Guide Page: "A Race Through Dark Places"

Contents: Overview - Backplot - Questions - Analysis - Notes - JMS

Overview

Bester asks Talia to investigate an "underground railroad" of unregistered telepaths. Walter Koenig as Bester.

Sub-genre: Intrigue
P5 Rating: 8.38

Production number: 207
Original air date: January 25, 1995
DVD release date: April 29, 2003

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Jim Johnston

Watch For

A minor character from a previous episode, who turns out not to be so minor after all.

Michael Garibaldi says, "The Corps got started because of our own fears." The sudden appearance of real psi abilities in otherwise unremarkable people caused so much concern among the general population that those showing such talents were gathered together into a group that could be more easily controlled -- and Psi-Corps was born. Its members are deeply conditioned to prevent any psi from using his or her talents to dominate normal people or disrupt society. But this conditioning isn't absolute, and attitudes molded early in life can still evolve over a persons lifetime.

Given that psis were forced into this essentially closed society, shunned by the rest of humanity, it isn't surprising that the loyalties of the telepaths turned to the Corps itself. Soon Psi-Corps gained control of itself, and eventually the organization began pursuing its own goals. The leadership began to exert ever greater control over the lives of the members, in an effort to enhance the abilities of their people.

The level of control exerted by the Corps over its members grew as they began seeking to enhance the abilities of their people, extending even to marriage and reproduction. Eventually the onus became too great and too pervasive for newly awakened psis to tolerate, and they began seeking ways to escape. The Psi-Cops exist to counter this, to search for and either capture or eliminate psi talented people who escaped early detection or who fled Psi-Corps.

Now the Corps has become a power in its own right. Though the organization was intended to keep psis under control, it has itself come under the control of those very people. As a group, they must feel seperate and different if not outright superior to the rest of society, and who have long been held in a position of subservience. They are organized, ruthless, and determined to pursue their own agenda.

"We created our own monster." -- John Sheridan

Unanswered Questions

Where have all the unregistered psis been going?
How long has this "underground railroad" been running?
We see Ivanova giving Sheridan his morning briefing, and in it she says that B5 has been running in the red for a while because, "there's been a lot of Earth Force military transports coming through." Where were they going?
Has Talia turned completely against the Corps?
Why, and by whom, was Bester told that Sheridan would be sympathetic to the Psi-Corps?
How much did Talia tell Ivanova about the situation, and about what's happened to her?
"What am I?" "The future." What does that mean? The future of telepaths? Of humans in general? Does it refer to Talia's new powers, to the fact that she's now likely to work against Psi-Corps from within, or something else? Is there even more to Ironheart's gift?
Will Bester notice that his gun was never actually fired?

Analysis

The core of Psi-Corps indoctrination was summed up by Bester.
You were raised by the Corps,
Clothed by the Corps.
We are your father,
And your mother.

What Psi-Corps has become was also demonstrated by Bester. Standing with another Psi-Cop, he looks down at a captured rogue telepath who he has just forcibly mind-scanned. "He's dead," the other Psi-Cop says. "It doesn't matter," Bester replies, apparently assuming she was concerned he wouldn't be able to read the man any more. Talia doesn't see this, since it happened on Mars Colony, but she does meet a stream of rogues who are on B5, in transit through the "underground railroad." From them she learns, first hand and with undeniable truth, that the experience she has had with the Corps is far from unique. Indeed, her experiences were mild compared to the stories she hears. Abductions. Experiments. Breeding programs that don't rely on volunteers for subjects. And as a telepath speaking to telepaths, she can't avoid the full truth and force of the events she hears.
How can a Psi-Corps operative turn against the Corps? The impossibility of it is clear: The highest rated, strongest telepaths are "turned into" Psi-Cops. When the guardians are stronger than everyone else, how do you turn against them? Unless you are truly exceptional like Matthew Stoner in "Soul Mates" you can only flee, immediately, before someone else scans you and reads your intention. Matthew Stoner may or may not have eluded the clutches of Psi-Corps for a time, but in the end he was firmly returned to them. Talia Winters' whole life experience tells her that she cannot turn against the Corps, no matter what her opinions may be about the integrity or intentions of the organization.
But several events changed her mind about this -- and it was not the tales of woe told by the folks in the underground railroad, though they undoubtedly inclined her toward rebellion. What allowed her to rebel was the realization that her shields were much stronger than she thought they were. A year ago Jason Ironheart, a victim of Psi-Corps experimentation, visited the station (cf. "Mind War.") He became something vastly powerful, and departed. But before he left, he gave his onetime love Talia Winters a gift, the very thing that Psi-Corps was trying to induce in him: telekinesis. And the strength to keep that gift secret.
Talia's telekinetic powers are at least somewhat stronger than suggested at the end of "Mind War." She can not only move her penny with her thoughts -- she can cause it to fly across the room with enough force to embed itself in the wall.
Telepaths can combine their powers through physical contact. What are the limits to such unions? Would a hundred linked telepaths begin to approach some of Ironheart's power, or perhaps become greater than just a collection of individuals? Does this perhaps have something to do with the Minbari prophecy suggesting that humans are destined to walk among the stars? (cf. "Babylon Squared")
Or it could simply be that by touching, the telepaths were able to help each other focus their individual energies; that's supported by the railroad leader's comment that what they did shouldn't have worked.
The "Underground Railroad." The timeline of the underground railroad stretches back to before B5. There is a group of people that have actively been working to keep people with psi ability out of Psi-Corps. Dr. Franklin implied that it was mostly doctors, and it makes sense that their ability to alter or manipulate medical and genetic records would make them logical and necessary members. But there is no reason to assume that the organization is comprised solely of doctors.
Dr. Franklin was a member before he came to Babylon 5. When Jason Ironheart came to B5 he brought with him another rogue, who disappeared into downbelow while Jason went through his spectacular confrontation with Bester and his subsequent transformation. This unnamed telepath (who we've met before, in "Chrysalis") apparently contacted Dr. Franklin. Between them, they extended the underground railroad through B5 -- though where the rogues were going after B5 is unclear. Nor is it clear that Dr. Franklin will actually put a stop to the railroad. Dr. Franklin's answers to Captain Sheridan's demand that he put a stop to it were quite evasive. The telepaths actually at the station agreed to leave, which they intended to do anyway. Dr. Franklin admitted that his part in it was over, and that others would have to take over -- but he never actually said it would stop.
Ironically, the person Garibaldi first suspected was aiding the railroad was Ivanova. He was wrong. She wasn't connected to it. But neither was Talia at the time. Now Talia is talking to Ivanova. What did they discuss, alone and late at night in Ivanova's quarters?
Did Ironheart's unnamed friend have ulterior motives when he put Garibaldi onto Devereaux' trail in "Chrysalis?" There's evidence the Corps was involved in Santiago's death (cf. "Revelations") so it's plausible the man knew something of the plot, and wanted to foil it without revealing himself.
Along similar lines, Bester's request to Talia that she keep an eye on Sheridan and the others for their reactions to President Santiago's death implies that he knows something other than an accident occurred, even that he (or someone he's associated with) was involved. His offhand comment that he'd been told Sheridan would be sympathetic to the Psi-Corps also implies that there may be more to Sheridan's appointment as head of Babylon 5 than meets the eye.
"Who'd have thought?" John Sheridan asks Ambassador Delenn. He was speaking at the time about the common trait of laughter, shared by humans and Minbari, but he could equally have been speaking of the whole scene. A human ship captain, commanding a giant station on the fringe of human controlled space, having a quiet dinner with the Minbari ambassador -- who also happens to be a member of their ruling body and who is also, to some degree "half-human." Moreover, she has apparently chosen him to teach her about humanity on a personal level. How personal this can get... who can say?
Finally, there is a telepath who can operate on the side of the "good guys." True, there are all the telepaths who have passed through the "underground railroad," but they are untrained or at best, trained but fleeing. Talia is fully trained and Psi-Corps doesn't know that she has turned--and she is strong enough to maintain her independence. It's likely she will be a very important player now, and her personality may develop in new directions now that she isn't under the heavy hand of Psi-Corps.

