Of Telepaths and Tragedies:
The Fifth Season of Babylon 5
From No Compromises to Sleeping in Light--the end of the story.
Essay by Lady Keela Shanri
Well, what to say about this season. I'll get the ultimate verdict out of the way first thing:
I didn't like it.
Yes, I know, some of you more rabid fans might be going, "But it HAS to be wonderful, it's BABYLON 5!!" but I don't care. This season was light on plot because most of the main threads had been wrapped up in Season Four, contained HORRIBLE characters, and did even more horrible things to some of their main characters. "Justice" was not dealt out fairly; some characters who had done bad things got off almost scot-free when others whose crimes were really not any worse were punished beyond belief. Because things had been dragged on interminably slowly for some odd reason in the first part of the season, the plot had to be rushed artificially fast at the end. And even though many fans say that the last five episodes made the whole rest of the season worthwhile, I disagree. Sure, they were dramatic and heavy episodes, but I can't say that they were well-written because they were based off of a setup that I EXTREMELY disagree with from earlier in the season, and that set-up was VERY badly written.
In short, B5 would have had a much better ending if we had just stopped on the truly stunning Season Four. Sure, we would never have found out what happened to the poor little Regent, but I'd much rather have that one mystery unsolved than to know the things I do now...
On to the character development part:
President John J. Sheridan: Somehow, getting a goatee seems to have sucked all the brains right out of Sheridan's head. While he occasionally acts likeable or has a funny line, he behaves like an absolute MORON in this season. (Most of the so-called "good guys" do; that's one of the main reasons I hated this season so much.) For example, he lets the telepaths have a colony on Babylon 5, and he agrees with the others NOT to tell Londo about the Centauri evidence! DUMB! Oh, and if that wasn't stupid enough, he gives a very important job that will strongly influence the beginning or not of a WAR to Mr. Garibaldi, who was drunk off his ass at the time, and Sheridan KNEW IT! Or suspected he might be, anyway. Don't you think there might have been SOMEONE else he could have given that job to...? He also did not make a very good showing as Alliance President in other ways, such as how he did not seem to punish the Drazi and the Narns at ALL for their completely unauthorised attack on Centauri Prime.
On a lighter note, by the end of the season proper (I'm not counting "Sleeping in Light" because that's more of an epilogue) he's going to be a daddy. I wonder what a one-fourth Minbari/three-fourths Human looks like...
By the end of "Sleeping in Light", he has died, or at least gone "beyond the Rim", as Lorien prophesized.
Head of Alliance Intelligence Michael Garibaldi: Another character who went down the tubes in this season, although unlike certain others he gets himself back out of it. He starts off okay--despite a rather violent disagreement with the entire existence of the new station Captain, he seems to be fine, getting a new high-ranking position in the Alliance government and all that. But later on things get worse, as he finds out that there are still a few nasty little bugs left over from Bester's programming, and that he's still not free YET. This depressing revelation prompts him to take to the bottle yet again, which in turn causes him to basically start the "Centauri War" (GODS I hate that name!) through his incompetence. By the end of the season (and the show) he has made a deal with the devil--oops, I mean, Lyta (not that there's much difference by then!) and gotten married to a harpy--I mean, Lise, and is starting to pull himself together out of alchoholism. He gives over his position of head of Alliance Intelligence to "Number One" and retires to Mars with Lise to be the new co-head of Edgars Industries. So, while he has done horrible things, he ends up a happily married and very very RICH man. IT'S NOT FAIR!
Dr. Stephen Franklin: He didn't change much here, being one of the steadiest characters on the station. In fact, he didn't get very much to DO here, except for get promoted to being the new head of the Xenobiological Research Institute on Earth (replacing Dr. Benjamin Kyle, who was, if you recall, the original doctor in the pilot episode!) and getting to renew his relationship with Number One for "an hour and ten minutes" (ahem). He was basically his normal compassionate, intelligent, and somewhat nosy self. He tried to help Garibaldi with his addiction just as Garibaldi helped him with his earlier, but the person who finally managed to actually help Garibaldi was someone else entirely. He got a chance to star in the episode "Secrets of the Soul"--too bad it had to be such a HORRIBLE episode...
Ambassador/En'til'Zha/First Lady Delenn:She really went downhill in this season, from strong, determined, intelligent warrior-priestess to a weak, adoring, STUPID little wifey. Yes, she is one of the ones who I hold responsible for the horrible mistakes that caused "The Fall of Centauri Prime" and for that I can never completely forgive her. And yet, because I am a hopeless romantic at hearts, her good-bye scene with Sheridan in "Sleeping in Light" got to me anyway. Oh, and she was pregnant by the end of the season proper. But she started behaving oddly WAY before we found this out. And she seems to have become Alliance President after Sheridan stepped down. Now, if this had been the OLD Delenn, I would have thought she'd mae a wonderful President, but I don't know now...
