"Dancing With Shadows":
The Third Season of Babylon 5

Essay by Lady Keela Shanri



This season was when things REALLY got moving. From the first outright battles of the Shadow War to Babylon 5's decision to break away from Earth, the third season was packed full of action and heavy arc-advancement.
But as fast-moving as THIS season was, it was still just a taste of what would happen when everything--well, ALMOST everything--came to a head in Season Four...
On to the character development summaries. We have a few new characters in this season; let's introduce them first:
Ranger Marcus Cole: Most likely hired at least partially because of his looks, to bring more female viewers into the show, Jason Carter proved that he was NOT just a pretty face with his creditable first year of acting as Marcus Cole. Unlike Keffer, who was JUST a pretty face with no personality attached, Marcus is a sarcastic, funny/annoying, somewhat hyperactive smart-ass on the outside--but has a tragic past and a deeply strong sense of honour and duty underneath. He joined the Rangers, an (at the time) secret organisation made up of Minbari and Humans jointly, trained to fight the Shadows, out of grief--his brother had died while in the Rangers and he wanted to carry on his work. Yet looking at him on an average day you'd never guess he was that sad, fatalistic, or cynical inside--his flippant attitude and bizzarre, dry humour can always be counted on to make an episode funnier. He can also kick butt with a Minbari Fighting Pike, has a look more appropriate to the cover painting of a fantasy novel, and his obvious crush on Ivanova is sadly sweet, as she seems to either not notice it or be ignoring him on purpose. And last but not least, he gave Dr. Franklin a much-needed friend.
Altogether, not my FAVOURITE character, but a decent one.

Zack Allen: While not really a "new" character as he had been recurring since late Season One, this is the year when Sgt. Zack Allen, that lovable gruff-voiced Security sidekick, first became a regular character. I always liked this guy from day one, even if he DOESN'T usually get all that much to do (that'll change in Season Four, however.) He's basically a good-hearted dork, easily confused and mislead, but not evil. His hooking up with Nightwatch at the end of Season Two had us wondering if perhaps he might not actually BE a jerk, momentarily, but by the time he rips that black arm-band off in Point of No Return, we know for certain he's all right. He may not be the brightest of all the characters, but he's a decent guy, and he's funny. Plus he makes a good sidekick for Garibaldi; they just go well together.

Lyta Alexander: She is also not really a "new" character, as she was first seen in The Gathering and later on in Divided Loyalties, but Lyta did not start showing up in more than one episode that were even vaguely near each other until this season, so I consider this year to be her REAL "introduction".
It's hard for me to say what I think of her so far; I really don't know about her personality. She's basically a good person as far as I can tell but she's NOT "nice"; her sense of duty (but to WHAT exactly?) will make her just smash through whatever barriers are in her way to get what she wants (as when she threatens to fry the Centauri telepath's mind in Passing Through Gethsemane) and she's not above a little creative editing of the truth when it comes to keeping her secrets. On the other hand, she does KEEP the secrets that others--most notably Kosh and the Vorlons--have shown/told her, but you get the feeling it's more out of fear than loyalty. Although she DOES agree to help out Sheridan and the others with their telepaths vs. Shadows experiments, you gotta sorta wonder exactly what HER motivation here is. She seems to make slight friendship inroads with Delenn and Ivanova, most notably, becomes Kosh Classic's attaché, and is genuinely ripped up inside when he dies. And while we're on the subject--just what DID she see on the Vorlon homeworld, and besides the gill implants, exactly what DID the Vorlons do to her? Time might tell...

And now on to the already-known characters:
Captain John Sheridan: The good Captain goes through a lot in this season. First, he gives up his Earthforce uniform and everything that goes with it, and calls his dad to talk to him for what may be the very last time. Then he admits that he loves Delenn and the two of them go from adorable flirting and funny little romantic-comedy scenes to becoming serious. He fights the Shadows, goes back in time, meets his predecessor, Jeffrey Sinclair, and also witnesses the birth of a great Minbari legend. He deepens his relationship with Kosh Classic JUST in time for the latter to die. He reunites with his (formerly presumed dead) wife--sorta.
And by the end of the season, he is DEAD!
Or IS he...?

