Tag: Syndicated

When an impatient Narn ship captain panics, he causes a catastrophic head-on collision in the station’s spacedock, destroying his ship and killing some of the dockworkers. The spokesperson for the laborers refuses any of Sinclair’s proposed solutions to their protests, and the word comes through from Earth – since the workers are under a government contract, any strike they declare is illegal and can be remedied under the Rush Act, which empowers the government to force laborers to continue their work or face arrest. A labor negotiator is sent in from Earth in hopes that the situation can be brought to a satisfactory resolution, but he seems all too ready to have Garibaldi’s security forces carry out the Rush Act. Sinclair decides to take matters into his own hands with his own unique and risky interpretation of the Rush Act.

written by Kathryn M. Drennan
directed by Jim Johnston
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: Katy Boyer (Neeoma Connally), John Snyder (Orin Zento), Aki Aleong (Senator Hidoshi), Patricia Healy (Mary Ann Cramer), Michael McKenzie (Narn Captain), Jose Rey (Eduardo Delvientos), Ricardo Martinez (Worker #2), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1), Floyd Vaughn (Worker #1)

Original title: Backlash

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A spaceliner just arriving from Earth carries blasts from two of the crew’s respective pasts – Rabbi Yosef Koslov has come to Babylon 5 bearing a legacy from Ivanova’s late father, for whom she has yet to sit shiva; and discredited boxing champ Walker Smith, an old friend of Garibaldi’s, has come on board to enter the Mutai, a deadly one-on-one freestyle martial arts competition open only to selected alien races. Ivanova disappoints Koslov when she refuses to spend any time to pay last respects to her father, and Smith is frustrated when Garibaldi isn’t supportive in his controversial bid to become the first human being to fight in the Mutai. Some of the Mutai’s alien spectators aren’t thrilled with Smith’s challenge either – even to the point of plotting to kill him before he can disgrace the tournament.

written by Lawrence G. DiTillio
directed by John C. Flinn III
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: Greg McKinney (Walker Smith), Soon-Teck Oh (The Muta-Do), Don Stroud (Caliban), Theodore Bikel (Rabbi Koslov), James Jude Courtney (Gyor), Robert Phalen (Andrei Ivanov), Lenore Kasdorf (ISN Reporter), Michael McKenzie (Migo), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1)

Notes: Curiously enough, Ivanova can be seen early in the episode reading Working Without A Net, the [fictional] autobiography of series creative consultant Harlan Ellison.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Delenn and Lennier form a welcoming party for arriving human “true seeker” Aldous Gajic, whose announcement that he has come to inquire with the alien ambassadors the whereabouts of the Holy Grail draws incredulity from Sinclair; however, Gajic is allowed to make appointments with the alien representatives to aid in his search. Along the way, he encounters a young thief named Jinxo, a former construction worker who participated in all five Babylon stations’ creation. Jinxo is on the run from Deuce, who is running an extortion ring below decks apparently with the help of Ambassador Kosh. Despite the fact that Jinxo tried to steal from him on their first meeting, Gajic takes him under his wing and tries to instill a sense of worth in him. When Gajic runs afoul of Deuce and his thugs while trying to protect Jinxo, he may have to trust everything to his new protege’, for he will not complete his quest.

written by Christy Marx
directed by Richard Compton
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: David Warner (Aldous Gajic), William Sanderson (Deuce), Tom Booker (Jinxo), Jim Norton (Ombuds Wellington), Linda Lodge (Mirriam Runningdeer), Ardwight Chamberlain (Kosh), John Flinn (Mr. Flinn), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Two shady individuals arrives from Earth and begin asking questions about Sinclair and the station’s command staff. Though they start out under the pretense of being corporate investigators, Garibaldi discovers that they are an Earth Force Colonel and a Psi Corps telepath. Colonel Ben Zayn cuts to the chase very quickly – there is something wrong with B5’s command crew, and he wants all of them to submit to his companion’s mind scan so he can find out what. Ivanova objects strongly to the participation of a telepath, even to the point of submitting her resignation to Sinclair, who has found a legal loophole that prevents Ben Zayn from forcing anyone to do anything without a formal inquiry tantamount to court-martial. But when Sinclair calls this bluff, he finds out that Ben Zayn is willing to break all the rules when the colonel calls a formal inquiry on the entire command crew. His real mission – to put himself of command of B5, an assignment he was passed over for, and he has the help of a high-ranking memer of Psi Corps who Sinclair once defeated.

