b5_revisited | "Infection" discussion [spoilers]

This episode is actually quite a lot better than I'd remembered! It tends to get picked as "worst B5 episode EVER" quite often, and people mock the ActionHero!Sinclair thing, but there's a lot of decent content, and they actually deconstruct the heroic cliche - Garibaldi's speech at the end is genuinely quite good, and is really talking back to those criticisms. Really, though, Sinclair either has a deathwish or massive amounts of faith in himself! That was a pretty dodgy risk to take.

General background - I was very intrigued by the IPX thing. ~~Ilya~~ ~~Ducky~~ Hendricks is working for IPX, but Franklin's never heard of them and can't find out about them... and Henricks says they are a "front" for a bioweapons firm. This clearly isn't Anna Sheridan's IPX or Max Eilerson's IPX - it has the same basic strategy and ethics, but... continuity error?

C&C - Sinclair tells the journalist that C&C is "a secured area", which people were talking about when Talia turned up there; clearly it *is* supposed to be controlled, but people can still get there! The journalist herself, she apparently got in without difficulty. And I know G'Kar appears there at least once.

I liked the way the exposition was handled in this episode - it was mostly quite smooth. I particularly noticed something I'd liked in earlier episodes, where the senior staff are all together and sort of brain-storming, each of them feeding in their side of the story to give us all the information we need while still feeling relatively natural.

The biggest thing that annoyed me was actually the monster's "ever-increasing power and decreasing latency" thing. How was that supposed to work? Thermodynamics still applies, even if you *are* using organic technology! *g*

...and nice foreshadowing of the "pro-earth extremism" thing. Not to mention Unexpectedly Optimistic Ivanova! Hah.

This isn't one of my favourite episodes by a long way, but it does do a couple of very interesting things. The first is to bring up the subject of racial 'purity' for the first time, something that will re-occur with the Earth First movement and notably, with the cross-transformations of Delenn and Sinclair himself.

Secondly, Garibaldi's speech to Sinclair about the unnacceptable risks he takes is very timely. I remember the first time I saw the episode I was quite taken aback. I had just assumed that the show was going with the usual TV drama cliche of the main male character being the big action hero in spite of that being at odds with Sinclair's role as station commander. In this episode, we learn that it's not that at all, but a character flaw of Sinclair's brought about by his mysterious past. I love the way that even the poorest episodes add to the ongoing storyline and richness of the world and characters.

Was a bit shocked to realise what a rubbish actor David Macallum is, though. I loved Illya in The Man from Uncle when I was a kid.

Edited 2009-02-15 21:17 (UTC)

This clearly isn't Anna Sheridan's IPX or Max Eilerson's IPX - it has the same basic strategy and ethics, but... continuity error?

I was wondering about that too. Maybe Anna and Eilerson were part of the "front" organisation. Although the idea that the Icarus really was looking for possible bioweapons (perhaps without the crew knowing about it) would fit with Earth later making a deal with the Shadows to get that same technology. And by the time Eilerson is introduced Earth then already has organic technology, so IPX maybe have also changed with the times.

But - Anna seems to have been involved, seriously, with IPX for some years, and as an archaeologist. If the "front" was that substantial, Franklin would have found about it. IPX having a sideline in selling bioweapons? Absolutely - that's canon, or near as damnit. But it's more than just a front for that, based on everything we see.

When does Anna actually go off with the Icarus? It's some time before Sheridan goes to B5, right? Canon timeline-wise, I think she has *already* gone on that mission, which means IPX ought to be "real" by now...

Ah, you're right. I'm now trying to remember what we were told about IPX in Shadow Within .

According to the official chronology, the Icarus was on Z'ha'dum about the same time as the events of "The Gathering" took place.

eta: And apparently Mary Kirkish was working for IPX already in 2248, so it really doesn't fit that Franklin has never heard of it :/

Edited 2009-02-15 22:36 (UTC)

When I realized what episode this was, I groaned aloud. I went into it hoping that I'd get into it and find that it was not as bad as I remembered, like when I rewatched The Gathering. Not this time. I still think it's the worst episode in the entire series.

It does have a few small redeeming qualities. We get a little more background for Garibaldi's character, for example - we knew he'd had problems in the past, bounced around from assignment to assignment, but I think this is the first time we hear any specifics. And the bit at the beginning, where he buys the root from the vendor - it's really funny! And I always forget what episode it's in, because I usually skip over this one.

There are some big insights into Dr. Franklin, as well. His career ambitions, for example, and the fact that he is a workaholic.

