This one is a bit of a gut punch of an episode, and one that JMS was proud of mostly for subverting convention.  I think it hits harder these days, because when I first watched the AIDS epidemic, which it is clearly alluding to, was something that felt very far away from a non-sexually active teenager in rural America.  With COVID feeling more universal as an adult some of the story beats hit harder.  Also my own growing disgust with religious fundamentalism makes the episode resonate harder.

We get a business as usual opening with Ivanova reporting that a ship is overdue and not answering.  There is a nice little nod to the previous episode, as Sheridan orders Ivanova to disallow Keffer from investigating what we the audience now know to be a Shadow ship in hyperspace.  

We get to meet Franklin’s Markab doctor colleague, Doctor Lazarenn(Jim Norton), as the two engage in some friendly bickering over a death certificate, while standing over a dead body.  Medical people are just different that way.  Franklin is concerned about the number of Markab’s turning up dead from apparently natural causes.  Lazarenn tries to downplay the issue, but Franklin still insists on a full autopsy. 

Back from the credits and Ivanova is briefing Zeta Squadron on their mission, she also brings down the hammer on Lt. Keffer in an amusing way when he whines like a kid about being ordered to cease his investigation into the Shadow ship.  The squadron leaves to find the Markab ship, and they find it intact, adrift with all passengers and crew dead.  The drag the ship back to Babylon 5, and smartly request a medical inspection be carried out. 

The only thing that passes for a B plot in this episode is basically one amusing scene where Delenn invites Sheridan into her quarters for a meal.  This sets up a very gentle comedy of manners, where Sheridan basically does almost everything wrong, stymied by the absurd religious ritualism of the dinner.  When he is told that Lennier had to stay up for two days straight to prepare the meal amid prayers and meditation, his nervousness jumps even more.  He basically manages to get in and out without making major mistakes, though it is clear that Lennier does not approve of him.  He is able to duck out quickly thanks to the emergency brewing. 

At the docking bay Lazarenn tries to stop this but Franklin shows up fresh from the autopsy to accuse him of knowing about a deadly disease outbreak on the ship and on the station. Lazarenn yields to the accusation and reports that the disease is 100% fatal, and 100% contagious.  Franklin begins haranguing Lazarenn about  the disease before the Markab doctor explains that political and religious pressure has kept him silent.  The disease is named after a Las Vegas style island that it struck in the distant past, Drafa. The Markab believed that the disease is a punishment from the gods against the immoral.  The government in the intervening years regarded the plague as a myth and no preparations were ever made to fight it if it came back.  Because the disease was associated with immorality the first cases refused treatment and isolation and ending up spreading it over the course of a year to pretty much every single Markab settlement.  

While Stephen and Lazarenn are discussing what they know we get a short shot of a small girl finding her dead father in a public place and being comforted by Delenn.  It is a nice contrast to the two doctor’s more technical conversation to show the reality of the outbreak.  It is also the rare appearance of a child on Babylon 5, as JMS wanted no robots and no kids. 

Franklin briefs everyone on the situation, and Sheridan wisely turns over the decision making to Franklin, but not before ordering Babylon 5 quarantined, as no one knows if the disease can jump to other species.  I also like the scene for Garibaldi showcasing some cultural competence as part of his job, when he points out that if they try to examine every Markab for the plague the Markab will take it as an insult to their morality. 

Everyone scurries to implement the orders, and we get a sign of how bad things are going when Security find a dead body and just radio it in with “we have another one”.  The Markab ambassador, last seen advocating for the murder of the woman that came out of the cryotube, handles the situation about as well as someone like that would. He accuses Sheridan of spreading hysteria and denigrating his people.  He even goes down the conspiracy rabbit hole and accuses Earth of creating this disease to disrupt the fabric of Markab society.  He then goes on to say that the Markab will no longer mix with others and are voluntarily isolating themselves to pray the disease away.  Franklin interjects to let everyone know the disease is airbone and that the disease may have jumped species to the Pak’ma’ra.  

