s3e14: Ship of Tears

Do not thump the book of G'Quan

We’re watching the pioneering 90s TV show Babylon 5. If you want to join us, hit subscribe then go to your account and turn on the Let’s Watch notifications.

This week’s episode is all about consequences, with two storylines that have their roots way back in the very earliest episodes of Babylon 5.

Let’s take the b-plot first, in which G’Kar finds out the truth about what Delenn and Sheridan have been up to — and how it relates directly to the fate of his world and its people.

Looking at it from one side, it’s a bit of a recap scene, useful to remind viewers of what’s come before and clarify the overarching plot. Remember that this style of storytelling was unusual in the 90s, especially within science fiction: viewers were absolutely not used to having to retain so much information over such a long time period.

On the other side, we have two astonishingly good performances from two of the best actors on the show. Delenn shows both huge strength (by insisting she be the one to talk to G’Kar and take responsibility) and a deep sensitivity (in how she tells him, and her emotional response). This is Delenn having to face all of her decisions to date, which have affected hundreds of thousands already but for which she didn’t necessarily have to look them directly in the eye. G’Kar is the embodiment of her guilt and of her decisions. This is what Sebastian was talking about during her interrogation: the thought of being wrong, and of doing it not for glory. Mira Furlan mixes all the facets of Delenn’s character.

Then there’s G’Kar. Katsulas is always superb, but this is one of my favourite performances of his, not least because he continually plays against expectation. When you think he’s going to be angry, he’s contemplative. When you think he’s going to be verbose, he’s silent. When you think he’s going to be upset, he’s stoic. When you expect him to argue, he agrees. It’s great writing, and Katsulas elevates it to a whole new level.

It continues to confound me, thirty years later, that the man is acting under prosthetics. It remains to this day to be the most effective prosthetic alien make-up I’ve ever seen, and Katsulas performs and manipulates it so expertly that I don’t think for a second that it’s an actor in a funny lizard mask. The nuances he achieves, despite being so covered, despite having his ears covered, with his face shape fundamentally changed…it’s astonishing.

Then there’s the main plot, which I’d forgotten most of the details about. This is the episode where Bester shifts from a Bad Guy caricature to an actual character. Koenig has always been fun, but Bester has been an effective antagonist rather than a defined person. Here, his motivations come into focus, and through him we also get a better understanding of the connections between the Psi Corps, Earth Gov, President Clarke and the Shadows. There’s a lot of government conspiracy exposition hidden in Bester’s character development, just as Delenn and G’Kar’s conversation is a cleverly disguised infodump.

The Bester storyline is satisfying not only because it explains him, but it ties in to so much of what we’ve watched over the previous two and a half years. Shadow vessels and their organic pilots. The role of telepaths. The extinction of Narn telepaths, which was mentioned in the original pilot. It all comes together very neatly, and without feeling forced or rushed.

That’s long-term serial storytelling at its finest.

There are some glitches: trusting Bester for the sake of the mission is one thing, allowing him onto the bridge of the White Star is another. I’m not sure how they could have got around that without introducing a lot of fat, though, and it does mean we get to see Chekov finally get to sit in a captain’s chair.

Where the episode gets really clever, from that serial storytelling point of view, is right at the end. Both plots dovetail perfectly into Garibaldi’s realisation that the extinction of Narn telepaths is directly connected to the previous Shadow war. One wonders how the Narn would have developed had they not been interfered with, first by the Shadows and then by the Centauri. They’re a people who have been repeatedly colonised.

It’s one extra twist of the story that makes perfect sense, has been staring us in the face for ages, and is tied with the reveal of the Army of Light war room. ‘Ship of Tears’ isn’t an episode on my list of favourites, but it was a real pleasure to rediscover it.

Next up is ‘Interludes and Examinations’.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

There’s tons of stuff in here, and I’d forgotten how much gets seeded here.

We have that understanding of Bester, and how he fits into the larger plot. That will come back to bite in season 4 as he manipulates Garibaldi. Every scene between the two of them, with Garibaldi smirking in the background, feels like a precursor to the moment in the train on Mars when the mind control is released.

I’d entirely forgotten that this is where the collection of telepaths come from, which are subsequently used in the attack on Mars/Earth and the toppling of Clarke.

ISN is back, in its sullied form. I’m looking forward to the moment that the regular reporter comes back.

G’Kar is pulled much more tightly into the central plot: he and the Narns have always been deeply caught in its web, but without having much agency. For the first time, G’Kar knows what is going on and how all the pieces fit. That will fundamentally shift his actions to come.

It’s a slick episode, and it’s almost all bangers from here to the season 3 finale.