s3e6: Dust to Dust

Some must be sacrificed, if all are to be saved

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I remembered the basic premise of this episode but had forgotten almost all of the details, which made for a rather delightful viewing experience. As a teenager, I suspect I rewatched all the big space battle episodes over and over, but skipped the more cerebral stories.

Bester showing up was a surprise. Remembering that this is the episode in which G’Kar invades Londo’s mind — I’d got it muddled with ‘Convictions’, when they’re trapped in the elevator together. I’d entirely forgotten that Kosh was manipulating G’Kar’s trip.

There’s a lot of very, very good material in this one. I’ll jump straight to the highlight for me, which is the overwhelming supercut of Londo’s life as it blasts into G’Kar’s mind: the way it’s put together, with the fast cuts and the aggressive score, makes for a staggeringly effective sequence. Compressing Londo’s misdemeanours into twenty seconds makes them all the more horrific.

This is the moment G’Kar realises just how deeply involved Londo has been in his people’s subjugation. It’s the first time anyone on the show has properly known that he’s in league with the Shadows. Those revelations are immense, especially for G’Kar.

It’s obvious and somewhat redundant to note that Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik are exceedingly good actors. But there it is: they’re the best performers on the show, by far. Katsulas in particular bounces between so many tones and styles, which shouldn’t really come together but absolutely do — especially when he’s up on the throne inside Londo’s mind, alternating between the tragi-comic delivery and deadly serious. Director David J Eagle puts together a great show, with inventively composed shots and scenes, especially during the dust trip when scenes and movements blend into one another.

It had also slipped my mind that Vir returns in this episode. We see again his loyalty to Londo, a friendship that can’t be shaken. It’s an interesting moral question: does Vir’s friendship serve to give Londo permission of sorts? They vehemently disagree on so much, yet remain friends. Vir repeatedly tries to counsel Londo, to pull him back to the light, despite all the awful things he does. It’s a relationship that stands out as being unusual especially in 2025, in an era when polarisation has reached such extremes that many of us have forgotten how to agreeably disagree.

All of this is without getting into Bester’s return. While he doesn’t actually do much in this episode, compared to previous appearances, he is a useful spanner to throw into the works, forcing the command staff to think fast. He’s a catalyst through which was glean insights into Sheridan, Ivanova, Garibaldi and Franklin. Ivanova is willing to throw everything away to kill a Psi Cop. Garibaldi is disgusted by Bester, but has no answer when Bester points out their similarities as figures of authority. Franklin is running on the edge throughout the episode: you can feel him reaching for the stims in his desk, even if he resists on this occasion. Bester becomes more of a rounded character, rather than simply A Baddie. Sheridan, meanwhile, is struggling to hold everything together, especially with Nightwatch running around.

Nightwatch always felt a bit on the nose back in the 90s. In 2025? Not so much. Over in the US, books are being banned from schools, cartoonists and journalists are quitting newspapers over censorship, the incoming president expects undying loyalty, double-speak is the norm, misinformation the currency: the surprise with Trump’s movement is that they’re not subtle, and don’t need to be subtle.

It certainly feels like something is about to explode.

Oh — plus we get some acknowledgement of what happened to Talia. Though it still feels underplayed: there’s little mourning for what was essentially the death of a colleague and friend. Instead, it’s treated more as a lucky escape.

Next up is ‘Exogenesis’.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

The main thing I’d forgotten was how much this episode changes things.

We have G’Kar in prison (I’d entirely forgotten why he ended up in prison!). Franklin edges closer to his stim problem. Bester and Garibaldi start to form an odd connection. G’Kar now knows about Londo and the Shadows. G’Kar is fully on the path now, having danced around it in recent episodes. We have a significant new appreciation for Londo’s past, and why he was so desperate to seize power and significance when he met Morden. More examples of experiments on telepaths. Sheridan and Hague’s secret rebellion is clearly not going to be a secret for much longer.

And Kosh, still pulling the strings. I love the moment when G’Kar’s father says “I have always been here,” which made me sit up straight, point at the screen and shout “Kosh!” I like that it’s signposted just before you see Kosh lurking in the corridor.