A19: A Voice in the Wilderness, Part 2
Airdates: 3 August
1994 (US), 12 September 1994 (UK)
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Janet Greek
Cast: Draal (Louis Turenne), Varn (Curt
Lowens), Captain Ellis Pierce (Ron Canada), Lisa Hampton (Denise
Gentile), Senator Hidoshi (Aki Aleong), Captain Takarn (Michelan
Sisti), Rowdy (Chip Heller), ISN Reporter (Lenore Kasdorf), Station
One (Marianne Robertson), Station Two (Joshua Cox)
Plot: The EAS
Hyperion, an Earthforce heavy cruiser, arrives at Babylon 5. Earthforce
has been monitoring events on Epsilon III and is keen to get its hands on the
alien technology contained on the planet. Captain Ellis Pierce begins recovery
operations, but the defensive fire is considerably stronger than that which
greeted the original trip to the planet and Pierce is forced to back down.
The alien recovered from the planet, Varn, recovers in
Medlab and tells Sinclair that he is the last guardian of the Great Machine, a
device built 500 years ago for unknown purposes. The Machine is powerful and
cannot fall into the hands of the unworthy, but Varn is dying and can no longer
maintain it. Now he has been removed, the Machine has gone into self-destruct
mode and will detonate in 48 hours, taking Epsilon III and Babylon 5 with it.
Draal, following a vision of Varn, meets with him and he and
Delenn agree to take him back to the planet. Londo also volunteers to accompany
them as a pilot. An alien ship comes through the jumpgate, commanded by Takarn,
apparently of the same race as Varn. When Takarn’s demands that the Machine be
turned over to him are refused, he opens fire on both Babylon 5 and the Hyperion.
As a furious space battle rages Delenn, Draal, Varn and Londo reach the Machine
and Draal volunteers to take custody of it. Varn agrees and hooks him up to the
system. Draal forces Sinclair and Pierce to abandon all claims to the planet
and blows up Takarn’s ship when the aliens refuse to heed his words. Pierce
reluctantly returns to Earth space, whilst Delenn and Londo head back to the
station (leaving Varn to die on the planet). Delenn later tells Garibaldi that
they avoided telling Sinclair about their plan because she knew he would
volunteer to take control of the Machine...and his destiny is greater.
Garibaldi makes contact with his ex, Lise, who is wounded
but not badly. He starts to wonder about getting back together again, but Lise
is now married and expecting a baby. They wish each other well and part company
again. The Mars Rebellion has finally been quashed and once again Earth is in
control of the planet.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
The Arc: The Great Machine’s purpose remains debatable,
although it (and Draal) crop up again in episodes B19 and C5.
Something of the Machine’s purpose is confirmed in episodes C16 and C17.
Delenn owes Londo a favour after he piloted the shuttle down
to the planet for her and Draal in this episode. He collects in episode C3.
Lise Hampton turns up again - in flashback - in the
following episode.
We find out in episode B6 that, immediately following
the Mars Rebellion, a Provisional Government is established on Mars to help
restabilise the planet and maintain a degree of autonomy from Earth (stopping
short of outright independence). Mars remains (relatively) stable until episode
C10.
Earthforce’s obsession with new technology was previously
touched on in episodes A4 and A9. It resurfaces in force in
episode C8, with pretty apocalyptic consequences.
The Hyperion-class cruiser is actually Earthforce’s second
most-formidable warship. We see the most powerful, the Omega-class destroyer,
in episodes B1, B11, C8 and C10, among others.
Background: The Hyperion is named for its
class, the Hyperion-class heavy cruiser. The Hyperion is an older class of
Earthforce vessel that served during the Earth-Minbari War and does not possess
rotating sections, so the crew spend their time on the ship weightless.
It does not possess gravity, but it does have a different
class of Starfury to those on Babylon 5 serving on board, namely a slightly
larger type of fighter with a rear-firing laser pod attached. This derivation
is known unofficially as the Heavy Starfury (numerous other sources name the
standard Starfuries we’re used to as “Aries”-class).
