A mad scientist enlists Franklin's help in meddling with alien artifacts. As with any foray into Mad Science, things go boom.
(Originally aired on February 18, 1994)
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Richard Compton
GUEST STARS
David McCallum - Dr. Vance Hendricks
Marshall Teague - Nelson Drake
Marshall Teague would return (in heavy makeup again) as "Ta'Lon," the Narn bodyguard and future ambassador to Babylon 5.
WATCH OUT FOR:
* The introduction of Interplanetary Expeditions. The company pops up from time to time in
, usually trying to corner the market on mysterious artifacts from dead worlds. These appearances rarely bode anything good for the station or its personnel.
ANALYSIS
"Infection" was Babylon 5 episode number 101 – the first episode shot – and it shows. It’s your standard bug hunt: a mysterious something threatens the station, and it's up to those intrepid heroes whose names appear in the opening credits to save the day.
Save it they do. No surprise there, since you can't do much with episode two if you kill off everyone in episode one.
It also doesn’t help that "Infection" plays like an uninspired
-- parody, coincidence or homage?
Here ends the lesson
The unstoppable killing machine is merely a consequence of a larger story, though. "Infection" is really about the relationship between Doctors Hendricks and Franklin.
Hendricks comes to Franklin looking for "someone I can trust." This is a red flag; in this type of story, "trust" is synonymous with "exploit."
It's easy to accuse Franklin of naiveté for overlooking the inconsistencies in Hendricks' story, but student-teacher relationships are complex and powerful. The authority and respect which students give to beloved teachers makes it difficult to notice even the most obvious ulterior motives.
Thus, it made sense to put this episode near the beginning of the series. Franklin has only recently arrived, and his relationships with the others in the command staff haven't yet gelled.
He's vulnerable when a friendly, trusted face comes along – especially when that trusted face strokes his ego by asking for help.
Although Franklin misjudges Hendricks, his teacher’s judgment is even worse. Having betrayed Franklin's trust, he appeals to the doctor’s (nonexistent) sense of greed.
Hendricks’ mistake is typical for this kind of story, but as any fan of The Maltese Falcon or Trix cereal knows, that trick never works.
COMING UP NEXT
Assassination, romance and a whole lotta that old-time alien religion haunt "The Parliament of Dreams". Yeah, okay, but how is this episode different from all other episodes? Good question. Watch the fruit and Vir's historical lecture for ominous foreshadowing.
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