The best part of the episode, IMO, is the speech Sinclair gives at the end, about why we need to go to the stars, to preserve all of human history. It's a very thoughtful, fascinating speech. This episode really does tell us a lot about him, from his tendency to throw himself into dangerous situations, to the deeper wisdom he shows through his comments at the end.

I much prefer to remember this poignant speech from him, rather than the scene with the Ikarran thing. ON and ONNN and ONNN~NNN~NNNN. Ugh. The racial purity theme is a heavy subject to tackle - and in this episode, it's pretty heavy-handed. It's done much better in later episodes.

Others have mentioned the IPX continuity glitch, and there are several plot holes that annoy, but I retain a sneaking fondness for this episode since my 8 year old (at the time) loved it.
There are Markabs all over the place, and in hats. Isn't that one selling the aphrodisiac/floor wax to Garibaldi?
I liked Sinclair telling Garibaldi he'd join him 'on the line.'
I very much liked Garibaldi's speech to Sinclair at the end. Particularly that he presaged Lorien's remarks to Sheridan..'the war gave you something to die for, do you have anything to live for?' abracax has mentioned the use of the same phrases and ideas spoken by different people in different contexts throughout the series; I think it gives the series resonance and depth.
Likewise Sinclair's declaration that the Ikaran's demise was due to ideology; that'll come up again, along with the racial purity motif.

I still think it's the worst episode in the entire series.

For me, "Gray 17 is Missing" takes that dishonour. So boring and pointless. Most eps have some good bits though; in TKO for example I FFed to Ivanova's scenes so it wasn't a total loss.

As silly as parts of this episode were, it was a harbinger of the future. It set the idea of biotech and how far EF would go to get it, the dangers of said biotech too, even setting up Sinclair for his morph in Valen eventually I thought through his talk with Garibaldi and his interview. It set up the political problems that would serface soon too.

It did have one of those really cool series quotes with Sinclair's answer to the reporter:
"...whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us, it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the stars."

I’ve always said that this isn’t the worst episode of B5 (IMO, ‘TKO’ takes that prize), but it’s certainly down the bottom.

- We see the first appearance of the ‘Archaeology will doom us all!’ plot.

- They make a big deal about the artefacts being in perfect condition, that ‘they could have been made yesterday’. Shame the prop department didn’t get the memo, and made them all look rusty and worn…

- As a couple of people have already mentioned, the IPX here doesn’t particularly resemble the IPX of later seasons. It doesn’t even make much sense here alone – if they’re the respectable front for a weapons lab, why can’t Dr. Franklin get any information on them? Either have a front or keep a low profile, don’t do both.

- The mentions of Ikara VII being invaded and destroyed a thousand years ago could be the first oblique reference to the Shadow War.

- Good thing the Ikarans went to the effort of programming one of their scientist’s minds into their weapons… imagine how long it’d take them to program a true AI capable of the complicated decision-making skills the weapon demonstrates! Blundering around, bellowing ‘PROTECT’ and destroying anything in your path – that’s the sort of intelligent behaviour you need an organic mind to produce!

- I’m not entirely convinced the analogy with racial purity really holds when you’re dealing with alien species. Granted, there’s a lot of genetic diversity within humanity, but it should be child’s play to create a definition of ‘pure human’ that includes all of h. sapiens and excludes every Minbari, Narn, Centauri and other products of completely alien evolutionary trees… It’s just nowhere near as absurd as trying to define a ‘pure’ form of an ethnic group within a species.
(Well, alright, there might be issues with Minbari - but nobody knows that right now!)

- Franklin gets hit by the Ikaran weapon, and gets knocked out for a few hours. A couple of lurkers get hit, and are reduced to a pile of ash. Sinclair gets hit and just gets right up again. I can generally tolerate and ignore limited main character shielding, but this is a particularly blatant example.

- I think this is the only mention that Garibaldi was in the Minbari War, yes? Was he just stationed on a base somewhere, or did he actually see action?

- Monroe’s still one of the iconic figures of popular culture in the twenty-third century?

- Hey, it’s the floating cameras from ‘The Gathering’! Do they ever reappear?

See, Gray 17 was one of the first episodes I ever saw, so I have a sort of stubborn fondness for it. And it has some good character stuff for Marcus and Delenn. Just like TKO has some really good parts for Ivanova's background and character development. Infection, to me, doesn't have any of that. I know, I just cited a few things I liked, but I really had to stretch to find any redeeming value in this episode.

That's a good point about Garibaldi's role in the Earth/Minbari War - I don't know if it was ever mentioned again! I assumed he was in the military at that point, but I never really put that together with him actually being in the war. I would guess that he never really saw any action, but that's just a guess.

