Babylon 5: A Distant Star
April 29, 2018 7:42 PM - Season 2, Episode 4 - Subscribe
Sheridan attempts to save an old friend, who is stranded in hyperspace. Delenn faces dissent. Franklin attempts to improve the health of station personnel. "We are starstuff. We are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. And as we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of perspective."
-The EAS Cortez docks with Babylon 5. It is commanded by Sheridan's ol' buddy, Maynard. Maynard pokes at Sheridan's new role as "bureaucrat", and discussing a massive, dark, unknown ship he saw out at the rim...
-The Cortez leaves...only for an explosion to kill Cortez's hyperspace navigation system while he's in hyperspace. This has historically been a definitely lethal situation, but the B5 crew thinks up a plan: sending a chain of Starfuries out, each one a beacon to the next ship in the line. That way, if ANY Starfury reaches the Cortez, the Cortez has a map back home.
-Brief hyperspace primer: the topology of hyperspace has seemingly little to do with the topology of regular space. Get off-track while in hyperspace, and you could exit hyperspace into a black hole's gravitational well. Or inside Vorlon space. Or inside the sun.
-Keffer, a hot-shot pilot, is part of the Starfury chain. He discovers the Cortez and is about to start a rescue when a large, dark ship matches Maynard's description appears. (It also bears a resemblance to the "Shadow" ships G'Kar is talking about.) The Shadow vessel opens fire, killing Keffer's compatriot and disabling his ship. He is able to use his ship to fire weapons blasts in the direction of the Starfury chain, which saves the Cortez.
-Keffer appears near-death, but another Shadow vessel appears and accidentally leads him towards a usable jumpgate.
-Keffer is now determined to prove that the ships he saw exist. He is also now squad leader because the squad leader was killed.
-The Minbari community on B5 is openly challenging Delenn on her transformation. They don't know if she is really still a Minbari. She refuses to answer them and they go off to confirm it with the Grey Council.
-Ivanova is recovering from her foot. Garibaldi is recovering from being shot. Sheridan has gotten a little plump. So Franklin puts them all on diets--Ivanova's to gain weight ("Figures. All my life, I've fought against imperialism. Now, suddenly, I am the expanding Russian frontier."), the others to lose it. But it's also time for Garibaldi's annual Bagna Cauda, made for Garibaldi by his late father every year on his birthday... and for which he has smuggled the ingredients onto the station at great expense. Franklin finds out about the 'cheat day', they have a moment of tension, then they turn friendly and eat the forbidden Bagna Cauda together.
-Can safely be skipped without losing much plot stuff, which is very rare for s2.
-The EAS Cortez docks with Babylon 5. It is commanded by Sheridan's ol' buddy, Maynard. Maynard pokes at Sheridan's new role as "bureaucrat", and discussing a massive, dark, unknown ship he saw out at the rim...
-The Cortez leaves...only for an explosion to kill Cortez's hyperspace navigation system while he's in hyperspace. This has historically been a definitely lethal situation, but the B5 crew thinks up a plan: sending a chain of Starfuries out, each one a beacon to the next ship in the line. That way, if ANY Starfury reaches the Cortez, the Cortez has a map back home.
-Brief hyperspace primer: the topology of hyperspace has seemingly little to do with the topology of regular space. Get off-track while in hyperspace, and you could exit hyperspace into a black hole's gravitational well. Or inside Vorlon space. Or inside the sun.
-Keffer, a hot-shot pilot, is part of the Starfury chain. He discovers the Cortez and is about to start a rescue when a large, dark ship matches Maynard's description appears. (It also bears a resemblance to the "Shadow" ships G'Kar is talking about.) The Shadow vessel opens fire, killing Keffer's compatriot and disabling his ship. He is able to use his ship to fire weapons blasts in the direction of the Starfury chain, which saves the Cortez.
-Keffer appears near-death, but another Shadow vessel appears and accidentally leads him towards a usable jumpgate.
-Keffer is now determined to prove that the ships he saw exist. He is also now squad leader because the squad leader was killed.
-The Minbari community on B5 is openly challenging Delenn on her transformation. They don't know if she is really still a Minbari. She refuses to answer them and they go off to confirm it with the Grey Council.
-Ivanova is recovering from her foot. Garibaldi is recovering from being shot. Sheridan has gotten a little plump. So Franklin puts them all on diets--Ivanova's to gain weight ("Figures. All my life, I've fought against imperialism. Now, suddenly, I am the expanding Russian frontier."), the others to lose it. But it's also time for Garibaldi's annual Bagna Cauda, made for Garibaldi by his late father every year on his birthday... and for which he has smuggled the ingredients onto the station at great expense. Franklin finds out about the 'cheat day', they have a moment of tension, then they turn friendly and eat the forbidden Bagna Cauda together.
-Can safely be skipped without losing much plot stuff, which is very rare for s2.
It should, a casualty of doing this when I should have been sleeping.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 7:41 PM on May 2, 2018
posted by flibbertigibbet at 7:41 PM on May 2, 2018
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"Now, suddenly, I am the expanding Russian frontier."
"But with very nice borders."
Learning that the Shadows use hyperspace is about it for major developments in this episode.
posted by nubs at 9:15 AM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]