Babylon 5 The Complete Fourth Season: No Surrender, No Retreat

So there you have it, Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season: No Surrender, No Retreat. It was a terrific season as a whole and arguably the best to date. There were so many terrific moments along the way from the G'Kar/ Londo scenes in the first half to critical moments from Ivanova and Sheridan in the second half. Season Two and Season Three had exceptional episodes that rank among my favorites, but Season Four had a consistency to it that felt like a freight train running. Straczynski definitely had his groove on and there was no stopping its energy despite having to take a few shortcuts along the way in the event it might be the last season.

Understandably it also boasted the best special effects for the series to date and some sequences looked stunning for the period. Computer animation had clearly gained a foothold and was less blocky and digitized-looking in this fourth outing when compared to that dodgy Season One.
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The DVD box set has a number of special features. Most notably you will recieve an all-new Introduction by series creator J. Michael Straczynski, Audio Commentary on three episodes plus access data and personnel files as well as the Universe of Babylon 5. There is also a Gag Reel and the No Surrender, No Retreat DVD Suite. The one I enjoyed the most was a featurette called Celestial Sounds. It is a terrific feature focusing on the scoring with composer Christopher Franke. He is indubitably the unsung hero behind the scenes of each episode. His music enhances the performance, the emotions and it does its job because it's simply not obvious and it's not meant to be. You feel a sequence's power because the music complements the drama on screen. Some of the interesting points for me was the fact Babylon 5 included no 'pre-canned' music. Every episode received its own scoring. That's really amazing. Each show included roughly 25 minutes of original music and Franke composed it specifically for each moment along the way. It is an impressive undertaking and a significant milestone in his career to be sure. It's a real nice piece which includes input on Franke's work from writer/ director J. Michael Straczynski, John Copeland and Douglas Netter.

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Having four in the bag it's hard to argue for any one season being stronger than Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season: No Surrender, No Retreat. Season Four despite several strong marks from Season Two and Season Three, might be the most consistent in quality. A solid science fiction drama to date.

B5 S4 Ep22: The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars

Bruce Boxleitner: Who knew this young little boy would someday be one of the key faces to lead Babylon 5, save the galaxy and aid in creating one of the top ten greatest science fiction sagas ever made?

It's a bit like the Love Boat with the rice and greetings at the beginning here with all of the happy couples. A steady stream of joy to be sure.

The Happy Couple.

It's a welcome home party for Delenn and Sheridan on Babylon 5. G'Kar and Londo follow their entry. Apparently marriages are quite sober and reflective on Centauri. G'Kar and Londo are turning into a bit of a comedic friendship through their differences. Could you ever imagine these two together like this?
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The Other Happy Couple.

Babylon 5 has been the last best chance/hope for peace indeed. Here is the season finale of Babylon 5, Season Four, Episode 22, The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars. Stephen Furst returns for his second stint as director. Right away I'm less than excited, optimistic, what have you and expecting alot of static shots.
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Ah yes, The Real Happy Couple. A flashback to happier times for John and Anna [a.k.a. Bruce and Melissa] would have been nice during the series pre-Z'Ha'Dum. It would have given their relationship a little more depth. We certainly weren't given the chance to care about her as much as we could have. As Boxleitner's wife Gilbert might have been available. I cared for her because I loved Laura Ingalls.

ISN reports on Sheridan's childhood and the various stages of his life and career. I loved the use of Bruce Boxleitner and Melissa Gilbert's wedding photo. It's convenient they married for real. It was the perfect union in real life, if not for the story here, apparently. A panel of political experts give their personal commentaries on the hero that is Sheridan, worthy or not. Watching the ANALysts fire back and forth at each other was a bit like watching one of today's news programs. One speechwriter is rabid in his criticism of Sheridan and it's no surprise he was a former loyalist and speech writer for the late President Clark. No agenda there. Most seem to agree John Sheridan has many hurtles to overcome and much to prove going forward. But you know what they say about opinions and every analyst has one.