And re: the cameras. They show up again in the 4th season, I can't remember the name of the ep right now but it's the one where ISN does a propaganda-laden story on the station after secession. I don't know if they show up in any other episodes... we'll have to keep an eye out!

I vaguely recall that Grey 17 had a good Ivanova line about pizza, but that's about it. Yeah, Infection isn't exactly memorable. I'd even forgotten it had David McCallum in it till I watched it a few months ago.

Ah, one of the infamous ones. It's not quite as bad as I remembered. I think the basic problem is that despite the important continuity stuff which shows up here first, it's terribly generic - you could do that episode on any space ship in any sci fi show, and it would be the same. Wheareas the other first three episodes were specifically about THESE characters.

Re: continuity - as I sad to

londondkds once, Max Eilerson on Crusade has to be the only archaeologist in the B5 verse (financed by Interplanetary Expeditions, no less) who makes it out of his story alive, not evil, and not brainwashed, either. (Which makes him the last girl of a horror movie!) Otherwise, the profession is doomed, and we see it here for the first time. Speaking of Max, I think David McCallum's character was supposed to be more ambiguos and failed sadly; for a sci fi icon, he's singularly charismaless here. (And I've seen him in Sapphire & Steel!)

The episode also features the first appearance of a JMS stock-in-trade, the annoying reporter (still featured in Lost Tales.) I have to say this bothers me in retrospect. Not the depiction of the media as a tool for the goverment once we're solidly in the Clark era, because that's how fascism works, but the media in the first one and a half seasons, and in Lost Tales, too, when we're talking about Earth as a free society. While I agree reporters can be annoying (and I've read my share of interviews which made me roll my eyes at the interviewer, not the interviewee), it strikes me that in a story which features a democratic society turning into an authoritarian one and back, the importance of the media as a fourth power, as something that keeps everyone on their toes and responsible, in short, the Watergate scandal side of the media, is singularly neglected. There is Good!Heroic!ISN shortly before the building is stormed by Clark's troops, true, with the reporter that made the last free broadcast coming back after Clark is gone, and there is Ivanova as the voice of the resistance in s4, but the later is on Sheridan's orders, and that comes back to my point. By and large, the media are represented in a "how dare they bother and crtisize our heroes?" fashion, when we, the viewers, know so much better. And that irritates me.

(Sidenote: it's not just JMS, though. If a show doesn't make reporters the heroes, a la Lois & Clark, they usually aren't presented in a complimentary manner, though I think The West Wing does a good job of offering the media as something that might be unfair at times but also is important for democracy, not just in spite but BECAUSE they can run stories that go against Our Heroes' interest, to keep them honest.)

Stand-out scene, in terms of character: Sinclair and Garibaldi at the end, no doubt. The whole "do you have anything worth living for" will be transfered to Sheridan later, of course; at this early stage it's remarkable that the usual leading man heroics aren't presented as simply heroic but that we're meant to wonder about the reason, about whether this man might need to reexamine his life.

I agree; there is, I think, something faintly disturbing about B5's regular portrayal of the media and elected politicians as a threat to society - generally because they have the temerity to request Our Heroes occasionally justify their actions.

(I've always really disliked the sub-plot in "Rumors, Bargains and Lies", where Sheridan intentionally makes use of the Voice of the Resistance to mislead the league worlds into signing on to his new alliance; an alliance which, it must be noted, does very little to justify its existence for the rest of the show...)

And the use of the trope here is particularly unsubtle (like most of the episode, really). The reporter here serves no purpose to the story other than to show up, be unlikable, and get in the way... How dare she try and claim the people have 'a right to know' about the Ikaran weapon's attacks? Next she'll be claiming the people have a right to know about who funded the excavation of the weapon, or what happened to it after the episode!

I think one of the later episodes (GROPOS, maybe) says that Garibaldi was in the ground forces and didn't see much action during the war. Can't really remember.

My fan rationalization for the Ikaran not being much smarter than a pile of stupid rocks is that the device was designed for the Ikaran brain, and it was having trouble adapting to a human brain. If it had been attached to an Ikaran it would have been very smart and deadly, not just zombie-with-a-gun.

How dare she try and claim the people have 'a right to know' about the Ikaran weapon's attacks? Next she'll be claiming the people have a right to know about who funded the excavation of the weapon, or what happened to it after the episode!

Shocking, isn't it! Yes, exactly that. It also reminds me of the attitude towards historians in the s4 finale - how dare they critisize Sheridan for being a lousy President and making the wrong decision regarding telepaths on the station! Except then the show proceeds to show Sheridan as a lousy President and, etc. Or the s2 interview with Delenn - how dare the nasty reporter make Delenn cry! Except, of course, this is the same Delenn who goes head to head with Neroon, Shadows, Drakhs etc without crying, and intimidates the hell out of everyone when she wants to, so this is just cheap emotional manipulativeness on the writing's part.