Commander Susan Ivanova: Ivanova didn't change all that much here, although in her sorta-friendship we see her attitude towards telepaths perhaps softening a little more, same in her confession that she had truly loved Talia (awww...). However, on the other hand, we see her deliberately and premeditatedly trying to "blow Mr. Bester out of the sky", so it's obvious she still really, REALLY hates Psi Corps, and that shows her dark side. From finding some First Ones and NOT letting them leave until they agree to help the Army of Light against the Shadows, to finding the evidence that CLARK had killed Santiago, that it wasn't an accident after all, Ivanova had an important role in this season. Her camaraderie with the other officers and her CLUELESS treatment of Marcus were interesting to watch as well.

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi: Garibaldi also grew a bit in this season, but only a bit. Still the same grumpy, cynical, smart-mouthed, suspicious ol' Security officer we always knew and loved, Garibaldi says good-bye to Earthforce (as do all the officers), seems to have officially broken off his friendship with Londo (gee), and to have started one with G'Kar. He reads the book of G'Quan and uses the information in it to help out with fighting the Shadows, and he learns to speak Narn while he's at it. He also gets to be in charge of several Narns as they join the station Security forces, and to kick some serious Nightwatch butt.

(Dr.) Stephen Franklin: This was probably the darkest and heaviest year for Franklin--on the one hand, he got a lot to do, on the other hand, it was almost all sad. (Not ALL of it however; it was nice to see him have a friend, in the form of Marcus. Together--Marcus's quips and Franklin's deadpan cynicism--they make a great comedy team. Garibaldi is still a good friend, too.)
He finally admits his stim addiction out loud to someone but continues to take them anyway (we SEE him injecting himself for the first time). They eventually almost destroy him--and his patients--before he RESIGNS from Medlab and takes off on "Walkabout" to find himself and work the stims and other things out of his system. We discover that he belongs to a newish religion called "Foundationism" and what Foundationists ARE, we see him have a fast-moving but at least slightly serious relationship with a singer from Down Below who it then turns out has only months to live, we see him shaking with withdrawal symptoms, living like a Lurker, and then he gets STABBED in the stomach--while trying to save a life, in true Franklin style--and left to die.
Sheesh. Now, I KNOW they say that to break an addiction you have to "hit bottom" first, but MOST "bottoms" aren't quite THAT low!
But through sheer force of will he manages to crawl all the way back to civilisation, where he has his job back in name but is unable to work except in an administrative capability, confined for now in a wheelchair due to his injuries. Still weak and recovering, but now drug-free and better than ever, the future is actually bright for (now Doctor again) Stephen Franklin.

Ambassador Delenn: This was a big year for her as well. She got serious with John, broke up the Grey Council and thereby plunged her government into practically anarchy, single-handedly, she got the Minbari, Earth's former enemies, to back the station Babylon 5's attempt to break away from EarthGov, she provided--and held BACK--valuable information about the Shadows and Vorlons, she MET Valen, and she became Ranger One herself after Sinclair/Valen left. She showed that she could kick booty with a pike and come up with insanely daring strategies for combat, and further developed her charmingly EVIL sense of humour. Truly, a big year...

Lennier: I've been known to complain before that Lennier, much as I do like him, doesn't ever CHANGE much. Here that's no longer true. He shows some definite character development in Season Three. He shows real anger for the first time, as in Ceremonies of Light and Dark, he starts getting more outright sarcastic instead of simply quiet and dutiful, he snaps at people and yells for the first time. He stands up to Delenn--the person whom he once worshipped--and disobeyed her wishes for the first time.
And on the other hand, he confessed that all this time, he's been in love with her.
(Awww...)
He also developed some frienships with other characters, most notably Marcus and Londo, although he felt bad about saving Londo's life. And he got to be an action hero.
Not bad, not bad at all...

