"Infection" discussion [spoilers]

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X04, "Infection". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "Infection" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[swashbuckler332.livejournal.com]

Most of my reactions to this episode are pretty much the same as most of the others who have posted here; it's not really that great an example of Babylon 5, but it does have some interesting concepts floating around it and an excellent character moment. Indeed, it is a testament to the show that Garibaldi would confront Sinclair about his seeming death wish so early in its run. Until that moment I just accepted Sinclair's heroics because he was the lead in the show and that sort of thing is what leads do, but this conversation hinted at something much more complex than that, and also signifies a difference in the way the commander would be treated.

I felt that the idea of a device that eliminates based on ideological differences was actually pretty interesting, but it was basically shoehorned into your standard "Frankenstein monster" plot (complete with a catchphrase). While Franklin does barely link it into some of the larger story arcs that are to come, too much of his time is spent on the relatively dull issue of Hendricks taking shortcuts.

J.M.S. says that this was his first script of the series proper, and I can't help but feel that the better elements of the story would have been more effectively exploited later on. The reporter, for example, serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever, she's just a subplot for the sake of a subplot.

I did enjoy Christopher Franke's score much more than I did for his work on "Born To the Purple" (which was otherwise a much superior episode).

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

The odd thing about the episode focusing on Hendrick's 'shortcuts' is that the episode never seems entirely clear on what Hendrick's job actually is. If he's a doctor, a medical researcher - as Franklin's complaints imply - then sure, he should be focusing on original work. But most of the rest of the episode implies he's an archeologist who happens to also be familiar with alien biology - in which case, digging up dead worlds isn't a 'shortcut' - it's what he's trained to do!

[swashbuckler332.livejournal.com]

Yes! At no point did Franklin's arguments ever seem to make any sense to me because Hendricks came across first and foremost as an archaeologist. Frankly, even if he was a xenobiologist, his archaeological pursuits wouldn't be 'shortcuts' either. The only shortcuts we have any evidence of him taking is actually getting the artifacts onto Babylon 5, which is bad, but has nothing to do with his profession.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

For a show in which so many of the major guest and trigger characters are archaeologists, there was some real scant in the research department. I only took a semester of linguistics in college and I have a hard time watching Eilerson talk about his work in Crusade. ;)