Franklin gets right to work on the autopsy, but Lazarenn offers to do the autopsy and then remain in the isolation lab, so that if he does have the disease they can study it in him.  Meanwhile Ivanova briefs Sheridan that multiple groups on the station are now advocating for the killing of all the Markab to stop the disease.  Before he can go to sleep, Delenn comes in with a special request, to be allowed into the isolation zone. It shows the nice duality of the Minbair religion.  Their meals are frankly almost comically absurd in terms of ritual, but their religion also commands them to go to administer aid to those that are in fear and dying.  Sheridan argues that he cannot let her out of the isolation zone if she goes in, and they share a tender moment that reveals how close they have become.  

Garibaldi also gets another nice moment, stopping a crowd from beating a Markab and then helping him up. It would have been nicer if he bothered to arrest anyone, but hey he is still a cop.  Back in Medlab, Franklin shoots up with something called a stim, and Lazarenn chides him for it before they have a weary discussion about the history of scapegoats in disease outbreaks.  As the conversation continues Lazarenn begins feeling the symptoms of Drafa, and they both leap to being tests to track the disease progress.  Lazarenn keeps announcing his symptoms, and talks about how he met Franklin years ago, and he chides Franklin for thinking that every problem can be solved. Another doctor interrupts to announce that the plague did kill the Pak’ma’ra.  Everyone is devastated but Franklin once again gets to work.  He angrily gets all the other stunned doctors back to work.  

Delenn and Lennier are attempting to help the Markab in isolation when they find the girl from earlier who has been separated from her mother.  Lennier is sent to find her, and Delenn comforts her with a story of being separated from her own parents as a child, that ends up being something of a religious experience for young Delenn.  Lennier manages to find the girl’s mother and it is a heartwarming reunion until the girl exhibits symptoms of Drafa, to Delenn’s horror.   

Franklin is running everything he can think of through his computer while Lazarenn is dying.  Just as Lazarenn dies the computer spits out a reaction that is promising, a link between two different aspects of Markab and Pak’ma’ra biology.  Franklin excitedly explains how Drafa works to Sheridan and Ivanova as he begins synthesizing a treatment for the disease. He cant cure it but he can fight the symptoms and keep the patients alive.  The three rush down to the isolation zone and arrive too late.  All of the 4000 or so Markab on the station are dead and only Delenn and Lennier are left in the isolation zone.  

Delenn makes a small speech to be optimistic in the future by learning from the outbreak, to save others.  This really does strike one as incredibly, almost heartbreakingly naive in this day and age.  ISN confirms that the entire Markab homeworld, of two billion, is dead, and that most if not all of their colonies have suffered the same fate.  As Franklin sits at the bar and listens to this news, the bartender tells a gross unfunny joke about all the dead Markab, turns of the news because it gives him the creeps, and then spreads a rumor that the Vorlons did this, which is a pretty good imitation of social media in small form.  

Next week is another grand downer of an episode as we get the the end of a phase in the Narn-Centauri War in “The Long Twilight Struggle”. It is one of my favorites, and easily my favorite of the whole season. Originally it was aired as Episode 20 but I am following the Tubi order in case anyone is re-watching these there as well.

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

Where do I know them from?

• Jim Norton has of course already shown up as a judge on Babylon 5, but for me I remember him as one of the antagonists from Father Ted Bishop Len Brennan. 

The Good

• This is a pretty good episode in terms of an AIDS analogy through scifi.  If COVID has made some of it seem worse or better that can hardly be the episodes fault.
• The episode does well in showing Sheridan and Delenn’s deepening bond.
• I like the idea that Franklin is too late with his cure.  Though a more realistic take may have been him just straight up not finding one.
• I always liked Ivanova’s exchange with Keffer, where she shuts him down hard. Little reminders that EarthForce is the military unlike Starfleet in Star Trek, which has a broader mandate.

The Bad

• Not too much terrible in this episode. By this point Babylon 5 is hitting its stride really well, and we are in for a really good run of outstanding episodes. 

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• Franklin’s stim use gets its second mention here, with the further cautioning from his colleague that it is not good for you. 
• There is a decent fan theory that the Shadows, not the Vorlons, are behind the Markab plague, due to it having been around in the distant past, it’s unusual lethality, and the fact that the Markab have been referenced to have been a space faring race 1000 years ago, which was the last time the Shadows went to war, making them candidates for a race that helped to fight the Shadows back then.
• It was a strong play to use an established race for this episode and I think it makes it more effective.  The Markab have been persistent parts of the background of the station for years.  Future episodes will also show their absence in some subtle ways.