A temporal rift interrupts transmissions of historical data taking us 100 years into the future. Date: 2 January 2362. The entire episode appears to be driven by the idea someone is accessing the historical database over a vast time period. There has been 100 years of peace and up next we have another panel of three experts to analyze. Oh boy, bend over, here it comes again. Delenn and Sheridan are placed under the microscope and analysts are not kind concerning their accomplisments. They are given little credit or recognition as the instruments to achieving lasting peace. A University professor from Tokyo also hints to an incident involving their son. It would appear they do have a son. In the span of time since the peace began Sheridan apparently created a "colony" of telepaths on Babylon 5 that would eventually turn against him. The professor believes that incident may have contributed to the Telepath War. The moderator exhibits footage from that period.

The footage extract is from 2262 and Garibaldi appears battered and bloodied and surrounded by a group of telepaths. Sheridan appears on an info channel requiring surrender. Garibaldi would meet his fate and be murdered on that date in 2262. Things are happening fast with the facts in this one and I'm trying to keep up the very best that I can.

The conversation continues as the professors argue the myth of Sheridan's myth since his death in 2182. Though it believed he died on Minbar they give the impression he fabricated another story to fortify his legend. Pundits really are a sick and screwed up bunch. They're almost as bad as politicians. Further, Delenn is still alive in 2262, but the commentators don't believe it to be true. Minbari live roughly 120 years and if she were alive in 2262 that would put her in the range of roughly 140 years. I think Osama Bin Ladin may be 120 years old. The two panelists do believe the Alliance was a force for good despite trashing Sheridan and Delenn's legacy. Nothing like playing the fence and being non-committal. I guess the Alliance just ran itself. Some journalists and some professors just suck! They can be so arrogant, pompous, elitist and completely agenda-driven with no standards of professionalism. An alarm sounds indicating a security breach.

Delenn enters the discussion room aged and gently walking with a walking stick, because walking sticks help you with walking. The make-up department really serves up a convincingly old Delenn. She walks in and tells them John Sheridan "was a good and kind and decent man." She's the best! Stand by your man! They are astonished she has spoken so few words, made such a long journey but is prepared to leave in short. "You came all this way just to say that?" "You came just as far to say less," she delivers. She is a truth teller. She points out how these people do not want the truth. They are self-satisfied in maligning a true hero. They have no comprehension of conviction and strength of belief. This is a great moment when Delenn looks on as if to say, "Shut your pie hole! Before I rip your balls off, chew 'em and spit 'em on your backside you fat bastard! You should be ashamed of yourself. You are a lowly, vile creature!" Okay perhaps Delenn wouldn't be thinking exactly those words, but she looked mighty displeased with those people. Yes I think that about sums up the moment. They cannot even look her in the eyes they are such despicable, clueless, agenda-driven, spineless, glory hounds.

Could someone send her back in time to speak with today's news people. Perhaps she could save them from themselves too and help them understand what the word 'news' means. Wouldn't it be nice to get honest news? Wouldn't it be nice to get information that didn't need to be filtered through our own bullshit scanners? It would be wouldn't it? Unortunately we no longer have news people, but people with political agendas, no class and no integrity for presenting the truth.

No sooner does the flash forward end and a new flash forward continues jumping ahead to 2 January 2762. We are quickly reminded of how truth is conveniently substituted with fiction in our history books. It would appear Babylon 5 was destroyed in 2282. I had my calculator handy to take care of all my mathematical calculations. A new government is rearranging the past to better influence the implementation of current Earth policy and agendas. It really, really is an ugly business. I have come to the conclusion in my current status to distrust Democrats and Republicans from ever doing the right thing. I truly feel we are alone out there. You cannot depend on the government to make your life better. Tax cheats. Liars. Alcohol abusers. These are elected leaders and they couldn't lead their way out of a paper bag though clearly they know what's best for you. A truly despicable bunch. Using holographic figures dfhfhffj [argh! that was The One To Be Pitied being a pain- leave the keyboard alone!]. Let try that again, using holographic figures of Sheridan, Delenn, Garibaldi and Franklin the government representative begins recreating the past into a production we call propaganda. I see alot of it today. The man is deconstructing the truth of our now fallen heroes or stars.

