s3e4: Passing through Gethsemane

We are the universe, trying to understand itself

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An excellent idea trapped by the form of network television, ‘Passing through Gethsemane’ never quite connects. It’s hamstrung by a commitment to The Formula, resulting in everything feeling overly contrived.

It’s funny how our interests and tastes shift over time. Watching this one in the 90s, when I must have been about 15, ‘Passing through Gethsemane’ was a favourite episode. I found the ethical questions it raised to be fascinating, Brother Edward made an impact and all the Vorlon stuff was mysterious and exciting in an X-Files sort of way.

A lot of the components are still solid. Brad Dourif is always excellent, and brings a weird sincerity to Brother Edward that seems somewhat forced from the off. Almost like it’s an artificial construct. There are compelling individual scenes, especially those where Edward is having his ‘visions’. My favourite shot is when Edward is in the corridor looking for his bag, and Garibaldi emerges from around the corner: for a moment, it’s as if Garibaldi himself is a false vision, and there’s something about the camera angle and lens that makes it weirdly vertiginous.

Lyta’s encounter with Londo is also a highlight, with him rapidly escalating his tactics. Seeing him go from “my good, dear friend!” to outright blackmail in the space of a minute is quite the thing, and a mini-tour de force from Jurasik.

So, the problems. Brother Edward clearly should have been introduced much earlier in the season, when the monks first arrived. He should have been there from the start, working alongside Theo, a super helpful and earnest supporting character we’d got to know and love. That would make this episode vastly more effective. Instead, it has heavy Guest Star vibes, and the idea that he’s been in the order for years never quite lands.

It also affects the lead characters: put simply, Sheridan, Garibaldi and Ivanova all care a bit too much. Given everything they have going on, it makes no sense for Sheridan to be getting directly involved with one individual’s weird visions. Boxleitner’s emotional response is overplayed: if he’s this upset by Brother Edward’s experiences, he’s going to struggle to get through the looming war. Sheridan shouldn’t be in this episode, basically — or he should have been in the b-plot, but not the a-plot.

But this is a TV show in which Sheridan is the lead, and so there he is, right in the thick of it, regardless of whether it makes sense.

Everything is a bit on the nose. The episode opens with Garibaldi dumping some plot points on Delenn, explaining how death of personality works. It’s seemingly arbitrary, which immediately gives the game away that this episode is going to be about mind wipes. As such, we know almost from the start what is going on with Edward. Maybe this went over my head when I was 15, As an adult, it’s eye-rollingly obvious.

The final note is Sheridan’s “where does revenge end and justice begin?” moral speech at the end, which would feel more at home at the end of an episode of He-Man or MASK from the 1980s. It’s a weirdly say-it-out-loud bit of explain-the-episode moralising, which Babylon 5 doesn’t normally go in for.

Start to finish, ‘Passing through Gethsemane’ is a blunt instrument, when it needs to be subtle. It treats its audience like children, complete with a “listen up, kids” moment at the end.

Next up is ‘Voices of Authority’.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

Lyta is properly back! Her dedication to the Vorlons is fascinating and creepy all it once. I think as a kid I found it all rather exciting (I always thought it would be quite cool to be abducted by aliens), but now there’s clear signs of a rather lopsided relationship. It’s not specified in this episode, but I believe Lyta has already had her telepathic abilities enhanced.

The death of personality stuff made for some good material back in season 1. It’s return here reminds us of the telepathic ability to wipe and reprogram a mind — a version of which happened to Talia, of course, and will also happen to Garibaldi down the line.

I think that’s about it for long-term repercussions. Anyone catch anything else?