The funny thing is, it's not like JMS is incapable or writing an episode that shows Our Heroes from the perspective of someone critical to them. The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father is an example of this. We get a scene we've seen before - Bester arrives at the station in pursuit of a telepath gone rogue, tells Zack as the representative of station security that the guy has killed a Psi Cop, and Zack replies "and that is bad because...?" It's the kind of reply Garibaldi, Sheridan or Ivanova have made before, only then we were in their pov, mocking the evil Psi Corps. In this case, we've seen the murdered man's widow crying over his dead body in the preceding scene, so Zack's remark looks callous and bigoted instead of cutting-Bester-down-to-size. Just imagine if we'd gotten episodes from a reporter pov which weren't about how great Our Heroes are or how unfair the media is...

I bet Max Eilerson only made it out because Crusade didn't make it out of the first half-season.

I bet episode 15 had Max get his mind erased when he discovered Things Man Was Not Meant To Known in the process of excavating an ancient Vorlon fertility statue.

- I think this is the only mention that Garibaldi was in the Minbari War, yes? Was he just stationed on a base somewhere, or did he actually see action?

It's mentioned again in "The Long Dark". Garibaldi was a GROPO on some distant outpost and pretty much his entire unit was killed by the Minbari.

I don't think IPX fronts for a bioweapons firm, but for Earth Force's bioweapons research division. Basically, they've found biological technology on Mars, but have had trouble understanding it, and IPX is a useful front for acquiring more examples of the same, or similar, technology for further research. They are mostly doing what they claim, just not for the exact reasons they claim.

As such many of the scientists working for them might not notice the lies, especially if they spend most of their time digging stuff up or 'poking it with sticks' in laboratories. And especially if they don't find any shadow tech or other organic tech themselves. They just do their jobs, and what IPX does with it afterwards isn't their business.

I couldn't remember the end of this one, and kept waiting for Sinclair to tell the machine to check itself (not exactly pure Ikaran at this point).

I thought the difference in power was due to where he was in charging back up (there was a latency period after discharge of the weapon). Doesn't fit with the 'every time it's 20% higher' description by Ivanova though. Best I can do.

Same comment about Monroe, although my husband gave me a look when I said it. Maybe it's a guy thing. Maybe there was a early 23nd century resurgence of interest in screen goddesses, along with Warner Brothers cartoons. A nostalgia craze...

C&C - Sinclair tells the journalist that C&C is "a secured area", which people were talking about when Talia turned up there; clearly it *is* supposed to be controlled, but people can still get there! The journalist herself, she apparently got in without difficulty. And I know G'Kar appears there at least once.

Most of the people you see in C&C are people with the authority to get to secure areas, or with an organisation to help them get in. Talia probably has permission to go into C&C for official reasons (such as presenting herself to the ranking officers, as required), G'Kar was an ambassador, and still has a lot of authority with the Narns and so may be let past if he wishes to speak to Commander Ivanova 'confidentially'.

Journalists are adept at getting into such places - it's part of the job after all - although it usually only works once before a particular security hole is closed.

Sinclair's quote at the end bothers me. Humanity already has colonies at least out to Proxima and Orion and where ever Arisia is, so even if the sun goes nova, then (some aspects of) our culture will survive. (Maybe they are marginal colonies and highly dependent on Earth still?)

If he had argued that the station is important because it'll help stop wars (see: Earth-Minbari) that might take us out root and branch, that makes a bit more sense than worrying about the sun going nova. It's an argument for our interacting with other races and making peace, rather than just going out into space.

Of course, we're about to hit a Big-Ass war that might take everybody out root and branch, so maybe it's foreshadowing...

Overall I agree with the previous comments that it's not a classic B5 episode, due to how generic it is. However, there are a couple of 'Shadows and Portents' to redeem it.

- First mention of important events 1000 years ago (Ikarran wars).

- A really early glimpse of Earth Force not being as noble as the main characters would have it be, a plot arc that quite probably continues well past the end of the series. It's an army and like all armies will do questionable things because the government tells it to and not all soldiers are as prescient as the B5 characters.

*feels that non-B5 Earth Force personnel get a bad press*

Yeah, that does make sense - like I said, most of the stuff we see about IPX in this really isn't much of a surprise. What I'm mostly quibbling with is the idea that Franklin can't find out anything about the "front" IPX, because that doesn't make any sense of, basically, every other appearance of the organisation in the rest of the show (and Crusade) *g*.

"Infection" discussion [spoilers]

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