The evil lengths that men will go to. The government knows no bounds. Franklin is reconstructed next and comes off like a mad doctor experimenting on children. With all of the holograms in standby mode Garibaldi is the only one left talking the government rep's ear off. He is doing his damn near best to dissuade him from his actions. The man, Daniel, confides in hologram Garibaldi that war is being prepared to strike at the outer world colonies. The current Earth government of 2762 is planning to strike civilian population centers to demoralize the enemy. Casualties will range in the millions. Holographic Garibaldi hacks the system while delaying Daniel and broadcasts their conversation to the enemy on all available channels.

Jumping forward we arrive at 2 January 3262. Brother Michael visits Brother Alwyn. The two men are tasked with reconstructing the past and discovering truth. It would appear the technological advancements once so readily available and easily accessible have been laid waste by war. It's an interesting take on one possible path to history this entry. Brother Michael has read that one day The Rangers will return to rebuild the "cradle of Sheridan." It's like a postscript to religious text and questions faith without the true knowledge of fact. It's Biblical in approach here. It certainly reflects Christian faith and the work of Jesus and whether or not people believe or not. It questions one's faith. There does appear to be a belief in Valen. Brother Alwyn talks of rebuilding the Earth someday as he looks upon a Ranger uniform. It would seem Alwyn is a Ranger. They come in all shapes and sizes. It's like Friar Tuck the Ranger. It was an interesting segment and that was my take on it.

It looks a little like Twiki from Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.

Great ending. So who was the man with the goatee? He merged with a rather cool kind of Vorlon-type encounter suit that looked like the Twiki lovechild and then departed for the celebrations. Drakh? Vorlon? Technomage? Evolved Human? We're certainly left with some bit of question at this season's conclusion. Perhaps someone out there knows. When did Straczynski and friends learn they would be renewed for a Season Five? I liked Straczynski's final words of reflection through Delenn. Sheridan wonders if they or what they achieved would be remembered in one hundred or even one thousand years.

Delenn: "It doesn't matter. We did what we did because it was right. Not to be remembered. History will attend to itself. It always does." Exactly. Do the right thing and everything else falls into place. The same rule applies to hobbies. You should do things or collect things because you enjoy doing so not because you think they'll be valuable. That never works.
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There is certainly a lot of exposition in this installment but it's well written and certainly incredibly thoughtful despite the dropoff in entertainment factor for me from the last four to five entries. Looking at the big picture, J. Michael Straczynski literally takes a peek at how the actions of a heroic few are deconstructed through the magnifying lens of people without all of the facts, but with plenty of hypotheticals and personal biases. The distance of history keeps them safe in their glasshouses. Straczynski lends us a parable of just how professors and media pundits can quickly change perceptions of history through personal deconstruction. The end result is the destruction of truth and it happens all the time. I bet you didn't know the holocaust never happened. Well it didn't, at least to some people out there and they're working hard at changing those facts with the passage of time. Just ask some of the Pope's bishop buddies or the Iranian President and his cohorts. Those planes that flew into the World Trade Center's twin towers- just an illusion. Everyone knows it was an inside job by the US government. Those planes weren't real. They're just part of your overactive TV imaginations, studio trickery of course. Pay no attention to the fellow behind the curtain holding the lever to the truth. It's shameful but there are plenty of seriously disturbed people out there, and frighteningly some who aren't, always willing to alter the facts and the truth. We do love deconstructing history. Please excuse my Christian Bale-like rant. Straczynski paints that kind of miscarriage of truth and it's wonderful to see him insert an aged Delenn in there to call all the weenies on it.
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Still, as interesting and thought-provoking a final exercise as it was it's not the best. A pensive, good end to a solid season that finished very strong. There's a bit of happy and a bit of sad in classic Babylon 5 fashion here. Long-running character arcs [Garibaldi and Sheridan in particular] and questions [Delenn's past] were resolved over the course of a whole season. Garibaldi is back and getting laid again. Sheridan is feeling good and in the driver's seat, not to mention happily married to Delenn. G'Kar and Londo have become friends with potential. And thankfully Earth isn't in flames. On the other hand, Marcus is dead and Ivanova is lost and leaving us. So, not exactly your tailor made happy-ending, but plenty of resolution in the event a fifth season did not happen. Plenty of questions that could be left to the imagination if it ended here, but with the renewal of a fifth plenty to explore as well. Babylon 5 continues to defy expectations. My we've come a long way indeed.
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Straczynski dedicated the episode "To all the people who predicted that the Babylon Project would fail in its mission. Faith manages." It must have been very satisfying to complete an epic story after four hard fought years after all. Straczynski was determined to make this thing happen and make it happen he did. Good for him. Well done.