Takarn’s ship is a modular design which can split into four independent
units to engage in combat from different angles.
The Centauri once launched a raid on a planet that, on
original airing, sounded very much like “Balos XII”, possibly the same Balos
that is a member of the League of Non-aligned Worlds and suffered a horrendous
occupation by the Dilgar, as noted in episode A9. However, more careful listening and the use of subtitles
reveals that the planet is actually called “Frallis XII”. The reasons for the raid
remain unknown.
References: As
well as the obvious nods to Forbidden
Planet, the massive scale and strange, unknown events on Epsilon III are a
tip of the hat by Straczynski to H.P. Lovecraft.
The EAS Hyperion
is named after the message board where Straczynski discussed the series from
its earliest gestation to having a post-mortem on each episode as it aired.
When Takarn’s ship scans B5, numerous words flash up on the
screen which are SF references. One screen lists a number of notable SF AIs and
computer intelligences: ORAK is a misspelling of ORAC, from Blake’s 7; FORBIN is the computer from
1969 SF movie The Forbin Project; NOMAD
is the computer intelligence in the original Star Trek episode The
Changeling; and SKYNET, of course, is the hostile AI in the Terminator series of movies and
spin-off TV shows and video games.
On the same screens, the name MCAULIFFE appears, another
reference to astronaut Sharon Christa McAuliffe, killed in the Challenger disaster in 1986. There was
another reference to her in episode A12.
The phrase EYE AM KNOT A NUMBER AYE AMA FREE MAN also appears, a clear nod at The Prisoner.
More of a reverse reference, but it’s hard not to think of The Fellowship of the Ring’s overhead
shot of the CG Fellowship fleeing over the Bridge of Khazad-dûm when looking at
the overhead CG shot of the bridge over the Great Machine.
Unanswered Questions:
The Great Machine’s purpose is addressed in later episodes, but the mystery
of who created it and specifically why remains unknown.
Mistakes, Retcons and
Lamentations: Lise tells Garibaldi that she is planning to have her baby in
September. However, this seems anomalous. The last securely-dated episode, A13 took place on 3 August 2258. So,
either all six succeeding episodes also took place in August and Lise is having
her baby in September 2258 (i.e. in just a few days or weeks), or she is planning
to have her baby in September 2259 but hasn’t actually conceived (presumably
23rd Century fertility treatment being extremely reliable).
Later episodes (in Season 4) suggest that Lise’s daughter
was born well over a year before late 2261, so either explanation is possibly
correct.
Londo’s CG model is clearly not attached to the bridge in
the Great Machine when he’s walking over it.
The Hyperion locks
onto the alien cruiser and fires a devastating volley that fails to hit it
(although this may be down to alien countermeasures rather than being a
mistake).
According to Pierce, it will take nine days for the Hyperion to return to “Earthport”.
However, later episodes establish it is only a two-day jump from Earth to
Babylon 5. It’s possible that the Hyperion
took heavier damage than it first appeared and will take a while travelling in
normal space from the Io jump gate to Earth.
Behind the Scenes: Straczynski
wanted to write an episode that highlighted the idea of service, of someone
doing something selfless for another person. The Third Principle of Sentient
Life and Draal’s “sacrifice” are overt nods to this (Straczynski’s later
series, Sense8, is even more about
empathy, sacrifice and co-operation).
A member of the production crew gave Peter Jurasik a
California map. In between shots of the shuttle scenes, he’d pull the map out
and ask the other actors where they wanted to go.
Michael O’Hare improvised the scene where Sinclair gets his
arm caught in his jacked whilst trying to answer his link, as he felt it was a
good moment of humanity for the commander.
Janet Greek worked with Jerry Doyle on the scene where
Garibaldi tries to make a connection with Lise and it doesn’t pan out. Greek
wanted to see more genuine emotion from Garibaldi (who is either serious or
uses humour to hide his real emotions) and was also keen to help Doyle grow as
an actor. Doyle felt the scene helped humanise Garibaldi a lot more.
