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

Overview

Bester finds himself at odds with others within the Psi Corps and seeks Sheridan's help, offering information about the Shadows in return. G'Kar presses for admission to the conspiracy of light. Walter Koenig as Bester. Joan McMurtrey as Carolyn.

P5 Rating: 8.70

Production number: 314
Original air week: April 29, 1996
DVD release date: August 12, 2003

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar

Backplot

• Telepaths who refuse to take sleeper drugs to suppress their abilities, or to join the Psi Corps, are sent to reeducation camps, one of which is on Mars. The Corps refers to them informally as "blips."
• The Shadows killed most of the Narn telepaths a thousand years ago. They were driven off by G'Quan and the remaining telepaths.
• Telepaths can disrupt the link between Shadow ships and their non-telepathic pilots. The Shadows have thus been infiltrating Psi Corps, taking control of it from inside to prevent it from being used as a weapon against them. They are also capturing rogue human telepaths and altering them with cybernetic implants, possibly with the intent of using them as telepath-proof pilots.
• Telepaths can locate ships by focusing on the occupants' thought patterns. Their range is greatly expanded in hyperspace. Psi Corps kept that a secret to prevent the Earth military from putting its members on the front lines.
• Psi Cops are trained to pilot all the latest Earth Alliance vessels.

Unanswered Questions

• Were Franklin and Bester able to save Carolyn?
• Are the rest of the telepaths still in cryonic suspension and on B5? Where were they taken, if not?
• How much more does Bester know about the Shadows and their involvement with the Corps?
• Who were the aliens in Carolyn's flashback and on the bridge of the cargo ship?
• Was Carolyn telekinetic, or did her modifications give her that ability? If the latter, are the Shadows telekinetic too?

Analysis

• Delenn still isn't being completely open with G'Kar -- she neglected to tell him about Kosh's involvement, for instance. Perhaps she knows of Kosh's manipulation of G'Kar ("Dust to Dust") and doesn't want the illusion shattered.
• Even someone as highly ranked as Bester isn't immune from the Corps' rules about arranged marriages. On the other hand, given his obvious sense of genetic superiority, he may feel it's his duty to the future of the human race to help breed a better telepath.
• The mere presence of Bester stopped the Shadow warship from attacking the White Star (assuming it didn't stop to avoid risking damage to the "weapons components.") Was that because it couldn't get close enough to attack without Bester interfering with its pilot's bond? In any case, the effect is consistent with Talia's experience in "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum," in which she was able to sense, even see, the Shadows without consciously probing for them.
• A telepath who consciously chooses to disrupt a Shadow ship might be even more dangerous to them, though that isn't clear.
• Is there a reason the Shadows are choosing human telepaths in particular? Sheridan speculated that "they're using humans to pilot their ships." Is that universally true, or are humans simply one of a large number of races being used for that purpose? Would, for instance, a Centauri telepath be any good against a Shadow ship with a human pilot? The events on Narn suggest that telepathy's effect on the Shadows isn't race-specific.
• If telepathy is a weapon against the Shadows, Sheridan may want to stock up on Dust ("Dust to Dust.") And given that the Psi Corps produces the stuff, Bester may be able to arrange that.
• The Shadows may also be looking for telepaths for use as hyperspace trackers; presumably they know about the scanning abilities revealed by Bester.
• Is detecting other ships in hyperspace something peculiar to human telepaths? If not, do other races use telepaths for that purpose? It seems odd that the ability would remain a secret for so long if all races with telepaths can use them to scout in hyperspace. On the other hand, each race who's discovered the effect might consider it a military advantage and thus keep it under wraps.
• Did Bester find out about Ivanova when she slapped him? Physical contact intensifies psi ability (established as early as "The Gathering") but the slap was probably too brief to be of any use. However, he did take care to make her angry, which, as she herself has observed ("Dust to Dust") makes scans much easier.
• Does Ivanova's latent telepathy provide any protection against attack by a Shadow ship? Ivanova has only encountered a Shadow ship once, in "Matters of Honor," and it fired at the White Star -- but it didn't hit the White Star. Perhaps Sheridan was wrong about why the Shadows missed. On the other hand, given the behavior of the Shadow ship in this episode, it's unlikely the ship in the previous encounter would have pursued the White Star like it did. (See jms speaks)
• As the only major race without telepaths, the Narn may be in for even more bloodshed and loss; they will be unable to protect themselves from the Shadows as they were (barely) able to before.
• The cybernetic implants were perhaps put in place at the Mars facility destroyed by Garibaldi and Sinclair in comic #8, "Silent Enemies." If so, it implies that the Corps, or some component of it, was abetting the Shadows in their quest to make human telepaths useless as weapons. However, the presence of the unidentified aliens, both on the cargo ship and in Carolyn's flashback, strongly suggests that the operation was performed elsewhere, or without the Corps' assistance.
• Carolyn's entanglement is slightly reminiscent of Draal's attachment to the Great Machine in Epsilon 3 ("Voices of Authority.") When she said that telepaths prevent her from "hearing the machine," was she talking about Shadow ships, or something similar to Epsilon 3? The Machine does seem to be affected by telepathy; witness Ivanova's ability to pull extra information out of it when she was there.
• What effect will Carolyn's modifications have on her unborn child, assuming the Shadows' agents allowed it to live?
• The White Star can no longer be considered even remotely secret now that Bester has been allowed to wander around the bridge. Even if he truly opposes the Shadows, his primary motives might prompt him to tell others about the ship.
• Bester is presumably still safely in his position at the Psi Corps; even if he's unable to get any Corps telepaths to help combat the Shadows, he'll likely be able to arrange for Franklin's underground railroad to continue its work unmolested, providing the army of light with a supply of telepaths with which to man its ships.
• His discovery of the Shadows and their involvement with the Corps, though, indicates that he's not above unauthorized scans of his own people if it suits his purposes. Presumably he's very careful to only scan people he's confident won't be able to sense him; or he scans them on some other pretense and they're unable to tell that he's pulling Shadow information from their heads too.
• Bester claimed he last saw Carolyn four weeks earlier, but never elaborated on what happened to her after that. Was she spirited off on official pretenses, or did the Shadows or their agents kidnap her out of the middle of a Psi Corps installation on Mars?
• Bester's entrance into the army of light bears similarity to Marcus' and Sheridan's. All three vowed to fight on the side of light after a loved one was killed or taken by the Shadows.
• Now that G'Kar is a full member of the war council, perhaps he'll save Garibaldi the trouble of poring slowly through the Book of G'Quan for clues and will tell the others everything his people know about the Shadows and how to defeat them.