written by Lawrence G. DiTillio
directed by Jim Johnston
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: Gregory Martin (Colonel Ari Ben Zayn), Jeffrey Combs (Harriman Gray), Macaulay Bruton (Tragedy), Marie Chambers (Sofie Ivanova), David L. Crowley (Lou Welch), Frank Farmer (General Miller), Drew Letchworth (Comedy), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1), Curtis Laster (Jax), Max Daniels (Wallaby)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Seismic disturbances on the surface of Epsilon 3, the planet B5 orbits, draw the attention of the crew. A shuttle manned by a science team leaves the station to investigate, but it is thrown off course by a burst of intense energy from Epsilon 3’s surface. A further attempt to survey the planet activates an automatic defense system which fires heat-seeking missiles from an installation hidden beneath the planet’s surface. In the meantime, news reaches the station that the Mars Colony has been engulfed in a full-fledged political revolt, and a mysterious image is sighted aboard B5 pleading for help. Deciding that the recent attack constitutes a threat to station security, Sinclair and Ivanova are the next shuttle crew to try to land on Epsilon 3. Evading the defense systems, they dive below the surface and discover an underground installation filled with astounding technology on a scale never before seen. And at the center of this vast complex, the being from the mysterious image begs Sinclair and Ivanova for help – and warns that anyone near Epsilon 3 is in grave danger.

written by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Janet Greek
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: Louis Turene (Draal), Curt Lowens (Varn), Craig Barnett (Security Guard), Langdon Bensing (Derek Mobotabwe), Kelly Coyle (Earthforce Liaison), Kathryn Cressida (Bartender), Jim Ishida (Dr. Tasaki), Lenore Kasdorf (ISN Reporter), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1), Patty Toy (Psi Corps Rep), Jerry Weil (Technician)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

As Sinclair and Ivanova return to the station with the dying being from Epsilon 3, the Earth Alliance heavy cruiser Hyperion arrives, supposedly to provide backup should any of the alien governments object to an anticipated Earth takeover of the unimaginably powerful technology found on Epsilon 3. In the meantime, Draal, a friend of Delenn’s who has arrived to tell her he is probably never going to return to Minbar, somehow picks up on the presence of the alien Varn in the medlab. Varn reveals that Epsilon 3 is the hiding place of a level of technology which could be malevolently destructive in the wrong hands, and Varn is its guardian, but with his condition fading of natural causes, the planet’s defenses are becoming erratic and volatile. As if the uncooperative captain of the Hyperion isn’t enough for Sinclair to deal with, an alien ship containing beings similar to Varn arrives, demanding custody of Epsilon 3’s technology and theatening any who stand in the way. Draal wants to take Varn and go to Epsilon 3, and Delenn convinces Londo to fly them down to the surface in the midst of a pitch battle between the combined forces of B5 and the Hyperion and the alien attackers. Draal intends to take Varn’s place as the Guardian of Epsilon 3 – but who will lay claim to the planet and its arsenal?

written by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Janet Greek
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: Louis Turene (Draal), Ron Canada (Captain Ellis Pierce), Curt Lowens (Varn), Denise Gentile (Lise Hampton), Aki Aleong (Senator Hidoshi), Joshua Cox (Tech #2), Chip Heller (Rowdy #1), Lenore Kasdorf (ISN Reporter), Michelan Sisti (Takarn), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Tachyon disturbances in the area of space which was once occupied by Babylon 4 concern Sinclair, especially when a fighter pilot who investigates returns to the station dead. Then a message arrives from the long-gone station – a distress call from B4. A convoy of fighters and transports departs B5 to see if the ghostly station can be evacuated. It turns out that B4 and its crew have been lost in time for years, and the station, according to an unusual and evasive alien named Zathras, has been brought back to 2258 so its occupants can escape. Zathras also mentions The One, a space-suited figure who appears ghostlike in the corridors of B4, and tells of how the station has been lifted from its present to serve as a staging base in a great war of the future. Sinclair offers his help, but Zathras refuses his help. As time runs out and Babylon 4 is due to return to its future soon, Sinclair and Garibaldi are confronted with the impossible task of evacuating the station’s inhabitants.

written by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Jim Johnston
music by Christopher Franke

Guest Cast: Kent Broadhurst (Major Krantz), Tim Choate (Zathras), Denise Gentile (Lise Hampton), Frank Costa (B4 Guard), Mark Hendrickson (Grey Council #2), Doug E. McCoy (Alpha Seven), Tommy Rosales (Panicked Man), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1)

Notes: The “kidnapper” of B4 is revealed in season 3. Additionally, though it is unknown how or why, some manner of life form from the sector 14 region where B4 disappeared made its way to B5 at some point – intriguingly enough, possibly well before the events in Babylon Squared. This is revealed in Knives. And if you have seen this episode and just don’t get it, watch it back to back with both episodes of the third season’s War Without End.

LogBook entry by Earl Green