Attaché/Ranger Lennier: Boy did HE ever change this season! He started off as Delenn's attaché still but then joined the An'la'shok and became a Ranger--yet again, for the wrong reasons. He admitted his love of Delenn out loud, to her face, and seemed to become obsessed with her and insanely jealous of Sheridan. He became violent and dark, and in one blindingly out-of-character (or WAS it?) moment towards the end, he almost KILLED Sheridan by inaction! By "Sleeping in Light", he is counted among the "lost friends", which does not surprise me considering the direction he was going, dying young was almost a certainty--but my question is, exactly how and WHY did he die? And did that prophecy from Morden's "ghost" ever come true, or not...?
Ambassador/Prime Minister/Emperor Londo Mollari: Londo, as usual, had THE most violently bumpy ride and dramatic changes of anyone in the entire season. (And, indeed, the entire SHOW.) He started off as Prime Minister of the Centauri and also their Ambassador in the Alliance ruling council, but by the end, due to IDIOTIC mistakes on the part of the other people, he had been punished by seeing his homeworld, the only thing he has ever really, truly loved, be sent up in flames, and even WORSE, he has a KEEPER! ARGH! Sure, okay, he's done horrible things, but most of the other characters that have done things just as bad as he has, and THEY didn't get such a horrible fate! Not to mention that at the beginning of the season he has a heart attack and almost dies, and has to realise what he's done wrong and apologise for them before he can recover. If, say, G'Kar had an experience like that, it would count as his "atonement" and he would be punished no further, or at least not in a permanent fashion. (Okay, so G'Kar DID get tortured and lose his eye AFTER his dust/Vorlon-induced revelation in Season Three, but he can see just fine now with his new prosthetic and unlike Londo he is NOT under constant control or being FORCED to hurt his own homeland!) Parts of Londo's fate was set up by his own actions or inactions earlier, yes, but the LAST blows were caused by the stupidity of Delenn, Sheridan, G'Kar, and Garibaldi. So I blame them for "The Fall of Centauri Prime" and Londo's absolutely tragic fate, and because of that, I really cannot like those characters anymore.
Oh, and also by the end of the season, Londo has become Emperor, but rather than being a cause for celebration like all the other promotions that happen in this season, it's extremely tragic...
Attaché/Ambassador Vir Cotto: The more confident and slender young Centauri starts off the season still just as an attaché, but he is now being groomed to replace Londo as it looks as though Londo will have to go back to Centauri Prime on a permanent basis soon. Londo is not sure whether or not Vir is ready for the job--until Vir shows his bravery and initiative by grabbing one of Londo's swords out of his quarters and threatening an obnoxious Drazi merchant with it! (He does not actually kill the guy). Then Londo knows he is ready. By the end of the season proper, he has indeed become "Ambassador Cotto" as his cousins in the first season thought he was already, and is very very proud of his new responsibilities. Unfortunately, we do not get to see much of what kind of an Ambassador he makes because of two circumstances--Vir is simply not USED very much in this season, one of the things that greatly lowered its quality, and secondly, because the Centauri Republic gets (UNFAIRLY!) kicked out of the Alliance by the time he gets promoted, he never has any reason to be in the council chamber sitting next to the others and debating, etc. A real shame, I would have loved to see what kind of a diplomat he'd make (and who would HIS attaché be?) By "Sleeping in Light", Londo is dead, and, like Lady Morella said, Vir has followed in his footsteps to become EMPEROR! He seems to be a much happier Emperor than Londo, and he is seen at one point negotiating something with a Ranger, so let's hope that means a brighter future for the Centauri people. Gods know they need it...
Ambassador (?) G'Kar: G'Kar became a religions icon in this season! Not merely a quietly spiritual man, he finds himself, due to the IMMENSE popularity of his illicitly-copied book, in the uncomfortable position of having to give out religious advice to people who are far too stupid or closed-minded to understand it, let alone follow it. People chase him everywhere and there is a constant crowd of Narns outside his door, day and night, hounding him. Because of this, and because of a bargain involving telepath DNA, he ends up joining Lyta on a cruise around the galaxy at the season's end. What do they find? We do not know.
But we know that at some point he ends up back on Centauri Prime, living there evidently, because he does indeed die strangling/being strangled by Londo, in the future, when they are both very old men--just as that HORRIBLE prophecy showed us. By "Sleeping in Light" he is, of course, dead, as he died at the same time as Londo.