Notes

• The title may be a reference to the Trail of Tears, the forced march of thousands of American Indians away from their ancestral lands onto government-apportioned reservations half a continent away.
• Vorlons also dislike telepaths, according to Garibaldi in "Deathwalker."
• Bester quotes from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado."

jms speaks

• Today Walter Koenig and Bill Mumy had a scene together; this (saith Bill) marks the first time a Lost in Space regular and a Star Trek regular have acted together in the same scene.

• How does Bester fit into the Shadows/Psi Corps connection?
  This question will be dealt with in "Ship of Tears," around mid-season.

• The Christmas hiatus ends after the 1st, so we're back at work on the 2nd shooting "Ship of Tears," with Walter Koenig returning as Bester. Expect some major revelations about Bester's background, and where his character is going.

• Was Bester's first name a reference to Alfred Bester, the writer?
  Yes, it's certainly a tribute to Alfie, a giant in the field.

• Where did the prop for the book come from?
  The book was made by Mark Walters of our prop department; and when all is said and done...it'll likely end up in my office....

  Creation hath its perks.

• Where did you put the war room set?
  Since we're not using the casino much this season -- not a lot of room for frivolity -- we yanked it out and put up the war room on stage C.

• How were the reflections on Sheridan's faceplate done?
  The reflections you cite were all done real-time with an LCD projector.

• Was Garibaldi's voice dubbed?
  If this refers to the War Room scene with Garibaldi at the end...yes, there was some looping done. The best performed scene had some unacceptable noise in it from the chair Jerry had been sitting in at the first part, then he went slightly off-mike at the second point.

• Who's behind the shadows? Nobody. The shadows are the shadows (though that's not the name by which they call themselves), a race of their own. Question is, why are they doing what they're doing?

  You'll find out by season's end.

