Walkabout and Grey 17 were about shuffling things around and getting back on track, whereas “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” is about moving us forward again.  I really like this one, not only for the sense of momentum but because we get a solid Londo, Vir and G’Kar plot and the return of another great recurring antagonist Lord Refa.  We also get some more hope for the future and have some pretty entertaining guests as well.

Garibaldi open things up by helping ship out telepaths, while Ivanova provides voice over.  She expresses concern about Sheridan, and mentions Franklin is still wandering.  She also foregrounds Brother Theo and his monks, before she gets around to her current conversation with G’Kar.  The Narn is insisting that he send one of his people with each telepath as a bodyguard, even though every host race has guaranteed their safety.  

We then jump to Vir and Londo, and Londo has decided that he wants to deal with G’Kar.  Vir is confused about his priorities, but Londo insists that the time has come.  Londo explains that he has found a way to get G’Kar to go back to Narn, where they can arrest and execute him. 

Upon return from the credits, Ivanova is meeting a delegation of religious leaders arriving to Babylon 5, accompanied by Brother Theo who is there reluctantly.  Apparently he has a long standing relationship with Reverend Dexter of the delegation and they engage in some light teasing to the other’s amusement and Ivanova’s irritation.  As they leave Refa arrives accompanied by a dour looking Centauri and several royal guards.

Sheridan is stewing in the War Room, and completely misses Delenn’s critique of the English language.  He is obsessing over the pattern of Shadow attacks, trying to discern an objective or a pattern.  She then informs him that they have been invited to dinner with their religious guests and charms him into accepting.

Londo goes to a meeting with Refa and Minister Verini but first sends Vir off to inform G’Kar that Na’Toth is alive and is being held prisoner under the Narn capitol building. This is all a setup to get G’Kar arrested, and Londo is using Vir’s good name in order to get him to accept the bait, blackmailing the young man into following through with it with threats against his family.

Refa and Verini have a short conversation, being shitty about Babylon 5, and Refa tries to use that angle to talk trash about Londo.  Refa is openly asking for the Emperor’s favor in the dispute he has with Londo.  The minister interrupts, pointing out that the emperor just wants the feud ended and he has no preference, leaving it up to Verini to figure out which side “deserves” the court’s support.  Londo arrives and makes his case, claiming that he will do something spectacular to show that his house has value over Refa’s.  This piques the interest of one of the guards who runs off to tell Refa.  

We join the dinner with the religious leaders, and they reveal to the audience that they have been collecting information about what the Earth government is doing, an effort that was organized by Brother Theo.  They also collected resistance transmissions.  Reverend Dexter points out that even though they took a risk in coming to Babylon 5, that he would rather take a risk and be wrong then be tricked into doing nothing out of fear.  The reverend then asks if he can lead a service on Babylon 5 before he leaves, and Theo reluctantly allows him to borrow the chapel for it. 

Later Vir ends up being ambushed by the chatty guard and a bunch of thugs, before being dropped in a dark room with Refa.  Refa tries the good cop routine first, pointing out that Londo does not treat him well, before eventually giving up and just having a telepath assault him, gaining the information on Londo’s plan he wanted.  Refa decides to hold Vir for a day or two until he can successfully foil Londo’s plan. 

Later on Dexter is going for a walk and stumbles upon Sheridan buried in paperwork in the middle of the night.  They have a conversation about sharing the load of responsibility. Sheridan stubbornly insists that it cant be shared, and the reverend points out that it needs to be before it overwhelms and crushes the person, even if it just means talking about it with someone.  Sheridan is dismissive of what he thinks is an appeal for him to talk to God, but Dexter is talking about Delenn.  The reverend shares a cute story about his wife coming over to help him clean his apartment when they first dated, and Sheridan finally seems to get what he was driving at. 

We get a look at Narn for the first time since the bombing, and G’Kar and another Narn speak about the dust in the air, the wind and the cold.  All fallout from the Centauri bombing one year ago.  G’Kar rounds up a group of men to go into the tunnels.  Elsewhere on the planet, Refa tours a Centauri palace under construction on Narn, asks for the help of the Centauri in charge, requesting guards to assist him in capturing G’Kar. 

