s2e14: There all the honour lies

We are on the side of the truth. Is there another?

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Here we go. This is a solid filler episode, raised to near-greatness by the return to the station of one particular person: Mike Vejar. Not a fictional character, but a director. He made his B5 debut with ‘The Geometry of shadows’, an uneven but fun episode with notable visual flourishes. ‘There all the honour lies’ shows us a more confident Vejar, now more familiar with the sets, the actors, the crew. It’s exciting stuff.

Every scene here has an interesting intro and outro. Scenes flow together and very little is shot in a way that feels like simple coverage. There’s a lyricism to the framing, the editing, the pacing, that lifts every scene above what is simply on the page. It helps, of course, that the script is also good: the central crisis around the framing of Sheridan feels like a proper how do we get out of this one? problem, and calls back to the framing of Sinclair in the pilot.

The most effective scenes here are Sheridan beginning to question his own memory. We’ve all experienced that: when we’ve been sure of something, and then slowly feel that confidence evaporate and be replaced with self-questioning. The Minbari here are gaslighting Sheridan, making him doubt himself. Perhaps there’s some residual guilt at the way the destruction of the Black Star went down? It must sting Sheridan to have one side celebrate him as a war hero and tactical genius, and the other side brand him a duplicitous war criminal.

Na’toth without make-up!

That it is Kosh who intervenes during Sheridan’s lowest moment is unexpected. I’d forgotten the downbelow scene was in this episode: the construction of that scene has stuck with me since I first saw it as a 14 year old in the 90s. Sheridan’s encounter and ‘moment of perfect beauty’ is never explained or expanded upon: it is what it is, and that’s what makes it all the more effective. There’s clearly something more going on in downbelow than the usual criminality, but we don’t need to understand the monks, or the tiny space in which they appear to be living, or why the Vorlon knows about them and is interested. It’s enigmatic and unknowable and embraces its weirdness.

Elsewhere we have some touching stuff with Londo and Vir, shifting their relationship into a new, more respectful place. Londo has many admirers and hangers-on, but few actual friends or trusted allies: Vir is one of them, and it’s both surprising and a relief that he’s noticed.

Going back to Vejar, the station has rarely felt as real and alive as in this episode. The Zocalo is buzzing. We finally see the Medlab complex outside of Franklin’s main operating theatre and office: for the first time it feels like a hospital, with gurneys being wheeled about in the background during the long one-shot walk and talk. Every scene is considered and constructed to bring out the drama, with a thoughtfulness that the schedules and budgets of 90s television rarely afforded.

Meanwhile, we get the distinct sense that someone in Earth Gov are using the Minbari plot as an excuse to get rid of Sheridan, and we see Sheridan leaning into and properly trusting Garibaldi for the first time. Garibaldi notices that vote of confidence.

Last thing: there’s an establishing shot of the exterior garden area in the station’s core, with Delenn sat on a bench. We see the zen garden, with the curve of the station extending off in the distance. It’s a cool CG set extension, of which the show is so good at. What caught my attention was that the camera pushes in and tilts down during this shot, pushing past some foreground trees. The perspective seems to shift properly.

This is, I think, the first VFX/live action composite shot I can recall in the series where the camera moves. Generally in the 90s it was simply too difficult to do camera tracking, manual or automated, which is why any shot with live action elements is locked off (unless it’s comping a 2D card into, say, the C&C bridge). I’m unsure how the garden shot was achieved: whether it’s a trick, a very accomplished manual track, or something else. Any ideas,

Mike Miller

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The importance of a good director, even on an ensemble show like Babylon 5, is fully evident in this episode.

Next up is ‘And now for a word’.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

We get to see Vir and Londo go from an employee-employer relationship to an actual friendship. That will be of vital importance by the time we get to season 4 and beyond. Vir doesn’t know it, but this episode more than any other has set him on an unexpected path.

Garibaldi and Sheridan work together here in a way we maybe haven’t seen. There’s a trust forming there, which will of course entirely unravel again in season 4.

There are hints around the edges of what’s happening on Earth and Minbar, and how all is not well. Both governments and societies will implode before the end of the series.