Security Chief Zack Allen: Zack was, as usual, mostly just his plain old self in this season. Despite the fact that he lost Lyta from lack of attention (and the fact that he does not look like the cover of a cheap romance novel--but I still think Zack is one of the best-looking guys on the show, easy!) I still think he was FAR more intelligent and sensitive than Garibaldi. I can't help but think that if he had been put in that position of having to monitor the border or whatever it was that Garibaldi was in when he basically started the "Centauri War", ZACK would not have gotten drunk and passed out! We learn that Zack has a dark past like Garibaldi's and an equally dark service record, but that Garibaldi decided to give him a chance anyway just as Sinclair gave HIM a chance, but what that dark past is we are not really told. Zack ALSO tries to pull Garibaldi out of his alchoholism, but, again, that honour must go to someone else. He gets points for trying, though. And in a truly touching moment, he is indeed, as he said he would be, still on Babylon 5 just before they turn the lights out for the final time. By "Sleeping in Light", he seems to have a Ranger uniform on by the end and is negotiating something with Emperor Cotto! What's that all about, I wonder...
Lyta Alexander: Wow, did SHE change! Arguably as much as Londo. In this season, Lyta goes from "nice little telepath" to outsider, to rebel, to rebel LEADER, to terrorist, and finally an outright comic-book super villianess! (I say "comic book" because of her powers.) She falls in love with (ICK) Byron, and then dedicates her life to continuing his work--including violence in his name. She decides to stop hiding what the Vorlons did to her, and becomes outright SINISTER. She makes cold-blooded bargains with several characters, charges huge amounts for her services, and enjoys the power she holds over people, whether telepathic or legal, FAR too much if you ask me. By the end of the season she's headed off into space with G'Kar, and has promised to undo the blocks in Garibaldi's mind if he will use the money of Edgars Industries to make a force strong enough to take out the Psi Corps. We do not know what has happened to her by "Sleeping in Light"--no-one mentions her. And even though she has reasons to have become the way she ends up--I still sorta miss the old Lyta who didn't know where to put all the stuff in her quarters and had time to eat pizza with Zack.
Captain Elizabeth Lochley: The new girl on the block. Most of the fans HATE her guts, but I like her, I like her a lot. No, she's not one of the funny or partying-down type characters; you probably wouldn't want to hang out with her. But she's a good person, brave, smart, strong, and a much better character than most fans give her credit for. If you ask me, the main reason that they hate her has NOTHING to do with Lochley herself, but that she "replaced" Ivanova. It doesn't matter what Lochley is like, she could have been the very best character ever in the history of the universe, and they STILL would have hated her because she was another woman with long reddish-brown hair who strides around C&C giving orders, and she was NOT IVANOVA!
Hate to break it to you guys, but Lochley did NOT replace Ivanova, she replaced SHERIDAN! Not on the show, I mean, but in terms of rank--notice: CAPTAIN Lochley? NOT First Officer, which WAS Ivanova's rank until she left.
At any rate, Lochley made some dumb mistakes, such as crawling through the air ducts for no apparent reason to talk to Byron for two seconds, but on the other hand, she was OPPOSED to the whole idea of the telepath colony and was, finally, the person who was able to break through that drink-sodden muddle called Garibaldi's brain and get him back on the right track again. Ironically, it took a junkie to set another junkie straight (but then again, same for Garibaldi and Franklin, earlier...) She was once married to Sheridan but would have, I think, made a much better match for Garibaldi, with whom, despite their original blinding hatred of each other, she had a DEFINITE chemistry. Alas, it was not to be, as Garibaldi married that annoying Lise by the end of the season, as we always unfortunately knew he would...
Gone But Not Forgotten:
Byron This truly ANNOYING character both showed up and met his demise within the same season. I know that in my Season Two essay I went on and on about how glad I was to see Lt. Keffer snuff it; that is not even in the same UNIVERSE at my extreme joy over Byron's death! (The only thing that dampens my enthusiasm is the fact that the jerk decided to kill himself by taking out several other people with him--but hey, they weren't really likeable characters either...) Byron, who had no last name (or maybe that WAS his last name?) was a British pretty-boy who was always spouting NAUSEASTINGLY drippy poetry and philosophy, seduced Lyta (YUCK!) ran what amounted to a nutball cult, sang stupid songs in Down Below, and caused a very long, drawn-out plotline that was a true WASTE OF TIME! Oh, I suppose it got Lyta to where she is by the end (which I don't really like) but it was ANNOYING and boring and it made the rest of the season be squished, so that Centauri Prime had to fall due to STUPIDITY and illogic rather than REAL reasons. Byron made me want to throw up and I am SO glad he's now just an oily stain on the floor in Brown Sector somewhere. YEE-HA! Pass the Cheesy-Spoo.