Ambassador Londo Mollari: Londo, as always, changed a LOT in this season. He fell ALL the way down into the pit, being almost totally consumed by his own darkness. He starts to do truly evil things that are his OWN idea, and his alone, for the first time in this year, rather than being pressured or tricked into them by others. However, being Londo, he is ALWAYS still a fascinating bundle of contradictions, NEVER all one thing or all the other.
He callously poisons Lord Refa, but the reason for it was to help protect his homeworld and his race--patriotic to the core. He also rejoined with Morden JUST as he was about to break away and perhaps start finding his way back to the light, and also had Lord Refa BRUTALLY killed in an extremely elaborate plan, but both of those were out of grief for the death of someone he LOVED. He yells at Vir one minute and then breaks down and gets all emotional about him the next. He'll do something totally evil AND something totally touching, make you shudder AND make you laugh, IN THE SAME EPISODE! Only Londo could make you do that, and no-one else. A character truly unlike any other.

Vir Cotto: The chubby, bumbling attaché started to come into his own this season (but won't REALLY do that until Season Four) as he stands up openly to Londo and even YELLS in his face, gets a brief stint as a romantic lead, decides to take matters into his own hands regarding the way the Narns are treated and turns that sympathy into an "underground railroad"--all by himself--and saves 2,000 of them! He is briefly promoted, to the official Attaché to Minbar, where he makes valuable connections, saves Narns, writes ill-fated reports and starts to go native. And (even though this is by far NOT the most important character-change as far as the PLOT is concerned) by the end of the year, the word "chubby" in my introductory phrase no longer applies--he goes from double-chinned and round-bodied to trim with a rather sharp, POINTY face by the end of the year! (Most people only suddenly noticed this around early Season Four, and went, "HEY! When did Vir become THIN all of a sudden?" but you can see it START happening in late Season Three if you know what to look for.) And last but definitely not least, we hear that he is to become EMPEROR someday! Hard to get a more important announcement than that...

Citizen G'Kar: G'Kar had probably THE most dramatic personality change this season, if not for the entire SHOW. We see him as his old Narn self, totally angry and hate-filled towards the Centauri, who have just recently re-enslaved his world and "bombed it back to the stone age". He still has his sense of humour, but it's shown in a more dark light here, as in the scene with him and Londo in the elevator from Convictions. He organises an underground resistance movement among the Narns on B5 and other acts of agression.
UNTIL he takes Dust, and attacks Londo (and Vir, but he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time), raping his mind in an absolute FIT of rage. Like Franklin, G'Kar hits bottom this season. But when he starts back up again, it's as a totally different person. He has a revelation, and from then on in, he is far more peaceful and spiritual, espousing less violent means of resistance and writing down his new philosophies. He becomes generally more mellow, and even seems to soften up towards Londo a little (although they are not together much this season after Dust to Dust, so it's hard to tell.) He also joins the B5 War Council and becomes an official card-carrying member of the Army of Light. Like I said, a BIG year.

Lost and/Or Recurring Characters

The Koshes: Kosh Classic as I call him (Naranek, if you wanna get technical) showed the most personality in this season that he ever has, and started becoming likeable in a strange way--then DIED. His deliberately annoying non-answers to Sheridan in Matters of Honor seemed to show a genuine sense of humour; his strenuous protests about Sheridan's plans to go to Za'Ha'Dum and his sorrowful apology to him afterwards, showed a real compassionate side. On the other hand, his treatment of Lyta, his patronising attitude towards the "younger" races, like "Because I'm your dad and I say so!", and his manipulation of G'Kar--even if if WAS for a good cause--all show a rather darker side, too. Then he DIED. As Sean Connery said in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "You left JUST as you were getting INTERESTING!"
As for the New Kosh (Ulkesh), he was only introduced towards the end of the season, but he treated Lyta much worse and seemed to have NO regard for the doings of the others. And if you think he's sinister NOW, just wait...

Ambassador Jeffrey Sinclair/En'til'zha Valen: Sinclair, as a recurring character now rather than a star the way he was in the first season, made his last appearance this year in the mega-important, mega-confusing War Without End two-parter, with a very decent acting job. But WHAT a way to go! He got to end by "getting kicked upstairs" about as high as it is possible to go--he turned out to be VALEN, the closest thing the Minbari have to a GOD! If you're going to go, you might as well go out with a bang...

