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

Overview

The Nightwatch orders its members on Babylon 5 to target Delenn in an attempt to undermine Minbari actions during the recent crisis. Londo presents Refa with an ultimatum. William Forward as Refa. Paul Perri as The Sniper. Don Stroud as Boggs. Kim Strauss as Lenann.

P5 Rating: 8.30

Production number: 311
Original air week: April 8, 1996
DVD release date: August 12, 2003

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by John Flinn III

Watch For

• A wet floor.

Backplot

• In the old days of the Centauri Republic, poison was a common political tool.
• Some humans learned the Minbari language from POWs during the war.
• The rebirth ceremony in "The Parliament of Dreams" was just a small part of a much larger renewal ceremony, traditionally performed in response to, or in anticipation of, a great change. Lennier believes B5's inhabitants are currently between two such changes.
• The Minbari prophecy foretells fire and darkness after the two halves of the Minbari soul unite to combat the ancient enemy.

Unanswered Questions

• How many more Nightwatch members are still on the station?
• Did Garibaldi's people get rid of the artificial intelligence?
• What else is buried in B5's computer system? (At least one unfriendly thing, as shown in "A Spider In the Web.")
• Who does Lennier believe Delenn is fated for? Sheridan? If so, is that due to his observation of the growing relationship between Delenn and Sheridan, or due to something in the prophecy?
• What was Delenn planning to give up and to tell someone at the ceremony?

Analysis

• Londo is playing a dangerous game with Refa; Refa will no doubt not take kindly to having his life threatened, and may retaliate against Londo either overtly or behind the scenes. Refa seems to have much of the royal court in his pocket while Londo's influence has waned since he broke off his association with Morden. Londo may find that he's bitten off more than he can chew.
• However, the extent of the risk he's taking is a good indication that his realization of the dark nature of his former pact with Morden is complete; after this it will be very hard to turn back. It's interesting to note, though, that his basic goal hasn't changed, only his methods; note that he tries to dissuade Refa by talking about how dangerous the current Centauri policies are to their people. Londo is still first and foremost a patriot, not unlike G'Kar (at least until Kosh's revelation in "Dust to Dust.")
• Londo and Sinclair have something in common; Londo's poisoning of Refa bears a passing resemblance to Sinclair planting a transmitter in G'Kar's intestinal tract. Or rather, claiming to -- which raises the question, did Londo really poison Refa, or just say so? Like Sinclair, Londo might figure that the poison that doesn't exist can't be flushed out by doctors.
• How did the Nightwatch get so much information about the Minbari, especially the details of Delenn's means of getting the war cruisers to Babylon 5? It may be as simple as Earth's normal intelligence channels, which, under Clark, presumably make at least some of their findings available to the Nightwatch.
• Boggs' claim that the Minbari "think [Delenn]'s the second coming!" indicates that many among the Minbari agree with Delenn's assessment of herself as the chosen one, the vehicle of prophecy (see also "Comes the Inquisitor.") Marcus also hints at this when he tells Delenn that his brother believed in the Rangers and in her; apparently her involvement with them is richer in symbolism than has previously been hinted at. How, and whether, that relates to the nature of Sinclair's involvement remains to be seen.
• This isn't the first time Delenn has been referred to as "the second coming," at least indirectly. G'Kar quoted a passage from the Yeats poem of the same name in "Revelations," a passage visually accompanied by Delenn's first look at her new appearance. Ominously, that Second Coming refers to the Antichrist.
• The Army of Light is now dressed in black uniforms. Whether that's an intentional contrast on Delenn's part, or simply her fashion sense, only time will tell.

