nymeria_dw

Not one of my favorite episodes, nor one of the best either. There are a few instances of... "growth pains" in Season One, and this is the first. However, on re-watching the episode I noticed a few small details that balanced out the cheesiness of the story.

In short, archaeologist Hendricks comes to Babylon5 and contacts his friend and former student Dr. Franklin, enrolling his help in the study of alien artifacts that Hendricks discovered on the dead world of Ikarra. Chaos and destruction shortly follow...

I'll deal with the negative side first: the assimilation of the Professor's shady assistant by the alien technology borders (IMHO) on the ludicrous, what with the man lumbering about the station shooting at everything that moves, yet stopping in his tracks and listening when Sinclair delivers his impassioned speech about the foolishness of racial purity. I've always considered these scenes way over the top, and there is no amount of viewing that can make them more palatable. At times, the dialogue feels stilted and the acting from the guest performers suffers a little.

On the other hand, I found a few details worth considering: the secondary plot involves a very obnoxious reporter looking for an interview with Sinclair. This is the first of several instances in which representatives of the press will come aboard the station and it looks like a trend-setter: in this and in other occasions, the press will be less than gentle with station personnel and all too eager to damage their reputation. I've often wondered if there was a not-so-hidden statement by JMS about the profession...

Another interesting point comes from the Ikarran artifacts brought by Dr. Hendricks on the station: it's organic technology, capable of assimilating living flesh into a seamless – and dangerous – whole. Without crossing into spoiler territory, organic technology will enter the equation in the following seasons, with consequences of various degrees. Here it seems almost like a throwaway detail, but it will not be in the long run. Sneaky JMS!!

On the character-building side there are a few interesting considerations, mainly where Commander Sinclair is concerned: not for the first time, he puts himself in the line of fire – there is a recklessness to the man that does not go well with his position of responsibility. It's not a matter of the "hero complex" we can observe in other shows, where the main character always rushes in where angels fear to tread only to come out victorious and unscathed (Captain Kirk, anyone?) – on the contrary, Sinclair seems to court danger, to actively seek it. And to hell with the consequences.

The conversation with Garibaldi, toward the end, sheds some light on the situation and at the same time on the bonds of friendship and mutual respect between the two men. To me, this is the highlight of the episode.

Garibaldi confronts Sinclair accusing him of having a death wish, and wonders why: it's clear, from the exchange, that the Commander has some unresolved issue in his past and that the aftermath of whatever it was is still haunting him. There is a sentence that I never noticed before, the one where Garibaldi tells Sinclair about his search of something to die for, and asks him if there is something he considers worth living for.

It's almost the same phrasing that Lorien will use with someone else at the beginning of Season 4 and I found it fascinating. This alone makes the episode worth watching...