s3e7: Exogenesis

"I've....seen things...."

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Shades of Flower for Algernon in this episode, which never quite hits the emotional response it’s aiming for but is nonetheless quite effective.

There’s a structural formality to most of Babylon 5, save for a couple of episodes that deviate. One of those structures is that the story is told from the point of view of the core station crew: Sheridan, Garibaldi, Ivanova, Franklin. Most of the time that works, but in ‘Exogenesis’ I think we have an example that would have benefited from looser adherence to the formula.

The most interesting aspect here is Duncan’s ascension and subsequent one-way return to his old self. That’s where Flowers for Algernon comes in, with Duncan gaining an incredible perspective on the universe, and having to experience it all slipping away. That’s the heart and tragedy of the episode, but it’s not given enough space to breathe. Aubrey Morris as Duncan does what he can with what is only a couple of scenes, but it’s not enough to really sell us on his character or arc.

All that aside, the rest of the episode works better. Promoting Corwin leads to an interesting examination of loyalty, and the humour of the date-or-not-a-date doesn’t undermine that. The punchline of Marcus receiving the flowers and having no idea what’s going on is perfect. The promotion is of Corwin and the actor, with Joshua Cox stepping up from nameless extra to legit character. There’s an interesting tension there, as Corwin seems like a decent man but Ivanova is unable to trust him. Exploring the notion of loyalty and patriotism has been part of the Babylon 5 DNA from the start (think back to ‘Infection’, even), and I’m enjoying that it isn’t being treated as a trivial thing.

We get a good Franklin episode here, even if he is remarkably calm during his kidnapping/imprisonment. He isn’t combat trained like the rest of them, so that Foundationist meditation must be working wonders. Seeing Franklin and Marcus bounce off each other is a real joy, and an unlikely pairing. Franklin doesn’t often get to interact with characters outside of med bay, and it works very well.

It’s a solid episode that feels on the verge of being an excellent episode, but never quite gets there. Though it’s good enough for me to not have noticed the absence of G’Kar and Londo, so that’s saying something.

Next up is ‘Messages from Earth’. Yoinks.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

The Vindrizi echo the Technomages, another group dedicated to preserving knowledge who are departing so as to avoid the war. Straczynski is clearly fascinated with the idea of ‘the dark ages’ and of information loss, and the regression of civilisation. It’s a theme that will come up again in B5 before the end.

There could be an argument that the knowledge and power of the Vindrizi and Technomages would be invaluable in the fight against the Shadows, but both groups decided instead to leave. Preserving knowledge is more important to them than preserving lives, which is a really rich and thorny topic to poke at.

This episode is a brief respite for Franklin, before he really goes off the rails with the outbreak of multiple open wars. We also see him teaming up with Marcus, which will of course not be a one-off.

Sheridan’s insurgent group against his own government gathers pace, and becomes increasingly fraught. Introducing Corwin here as a complicating factor is a great move — even if it’s played partly for laughs here — as it gives us an additional viewpoint for the looming breakaway from Earth.

In fact, I was rather startled to realise that we’d hit the trilogy that flips the whole show on its head. That’s up next, and I can’t wait.