Coming soon, Season Five and life after Ivanova and Marcus.
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The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars: B-

B5 S4 Ep21: Rising Star

What becomes of the broken-hearted? Is this the saddest sad luck girl ya ever did see? She just breaks your heart all over again and she's alive no less. This show is killing us!

It's a testament to this amazing series that I have received very little of my G'Kar and Londo fix over the last several episodes and yet the episodes themselves rank as some of my favorites in the entire series. I wouldn't trade some of the wonderful entries that have focused on G'Kar and Londo for anything, but these last few have been simply amazing despite their lack of involvement and input.

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NOT Casper The Friendly Ghost! Rather Clark The Corpse.

How quickly the tide has turned. ISN reports conspirators involved in Clark's "reign of terror" will be brought to justice. Graphic images of Clark with a sheet over his body and a sign indicating "Traitor to Earth!" is posted around his neck. That's tasteful. I mean, you'd think the Justice Department who is in his office dusting the joint might have removed the sign before the media got in there. WTF? I mean, that's a bit strange. Granted, if it was placed there by an angry mob and it's part of the crime scene perhaps not. But then again, what the heck are the media doing in there trampling all over the crime scene?
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Susan is just a mess. It's a very real scene with Dr. Franklin and could be on of her finest acting moments on the series to date.

Franklin races across space to stop Marcus from paying the ultimate price to bring back Ivanova. Don't tell Ivanova that one. Here we are back at Babylon 5 station with Season Four, Episode 21, Rising Star [formerly titled Marcus Gone, Ivanova Lost & Earth Is Saved From Going Straight To Hell]. By God, Ivanova is alive and well and extremely upset, curled up in a near fetal ball and in tears over what Marcus has done for her paying the ultimate price for her to live. Oddly enough, it's good to see her up and about and sort of unnerving at the same time. Boy, she's a mess the poor thing. Ivanova tells Franklin how she's always had trouble with relationships always ending in disappointment. Marcus just had a tough time keeping the other half of his relationships alive. He does it here though. Here's a really solid performance by a sobbing Ivanova.

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That is yet another moving moment among many moving moments along the way. I couldn't help but think of all of Marcus' kind gestures to Ivanova along the way, especially those red roses. What a tragedy to have to lose one of Babylon 5's finest to keep the other breathing. There is certainly great sadness in my heart for Ivanova.
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Ah, speaking of my two boys, G'Kar and Londo together again here. It was interesting to hear Londo and G'Kar both chastise Vir for being tardy in unison. "You're late." Hearing them say it in sync was symbolic of just how far they had come and how they were both very much on the same page for the first time. Londo tells Vir he is developing a "strange relationship" with G'Kar and he is rather enjoying it. Yeah, it's called a civil relationship with a little humor. It's actually normal Londo, but it's been awhile for you so we'll cut you some slack. Vir informs Londo that the Centauri Royal Court has chosen Londo as the next emperor. Londo is less than excited or pleased at the news. Just look at that expression. He has indeed changed for the better. He is no longer driven by that insatiable thirst for power and conquest, but rather enlightened by a spirit of cooperation. Londo is right, that is strange.