Familiar Faces: Michelan
Sisti, who plays Takarn, is a specialist in playing roles that involve masks or
heavy make-up. He played Michaelangelo in the two 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, the Ferengi Tol in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Bloodlines, and Charlene Sinclair in Dinosaurs. Since 1994 he has been a
regular Muppets voice artist and
continues in that role.
Ron Canada (Captain Pierce) is a veteran actor, debuting in
the 1980s in The Man Who Wasn’t There.
He played Judge Orrin Bell in the second season of Murder One and Mayor Lyle on The
Strain. He will be a recurring actor on Seth MacFarlane’s upcoming Star Trek spoof, The Orville, playing Admiral Tucker.
Denise Gentile (Lise Hampton) has had a sporadic screen
career, with Babylon 5 as her
highest-profile role. She has also appeared on Walker, Texas Ranger, Murder,
She Wrote, ER and Crossing Jordan.
Review: Like
the first part, this is a bit of a silly episode, but for all-out action fun
showcasing some (for the time) impressive CGI, it’s still reasonably
entertaining and Peter Jurasik relishes his heroic role. If there is a problem,
it’s that the whole Great Machine thing feels like an awkward plot element at
best (since it means the characters have to constantly now explain why B5 is in
danger when it has a super-powerful weapon right underneath it), especially
given later changes in the story arc that leave it as an unresolved element.
Still, a fun-but-dumb episode with an entertaining turn by guest star Louis
Turenne as Draal. ***½
Ivanova (on Pierce): “Worst case of testosterone poisoning I’ve
ever seen.”
Londo: “As a young and foolish Centauri, I swore
that I would die on my feet doing something noble and brave and futile.”
Londo (as he flies
through a storm of laser fire): “Who said
the good old days are gone, eh?” (him, frequently)
Londo (as his ship
plummets out of the sky): “If I were a
landing thruster, which one of these would I be?”
A20: Babylon Squared
Airdates: 10
August 1994 (US), 19 September 1994 (UK)
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Jim Johnston
Cast: Major Krantz (Kent Broadhurst), Zathras
(Tim Choate), Lise Hampton (Denise Gentile), B4 Guard (Frank
Costa), Grey Council Member (Mark Hendrickson), Alpha 7 Pilot (Douglas
E. McCoy), Panicked Man (Tommy Rosales), Station One (Marianne
Robertson)
Plot: Babylon
5 starts detecting an unusual energy emission from Sector 14, an area in the
same system as B5 but almost three hours away at sublight speeds. A Starfury,
Alpha 7, is despatched to investigate further. The pilot reports seeing a huge
flash of light but all contact is promptly lost. His ship returns to Babylon 5
on autopilot and the pilot appears to have aged to death. The only clue is “B4”,
scratched onto his belt buckle. It is confirmed that the unusual energy and
tachyon emissions are coming from the exact place where Babylon 4 disappeared
without trace four years ago. Shortly afterwards a distress call is picked up
from Babylon 4. Major Krantz, the officer in charge of construction, reports
that the station has been engulfed in some sort of strange energy emission.
Sinclair decides to take out two shuttles and four Starfuries to investigate
and see if Babylon 4 has really reappeared. He and Garibaldi set off, leaving
Ivanova in command of the station.
Delenn is summoned to a meeting of the Minbari Grey Council.
She rendezvouses with the Minbari flagship warcruiser and is conveyed to a
meeting with the Council. Ten cycles have passed since the death of Dukhat and
the period of mourning for his loss has been declared at an end. It is time for
the Grey Council to select a new leader and Delenn has been chosen. Delenn is
shocked and turns down the position, since she is needed on Babylon 5, for that
is what the prophecy has ordained. The prophecy is the reason the Minbari
stopped the war against Earth and it is the reason Delenn remains on Babylon 5,
despite the others’ claims that the prophecy will attend to itself. The other
members of the Council are angered at her decision, since no Minbari has ever
turned down the position of leader of the Council. Delenn knows she has made a
controversial decision, but stands by it. Before she leaves one of the other
religious Grey Council gives her a device known as a Triluminary. There are
three in total and she will need it for what she is planning.
