Yippee a whole episode about people having to deal with situations where it is clear that their emotions are compromising their own good judgment but everyone has to muddle through. Another in our latest line of “day in the life” episodes that juggle plots this one puts us back on Mr. Garibaldi primarily, but leaves enough time to check in on a few other things as well.
We get a sweet moment to start us off, with Garibaldi using his PI skills to reunite a father and daughter that got separated during an evacuation. Garibaldi even cuts their bill down to ⅓ of his normal fees, the old softie. Wade also ducks into to look menacing before confining in a compatriot that they plan to give him a test mission that he will either complete or die trying.
Sheridan calls Zack into his office and tasks him with collecting Garibaldi’s gun, link and identicard. Zack is hesitant believing that he will be coming back soon, but acquiesces once Sheridan makes it clear that it is an order and that he wants it done right away.
Elsewhere Franklin checks in with Ivanova and the “Voice of the Resistance” and she admits that everything is set up except for the power necessary to boost the signal through hyperspace and back into Earth controlled space. Franklin casually suggests using the machine on Epsilon 3, and Ivanova is irritated that she did not think of it herself.
Zack sheepishly asks Garibaldi for his issued items, and the chief happily hands over his identicard and link, but refuses to turn over his gun. Zack to his credit is firm with his old boss and secures the gun as well, even going as far as to request Garibaldi’s backup gun as well. Garibaldi leaves but not before making Zack feel guilty for doing his job. Later on in Garibaldi’s quarters Wade interrupts his dinner to offer him a job as a bodyguard and to sneak someone past security. Still raw from his encounter with Zack he jumps at the chance of subverting his own security forces.
Ivanova hops a shuttle down to the planet and gets a shock when she is met by none other than Zathras. Turns out there are ten brothers named Zathras, and they claim that each name is pronounced slightly differently. Ivanova quickly goes from shock to irritation before getting to the business at hand and Zathras agrees to help her.
Shocks abound for our characters as Garibaldi discovers that the mysterious contact that he has to smuggle through security is his ex-wife Lise. She is now married to his mysterious employer which he then figures out his William Edgars one of the richest men in the Earth Alliance.
Sheridan pulls Londo and G’Kar into a meeting to discuss the raids that are occurring on most borders. He lets them know that he intends to use the Rangers to patrol the border regions to fight raiders and protect civilians. Both Londo and G’Kar point out that most worlds will not want the Rangers massing on their borders, and he convinces them that if they both can agree to let them patrol the Narn-Centauri border that it will set a good example.
Zack figures out eventually that Garibaldi has his backup card, and he angrily cancels all of Garibaldi’s access. Garibaldi, Wade and Lise meet with someone at a bar in down below, where they receive a cure for a possible virus that could harm telepaths. As they discuss it some tough looking strangers come into the bar and attempt to kill Lise. The killers chase them to a dead end now that Garibaldi cannot override secure doors and they flee into the ducts. One of the killers pops his head up and looks at Garibaldi and then just leaves. Garibaldi calls the the others back and then directs them to follow him to Docking Bay 3, asking them to repeat it in their heads as they go in case they get separated. They eventually pop out in a crowded corridor and Garibaldi lets them in on his theory that the assassins were telepaths.
Back in Bay 3 station security gets the drop on the telepath gunmen, who both promptly kill themselves with poison filled false teeth. Sheridan is furious with the whole situation, but Garibaldi is unimpressed, insisting that he really didnt break any meaningful laws. Later on he gets contacted by Mr. Edgars directly, who wants to put him on retainer and eventually move him to Mars.
The episode ends with Ivanova sending out her first broadcast, ending things on a hopeful note.
Overall nothing to momentous really happens other than Garibaldi gets pulled along on his arc, and it has started to intersect more with telepaths, which we as the audience know were the ones that set him on this path in the first place. Next week we hop back over to the goings on in Minbar with “Rumors, Bargains, and Lies”.
Where do I know them from?
- Denise Gentile as Lise appeared in season 1 and is back now. She hopped around TV for a while, though I cant say I recall seeing her in anything else.
- Charles Walker as Ben is another actor that bounces around TV a lot, but I recall seeing him as a minister or priest in Community.
The Good
- Sheridan is beginning to plant the seeds for something else besides his campaign for Earth. It is fun to see a character working different angles like this.
The Bad
- I have never been a fan of Garibaldi and Lise’s melodrama, as I dont think either actor is really up to the challenge of selling it.
Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)
- Sheridan and Zack both make angry decisions in their treatment of Garibaldi, even though both are procedurally correct. It is kind of funny to see essentially rebels being sticklers for the regulations.
- Sheridan is hoping to force some cooperation between the Narn and Centauri and find a new role for the Rangers. I like that he points out that normally their job would be to keep an eye out for the Shadows, but now they are in need of a new mission.
- Ivanova begins her broadcasts, hoping to fight back against Earth’s misinformation. Ivanova’s moral clarity really help her sell her messages.
- Turns out that Edgars Industries has been carefully studying telepaths and has found out that they may have a predisposition genetically to a certain illness, and have now manufactured a cure. Surely that is all there is to it.