Sheridan is on Earth and meets with Bester privately. Sheridan calls Bester on his manipulation of Garibaldi. Bester doesn't take ownership. He also indicates to prove it in an Earth court Garibaldi would need a Psi Corps-certified telepath, which automatically eliminates Lyta from being an "ace in the hole" for Garibaldi since she is not a certified Psi Corps telepath. Sheridan totally has his number as you'll see and he is one of Bester's biggest threats and his greatest nemesis. Sheridan asks where the virus viles are that were taken from Edgars' facility. He also asks for Lise's whereabouts. Bester turns the tables and gets real serious asking if his "lover" was one of the telepaths used against the Earth warships. If she was, Bester insists, Sheridan will not leave the room alive.

Garibaldi is back in business taking names, numbers and crackin' heads. Good to have him back!

Such great stuff! There are so many references to the past in this episode. I like when Sheridan refers indirectly to losing his wife Anna Sheridan twice. Speaking of Garibaldi he is back on Mars looking for Lise. He interrogates one man and asks, "now do you wanna die fast or do you wanna spend the rest of your life eating all your meals through a straw." Garibaldi gets the best lines.

Londo and G'Kar meet with Delenn. She asks for their support and Londo laughs. A meeting of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds has been called. Londo amusingly tells them, "I hope you have brought a change of underwear. You'll need it after you read this." He holds the paper in question. Okay, Londo gets some great material too.
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Back on Earth, Sheridan meets with acting President Susanna Luchenko. She is Russian and played not-so-convincingly by Beata Pozniak. She's too young for the part in my opinion. Earth Force is fairly split on their support of Sheridan. Some feel he should be given a medal while others feel he should be shot. He is given an ultimatum. He must resign and his entire crew will be given amnesty for their actions however justifed they may have been. Consequences must be applied she informs him. It's a "bitch" she says and she might know.

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A couple of geniuses.

On Mars, Garibaldi rescues Lise from a bunch of crumbbums holding her hostage for a price. I loved the little exploding box with the Porky Pig voice "ebity ebity, that's all folks." BA-BOOM!

On a White Star, Delenn and Lennier head to Earth. She indicates all have voted on their proposal. Now it wasn't until this point I was certain whether Marcus was alive or dead. I thought it was left fairly ambiguous at the beginning when we first see Ivanova with Franklin. I thought perhaps he was in ICU and somehow they were attempting to save him. Of course, that was was simply wishful thinking on my part. So, I suspect it was not to be and that Marcus is indeed gone forever. Gosh, I really grew to like him. The impact of his loss does not hit me here in the same way it did to lose Ivanova initially. Then again, it has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions up til' now and perhaps I'm a touch desensitized to the depressing proceedings. It was interesting to see Delenn reference Marcus' past which is covered extensively in the book To Dream In The City Of Sorrows. Now, what I did not see coming was Lennier informing Delenn of Ivanova's words.

So Lennier has loved Delenn from afar for some time. Wow. I didn't see that moment coming. It was really good though. He really chokes back the emotions here. Honestly he puts on a super brave face. Delenn really is oblivious to many specific things. She is so smart and yet so naive to certain emotional currents around her. It's kind of funny. Still, Lennier has always been her protector and as much as he cared for her I hadn't realized he felt more for her in this way. That was quite touching and I suspect his love will remain, but that he will suppress it accordingly.
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Later, on Earth, President Luchenko stands before the ISN cameras and begins repairing the wounds and bringing together the two sides of the Battle for Earth. Sheridan addresses the people and his love for Earth and being apart of something bigger than himself. He announces his resignation from Earth Force in the hopes of bringing people together. G'Kar, Londo and Delenn are in attendance and request an audience to announce what we don't, as of yet, know. G'Kar announces the dissolution of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. I knew this might come. He indicates a new alliance. Delenn continues that a group of Minbari and humans, as The Rangers, shall protect and oversee. "Their goal is to create the peace not enforce the peace." They will be the eyes and ears and work equally with all races. The invitation for Earth is open.

