In many ways Babylon 5 can feel like a series that was written in the last few years.  The themes match up well to our current times and its serialized nature blends in well with the current TV landscape.  Then there are episodes like “Day of the Dead” which pull us up short and remind us that it was indeed filmed and written in the 1990’s.

This comes up right away with the arrival of the previously mentioned Reebo and Zooty, played by Penn and Teller.  While customs deals with them, Lochley discusses other matters with Sheridan and Garibaldi.  Apparently the Brakiri are having a religious festival, and as part of that they wish to temporarily purchase a section of the station.  A vendor working the hallway lets Londo know the specifics, telling him that on this night the dead will return to speak with the living.

Lennier arrives back on the station, stopping by Delenn’s quarters.  He has a break in his training and he showed up on the station to experience the Day of the Dead.  He asks somewhat stiffly about Sheridan, but then is excited to hear that Reebo and Zooty are on the station as well.

Sheridan hosts the comedians for a reception where they do a quick speech to the guests and the media.  Penn and Teller gamely go through some fairly cringey bits, before Lochley has to leave for a meeting with the Brakiri ambassador.  He explains to her that they must be allowed to purchase, not rent, a section of Babylon 5 so that it will be fully Brakiri for the holiday. They promise to return the station section once the holiday is over. Lochley does not really understand their request but decides to grant it.  G’Kar runs in to warn her against selling the territory.  Lochley plays her normal card of being a dismissive asshole and sends G’Kar on his way with barely a thought at all.

Elsewhere Garibaldi is being pestered by a Brakiri who is explaining the fact that they now own part of the station.  Garibaldi does not care at all, being more interested in his quarters which are on the Brakiri side of the station.

Sheridan excitedly brings in Reebo and Zooty to his quarters and introduces them to Delenn. Zooty makes his machine tell her a Minbari joke in her own language and she immediately begins laughing, which is a rare site for the normally very formal woman.  The dinner eventually gets interrupted by the Corwin, reporting that they have lost all contact with a section of the station.  Sheridan addresses the situation, and he returns to find that Reebo and Zooty are talking about retiring in order to do something more meaningful, but Delenn and Sheridan talk them out of it, explaining how important comedy and entertainment can be.

In Brakiri space on Babylon 5 we get to peek in on Garibaldi, Lochley, Lennier and Londo as they experience the Day of the Dead.  Each of them are going about their nightly rituals when the station begins to warp and change.  A red light covers everything and they become cut off from communications with Babylon 5.  Then the ghosts arrive.  Adira for Londo, Dodger for Garibaldi, Mr. Morden for Lennier, and Zoe for Lochley.  Though ghosts is not quite the right term as they all have physical form and appear to genuinely just be themselves, back from the dead for an evening.

For Londo he is all in on Adira, his one true love being back. Londo and Adira get right to making up for lost time, when Lochley comes on with a PSA about the situation Londo is not interested at all.  Adira points out that Lochley is right, and that the situation is temporary.

In Garibaldi’s case things get off to a rough start as he pulls a gun on Dodger who was making use of his shower. He is clearly unnerved but Dodger is honest with him, clarifying that she is dead, but explaining it away as the Day of the Dead.  Dodger and Garibaldi discuss their thoughts on the afterlife, both claiming to not believe in any kind of afterlife.  She also claims to not have any knowledge of the great beyond and they settle in for a friendly chat. They discuss Garibaldi’s love life before being interrupted by Lochley giving orders. He gets to work and successfully hacks into a communications net.

Lochley gets confronted by a sickly blonde woman named Zoe.  She appears nearly as accepting of the situation as Londo was.  They discuss the fact that they used to live together, before Zoe died of an overdose, with Lochley discovering the body.  Lochley fills Zoe in on her life so far, and then asks if the overdose was accidental or intentional.  Zoe deflects, claiming that she does not remember, then asking if Lochley has any drugs right now.  Later on Lochley begins trying to fix the situation, figuring out that they are cut off and tinkering with the situation.

Lennier is rightfully freaked out to be visited by Mr.Morden, as they did not have anything resembling a friendly relationship.  Morden seems more interested in reading the paper and having some coffee.  He chides Lennier for asking for wisdom from the dead, and then gives him some fortune cookie sounding bits about Delenn not loving him. Lennier tries to flee the situation but ends up almost dying, before Morden rescues him.  Morden decides to give him another tidbit, claiming that Lennier will one day betray the Rangers.

As day breaks the ghosts vanish, sometimes in mid-sentence.  The leavings are as traumatic as the arrivals, clearly disturbing all of those that were left behind, especially Zoe who admits that the drug overdose was suicide.

Sheridan debriefs Lochley, but everyone is at a complete loss to explain what happened.  Everyone is also reluctant to explain what it was they saw in the zone.  Lochley then delivers a message to Sheridan from Kosh, and it is his turn to be unnerved by the dead.  The only one that seems fully energized by the experience is Londo who has turned the corner on his Reebo and Zooty hate.

Overall not a bad one off episode, that is hampered by its author being Neil Gaiman and as always by Lochley.  Each of the others gets to have a meaningful encounter with a previous character, in some cases ones that have not been seen since the first season.  However her segment is another attempt to deepen the character that comes across to me as kind of trying to hard to make an uninteresting character interesting by giving her a tragic backstory.  Maybe that works well for fans of the character, but it feels a little like JMS going back to the the addiction well, one that he already spent time in with Franklin and Garibaldi.  Next week we get back to the forward moving plot with goings on at the Centauri Royal Court, and we do some more running out of the clock with Byron and his telepath gang in “The Kingdom of the Blind”

Where do I know them from?

• Penn and Teller are Penn and Teller, I dont know what else to say.
• Fabiana Udenio, as Adira, I best know as Alotta Fagina in the first Austin Powers movie.
• Bridget Flanery as Zoe, it looks as if she has had a minor television career, but nothing that I can recall seeing her in.
• Marie Marshall as Dodger, is another TV veteran, my favorite role of hers was Kelsey in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Starship Mine”.

The Good

• I enjoy that the Babylon 5 went for and got the guest actors back for all of the previously seen roles.  I also admire the choices for Londo and Garibaldi, though Lennier’s was a bit strange.

The Bad

• Neil Gaiman apparently cant write comedy very well and things feel quite hacky.
• Lochley’s plot suffers from a sense that Ivanova would have had a much more interesting visit if that character was still around.

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• Sheridan gets a message about what to do in the future, and he seems to understand it, even if Lochley does not.
• Lennier gets some very downer prophecies which come true in ways he will not expect.
• Reebo and Zooty have been mentioned before so bringing them in here was a fun bit of world building.  According to JMS they were not written with Penn and Teller in mind, but one thing lead to another and they agreed to do it.  Zooty’s machine was written in to accommodate Teller’s normal silence.