will give Delenn and Kosh time to assemble a new alliance to fight them.

Sheridan stews in the security office with this new knowledge.  He discussed the (mythical) story of the city of Coventry during WWII with Zack.  Sheridan then gets a glimpse of the actual Shadows hanging out with Morden in his cell, and reluctantly lets Morden go.  He makes amends with Garibaldi, and then decides to go and confront Kosh in his quarters demanding to be let in on the fight against the Shadows. 

Next week we tackle the great “Confessions and Lamentations” and I promise that it is more fun than the title would imply, even if it does deal with a careless government letting a pandemic spread out of control due to their conservative religious background.  Fun!

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

Where do I know them from?

• Alex Hyde-White has a long list of TV credits, but in terms of nerd stuff, he got to play Dr. Reed Richards in the 1994 Fantastic Four movie that was made just to retain the rights.
• Ed Wasser missed out on this when he first popped up, but to be honest Babylon 5 is his biggest credit, as he typically plays nameless characters like “Young Executive” in Quantum Leap. 

The Good

• We get a great deal of arc heavy information in this episode and some background on the mysterious Morden which is great.
• Vir gets to be badass in Vir’s own way and it is a great moment for the character, especially coming off his desire to get Londo away from his bad decisions.
• We get to see Garibaldi be a good cop here, standing up for the rights of prisoners.

The Bad

• The Narn story beats felt kind of shoe horned in without G’Kar to help.  Then again Babylon 5 as a show, functions pretty well at keeping background stories simmering. 
• Franklin as usual comes across as way more intense then the other characters, but at least that is a consistent trait for him. 

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• Kosh mentions that he will be recognized by everyone, something that comes true in the season finale. 
• Zack is shown joining the fascist club for stupid but completely believable reasons.
• Garibaldi and Sheridan’s bond deepens from this interaction and they go on to work even more closely together. 
• Sheridan gets brought in on yet another conspiracy, poor guy is going to have hardly any time for his regular work.
• Talia gets some screen time though the characters’ days are numbered, mostly due to the actress’s ongoing issues with Jerry Doyle and the break up of their marriage.
• The only character to get exactly what he wants from Morden ends up being Vir.