Season 3, and most Babylon 5 seasons, has to delicately balance the different plots.  Sure some will get a few episodes in a row, but they always need to pull back and address the others at some point.  We have had a string of heavily Earth-centered episodes, and while this one features some more of that, we also check in with our Narn and Centauri characters for a decent part of the time.  The two plots are linked by the imaginatively named “dust” of the title, a future drug that can bestow telepathy on a person temporarily. 

We get a quick check in on Earth politics after last episode dropped the bombshell that Clark was involved with the assassination of his predecessor.  The Night Watch is in high gear harassing shopkeepers, and I imagine it was not an accident that this particularly security officer is quite Arayan looking.  We also get a direct reference from the shopkeeper when he asks if the guy has a “Bund” meeting to get to.  Sheridan is irritated and orders this kind of harassment stopped. The security officer even throws in a “I was just following orders” for good measure, in case we missed all the other references.  Though these days, maybe we deserve to be hit over the head with it. 

Meanwhile Ivanova and Garibaldi receive a message from everyone’s other favorite walking Nazi allegory Psi Cop Bester.  He lets everyone know he is on his way and there is a danger to the station involved. Garibaldi and Ivanova are dubious, but then we cut to a lurker having some kind of mental breakdown that involves attacking everyone around him.  Later Franklin examines the man, and concludes that he has taken dust.  

Sheridan gathers the war council to discuss Bester’s arrival.  Their concern is that Bester will scan them and figure out how involved they are with the conspiracy against Clark.  Delenn is sympathetic to their concerns and hints that she may have a solution.  We arent privy to it right away, but Ivanova clearly does not think much of it, as she decides to kill Bester with the defense grid, only being stopped by Sheridan at the very last moment.  The plan turns out to be assigning a Minbari telepath to each staff member and using them to block Bester, unless he agrees to take the sleeper drug that shuts down telepathic ability.  Bester reluctantly agrees, while chiding everyone for their lack of trust.  

Elsewhere Vir is back! Londo is excited to see him, even if he immediately chastises him for wearing a Minbari garment.  They quickly head off to a meeting with the Drazi that is being mediated by Delenn and Lennier.  The Centauri have invaded Drazi space, and the Drazi are coming to the table to negotiate a peace treaty.   Londo then arrogantly demands that the Drazi turn over seven colonies to the Centauri, which pretty much torpedoes the negotiation, though Londo also threatens them with what happened to the Narn homeworld.  It is asshole Londo in fine form all in all.  Vir lingers afterwards to thank Delenn for her getting him appointed to the embassy on Minbar. 

Bester returns after the sleeper drug takes effect, and briefs the command staff on a major dust deal that is going down on Babylon 5.  Bester believes that the distributor is going to sell dust to foreign governments.  He also hints that he suspects G’Kar to be the buyer.  The show cuts immediately to show that he is right and G’kar is eyeing up dust as a potent weapon that the Narn resistance could use against the Centauri.  The problem is that no one knows how it will affect a Narn, so G’Kar resolves to test it himself.  The high is pretty powerful, and under it’s influence G’Kar decides to go find Londo and have a telepathic chat. 

Garibaldi and Bester begin their buddy cop adventure, bickering over their duties to Earth before rounding up a suspect to interrogate.  Ashi is a smuggler but insists that he does not deal with dust.  With a little manipulation from Bester and some rough treatment from Garibaldi he lets slip the name of someone that approached him about importing some dust. This leads Bester and Garibaldi to stakeout a docking bay. They catch Mr. Lindstrom and his suppliers and neatly wrap everything up.  

Vir and Londo are having a meeting so that Londo can review his report on the Minbari.  What follows is an amusing look into court politics, and really the politics of any dictatorship.  When Vir describes the Minbari as very interested in culture, Londo responds that they are decadent and soft, and that they are out to impose their views on others.  Vir responds with the fact that their cities are thousands of years old, Londo hits him with the fact that a lack of new construction is a sign of a faltering economy and that it could make them aggressive.  Vir finally exclaims that the Minbari are a deeply spiritual people, and Londo allows that he can leave that in the report as it always scares people.  The fun scene is broken up, literally, by G’Kar who tosses Vir aside and violently abducts Londo. 

G’Kar goes playing in Londo’s mind.  He gets to see snippets of Londo’s background, including his appointment to Babylon 5 as basically a joke.  G’Kar taunts Londo telepathically, and then begins digging in earnest for Londo’s secrets, uncovering his association with Mr. Morden and the Shadows.  He begins to press on that point before being interrupted by a vision of his dying father.  His father then goes on to warn him away from the cycle of violence and retribution.  The vision insists that G’Kar and the Narn must turn away from that conflict and devote themselves to helping the other races in the greater struggle.  G’Kar is then bombarded by a vision of G’Lan the Narn angelic being.  Back in the real world, and back to his real eyes, G’Kar sits next to an unconscious Londo and begins to weep, while Kosh slides off into the darkness.

G’Kar gets arrested, and pleads guilty, looking completely calm about the whole thing.  He ends up getting two months for multiple grievous assaults, which seems pretty light.  Garibaldi tries to return the book of G’Quan to G’Kar, but he insists that the chief keep it.  Londo and Vir convalesce together and Londo firmly reminds Vir to never let anyone treat him or his position as a joke.  

Garibaldi escorts Bester and his prisoners off the station, and scurries off before another Psi Cop meets up with Bester.  They casually walk off toward the ship while discussing the fact that the Psi Corps created dust in an effort to create more telepaths artificially.  

Next week we get a bit of a slow down with an episode that most people think is pretty weak but I kind of like.  It is time for this scifi show to do an “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” episode with “Exogenesis”.

As always the show is available to watch for free on Tubi with ads. 

Where do I know them from?

• We didnt do Walter Koenig on his first appearance, but come on.
• Jim Norton shows up again as G’Kar’s father, previously appearing as an Ombudsman. 
• Our criminals are Julian Neil who I have never seen elsewhere and Phillip Moon who was Lee in Deadwood. 

The Good

• G’Kar is still fighting the good fight but now he may have some other fights in him. As always, scenes with him and Londo are great.
• Vir is back! I enjoy the character growth he gets to have.
• Bester is back! Everyone’s favorite villain gets to show up and have an adventure, and it doesn’t end with a bunch of deaths!

The Bad

• The drug supplier guy just is terrible.  Every part of his few makes me wince every time I hear it.

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• Dust wont really show up again, but this is another example of the extremes that Psi Corps is willing to go in terms of experimenting on people.
• Bester talking a big game about how the Psi Corps protects against unseen threats, to the guy that is helping to run the Rangers on Babylon 5 is pretty funny. 
• The Night Watch is ramping up their attacks on the public, a sure sign of Clark’s desperation. 
• With Kosh appearing again as G’Lan, it raises a question.  Do all vorlons end up looking like just that one figure, or is Kosh the guy that is responsible for going from world to world.