• Why did Garibaldi need a computer to read the Book of G'Quan?
  To follow the book, there still has to be a knowledge of the language. You need to have a dictionary around, which is what was used.

  The comparison, I suppose, would be those who say that Jorge Luis Borges' work can only be most truly appreciated in the original Spanish. There's a *translated* version, which someone has gone through and made the translation for you, written it all out in English...or you can learn the language, and then read the original manuscript.

  Garibaldi doesn't know Narn, so how other than with a dictionary could he read the original material, except by sleeping with it under his pillow and praying for divine intervention.

• How could G'Quan and the Narn telepaths fight the Shadows if the Narn telepaths were all killed?
  Those were the last remaining ones, the older telepaths, their children all killed, too old now to produce any further children, and the technology of cloning or genetics was still way beyond them.

  The story of the last crusade of G'Quan is actually quite interesting; I hope to get it into the show at some point. Right now it's mainly background, even though I've worked it out fully.

• How about an episode showing G'Quan's crusade?
  No, because that would mean doing a story without our main characters, since G'Quan's story took place about a thousand years ago, and I don't think I could sell that. (Unless I did another time travel number, and I only intend to go to that well once, with the B4 storyline.)

• Then how about telling us the story online?
  I think I'd rather hold it for now, on the chance that I can use it somewhere, or in time turn it into something larger.

• That's one of the things about the show that makes it very appealing to write; you can go from fall down funny, broad comedy in "Vir" to something more emotional, almost lyrical but serious in "Avalon," then right into something vaguely horrific in "Ship." You get to use all your muscles, not just the same ones over and over. I like to stretch, try something I haven't tried before. Which means from time to time I fall on my face, but that's okay; it's the only way to learn. I have absolutely no qualms about making an ass of myself and failing if it means that the next time, I can do it right.

  I didn't give Mira or Andreas any instructions on that scene except what was in the script, which was minimal. When you have two performers that solid in the room, just give them the lines and run like hell.

  Speaking of going back and rewatching episodes...part of this goes right back to the *pilot*, where, you'll recall, G'Kar tried to seduce Lyta, mentioning that there are no Narn telepaths, and they feel very strongly it's important to their survival that they start breeding them at the first opportunity.

  Ding....!

• Did the lack of Narn telepaths give the Shadows an extra advantage during recent encounters?
  Certainly, that there were no teeps on Narn made them easy targets, as were their ships. They would also have a vested interest in subduing them because of the knowledge they have, revealed here. If you'll remember, in "Matters of Honor," they mention to Morden that they've only been able to track down some Narn legends. Morden's reply: "Well, we've taken care of that problem." Had G'Kar not been out and about, they might have succeeded.

• Why didn't all the Narn support G'Kar's request to send an expedition to Z'ha'dum in "Revelations," if G'Quon wrote about the Shadows?
  Narn is somewhat factionalized itself, as is every world; there are different followers of different denominations of sometimes similar basic beliefs. Catholics and Protestants are both members of the same faith, but a Protestant doesn't recognize the power of the Pope; neither does a Mormon, or a Lutheran. Similarly, not everyone invests G'Quon with the same amount of reverence or credibility. And G'Kar can call upon those who believe similarly to send out an expedition, but may not have the clout in the rest of the government to do much more afterward.

  And yes, initially the shadows had no interest in the Narns, until such time as the Narns, led by G'Quon, began to engage in sabotage and direct attacks to drive them off their homeworld. Then the killing started.

• Minbari telepaths can also have an effect, as we'll see soon.

• Bester's line about being the only thing standing between humanity and the abyss in "Dust to Dust" wasn't as arrogant as it sounded.
  Yeah...we're slippery that way....

• Everybody's agendas remain the same...but for the moment, they are on the same alignment. As soon as it's over, as Ivanova says, he'll turn on them, no mistake. Enlightened self-interest, nothing more.

  The new command center was cobbled from what's on the station, with some additional Minbari funding. And yes, by now, pretty much the whole crew knows what's at stake with the shadows. And now that they're not hiding anymore, the whole *thing* is out in the open.

• Was the cargo ship's pilot the same species as the surgeons?
  Yep. Same species.

• There's no relation between the aliens working for the shadows and the Streib. The ones you saw in the flash were "doctors" of a sort doing the work; there was no abduction required except of course the covert kidnapping from the Psi Corps Re-education Center. As for Bester's look behind, he was just looking to the guards behind him, and the ones in front of him.