Delenn and Sheridan discuss the Shadow attacks in the war room.  Sheridan appreciates her coming with him, taking the reverend’s words to heart.  Together they figure out that the Shadows are hitting everything around a section of space.  Delenn points out refugee ships have been gathering there, and Sheridan theorizes that the Shadows may be trying to arrange for a massacre of civilians by driving the refugees to one place.  Delenn however takes issue with Sheridan saying he has to think like the Shadows, and drags him to Dexter’s service.

As G’Kar leads his people into the tunnels, Londo rescues Vir, and Vir spills what has happened.  G’Kar and his group are quickly surrounded by Refa and the guards.  Refa gloats for a bit before G’Kar reveals that Refa has fallen into a trap arranged by Londo.  The G’Kar and Refa scenes are intercut with Reverend Dexter’s service about hate turning on you.  G’Kar plays a holographic message from Londo, and he lays out the plot.  The whole thing was revenge for the death of Lady Adira, as well as punishment of Refa for his policies that weakened Cenaturi Prime.  He also arranged for the Narns to help by proving Refa was the one behind most of the horrors on Narn.  He further sweetens the pot by freeing Narns from captivity as payment.  G’Kar calmly orders his people to leave Refa’s head and face alone, and then the mob hunts him down while an upbeat gospel song about judgement day plays at the service. 

Londo presents a blood soaked data crystal to the minister, implicating Refa in a plot to keep the Narn resistance going in order to enrich himself further on the back of the conflict.  The minister clearly does not believe it, but at the same time with Refa dead and no real evidence to contradict it he accepts and puts the royal court’s favor behind Londo.  Vir is outraged that Londo had used him in such a way, even putting his life in danger. 

Delenn brings Sheridan on a surprise trip on the White Star, revealing a fleet of hundreds of White Star-class ships.  She points out that now they know where the Shadows plan to hit for once they can be there ahead of them and have a fighting chance to battle them.  The episode even ends with their first kiss. 

Overall this is one of my favorites in the back half of season 3, mostly on the strength of Refa getting what is coming to him and the progress in Sheridan and Delenn’s relationship.  Everything is set quite nicely for a big battle in the next episode and the sense of momentum is overwhelming.  Next week we get to that particular fireworks factory with “Shadow Dancing”.

Hard to say where you can find Babylon 5 at the moment, but I am continuing on with some pretty good quality downloads from Itunes that I made years ago.

Where do I know them from?

• Erick Avari as Rabbi Meyers has had a long, long career, but I remember him best as Rachel Weisz’s boss in The Mummy. 
• Mel Winkler plays Reverend Dexter.  He has had a long career, but I primarily remember him as being in Doc Hollywood. 
• Francois Giroday palys Virini, and I recall him showing up in an episode of West Wing as a French ambassador. 
• Special mention to Wayne Alexander, playing G’Dan the Narn that helps G’Kar, mostly because he is a big part of Babylon 5, even if his outside career was not as memorable. 

The Good

• I really like the plot of having the religious leaders helping out. With everything that is going on these days in the US, it feels pretty real. 
• Londo and G’Kar’s plot is also great. Refa’s end is very satisfying, showing just how great it is to build up a recurring bad guy for years before you kill him off.

The Bad

• Not too much on this one.  It is irritating that the video quality on Refa’s death as well as Sheridan and Delenn’s kiss is trash.  At least on the version I own.

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• The reveal of all the white star ships is big, giving Babylon 5 a weapon that can really stand toe-to-toe with the Shadows.
• I kind of enjoy how slow of a build up that Sheridan and Delenn’s relationship has been, taking place over years of show and in universe time, which makes sense for two mature characters.
• Londo almost does something good, even if he does it in a horrific way.
• I also like re-watching this one with the knowledge of the twist.  Maybe I am reading too much into it but it seems like G’Kar looks disappointed that Vir followed through with the set up that he already knew about. 
• Of course eliminating one of the key leash holders on the young emperor could not have any downsides in future. 
• I also like how G’Kar is more neutral on Refa’s brutal murder.  It shows off his continuing enlightenment that he does not take part. Then again he also cleary feels that his people need and deserve the brutal murder of a Centauri, so baby steps. 
• It is sad that we wont get to see Smith, Meyer or even Theo for that matter in Season 4, despite how much of the season deals with ending the Earth Civil War.  Possibly a consequence of the smashing together of Season 4 and 5. 
• This episode also marks the beginning of the ominous “Z-Minus” messages on screen.