"Ship of Tears" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 3X14, "Ship of Tears". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
Bester returns to Babylon 5, this time asking for help to rescue a group of frozen telepaths.

Extra reading:
The article for "Ship of Tears" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Man, I enjoy a good Bester episode.

I think it’s fun that Bester has been gathering information about the Shadows for some time – the line in “Dust to Dust” about the Corps being all that stands between humanity and the abyss implied it, and here it’s pretty much confirmed – and now has to organize a conspiracy against his own superiors and the Clark administration. It occurs to me that Bester would have been a much better character to be revealed as “Sheridan’s equal and opposite” than what we eventually got.

(For that matter, they both have lovers turned into Shadow ship CPUs, and Sheridan’s eventual use of the cryo-teeps is at least as ruthless as anything Bester does to Garibaldi – and considering the stakes and timetable of what Edgars was up to, Bester might actually come out ahead morally speaking…)

I do agree that Bester’s relationship with Carolyn has a ton of authority and dubious consent issues – but I also agree that Koenig and the script do sell me into believing that Bester does love her. One thing this episode highlighted for me is that Bester likes to control conversations – his conversation with Ivanova early on seems purely designed to antagonise her, to make it so she’s reacting to him not the other way around. But once he finds out about Carolyn, he stops doing that, and his scene with Sheridan after confronting her is one of the few times in the entire series when he’s not trying to steer a conversation in any direction but just speaking honestly.

- B5 seems to have a lot of ‘Grey’ type aliens, and they all seem to go in for traditional alien-abduction behaviour. Have any of the RPGs or novels or anything made any connections between the Vree, the Streib and the Shadow-allied doctor aliens?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Seems the key to enjoying this episode is how much one likes Bester as a character. :)

I think it’s fun that Bester has been gathering information about the Shadows for some time – the line in “Dust to Dust” about the Corps being all that stands between humanity and the abyss implied it, and here it’s pretty much confirmed – and now has to organize a conspiracy against his own superiors and the Clark administration.

Yes. It occurs to me that he could have scanned Garibaldi the first two times he was on the station (the third time he was drugged, so he couldn't have) and found out about the Shadow vessel on Mars and a connection to the Corps this way.

One thing this episode highlighted for me is that Bester likes to control conversations – his conversation with Ivanova early on seems purely designed to antagonise her, to make it so she’s reacting to him not the other way around.

True. It's like working Garibaldi up with the Talia dig in Dust to Dust - something to get a reaction and emotional control of the conversation. Though I've speculated about an additional reason as well (http://archiveofourown.org/works/14021) (in section 5).

But once he finds out about Carolyn, he stops doing that, and his scene with Sheridan after confronting her is one of the few times in the entire series when he’s not trying to steer a conversation in any direction but just speaking honestly.

I'm trying to think of the few other occasions, and can only come up with: monologue to Carolyn in Epiphanies, talking to Sheridan after the mass suicides in Phoenix Rising. There are other examples when he's shaken (for example, with Lochley after the Byron followers were shooting at them, but he still tries to cover by making the joke about hemlines), and other examples when he's likely telling the truth (he is not lying to Garibaldi either in Face of the Enemy or when telling him about the Asimov in s5), but he's always either in control or at least slightly manipulative there. Except on those three occasions.

I haven't read the technomage novels, but the Centauri trilogy and the Psi Cors trilogy makes no connection between the "Grey" types.

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

I also agree that Koenig and the script do sell me into believing that Bester does love her.

I also agree - I suppose that is implicit in my earlier post.
the monologue that selenak mentions is the best indication, but also in this episode, the abruptness with which he reacts to discovering whose bracelet he is holding.

We are now showwn that, despite earlier appearances, Bester does care about many things, and is quite honest about these, even if they are things that most people would agree are morally wrong.

His belief that telepaths are better than "mundanes" is genuine, and the way in which he regards them as precious is also form of love. He works as character (among other things) because he cares about his causes, and shows the negative and destructive potential of what is normally thought of as a positive emotion: he cares enough to kill.

This way, he is also uncomfortably close to the darker side of each of us, unlike the completely selfish villain of many cheap films, from whom the viewer can distance himself emotionally.