Notes

• The voice of Sparky the Computer, the artificial intelligence, is Harlan Ellison. Sparky's name is visible both in the ending credits and, very briefly, as the last line item in the computer's status messages when it reboots.
• The recording Londo shows Refa is slightly wrong; Morden was sitting when he mentioned Refa's name ("Matters of Honor.")
• The station logo on the wall in C&C has changed. It used to be a 5 with a pair of olive branches overlaid, presumably signifying peace; now it's a 5 over a sword. The new logo can also be seen on the top of the conference room table in the scene with Delenn and the officers from the Minbari ships.
• There's a minor continuity glitch involving the new logo. When the command staff walks into C&C in the final scene, the camera pans across the side of C&C to show the startled techs. The new logo is visible on the wall between two computer displays. But in the next shot of the same wall, there's no logo there.
• "Dem Bones" was also sung in the final episode of "The Prisoner."
• The formation in which one of the Starfuries peels away as the squadron performs a fly-by of the caskets is called the Missing Man formation. It is used today whenever a flyby is part of military honors at a funeral.
• As Delenn and Marcus wait for Lenann, a "Wet Floor" sign can be seen in a corridor in the background.
• Sheridan's closing line, "Babylon 5 is open for business," echoes Laurel Takashima's in "The Gathering." In both cases it marked a new beginning for the station.
• Sheridan's line to Ivanova, "My hypocrisy only goes so far," is a Mark Twain quote.
• Don Stroud got his scar by jumping into a crowd of men with knives to stop a woman from being raped, according to former story editor Larry DiTillio.
• The eulogy recited by Sheridan is the same one spoken by Ivanova in "Soul Hunter."

jms speaks

• As it happens, episodes 8, 9 and 10 ("Messages," "Point of No Return," and "Severed Dreams") are kind of a triptych, linked at the hip and designed to pull together/blow out several major hanging plot threads once and for all, and send the show spinning off in an entirely different direction. The hardest one to write was 10, because it's a very emotional episode for the characters, and for me.

  And next is #11, which I begin to write this weekend...and #11, year three, is the *exact* midpoint of the 5 year story. This is the hump, the dead center of the journey. It took so long to get here, and suddenly we're halfway finished.

• The episode is in the halfway mark, and that IS its significance, because it signals a major change.

  When we were midway through that episode, the halfway mark of the whole series, John, Doug and I were given these spiffy leather script books with silver inlaid initials by the crew, to commemmorate the event. It was really nifty.

• About Delenn and Lennier
  As for Lennier...it's an unusual relationship, which you'll learn a LOT more about in "Ceremonies of Light and Dark." Which is all I can say for now.

• I was kind of afraid that after the big Stuff Blowing Up Episode, anything afterward would be a let down because it couldn't have the same level of huge action (without killing everyone making the show). So the way to deal with that is to go in an entirely different direction; I was hoping that'd work, and glad that so far it has.

• Earthgov sees B5 in much the way China now sees Taiwan. (Though on reflection that may not be the best metaphor....)

• You only send an ambassador if you recognize something as legitimate, and EA will never recognize an independent B5.

• Why didn't G'Kar join in the ceremony?
  Because he saw the actual co-running of security, and their duties, more important...that is physical, and concrete, and he feels is his surest way to win a seat in the new council. Actions, not ceremonies. He's very direct that way. (Which is pretty much what he said at the time.)

• Was this the same ceremony as in "The Parliament of Dreams?"
  Yes, it's the same ceremony; Delenn states as much in the episode.

• Was this one of Londo's chances for redemption?
  No, this wasn't an opportunity for redemption. It would be flagged as much more important than this.

• I don't think Londo feels he needs to be redeemed; his reasons as stated were quite sincere.

• Is Delenn being "destined for another" part of the prophecy?
  It is now.

• Certainly various sorts of love was at the core of the episode, and what we do for one another.

  But no, not all relationships have to end badly (despite my own general history in that regard).

• Is Lennier really satisfied with Delenn's destiny lying elsewhere?
  Well, there was certainly that little catch in his voice, that hesitation, before he added "...in my heart."

• "...note on Lennier: "a pure, higher love"? Pshaw, I've heard that before and seen the results in my own life. Are Minbari so different?"

  One would certainly hope so.

  And there are such different kinds of feelings even among humans; yes, you're right, often it doesn't work out that way...and sometimes it does.

• I didn't see or intend any element of Lennier being racist; but there are definitely differences in culture and physiology between Minbari and humans. Minbari are very careful about personal space, and they don't like to be talked to a certain way. Marcus momentarily forgot himself, and acted inappropriately. Lennier corrected him.

• Delenn, Lenann, Lennier. What does "len" mean?
  Basically, I went through and came up with common suffixes and prefixes for Minbari names, the way Russian names have combinations of certain letters (-ovna, -ova, -vich), and associated various backgrounds and castes and houses (fanes) to them. So you have Delenn, Rathenn, and others of similar name.

