Babylon 5 Season 2, Episode 14. Written by
Peter David, directed by
Mike Vejar. Originally aired on
April 26, 1995.
Primary Plot: Sheridan kills a
Minbari in
self-defense and is accused of
murder.
Secondary Plot: Sheridan begins strange lessons with
Kosh.
Tertiary Plot: Centauri Prime sends a
replacement for
Vir.
Fourth Plot: Sheridan and
Ivanova try to stop the opening of a
B5 Emporium gift shop.
Commentary: Well, there's certainly a lot going on in this episode! I personally find the main plot very weak. It just doesn't seem to make much sense...as this is the only time in the entire B5 series that a
lawyer shows up to defend one of the main characters, the entire thing just seems really contrived and pointless.
But, thankfully, the three other plots all make up for it. The "
one moment of perfect beauty" that
Kosh shows
Sheridan could have easily been botched, but Mike Vejar shows his capability as a director by pulling off the intricate scene flawlessly.
As for the Londo/Vir scenes, JMS has said that during this time in the series, he found himself having to write a few scenes for Londo to show that he has a
heart because most of the time he's being portrayed as a total monster. This is one such place, as Londo risks his own job to prevent Vir from being fired.
The
gift shop stuff adds some much-needed humor into this otherwise somber episode. JMS wrote the "
spacing the bear" scene after someone gave that bear to him as a gift. Never send JMS anything cute.
"Honour and shame from no condition rise;
Act well your part, there all the honour lies."
-
Alexander Pope, "
An Essay on Man" Epistle IV, 1733-34
Return to the
Babylon 5 Episode Guide.