Now that we have put the Shadows to bed, and checked in on some of the other hanging plots it is time for an episode that jumps from story to story to advance several different character plots all at once, and introduce some new recurring characters in the Mars Resistance. We also get a better look at one of the aliens that are known as the Keepers. Nothing too major revelation wise, just a nuts and bolts episode designed to keep things moving.
Sheridan and Ivanova start the episode with a short meeting to discuss supply shortages and they make a plan to reach out to black market sources. Ivanova then unceremoniously announces that she is going to take temporary command of the station so that Sheridan can take a small break, his first time off in nine months.
Back in the Marcus and Franklin plot, Marcus has goaded the doctor into playing I Spy, and Franklin’s patience is clearly wearing thin. He is in the middle of ranting at the ranger, when Marcus disappears and reappears with a captive that he claims was spying on them.
Back from credits the man claims to be a simple passenger, riding along because the pilot is his brother. He calls himself Captain Jack, and tries to get their names, but Marcus and Franklin are at least somewhat smart about their secret mission and demure. Franklin is nearly won over by the promise of better rations, but Marcus takes over and drags the doctor back to their side of the cargo hold.
Instead of relaxing Sheridan decides to angrily watch ISN which happens to be the only channel not being jammed by Earth. He catches the interview with Garibaldi again and it only seems to make him coldly furious. He decides to go and confront Garibaldi, and Michael is a pretty big asshole to Sheridan right away. Sheridan tries to get through to him, but it just makes Garibaldi angrier, which spurs Sheridan to escalate accusing Garibaldi of deliberately undermining the station and the alliance. Garibaldi lays out his problems with Sheridan being a messiah figure but the argument is pretty weak and Sheridan shoots it down.
Back in the spy mission, Captain Jack eventually reveals that he is the contact from the Mars Resistance and was just feeling them out. He eventually gives them their cover identities as a married couple going to Mars on their honeymoon. To the show’s credit, Franklin’s discomfort with this cover story is not based on homophobia, but more in the fact that Marcus is delighted with the story and immediately starts playing it up.
Garibaldi ends up being approached in the hallway by some disreputable men, who are interested in his conflict with Sheridan. They claim that they could help Garibaldi to help Sheridan, implying that he needs mental health treatment. Garibaldi leaves unconvinced.
Marcus and Franklin get a chance to do some more chatting with Captain Jack where they find out the startling fact that the Mars Resistance and most citizens of the Earth Alliance have never heard of the Shadows or the Shadow War.
Garibaldi is not the only one dealing with disreputable looking men, as Ivanova sits down with the smugglers and makes a deal to get black market supplies by promising maintenance assistance and fighter escorts. She also resorts to some threats, but eventually gets some cooperation.
Captain Jack leads our two into the Resistance base, but the welcome is less than warm as they are held at gun point and accused of bing a hit squad sent to kill the head of the resistance. The resistance leader they meet at first decides to try and do a confirmation on their identities before letting them in.
Sheridan and Delenn meet up in the gardens on Babylon 5 and Sheridan lets her know how his talk with Garibaldi went. She is philosophical about it, citing differing paths before moving on to talking to him about another Minbari ritual. Sheridan is exasperated at yet another one, and Delenn even mentions that there are about fifty more rituals. Sheridan relents and Delenn lets him know that this ritual is all about finding each other’s “centers of pleasure”, which perks the Captain up.
Back on Mars, Marcus and Franklin are sweating things out, literally, in the sweltering tunnels. The resistance soldiers come back angry, claiming that the ID’s and DNA dont match. The real leader of the resistance Number One comes out and Captain Jack pulls a gun and tries to kill her. Marcus steals a gun and shoots a spider like creature off of his shoulder and he flees into the tunnel. Franklin examines the creature, and concludes that it may well have been controlling Jack’s actions. Jack turns up on a commuter train, and the head of the resistance tries to talk him down. Jack talks about getting implanted in the middle of the night and also lets them know that what they killed was only a part of it, and that they always grow back. The Keeper starts to try to take over and Jack kills himself with a grenade before it happens.
Sheridan has another unhelpful meeting with Garibaldi that ends in fisticuffs and then he makes it to Delenn’s quarters where he finds her waiting along with half a dozen other Minbari and Lennier. They will apparently all be listening in from the next room as chaperones to ensure that things only go as far as third base.
Garibaldi punching Sheridan gets him another meeting with his shady contacts, and Garibaldi seems to genuinely believe that Sheridan has some kind of cult of personality that is warping him, and everything is still couched in terms of helping a mentally unwell friend and not betraying someone.
Racing Mars is a plot mover, moving along Garibaldi, the resistance, and even Sheridan and Delenn’s engagement. We are going to get several of these episodes in a row that are designed to push us towards resolving the biggest conflict left on the table: the long simmering Earth Civil War. Next week we get more movement toward that, as well as the introduction of more troubling issues with Minbar in “Lines of Communication”.
Where do I know them from?
- Clayton Landey as Number Two, is in tons of TV but I remember him best as a character in the most scarring horror movie of my youth The Blob. I also adore his line to Marcus about having the wrong accent to call himself a “ranger”.
- Marjorie Monaghan as Number One, has not worked much in the last twenty years. She mostly moved around in bit parts on TV, as well as being a regular character on the tv show Space Rangers.
- Mark Schnieder as Wade, is another one that pops up all over the place, but the only thing I can say I saw him in was playing half of an arguing couple in Ghostbusters II.
- Donovan Scott as Captain Jack, is probably the “biggest” name of the guests, having had roles in Police Academy and Back to the Future III. More recently he also played Santa Claus in Mall, in Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The Good
- We are starting to branch out again, and show that it is not just Babylon 5 heroically standing against Earth.
- I enjoy Franklin and Marcus as a pairing, and I think JMS realized this as a good match.
The Bad
- The Garibaldi stuff as always feels underbaked, and Garibaldi comes across here as just being a huge asshole for no real reason.
Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)
- The Minbari get to show off a bit of a freaky side when it comes to sexuality, and Sheridan manages to roll with it. Though I dont think it was fair of Delenn to compare an engagement ring with all the Minbari stuff.
- Contact made with the Mars resistance, as we will see at the end of the season their support is vital to finishing the war. An example of Babylon 5 showing off how smart Sheridan is by having him be about ten episodes ahead of the audience in his planning.
- After almost having her engagement derailed by tradition and ritual, Delenn seems pretty happy to dive back into those things, another sign of how strongly Minbari feel about them.
- Garibaldi is going to be set up with his disreputable men. Another thing that bothers me about this plot is that it is shown as a diabolical plan of Bester’s but it relies completely on dumb luck to work.
- I mentioned it above but I do like that Franklin’s irritation is not gay panic, but more that Marcus is just being annoying. I could easily see Ivanova having the same reaction at the same Marcus behavior if it had been her instead of the doctor.
- I also love Garibaldi’s quick line of dialogue that suggests that not only is the pope a woman, but that it is not a big deal that she is.