• About the slow buildup of the Delenn/Sheridan relationship
  What you say about relationships is quite true. The slow process of getting to know somebody, the courtship, the parries and feints and false starts are 85% of the fun. It's the process of getting into somebody's mind, discovering who they are. And that's what these two are doing. It's an awful lot of fun.

• The "romance angles" aren't "late additions," but you don't just leap into a romance right off. You couldn't have had the Delenn/Sheridan thing right in the beginning of year two, it had to be built, and grow gradually. Things are introduced as it is time for them to be introduced. The shadows weren't even named until season two, and didn't make their first appearance until late in season one. Is that a late addition?

• I'm doing a lot to deepen up Marcus and Lennier, to let people see parts of them we might not have seen before. Everyone grows on the show; even at this point, compare Lennier to the wide-eyed innocent who first arrived at the station and couldn't even bring himself to look Delenn in the eyes.

  The computer voice, Sparky, wasn't really a nod of any kind to Hitchhiker's. (And 2001's HAL beat them to the punch a long time before that in any event.) No, I just figured, if the computer system had a glitch, what would it sound like? Answer...Harlan.

• Actually, we had 3 more quickie scenes with the computer voice, but the ep ran long over time, and we were locked into some walk-and-talks where we couldn't make other trims.

• Is the name Sparky a reference to anything?
  No, just figured it'd be a great name.

• I also like the look between Marcus and Delenn as they stand in the customs area...he looks like he desperately wants to say more, and she like she desperately wants to hear it...but he turns and walks away, the moment lost.

• About female fans' reaction to Marcus
  It's okay...so are most of the women who work in the editing bays at B5. The first few days of this season, as his stuff started coming in, one of them pulled me aside, and with hand firmly on my arm, to let me know she meant business, said, "Listen very carefully: I want to see a LOT more of Marcus."

• Was Marcus' beard different before?
  Your memory is correct. Just before he did the first episode, he had to shave his full beard for some commercial audition. It hadn't grown all the way back, and we had to darken it down a bit to make it work. It's all back now.

• The Nightwatch members looked a lot more sinister than in the past.
  I went just a little here for a kind of metaphorical approach; prior to this, Nightwatch folks have always been presented as starched, scrubbed, visually appealing...the face they wanted others to see. Now we see their true face, the scarred, dark, empty eyes, no longer pretending to hide. So we kinda cast in that direction.

• Boggs' scar wouldn't have moved like it did.
  The physical dynamics of the scar *would* have worked as seen, actually, mainly because that wasn't a piece of makeup, that's a real scar, and it does work that way.

• The scar is real. He had some rough times a few years ago. (Actually, he also appeared with the scar as it's seen here in "TKO," as Garibaldi's corner man, though there it was hidden a bit.) He's still doing a lot of work though.

  (The funny thing was seeing the occasional comment on the nets saying how fake they thought the makeup looked, and why couldn't we manage to do something a bit more realistic looking?)

• Actually, no, the song in "Ceremonies" was not intended as a Prisoner riff or homage of any kind. If the song originated with The Prisoner, that'd be one thing, but the song goes back a long, LONG ways before The Prisoner was even thought of.

  What happened, actually, was this...I'm a big fan of the Red Clay Ramblers, a terrific group that does sort of bluegrass but very offbeat. I was writing that episode, and I was playing with the torture aspect, and had one of their albums on. At just the moment I got to that scene, up came their rendition of "Ezekiel in the Valley of the Dry Bones." The notion was perfect, so I went back to the original version of the song, which is public domain (rather than their variation on it), and used it. Synchronicity.

• About the uniforms
  I wanted it to have a crossed look, certain Minbari elements and textures, lines that are reminiscent of the Rangers, but also of Earthforce. Hence, the result.

• There's a certain perverseness in making those on the side of light wear black uniforms. It reverses our expectations.

• In general, it's my understanding that the cast really like the new uniforms. They're lighter, easier to move around in, cooler under the lights, and they like the styling, the rogue element to it, and the Minbari aspect.

• Couldn't Refa just have all his food and drink tested?
  Of course the flip side of this is that you'd have to check every single thing you ate or drank every day, every week, for the rest of your natural life. Not the kind of life *I'd* like to live.

Last update: May 27, 2024