s3e9: Point of No Return

What did we do wrong?

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Back when we watched ‘Confessions & Lamentations’, I noted how a pandemic-focused episode lands differently now that we’ve all been through the Covid years. It turns out that ‘Point of No Return’ lands differently now that we’re living through the Trump-Putin years.

This episode used to be exciting. It was the big moment when Zack made the right decision, joined the good guys, and Sheridan and his friends were set on their path to saving the universe.

Nope. That’s not what this episode is anymore. It was probably never supposed to be that, but my innocent teenage brain interpreted it in a more heroic manner, assuming that it would all be OK in the end. ‘Point of No Return’ is about loss, and the crushing inevitability of conflict. It’s about power-hungry individuals throwing the world into chaos simply because they can, simply because they want more power.

It’s about how institutions and constitutions and traditions crumble almost instantly as soon as you have a leader who doesn’t respect them. In Babylon 5 the Earth Alliance was always a fictional future proxy for the USA, with a similar governmental structure. The united Earth of the B5 universe resembles Earth of the late-20th century, mixed with bits of the UN and NATO.

‘Point of No Return’ is when all those institutions are revealed to be worth nothing more than their letter-headed paper. President Clarke decides to bypass it all, shuts down the Senate, declares martial law and ignores centuries of established protocol.

It’s explicitly noted that President Clarke uses executive orders to do all this. I’d never heard of executive orders until the Trump and Biden eras. I can easily imagine one of Clarke’s Psi Corps accomplices combing through government employees and firing anyone deemed superfluous.

Then we have Nightwatch, its stated obsession with freedom only serving to (poorly) disguise fascist tendencies. They’ve grown from a sideshow to the main event, run by thugs who are itching for a fight. I love the performance by Vaughn Armstrong as the head of the Nightwatch: when he talks of bringing weapons, ‘just in case’, he’s clearly desperate to use it. He’s excited by the looming violence.

The episode tracks the disintegration of political and social norms, cleverly using ISN news reports to show glimpses of what’s happening back home as General Hague attempts to mount a counter-offensive. It’s exciting. The fight begins! Time to take down President Clarke and his cronies.

And then Hague’s fleet is all but wiped out, and Sheridan is alone. The illegal orders come in. Tensions mount on the station, the political conflict tipping over into the streets/Zocalo. Violence between people who otherwise would have been neighbours. Everyone forced to take a side, choosing Clarke or Hague, without having sufficient information to make that decision.

All the while, Sheridan and the others are seeking a way out. There’s talk all the way through the episode about it blowing over, about the situation not being as serious as it seems. They can’t believe how bad things have become, or that this could happen to the Earth Alliance. This is the sort of thing that happens to the Narn, or the Drazi. Not the humans. They can’t believe it is happening until long after it has happened.

Even Garibaldi, ever the cynic, can’t believe it. He thinks that he can do a speech and bring his security team back in line. It doesn’t work, and Garibaldi learns the hard way that the previous social norms and loyalties and ties are all gone, replaced with an ideological fervour that cuts through bonds of rationality or history.

Then there’s this scene, and this specific shot:

It might be my favourite shot in the entire series to date, as the wake-up alarm chimes and Sheridan has clearly been awake all night. It’s the precise moment he accepts what has happened, and what needs to happen. He knows that President Clarke has won, and the Earth Alliance as it was has gone, possibly forever.

He also knows that he’s not going to stand for it. He’s already been working with Hague, and then with Delenn, building alliances, planning for the coming conflicts. But there was always a hope, I think, of avoiding it. That they’d find a way out, or that sense would prevail. Surely Clarke wouldn’t actually go through with it? Surely the Senate would stop it? Surely a government takeover wouldn’t actually happen?

Surely Putin wouldn’t invade Ukraine?

It all happened, and this is the moment Sheridan shifts from captain of a space station to leader of an insurgency. He may not state it explicitly until next episode, but this is when he makes the decision, and director Jim Johnston captures it perfectly and beautifully.

The scene is tragic, but there’s hope simply in the fact that Captain John Sheridan exists. Where is the John Sheridan of 2025? There are so many parallels to draw between Babylon 5’s story and the geopolitics of the 21st century, from the Trump-Putin axis to Ukraine’s fate, to the impotence and slowness of Europe. The doublethink and hypocrisy of the Nightwatch is heard in the lies and obfuscation of the Brexit campaign and Project 2025. European leaders have been in the ‘it will all blow over’ mentality for far too long.

I suspect Hegseth and Vance’s cowardly betrayals in recent days have caused more than a few European leaders to have this moment:

War isn’t only inevitable. It’s already here.

A quote from B5 creator and writer J. Michael Straczynski, circa February 1996

Next up is ‘Severed Dreams’.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

Well, there’s a quite a bit going on in this episode.

While ‘Severed Dreams’ is the big conflagration and declaration of independence from B5, it’s ‘Point of No Return’ where Sheridan makes that decision. It will flip the entire show on its head. If we think back to the UN-in-space shenanigans of season 1, we’ve come a very long way. The events of season 3 would have been inconceivable back then.

Which is, of course, the point.

While Hague never showing up again was due to the actor declining the role o go do another show, it works in the story’s favour. Sheridan’s mentor is taken off the map, which makes him feel all the more alone — but also spurs him to step up.

There are two other storylines running in this episode: G’Kar’s continued transition to a more spiritual leader, which is played wonderfully alongside Ta’Lon. Interesting to think that G’Kar’s new path is due in large part to mental manipulation by the Vorlon. And then there’s Lady Morella’s visit, which feels a little like filler for a while but delivers an excellent sting at the end, with the prophecy that Vir will also be emperor. Stephen Furst is wonderful throughout this episode.

After last week’s VFX tour-de-force (not to mention what’s coming next week), it’s clever from a production standpoint to make ‘Point of No Return’ a comparatively station-bound story. It’s about people, and keeps everything grounded. It’s an excellent decision, pacing-wise, to put this in-between two far more bombastic episodes.