s3e18: Walkabout

"They tore him apart!"

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Turns out, this was not the episode I was expecting. My brain had mushed ‘Walkabout’ and ‘Shadow Dancing’ together, so I was expecting a different part of Franklin’s story. I’d forgotten almost everything about ‘Walkabout’, which is odd, considering it’s one of the season’s best episodes.

‘Walkabout’ is absolutely stuffed. It’s a smorgasbord of an episode, which balances low-key character drama (Franklin’s story) with epic Shadow war action, plus the arrival of the new Vorlon ambassador.

Let’s talk about New Kosh for a moment. The new suit is good, clearly having the design sensibility of Kosh 1 while conveying a very different personality. Director Kevin Cremin does a great job throughout the episode and is especially effective in the scenes with Kosh 2. There’s a surreal quality to its introduction, from the Vorlon ship diverting its docking process to observe Sheridan on the cargo arms, to the blue-infused dolly shot as Kosh 2 arrives on the station. The only mis-step in the costume is the flappy panel on the front, which is rather distracting.

In particular, there’s a moment when Lyta goes to visit the new ambassador, and the head and shoulders are filmed in such a way, and the posture of the suit is set just so, that the Vorlon looks absolutely like a dangerous snake. It’s a startling, terrifying shot, immediately followed by Lyta being force-choked. It’s such effective use of the Vorlon costume, which could so easily come across as being very silly.

I don’t tend to think of ‘Walkabout’ when I list the most ambitious Babylon 5 episodes, but it really goes for it. The opening sequence with the arrival of the Vorlon ship and Sheridan on EVA: while the effects don’t really hold up in 2025, the sense of scale and scope remains intact. On top of that, we get an entire musical number. Then we have a strategically satisfying space battle that’s rivals anything else we’ve seen in the show to date.

The unique twist of the battle being a test really raises the stakes, and the visuals are superb throughout. The shot when the White Star succeeds in punching a hole through the Shadow vessel is phenomenal.

There’s a shot of Sheridan’s face when Lyta first fails to hold the Shadow ship, when he for a moment looks entirely helpless. He knows he’s made a mistake, and has brought his entire crew to their deaths. It’s a brief expression, and he’s in the rear of the shot, but Boxleitner nails it.

Quite righty, Mira Furlan gets all the accolades for Delenn’s arrival in ‘Severed Dreams’. It’s the famous line and moment from the entire series. But I’d quite happily put G’Kar’s arrival in ‘Walkabout’ on a similar level. “…and I didn’t come alone,” followed by the jump-point forming behind the White Star and the alliance ships pouring out is perfect. As with the opening, when the scale of the Vorlon ship is made very obvious as it hovers beside Sheridan, the jump-point filling the entire screen and dwarfing the White Star makes for a superb visual effects shot. Normally jump-points are framed such that we see the whole thing, and the difference with the shot punched in is startling.

The sense of scale and impact isn’t limited to the VFX. In ‘Walkabout’, Cremin stages every scene to make the most of the sets, orbiting the camera around the actors and filling the frame with prop detail and extras. The bar Franklin visits feels like a decent bar! The market has a convincing bustle. G’Kar’s quarters have never looked so good, while he has dinner with Na’Kal.

Lastly, a word for the audio team. I don’t think I’ve noted their efforts previously, but in ‘Walkabout’ they do some really excellent work. Kosh 2’s sounds are intimidating before they even speak. The White Star punching a hole in the Shadow vessel is immensely satisfying. The Narn heavy cruiser and White Star pinning the other Shadow vessel…the strong visuals are supported throughout by really excellent sound design. And there’s a a lot of sound design in this episode.

‘Walkabout’ is a more complex, dense and satisfying episode than I had anticipated. Each of the storylines worked for me, and it manages to be satisfying and self-contained even while setting up future plotlines.

Next up is ’Grey 17 Is Missing’. Hoo boy.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

So far, Franklin is having quite a nice time on his walkabout. Caitlin’s fate aside, he’s giving himself space to find himself. The idea of meeting yourself will, of course, return in a more literal sense before the season is out — the dual personality sequences from ‘Shadow Dancing’ is what I was expecting from this episode.

For the first time we see the nascent alliance that Sheridan and Delenn have cobbled together actually working. It’s a victory, without caveats, and will be pivotal in the war as well as the forming of the Interstellar Alliance.

There is talk of the Narn resistance here, and G’Kar playing the long game. All elements that will start to spin up faster as we head into season 4.

Plus, there’s Kosh 2. Or Ulkesh, as I think they’re named off-screen. That’s going to get worse and culminate in a big ol’ battle.

Lots going on!