I tend to think more highly of this episode compared to the previous one, as it is full of forward movement and big events, but at the end of the day it is another basic plot advancement episode.  What sets it apart is the focus being on more than just Garibaldi, and some really great performance choices. It also has some big plot events which make it more memorable. 

Things get started off with an Ivanova voice over and an action scene.  Several Earth destroyers are fighting Sheridan’s fleet near some unnamed asteroids.  Sheridan is mystified about why the Earth ships are fighting to the end against them, instead of simply surrendering.  We also get to check in on Lyta and Dr. Franklin as well as Garibaldi.  His plan was successful, and the government managed to grab Sheridan’s father.  Despite his recent fights with Sheridan Garibaldi is feeling guilty enough about his actions to directly compare himself to Judas.  An interesting comparison as one of his main complaints about the new Sheridan was his supposed messianic attitude. 

Upon return from the credits we jump back to Sheridan and his fight.  He makes an appeal directly to the enemy fleet, and one of the captains responds with a conspiracy theory they have been told that Sheridan is killing surrendering crews and replacing them with Minbari.  Mackie cuts in to call out the stupidity and assure them that they will not be killed, defusing the situation and causing the ships to finally surrender.  This victory is interrupted by the arrival of the Agamemnon Sheridan’s old ship which requests to join the fleet and boosts Sheridan’s spirits.

Back on Mars Franklin and Lyta arrive at the resistance, and the reception is chilly toward Lyta.  Number One’s mood is not improved when she finds out about the frozen telepaths that Franklin brought with him.  The chilly reception carries over to dinner and Lyta reveals that the Psi-Corps are sending out so-called Bloodhound units to do invasive scans of civilians to try and root out the resistance. These scans can seriously damage people.   She also tells Franklin a story about her time as an intern with the Psi-Cops where they hunted down a serial killer that was targeting telepaths.  Once they found him they implanted a permanent waking nightmare in the man’s head.  

On the Agamemnon Sheridan gets a tour from his old friend Captain James, but the reunion is spoiled when Garibaldi reaches out to let Sheridan know that his father has been captured. He offers to put Sheridan in contact with some people in Mars that can help him but warns that he must come alone. Later Sheridan lets Ivanova know the situation and he insists on going despite her warnings.  He also tells her that she is to leave the station and come to the fleet to take over in his absence.  WIth that set he leaves for Mars.

Sheridan slinks into a seedy looking bar to meet up with Garibaldi.  Michael goes through the motions of discussing the situation before he slaps a tranquilizer patch on the captain’s hand.  Sheridan tries to escape and ends up taking a beating from a team of thugs that have accompanied Garibaldi.  The whole fight sequence is scored and shot to give it a dream-like quality and it is pretty successful. 

Garibaldi meets with Wade and Edgars and demands the truth.  Edgars dismisses Clark as a temporary problem, and points to the telepaths as the real danger.  He opens a hidden wall safe and shows off the drug that Garibaldi had smuggled. The cure for a telepath virus they have also developed.  A virus that is fatal, contagious and does not spread to regular humans.  Telepaths will need regular injections of the drug to fight off the virus or they will die, giving normal humans leverage against the telepaths. Garibaldi to his credit quickly points out that this would cause telepaths to essentially become a slave-race.  With that said he claims to agree with Wade and Edgars.  Edgars heads off to bed, but not before one of my favorite line readings of the season.  I dont know if it was written that way or it was an acting choice but the way Edgars hesitates when he calls it the “Telepath Problem” was a great way to show that the character is completely aware of the parallels of what he is doing, he is just ignoring them because he feels that he is in the right.  

fter the big reveal, Garibaldi sits down in a chair and calmly pulls out one of his one teeth, shattering it to reveal some kind of beacon.  He then proceeds to a tube station, and boards one, only for Lise to run in after, revealing that she overheard the plan.  Garibaldi coldly instructs her to go home.  Once she leaves our favorite psi-cop Bester arrives and telepathically debriefs him.  The enormity of the plot seems to shock even Bester, but he is satisfied that he and his people will be able to stop the plot before it starts.  Bester then turns his attention to Garibaldi and lets him in on everything that has happened to him all season. The Shadows had commanded Garibaldi be captured and changed and Bester was able to manipulate the situation to his own advantage in opposition to the Shadows.  He even suspects that the telepath virus is Shadow tech.  After revealing all he leaves Garibaldi in the tube, reverted back to normal with all his memories intact. 

Ivanova is furious enough with Garibaldi to refuse all his attempts at contact and order him to be shot on sight at the Station.  She then vows to push on with the campaign to liberate Earth, defying the expectation that Sheridan’s capture would cause problems or slow things down.

Garibaldi desperately runs back to Edgar’s mansion trying to find Lise.  A dying Wade lets him know that Lise was not present when the telepaths came, and he runs off to attempt to find her.

Another episode building toward the climax, though a more satisfying one that introduces some higher stakes with Sheridan’s capture, and with Garibaldi being snapped back to normal but with the memories of all the terrible things he had done. Next week we get to one of my favorite episodes of the season, a very intense interrogation episode that feels more like a play “Intersections in Real Time”.

Where do I know them from?

• David Purdham as Captain James has had a steady TV career, and he performed some voice work for Red Dead Redemption II. 
• Ricco Ross as Captain Frank, has also had a long career, though for me his most notable role was as Private Frost in Aliens.  
• Harlan Ellison also makes a cameo appearance as the Psi-Cop that discusses reprogramming Garibaldi.

The Good

• Strong performances really help the whole Garibaldi plot cross the finish line, and it is also a relief to just be done with that diversion. 

The Bad

• The speed once again makes things feel a bit crowded.  

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• JMS was inspired to write and film the attack on Sheridan based on his own experience of time being distorted when he was being beaten by a gang in San Diego. 
• Ivanova’s cold feelings toward Garibaldi are interesting, and sadly because of cast shuffling in Season 5 and the compressed nature of the rest of Season 4 not something we really get to explore.
• The Psi-Corps are expanding their services to Clark by hunting down the resistance, leading to even more anti-telepath sentiment among the rest of the population. 
• I do find it darkly funny that a wealthy billionaire who brags about being in control of the Earth government is so offended that the telepaths might become a ruling class.  Edgars may have noticed the Nazi parallels in his own actions but that hypocrisy seems to have escaped him.  
• Given how much harsher and more militaristic Ivanova is compared to Sheridan, it may have not been the wisest idea to capture him while she is still in command of the fleet, something that we will see in action in two weeks.