Notes

This episode takes place in March, 2259, three months into Sheridan's tour of duty with B5.
There is a subthread in this episode about lack of sleep. Bester gets Talia out of bed, Talia gets Ivanova out of bed, and Ivanova and Sheridan spend a night sacked out in his office (he in his chair, she on the couch). Coincidence?
"Knock Knock" (who's there) "Kosh" (Kosh who?) "Gesundheit!" -- Sheridan
Judy Levitt, who plays the Psi Cop opposite Bester in the scene on Mars, is Walter Koenig's wife.
Production gaffe: In the scene outside Earhart's, when Delenn is asking Sheridan to dinner, a boom microphone is visible for an instant at the top of the screen.

jms speaks

Favorite line in the next new episode, from Sheridan: "I'm not saying what I'm saying. I'm not saying what I'm *thinking*. For that matter, I'm not even *thinking* what I'm thinking."
BTW, just to note a little something you might not notice in the show...we've adopted the tradition of putting the symbol for a given ship onto the bar in Earhart's, as many real contemporary officers' clubs and airforce/naval base clubs put the logos or markings of big planes or ships that come through there. The Cortez symbol is the most visible among the various emblems you can see in a shot of the bar in "A Race Through Dark Places." It comes at the moment we follow *another* old military tradition.
As for the sound mix...yeah, we put a great deal of work into that aspect, for the surround effect. If you fire up "Race" there's a LOT going on in that one. It takes a great deal of time, but it's worth it.
Yes, originally, "Soul Mates" was to air after "Race." At that time, PTEN was initially going to show just 6 new episodes, and we would have come in after the rerun break with "Race," then "Soul." When the ratings came in and looked good, they didn't want to interfere with the growth, and indicated they wanted to show 7 new eps in the first batch. "Race," as you can see, was a very complex episode visually, and the only way to get it ready to run #7 in the first batch would've been to compromise the integrity of the show, and we simply won't do that for ANY reason. "Soul Mates," on the other hand, required very little in the way of post production, so that was moved forward into the #7 slot.
Q: How many telepaths does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A:
I always have to have a title before I begin writing, since the title always influences the feel of the show. I try to design one that is literary, or refers to a literary influence; it should have a certain rhythm, and avoid coming at the subject of the episode too dead-on. For instance, one could call the recent Psi Cop episode with Bester, "Capture" or "Chase." But I wanted it to be evocative, to conjure up the image of people slipping through the shadows, pursued by others, and to continue this season's trend toward titles that indicate a coming night. Hence, "A Race Through Dark Places."
No repeat of Bester's salute from "Mind War"
Also, bear in mind that Bester's parting shot in "Mind War" was exactly that, in essence an "Up yours" but subtle. There was no reason for that to be given to anyone in "Race."
Correct, the penny was/is a keepsake.
Where did Ivanova's outfit in the last scene come from?
I think it came out of the Victoria's Secrets catalog....

Originally compiled by Dave Zimmerman