Delenn has the audacity to think she’s on a mission from God – but Sebastian doesn’t believe it. While he tries to prove she’s wrong, G’Kar must prove he is still a leader.
(First aired in the U.S. on October 25, 1995)
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar
| Live Free or Conform |
| G'KAR: Are you willing to sacrifice all that you are to keep all that you have? |
SEBASTIAN: Be a nice Minbari. Conform. |
DELENN: This is my cause - life! One life or a billion, it's all the same. |
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GUEST STARS
Wayne Alexander – Sebastian
Jack Kehler – Mr. Chase
WATCH OUT FOR
* Babylon 5’s biggest historical gaffe – it’s "East End", not "West End." JMS knows this well – but he typed the wrong direction into the script and the mistake wasn’t caught until after the episode aired.
* Utility alien
Kim Strauss in yet another role. This time he’s the Narn who wants word from his family.
ANALYSIS
What kind of a sadist is Joe Straczynski?
Time after time he puts his characters in the box, challenging their most cherished beliefs. There’s nothing he likes better than locking Sinclair or Delenn or Sheridan into a small, dark room with a vicious interrogator.
It’s a bit disturbing. JMS has agreed that the characters of B5 – like most literary characters – are aspects of his own self. (Strange, twisted aspects in some cases.) So what’s going on here? Self-mutilation?
Not necessarily. Straczynski isn’t as hard on his characters as he seems to be – at least not his favorites. Instead of being broken by their trials, Sinclair, Sheridan and Delenn are validated by them.
In "
And the Sky Full of Stars", Sinclair explores his memory of the Line because he chooses to. Sheridan will be indomitable in "Intersections in Real Time", and "Comes the Inquisitor" proves that Sheridan and Delenn are the right people, at the right time, in the right place.
John Sheridan. Uberguy.
Some of this is to be expected. These three characters are the heroes of the tale, and they’re supposed to win in the end. But while JMS talked a great deal about the blows Sheridan would take as the five-year story developed, the
smiling captain never fell very far or hurt too much.
Okay, there’s one exception. "Z’ha’dum" has enough falling and hurting for anyone. But Sheridan also gets to come back from the dead, and how cool is that?
If John Sheridan ("J. S.") is an aspect of JMS’ personality, he’s the man Joe Straczynski ("J. S.") wants to be. And in that context, Sheridan’s trials look a little like self-aggrandizement.
"Look at what Sheridan goes through," Straczynski seems to say, "but he always triumphs in the end. Isn’t he -- isn't we -- special?"
Compare that with what Londo's going to go through in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari." Compare it with Vir facing G’Kar in the elevator, or G’Kar enduring the mad visions of dust. Every time a supporting character comes face to face with his inner self, he finds himself lacking; every time Sheridan looks in the mirror, he’s right.
Is Joe Straczynski a sadist? Or an egomaniac? Both? Either way, it's damn good science fiction television.
COMING UP NEXT
"The Fall of Night"
The angelic face
Rises for humanity
Flapping wings of light.
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