Babylon 5 Season 1, Episode 21. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, directed by Lorraine Senna Ferrara.

Primary Plot: A convicted killer aboard B5 is set to be mindwiped, after a preliminary scan by Talia Winters.

Secondary Plot: Ivanova finds that Dr. Franklin has been running an unauthorized free clinic in Downbelow, and Franklin begins to investgate a woman using a dangerous alien healing device.

Tertiary Plot: Londo shows Lennier the dark side of B5.

Commentary: In a traditional TV show, after Franklin confiscates the healing device it'd never be seen again. Here, it's incorporated into a major plot point just a few episodes down the line (in Revelations). It's also seen again much later, in Season 4's Endgame.

The stuff about mind-wiping is very important down the line, as it introduces the same kind of thing that happens to Garibaldi in Season 4.

Also, the scenes with Londo and Lennier are very funny. Remember kids, tentacles = humor.

The name of the episode is drawn from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare:

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. . . .
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. (IV,i)



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