• The implants are part of the preparation process Delenn referred to in "Messages."

• Did Bester read Ivanova when she slapped him?
  I think the contact would've been too fleeting, and too much a shock (and it likely hurt like the dickens) that by the time he knew it was there, it was too late, and she would've sensed it in either event.

• "Was it just me, or did anyone stop to think just how Bester got to B-5 space in a Starfury without using the local jumpgate. Who brought him and more important, why?"

  He simply tagged along with an Earthforce jump-capable ship, and asked to be dropped off. I considered bringing this up, but it was just dead exposition; it would be easy enough to do.

• Why didn't B5's sensors pick up the jump point when he was dropped off?
  It's far enough outside B5...about an hour or so in normal space...that they wouldn't have picked it up.

• Why didn't Bester stay with Carolyn?
  Logically, he can't just go away indefinitely, and it's going to take a long time before they can get Carolyn in shape. A very long time. If he stays, he'd be noticed and hunted down by the Corps, which ends his usefulness. His staying served no purpose.

• It'll be a long time before Bester's ladyfriend comes anywhere near being whole again.

• Will Bester covertly help B5?
  Yes, that'll be something Bester will do now.

• Was this change of heart planned from the start?
  Yes, this was definitely intended from the start with Bester.

• "If the theme of the relationship is "All Bester needed was to love and be loved, or he wouldn't have been the slimeball he is today", I will be a bit disappointed."

  Then you won't be.

  "It's just a little too simplistic."

  Absolutely.

  One mongoose can love another; that won't change its attitude toward pythons.

• Bester's connection to Carolyn was too much of a coincidence. It would have worked better if they'd brought him a list of names and he'd seen her there.
  Yeah, they could've brought him a list...and he'd have seen the name instantly, and wouldn't have been hit with his own "blip" careless attitude right in his face...also, she needed to be already being defrosted at that point, and you can't defrost all of them at once.

  Yeah, it was a coincidence. Synchronicity. It happens. It doesn't happen much on this show, hardly ever. I figured she'd be one of the last in, and thus the first out. Synchronicity and coincidences *do* happen. How many times have you reached for the phone to call someone to find the phone ringing, and it's them on the other end? What're the odds of Oedipus killing his father and marrying his mother out of all the possible kingdoms in the area? It happens. As long as it doesn't happen to excess, it's not something I'm worried about.

• "Then out of the hundred popcycles in the Shadow transport, we just happen to pick the one guiding light in Bester's life. God, aren't we lucky."

  Yes, and how amazingly coincidental that of all the women around, Oedipus would just happen to murder his father and marry his mother without knowing he had done so. Okay, it was a coincidence, I'll own up to that. We have very, very few of them on the show. And the reason the word "coincidence" exists, and the word "synchronicity," is that sometimes stuff like that does happen. You ever pick up the phone to call somebody and have that person already on the line calling you? You ever think of someone you haven't seen in a while and run into them the next day? It happens. As long as it doesn't happen to excess, and become a venue for sloppy storytelling every week, it doesn't bother me, it's a legitimate plot device.

  And you misspelled popcicle.

• There are a number of medlabs, which are broken into various areas; each has a larger wing attached to it, which we've seen on occasion, such as when the young girl in "Legacies" is in the infirmary in bed, same with Shon in "Believers." They each have a pretty fair capacity for patients.

• Why aren't other TV networks available? What happened to the two reporters at the ISN desk when it was shut down?
  ISN is one of the only interstellar networks bounced via the tachyon relay systems from Earth to the outer colonies and beyond. There are lots of other channels back home, but to get this far out you need the support of the government.

  The other two reporters are, to say the least, in deep guano.

• That's Brakiri space they attacked; more on that in the next episode. (They're a League world.)

• Ivanova isn't a strong enough teep for the incoming shadow vessel to really even notice.

• How close does a telepath need to be to read someone?
  The person has to be in their line of sight; they don't have to look into the person's eyes or anything as silly as that. It doesn't matter if the person's head or body are covered, as long as there's a definite "focus" for them.

• If the person is behind a door, or otherwise can't be located visually, it's difficult to impossible to scan.

Last update: May 27, 2024