Regent Virini: On the complete, total opposite end of the scale, we have this poor fellow. In case that name confuses you, it comes from the fact that "The No-Name Minister/Regent Dude" is no longer nameless! (Londo calls him "Regent Virini"--a name who's spelling I am just guessing at, because it is never shown on-screen--in "In the Kingdom of the Blind".) But unfortunately, he is also no longer with us. Damian London gave an absolutely stellar performance as the tragic little Regent in his three episodes of this season and showed us further depths to his character. He made us both laugh and cry with his crazy antics and hyperactive jumping around the room one moment--and somberly warning people or mourning the coming darkness that he cannot stop the next. You can SEE him attempting to fight his Keeper every step of the way--and ultimately failing, although even more tragically, his real personality was always still there, underneath. At the very end, he is forced to make Centauri Prime completely defenseless, and gives a wonderful speech just before his death that shows us this is NOT a weak and cowardly fool, this is an intelligent, brave, strong person, and, above all, not crazy or evil as everyone else thinks by this time. He dies a true hero's death--something you could NEVER have foreseen by his first appearance in "Sic Transit Vir"!
In fact, even counting the HORRIBLE circumstances, the Regent's death speech is, for me, one of the very few moments that validates the existence of Season Five...
Recurring Characters:
Bester: We discover that he has done even more nasty stuff to Garibaldi than we knew originally, and he fights fiercely to get the renedage telepaths back under Psi Corps' wing, especially Byron, who was evidently once Bester's protogeé. We also discover that Bester is not just repeating the Psi Corps propaganda by rote--he was raised by the Corps from the time he was a baby and really, truly, BELIEVES in it. But there are some plot threads left hanging with Mr. Bester--for example, did Garibaldi ever get his revenge on him or not, and whatever happened to his (Bester's) lover, the teepsicle Carolyn...?
Lise Hampton Edgars Garibaldi That's right, by the end of the season Her Drippiness has indeed MARRIED our Garibaldi. However--surprisingly--I did not hate her anywhere near as much in Season Five as I did previously! Her character improved quite a bit, becoming both more mellow and more acerbically witty. She did not whine or call out for help in a wimpy annoying voice, but instead made snide comments underneath her breath, helped Garibaldi get back on his feet again, and showed him true love and devotion. A most pleasant surprise. I still don't LIKE the character--but I don't hate her as much anymore, either.
"Number One": One of the most likeable guest-star characters in Season Four makes a very welcome reappearance here, where we find out her real name (Theresa "Tessa" Halloran), she runs into Franklin again on her way in just as Franklin's on his way OUT, and she takes over Garibaldi's job as head of Alliance Intelligence when he leaves for Mars with Lise. And she seems to be doing a pretty good job with it, too. At least she won't get drunk anyway...I don't THINK...
Dr. Lillian Hobbs: only got one small part in this season, but the likeable assistant doctor deserves a mention because she gets promoted to the Chief of Medlab after Franklin leaves! A good choice, I'm glad he picked someone who was a halfway interesting character for the job.
Minister Cholini: A minor part, the SNOOTY Centauri Minister of Defense nevertheless played a significant part in the whole "Centauri War" arc and deserves a mention. I hope this guy was killed in the bombing, he was such an insufferable SNOT!
Lorien: Yes, you heard me, Lorien, the First One, the Eternal Snore of the Universe. He also reappeared in this season, but thank all the gods only briefly, as he came back, Gandalf-like, to carry Sheridan over the Sea--I mean, Beyond the Rim. (Although Gandalf has more class in his little finger than a million Loriens!) The First One is there at the end--yep, that's the type of symbolism B5 is famous for, all right...
Plot Summary:
This is going to be hard to describe, because first we have Season Five proper, and then we have "Sleeping in Light", the epilogue. In the main plot, the telepath war was set up by the actions of Byron, Lyta, Garibaldi, Bester et. al, and Centauri Prime was nearly bombed back to the stone age. (NOOO!!!) But this last thing happened because of intensely bad writing and having people act completely out of character, so it made just as ANGRY as sad. And the telepath thing was not only a waste of time, it often almost made me physically ill.
By "Sleeping in Light", things seem to have gotten a bit brighter--Delenn, even though she will have to live alone for the rest of her life, is President, Ivanova is En'til'zha, Zack is a Ranger, Vir is Emperor Cotto the First (yay!), Garibaldi has a daughter, and Centauri Prime SEEMS to have gotten rid of the Drakh, among other things. But tempering the happiness of all this is the fact that now Sheridan, Londo, G'Kar, and Lennier are all dead, in addition to others. And the most crushing blow of all--THEY BLEW UP THE STATION! ACCKKK!!
In closing, except for a few scattered good moments, Season Five was depressing, nauseating, hateful and badly written. If you ask me, the story would have been ended better if they had stopped at Season Four.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I have suddenly stopped being a Babylon 5 fan! I still intend to write to other B5 fans, post to B5 message boards, maintain this site, write B5 fanfic, etc. It's BECAUSE I was so into the story that Season Five bothers me so much. If I hadn't gotten so involved in what USED to be a WONDERFUL tale, then I wouldn't have been so hurt, betrayed, and sickened to see it end like this.
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