Sinclair and Garibaldi discover that Babylon 4 has indeed
reappeared and begin organising a mass-evacuation. Bizarre things start
happening and Sinclair has a “flash-forward” into the future. He and Garibaldi
are on board Babylon 5 as the station is boarded by an unknown alien force. The
aliens burn through the hull and Garibaldi holds them off with a huge laser
cannon, having set the fusion reactor to overload. Sinclair snaps back to the
present and Major Krantz tells him they all keep seeing visions of both the
past and future. He reports that several anomalies took place before the
station vanished, including a blow-out of the sensors and malfunctions in the
time-track system. Then the station shifted in time. The other anomaly is that
an alien was found before the station disappeared. Sinclair confronts the
alien, whose name is Zathras. Zathras seems to recognise Sinclair, but then
dismisses him as ‘not the One’. Zathras says that Babylon 4 is being hijacked
to serve as a base of operations in a great war against the forces of darkness.
A humanoid figure in a blue spacesuit materialises outside in the corridor, but
appears to be in distress. Sinclair tries to touch it, but an energy discharge
blasts him across the corridor. In the confusion Zathras gives a device to the
figure, who vanishes. Zathras says the device was his time stabiliser, used to “anchor”
him in time.
Garibaldi has a flashback to when he left Mars and his
girlfriend, Lise Hampton (last seen in A19). Babylon 4 is beginning to
shift in time towards its final destination but the evacuation is not yet
complete. Sinclair and Garibaldi get on board the last shuttle as it departs,
but are forced to leave Zathras behind after he is pinned down by a falling
column. Sinclair’s shuttle departs and Babylon 4 vanishes again through time.
The blue figure, “The One”, rescues Zathras. The figure (or another just like
him) later removes his helmet and is revealed to be Sinclair, twenty years
older. He tells an unseen accomplice that he tried to warn them, but failed.
The unseen accomplice, who sounds exactly like Delenn, tells him she
understands.
The present Sinclair returns to Babylon 5 and tells Ivanova
that he relishes a good mystery. He suspects that Babylon 4 will turn up again
one day, and with it will come the answers.
The Arc: Babylon 4 didn’t just inexplicably vanish in
2254, it was actually stolen by an unknown faction from another time to serve
as a base of operations against an unknown opponent in a great war. The time
rift through which Babylon 4 vanished turns up again in episode B16 and
we see the “flipside” of events in this episode in C16-C17.
We later discover that Sinclair’s flash-forward to the fall
of Babylon 5 is linked to the Lady Ladira’s vision (which he was allowed to
share) in episode A13. This possible future is seen in more detail in
episode C17.
The Minbari stopped the war against Earth because of
prophecy and Delenn was assigned to Babylon 5 to make sure the prophecy was
correct (this is presumably linked to her keeping an eye on Sinclair). We find
out the exact circumstances about the surrender in B1 and learn more
about the prophecy in that episode, B17, C16-C17, D9 and TVM1.
We discover one of the purposes of the Triluminary in
episode A22. Episode A17 suggests it can also be used to
completely immobilise people.
The Minbari Grey Council reappear in B11, when Delenn
has to face the consequences of her actions in this episode and A22.
Lise Hampton vanishes from the plot for quite a long time,
but eventually turns up again in episode D12.
The unnamed chairperson of the Grey Council in this episode –
the religious caste member who gives Delenn the Triluminary – is almost
certainly Jenimer. DC2-4 confirm
that Jenimer is picked as the Grey Council leader in Delenn’s stead and NOV9 confirms he passes away (from
natural causes) a year or so into the role. This explains why the Grey Council
still doesn’t have a leader during the events of Season 4, three years after
this episode.
Garibaldi had only met Sinclair twice before going to
Babylon 5. We see this first meeting in comics DC5-8.