Later, the President meets privately with Delenn, Londo and G'Kar and informs them of the skeptics that surround her in Earth Force. Delenn tells the President how the worlds can share technology. Delenn, Londo and G'Kar make up the advisory board. They shall report to an elected intergalactic President. That President will be President John Sheridan. Well, there you go, some doors close and other doors open as they say. "I guess the war finally taught them that we are better together than apart." Sheridan is quite self-satisified with the end result.

I absolutely loved when Sheridan stepped into the halls to find his father there waiting for him. That was a total choke up moment. Always good to see Rance Howard as David Sheridan. He also welcomes his new daughter-in-law to be, Delenn, to the family.



Garibaldi is back in business again in more ways than one.

ISN reports Earth has joined forces with the new Interstellar Alliance. Mars will become a free and independent world. Meanwhile Garibaldi and Lise finally get back together and share an intimate moment in the hay. Things worked out quite well as Garbaldi keeping up the alliance end. ;)

On Babylon 5, Ivanova is back at the helm and has been appointed to full Captain. Ivanova plans to leave the station. I knew she'd be going. I thought perhaps she might be going out horizontally, but it would appear to be vertically. Still, where is she going? I will miss that voluptuous wonder babe! Delenn and Sheridan marry on a White Star. G'Kar and Londo share a drink. This is quite a sentimental moment. It's really good to see them as friends who take joy in the humor of each other's differences and poking fun rather than hating one another for those differences. It's a real lesson to learn and remember for all of us.

I can't believe he did that with his eye. What a peeping G'Kar. Ha! The final moments we see Delenn and Sheridan in bed together. Everybody is boffing in this episode or wishing they had "boffed" in Ivanova's case. Delenn's narration hints of the fact that the creators may not have known whether or not Babylon 5 was moving forward with a Season Five at this point. I'm sure there is a great deal out on the web about this factor and why Claudia Christian was leaving the show. Feel free to share your thoughts. Certainly if it all ended here it would be a fitting end to a terrific story. She mentions several factors over the next twenty years occurring including a Telepath War, a wavering Interstellar Alliance which would indeed hold and a dreaded Drakh War. "What is built endures. What is loved endures. And Babylon 5... Babylon 5 endures." Lovely.
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Rising Star: B+ [there were some exceptional moments]

B5 S4 Ep20: Endgame

Marcus sits by Ivanova’s side and the latest entry kicks things off on an emotional note. Delenn and Marcus make fine points in their concern for Ivanova.



Back on Mars, telepaths are being smuggled quietly into Earth gov warships within their cargo holds. One telepath per vessel is placed inside each ship to make thirty implantations in all. They are being fitted for a reason as part of Sheridan’s plan to reclaim Earth. Dr. Franklin is fairly certain the plan will work.

Some nifty gear and costume design.
Garibaldi is scanning critical Mars locations in a plan to sabotage Earth gov operations. He is scanning with a pair of nifty sci-fi binoculars. They are very cool. Binoculars are always a nice idea, but they never pan out or realize their full potential of coolness. They always seem nice conceptually. If we could get one of these binocular units maybe people would actually use them.

It’s 2261 and the fight to free Mars and Earth is coming to a head like a pimple as we near the end of Babylon 5, Season Four with Episode 20, Endgame [formerly titled War Rages While Ranger Marcus Is Helplessly Lost In Love].

The Earth forces located on Mars allude to their fleet being the biggest since The Battle Of The Line. I remember that battle way back when. With the element of surprise and the help of an insider, Garibaldi, Lyta, Franklin and Number One ambush the base of Earth operations. Lyta is equipped with telepathic communications equipment and goes outside to connect with her telepaths on board the Earth vessels. She needs a clean line of sight to git-r-done. I'm quite pleased Lyta is on our team. She definitely qualifies as a nominee for MVP [Most Valuable Player]. If she ever fell to the darkside or if Straczynski takes her in an unexpected direction in Season Five our fearless heroes would have their hands full with this powerhouse. She's amazing.

Sheridan wants to take Mars first for them to achieve success. Marcus and Lennier stand by to do exactly that.

