The command staff of Babylon 5 thought Epsilon Three was safe, stable and uninhabited. Sure it was – and Mars isn’t rebelling and there isn’t a hole in Sinclair’s mind.

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Janet Greek

Sound Advice from C-and-C

IVANOVA: Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will notignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God - and if this ever happens again, Ivanova will rip your lungs out.

LONDO: Water. Fascinating. I never touch the stuff myself.

DR. TASAKI: What better way to go out than in the cause of advancing scientific knowledge?    More Stories Boxleitner: Make Space Profitable Babylon 5 - 'Legacies' Babylon 5 - 'Eyes' Babylon 5 - 'Grail'    Related Links SPACE.com's television coverage Babylon 5 The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 IVANOVA: Is this a multiple-choice question? Because I have some ideas.

GUEST STARS

Louis Turenne – Draal
Curt Lowens – Varn

Louis Turenne would return in season three as "Brother Theo," the leader of a monastic order studying God among the aliens of B5.

WATCH OUT FOR

* The first mention of Psi Corps’ secret Mars base. It would be a couple of years before Garibaldi explained why he knew about it.

* That look of glee in Sinclair and Ivanova’s eyes as they remind each other that First Contact Protocol demands that both of them leave the safety of Babylon 5 and go adventuring on the planet below.

ANALYSIS

The first half of "A Voice in the Wilderness" features a rarity among Babylon 5 stories: pure adventure.

Okay, so it’s not quite pure. Mars is revolting, Garibaldi’s worried about his ex-girlfriend and both Draal and Londo get some great monologues about change, death, the mathematics of hatred and the hokey pokey.

But those are just the spices. The main course is exploring the unknown to find interesting and insanely dangerous things.

The unknown is surprisingly rare on B5 . This series revolves around mysteries, but most of those stem from intrigue -- a typical plot involves character X trying to keep information from character Y.

[Or D, or L, or either of the Gs. But not I. Which is fortunate for X, because I would tear X’s lungs out if he messed with her, assuming he has lungs. But I – the I writing this review, not "I" – digress.]

After all, this is a universe with at least one character who knows everything. (It’s not Kosh. He just thinks he knows everything.) Most of its mysteries are about intrigue, investigation and teasing out information.

Not here. For once, nobody on B5 knows what’s happening or what it means. No wonder everybody seems to be having so much fun finding out.

COMING UP NEXT

The world calls for sacrifice.
Which of the three will step forward?
Power feeds others’ avarice
The world calls for sacrifice.
War threatens over a device
Teeth bared, swords out, fire rushing toward
The world calls for sacrifice.
Which of the three will step forward?

The Babylon 5 Poetry Slam continues with Tom Janulewicz and "A Voice in the Wilderness Part II".