Background: A Minbari year is called a cycle. It is
equal to approximately 1.3 human years (10 cycles equal 13 human years). This
is based on Dukhat’s death taking place in July 2245 (as we learn in episode C11) and this episode taking place in
the latter part (probably between late October and early December) of 2258.
According to JMS, Babylons 1-4 all shared exactly the same
design (although TVM1 does somewhat
contradict this) and were all much larger than Babylon 5, with B4 weighing in
at almost twice the size (Zathras confirms that B4 was the “biggest of all the
Babylon stations”). The first three stations were destroyed in the early stages
of construction and the wreckage could be salvaged to help rebuild. When
Babylon 4 vanished, the construction effort had to begin again from scratch,
with a much-reduced budget and relying on co-funding from the other races. That
is why Babylon 5 is so much smaller than the other stations. Despite its
greater overall size Babylon 4’s forward command sections are identical to
Babylon 5’s and have the same layout. For security purposes Babylon 4 was built
in open space and would either be left there in orbit around Epsilon Eridani,
or maneuverered into orbit around Epsilon III later: B4, unlike B5, has large
engines allowing it to move if needed. Episodes C16-C17 reveal that the
station also has a rear-mounted docking bay (as well as the forward one
identical to B5’s).
Sinclair spent three years being taught by Jesuit priests.
At the moment B4 vanished, there were between 1,200 and
1,300 construction personnel still on board. This wasn’t everyone involved in
the effort, however, as episode A15
confirmed that many construction personnel had already left.
On Zathras’s world, it is the year 4993. Episodes C16-C17 suggest where this calendar
came from.
References: This
wasn’t entirely intentional, but the spacesuit worn by “The One” is actually a
Russian cosmonaut costume from the movie 2010:
The Year We Make Contact, based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke (one of J.
Michael Straczynski’s favourite SF novelists). Oddly, there would be a more
overt reference to 2010 in episode B1, with the Earthforce Omega-class
destroyers clearly based on the spacecraft Alexei
Leonov from that movie.
The ID code for Babylon 4 is Elvis Presley’s birthday, a tip
of the hat from one of the CG animators. Straczynski was irritated by this when
he found out.
The real-life legend of the Flying Dutchman is mentioned several times. According to legend,
the ship was trying to sail around the Cope of Good Hope and foundered in a storm.
In some versions of the legend, the boat is cursed to sail the seven seas
forever and never find its home port again.
Garibaldi’s last stand in the flash-forwards was a homage to
the “last man on the bridge” trope extremely common from war movies, as well as
Gandalf’s last stand on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm from The Lord of the Rings.
Unanswered Questions:
If the Minbari Grey Council chairman isn’t Jenimer, then who is he and what
happened to him?
What happened to Major Krantz and the other B4 personnel?
Did they have trouble adjusting back to life at home again?
Mistakes, Retcons and
Lamentations: Delenn receives the Triluminary in this episode, but it was
previously used in episode A17 to
help her followers steal Branmer’s body. This is because originally A17 was supposed to air after this
episode, but they were flipped because this episode had more visual effects
requirements.
On this episode’s original release, Garibaldi’s eyes can be
seen glowing red briefly during the flash-forwards combat scene. This is
because the animator doing the massive PPG minigun shots got bored and coloured
them in for a laugh. He forgot to delete the frame afterwards. This goof was
fixed for later repeats and the VHS and DVD releases.
Why did Alpha 7 scratch “B4” into his belt buckle rather
than use a voice recorder, radio B5 or type something into his console? This
seems unnecessarily dramatic and time-consuming.
At one point, Krantz says “Ship’s damaged,” rather than “Station’s
damaged.” But he is under a lot of stress.
When Zathras is looking for a way to escape, he is only
caught because he can’t run into the matte painting of the central corridor in
the back of the shot! This makes sense production-wise, but not from Zathras’s
point-of-view.
In episode A4
Garibaldi says that Sinclair was his friend a lot longer than his commanding
officer, but this episode and DC5-8
show this wasn’t really true.
Babylon 5 makes
an uncharacteristic Star Trek
mistake here, by showing the stars visibly moving outside the shuttle even
though it’s travelling far below the speed of light.