At the same time Earth fleet readies for action. Brigadier General Lefcourt has been called upon to lead the charge. He’s been brought in because he was once a mentor to Sheridan and “taught him everything he knows.” He’s a traditionalist loyal to Earth however unjust the government’s directives. He will not fight his own government. “I know how he thinks. I know how he fights… and now I’m going to have to kill him.” He’s not happy about it either. He knows these are terrible days. Lefcourt seems like an honorable gentleman. These are good people all thrust into terrible war-time circumstances. Lefcourt’s sole focus is to crush the rebellion. Earth hopes Lefcourt is their ace in the hole to counter Sheridan's military genius.

Back on Mars Garibaldi checks in with his partners, “Grumpy to Snow White, I’ve got the coordinates for the Wicked Queen’s Castle.” Earlier he called in, "Grumpy to Sneezy, Sleepy and Doc." I know who the Doc is.

Lennier senses Marcus’ thoughts stray from the mission over to the love of his life, Ivanova. He's a man on a mission to love her.



Garibaldi delivers the coordinates for a jump point to open for the arrival of Lennier and Marcus via the White Star. It’s a dangerous move to open a gate this close to the ground and to the targets, but these are risky times.



You’re not sure if Garibaldi's joking or half-serious in that scene. It’s a bit scary really. The White Star arrives and destroys all key targets with precision Minbari navigation. Lefcourt is impressed by Sheridan’s offensive strategy, but he senses he must have some kind of “an ace in the hole.” Damn it! Everyone has an ace in the hole. I’d love to have an ace in the hole just once. You know, say you have to go somewhere with your The One To Be Pitied and you don’t really want to go, but you have no way out of it, unless of course you have your ace in the hole. You see that’s a nice thing to have. Speaking of The One To Be Pitied, she sees Richard Biggs on the screen as she walks through the room with her usual derogatory comments and remembers him from the soaps and says how he’s cute and how sad it is he passed away. I pause until she leaves the room. She is intentionally annoying me and distracting me so I can’t catch the details. Still, it is indeed sad he died so young.

Here's Johnny!
Lyta begins activation of the telepaths to make her connection with them so that they may connect with their respective Earth vessel's on board computer systems in order to completely screw things up for the Earth forces.

A female questions Franklin’s motives in the resistance. You can sense he’s uncomfortable with what he had to do. It harkens back to his discomfort in Season Four, Episode 16, Exercise Of Vital Powers. He looked like he lost his best friend as he moped with Lyta by his side, because damn it! he's a doctor Jim, who is tasked with saving lives and it goes against his very sworn oath. He justifies his actions by indicating, “They are weapons.” If they don’t survive this they will die anyway. He’s right despite seizing the opportunity in defense of his actions and still sounding unjustified. They are living killing machines. It’s ironic. Earth created these telepathic weapons. How fitting they should be used against their creators in the end. The female resistance fighter wins the award for overactor of the episode. She’s horrible and hard to believe. She’s annoying, naive and over-the-top awful. It’s like clam-the-hell-up and just sit there. Since when have you cared about human lives resistance fighter!? You’ve been out blowing people up for quite some time now, you self-righteous jerky. It was too convenient of a device to have her there.

Apart from a teaser in Season One, Babylon Squared, I never did get my hand-to-hand combat episode.
A series of jump points open and Sheridan’s team arrives right on schedule. The part about the telepaths throwing a fly in the ointment is the part that wasn’t expected for Lefcourt. General Lefcourt quickly deducts cargo was brought on board that should not have been. Personally, I find it a little hard to believe he figured it all of that out in a matter of minutes. I don’t care how sharp the guy is how could you see that coming? It’s a bit convenient even for a brilliant General. So, again, that was one of those hurried moments for me. Shoot, I'd have been blown up long before I figured all of that out, but that's why I'm not a General or in this case a SUPER General!

Sheridan orders all weapons systems and engines disabled to minimize casualties. Meanwhile, Lefcourt’s soldiers find their telepathic infiltration aboard the ship all marred in wiring and disable their own problem with very powerful guns.

Marcus and Lennier finish their clean up of Mars and rendezvous with the others. While en route Marcus contacts Babylon 5 to access the station's medical files.