Lord Refa: We lost one of B5's greatest villians this year, Lord Refa. His ambition eventually blinds him to the schemes of others, most notably one Ambassador Londo Mollari, (who, as my brother said, is "GOOD at playing this game, isn't he?"). Londo first half-poisons him for something he DID do and then has him slowly, painfully beaten to a bloody pulp and his whole family discredited for something he DIDN'T. Evil to the core, ferociously ambitious, and eager to do ANYTHING to advance his cause, Refa, through William Forward's expert performance, Refa became a truly memorable character. Yon Cassius had a lean and hungry look, indeed...

Mr. Morden: While we always KNEW Morden was a slick-talking scum, we never saw him being OUTRIGHT evil until this season. His actions in Interludes and Examinations prove it once and for all. Ed Wasser does a wonderful job breathing life into one of the CREEPIEST characters I have ever met.

Alfred Bester, Psi Cop: On the flip side, this formerly all-the-way villian, while still evil and in the game for nobody but himself, started to show some other facets this season. We find out that he is capable of actual love, and he eventually winds up on the same side as the good guys!
For NOW, that is...

Other Returning Minor Characters: Zathras returned this season, and got a lot more to do, becoming a very funny and likeable character in his own odd scruffy way. The "new-and-improved" Draal appears for the first time, now played by John Shuck instead of Louis Turenne, due to the de-aging effect the Great Machine is having on him, and also turns really funny. And Corwin develops a sarcastic streak and develops a crush on Ivanova.

Brand-New Minor Characters Whom We Will See More of Later (Probably): Brother Theo--played by Louis Turenne, who must have somehow got hold of Delenn's coccooning device, returns to B5 as a HUMAN character this time, a likeable old smartmouth of a monk. He turns out to be rather helpful to the crew.
"The No-Name Minister Dude"--a tiny, middle-aged Centauri fop with a high-pitched, quavery voice and nervous, fluttery mannerisms who is a dork but NOT stupid. He gets only one short scene this season but will become a recurring character by Season Four and actually IMPORTANT to the plot by Season Five. (Or so I've heard; I've never actually SEEN any of Season Five.) He's played delightfully by Damian London, who seems to enjoy it a bit TOO much...
Ta'Lon--the Narn captain that Sheridan rescued back in All Alone in the Night in the second season shows up on B5 originally as the bodyguard of a slimy Narn collaborator, but ends up renewing his accquaintance with Sheridan and sort of becoming G'Kar's unofficial sidekick by the time the year is over.
Dr. Hobbs--Franklin's new assistant, a smart-mouthed but compassionate woman. She has definite potential.
Rathenn--Delenn's old friend whom we heard mentioned back in the first season, we actually see him for the first time here. He doesn't get to do much other than bow and be loyal and respectful, but he might become something later, you never know...



Plot Summary: Just as the characters were changing quite a bit during this season, so was the universe of B5 itself. We meet the Rangers and see the White Star(s) for the first time, Sheridan, Ivanova, and Delenn's attempts to get the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to come together and back them against the Shadows marks the beginning of what could be an important, long-lasting alliance, the War Council is formed, Nightwatch is broken, we meet some more First Ones, B5 breaks free of the increasingly corrupt and evil EarthGov, we learn much more than we did about the Shadows and Vorlons, we FINALLY find out what REALLY happened to Babylon 4, and we meet Valen! On the darker side, we find out for certain what we were suspecting before--that both EarthGov and Psi Corps were working with the Shadows, ISN goes off the air to be revamped as an outright propaganda machine, the Grey Council is disbanded, throwing Minbar into chaos, we hear that ominous prophecy for Londo, the Narns face their most despairing hour while the Centauri reach their darkest, and we see that horrible flashforward of Centauri Prime in flames.
We have indeed passed the point of no return. From now on, NOTHING will be the same...

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