Given the low speed and fuel capacity of the shuttles and Starfuries,
“three hours away in normal space” is still going to be pretty close to Epsilon
III, and the planet should still be visible in the distance, but it isn’t.
Behind the Scenes: The
B4 sets (a cargo bay and one of the central corridors) were the traditional B5
ones with changed signage and a different lighting scheme.
The actor playing the Grey Council chairman – probably Jenimer
– is not credited. This was down to the actor’s choice, according to
Straczynski. The original plan was for him to return later on, but ultimately
he declined to do so.
Straczynski had to block out the “other half” of this
episode when he was writing this one, so when he got to the “other story” years
later it would make sense. Unfortunately, between the making of this episode
and the “other half” of the story, the story arc itself would radically change
and there would be major cast changes meaning that the two halves don’t hang
together entirely organically, although Straczynski gave it a hell of a shot.
Jerry Doyle had fun filming the scenes at the end of the
episode when B4 starts “going down”, but got a bit irate with how enthusiastically
the stage hands were throwing debris around, so started throwing stuff back at
them.
During the flash-forwards scene, Garibaldi was written as
just letting out a primal yell as he opens fire with his PPG minigun. During
shooting, Doyle and the director decided this wasn’t working so improvised some
tough guy lines, which came out sounding a bit like Aliens. Straczynski was not keen on this when it happened.
Director Joe Johnston had already seen the scripts for
episodes A13 and A22 and guessed that the station was
being invaded by the Shadows, so filmed some sequences showing disturbing
shadows being cast on the walls during the fight. Straczynski had these taken
out, because at this stage in the planning of the arc, that’s not what was
going on.
Ron Thornton was not entirely happy with how his design for
the B5 station turned out, feeling it was rushed due to the constantly changing
requirements and compressed pre-production time. He spent a lot more time on
Babylon 4 and was much happier with how it turned out.
Familiar Faces: Tim
Choate (Zathras) began his career in Hollywood in 1979. He appeared in numerous
films and TV shows (including Jake and
the Fatman, Highway to Heaven and
Cagney and Lacey) before getting the
role of Zathras on Babylon 5. He
impressed J. Michael Straczynski so much that Straczynski brought the character
(and his brothers!) back several times, and also cast him on Crusade. Tim Choate sadly passed away
in 2004 at the age of just 49.
Kent Broadhurst (Major Krantz) had a similar career
trajectory, beginning his career in TV shows in the early 1980s. He also worked
extensively in theatre and worked as a playwright. His most recent TV credit
was in 2011 on Person of Interest.
Review: An
extremely good episode, one of the best of the first season. It has some of
Straczynski’s better gags, Babylon 4 is a tremendous piece of CGI design and
the tension and mystery is very well-handled. Tim Choate also gives a superb,
bizarre performance as Zathras. As usual, some production issues (the painfully
obvious re-use of existing sets) and occasional ripe lines of dialogue let the
side down, but this is really the first episode of Babylon 5 to show the true possibilities of “holographic”
storytelling, with a story that works well by itself and even better when
rewatched with knowledge of later events. ****
Delenn (about
humans): “They are better than they
think, and nobler than they know.”
Zathras: “You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras
die. Either way, it is bad for Zathras.”
Zathras (to
Sinclair): “You have a destiny.”
Sinclair (from the
future): “I tried to warn them but it all
happened, just the way I remember it.”
Jenimer (probably): “We are surrounded by signs and portents and
I feel a darkness pressing at our back.”
Thank you for reading The Wertzone. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods, which will also get you exclusive content weeks before it goes live on my blogs. The Cities of Fantasy series is debuting on my Patreon feed and you can read it there one month before being published on the Wertzone.
Hmm... this is speculative, but there's a chance that Major Krantz in "Babylon Squared" is a reference to Gene Kranz (no "t"), the NASA flight director, who was played by Ed Harris in Apollo 13. He is a supervising engineer-type.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Kranz