He is a man on a mission. Marcus picks up new knowledge of the alien device that is under tight wraps on Babylon 5. You’ll recall the device from Season One, Episode 21, The Quality Of Mercy. Marcus has no designs to use that device on you know who. Of course he does! He must save Ivanova!

I must say, now more than ever, with his beard fully in place, Sheridan actually looks the part of the grizzled war commander. Back on Lefcourt’s ship they are still attempting to get navigation problems under control following the elimination of their telepathic wrench.

Marcus sends Lennier to Delenn and takes his White Star back to Babylon 5 leaving the heat of battle. The love bug really has a hold of Marcus. My first thought was that Sheridan is going to be pissed he left. When we get to Sheridan he looks pretty unhappy. He wants to contact Babylon 5 to stop Marcus. He can’t reach the station as communications are now being jammed. He apologizes to Delenn, “I’m sorry.” Why is he sorry you ask? I asked the same thing. He’s unable to contend with that matter further as he presses his fleet forward through the jump points to Earth. What gave him pause enough to almost consider dealing with the Marcus issue? Hmmm.

Sheridan contacts the enemy and gives them the speech of a lifetime. It’s quite good, but dissected into too many parts and disruption to put it all together [for a video here on the blog]. He has arrived to take back Earth from Clark. On Earth, Clark is writing feverishly. Defense weapons around the planet fire upon Sheridan’s forces. The revolution is in full effect as it comes knocking on Clark’s office door in the form of an angry mob. The coward commits suicide with a PPG to the temple.

The paper on his desk reads over and over: THE ASCENSION OF THE ORDINARY MAN. Key letters are circled that spell out SCORCHED EARTH. Sheridan is contacted. Clark plans on, um well, scorching the Earth with the defense systems. The defense grid begins taking position to fire upon our Mother Earth. Sheridan’s forces take evasive action to save the planet. Sheridan’s ship, The Agamemnon, is struck and weapons are disabled. They take a ramming posture to knock out one of the defensive units with every intention of dying if necessary. The collision course is in play, but Lefcourt arrives and destroys the defensive satellite saving Sheridan in a nick of time. “Welcome home John,” radios Lefcourt. A convenient change of heart. I suppose when you're planet is in jeopardy of being crushed that can have an impact.

ISN is back on line reporting the real news. This is the real ISN that was banished and placed in exile in favor of Clark's media arm. So it's no longer the lying, deceitful, no good, cheating, agenda-driven propaganda media machine under Clark. Instead, it’s the much more trustworthy lying, deceitful, no good, cheating, agenda-driven ISN of old. In other words, never trust the bastards!

Franklin is heading for Babylon 5 “to stop someone from making a terrible mistake.” We discover what Marcus’ intentions are. He plans on saving Ivanova with the alien device. Unfortunately the alien device feeds the dying individual the life force of another leaving the savior as victim. Marcus is heading back to be with Ivanova to give her his life. He is planning to die. He is going to sacrifice himself out of love. Could it be that Delenn was concerned if Marcus succeeded some sort of prophecy for Marcus would not come to pass?

Talk about devastating.
On the subject at hand, I have to admit, this is an interesting question to pose. What would you do? What is the right thing to do? His intent is undeniably noble. He sits by her side rigged to the equipment and whispers to her, “I love you.” It is significantly moving. There are some real tender moments in this installment all involving Marcus.
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There is some real beauty found in Marcus’ love for her. As much as I am saddened, even heartbroken, by Ivanova’s current condition and would like to see her live, this did not feel right, unnatural even. I mean to say, my feelings have nothing to do with the great writing here, I just didn’t want to see Marcus die. If there was a character I had learned to care for over time, in much the same way I did Ivanova, it would have to be Marcus. I understood what he was doing and I don’t think he was wrong for doing it at all, but some things are meant to be. Ivanova’s passing seems natural and this act by Marcus does not. I hope he does not succeed. Still, mom always did say "where there's a will there's a way" though. Marcus has the will and now the way.

Endgame: A-