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Babylon 5 Rewatch: The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father/ Meditations upon the Abyss
The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
The last Bester episode - he was supposed to guest star in Crusade, and the script, which was later published, was already written, but alas the show was cancelled before it could get filmed (which is doubly a pity because it would have made my favourite character from the Psi Corps Book Trilogy, young Bester's mentor Sandoval Bey, tv canon) - , and also the last of the show's rare attempts of doing a completely different pov episode. The other ones being the first ISN feature on Babylon 5, and this season's A View from the Gallery. (Boo, hiss on the later.) I'm hopelessly biased - look, Bester is probably my favourite non-Centauri, non-Narn character on this show - but I do think this episode succeeds very well in what it attempts to do. It doesn't proclaim the Corps are a bunch of deeply misunderstood people - all those "Obey" and "Trust the Corps" signs at Geneva Headquarters are less than sublte in their Orwellian-ness, and btw, it cracks me up that even the opening credits sequence features the Psi Corps sign instead of the B5 one - and lest we forget, it ends with Lauren the intern committing her first murder (of a "mundane") to the approval of her mentor. But the episode also shows that if Lauren learns that some lives are worth protecting and fighting for (telepaths), and others are expendable (non-telepaths), she doesn't learn those lessons solely from Bester and the Corps. She also learns them by encountering Zack Alllan whose first words are a crass joke about the telepath she's just seen murdered and who from her pov keeps implying telepaths don't deserve to live. She sees Bester doing his best to cooperate with station security despite this relentless hostility. Now, we the audience know where Zack's attitude towards Bester is coming from, we've seen the episodes in question. It's earned. But by flipping around the pov you get an episode where instead of Bester the antagonist intruder coming to B5 and either causing trouble or at best being ambiguously helpful (in his own interests) to defeat it, you get Detective Bester being on the case and pursuing it to a shady environment where the authorities are unrelentingly hostile. Between comforting the partner/widow of the original victim, lhandling Lauren's pass in a kind yet definite way that makes it clear this won't happen without shaming her, and doing his best to protect the fugitive Harris upon arrest as he's figured out Harris is suffering from mental illness and thus not to blame for his deeds, he makes the hero worship of the two young interns understandable. And yet none of this retcons all the villainous deeds we've seen Bester perform, or makes him less responsible for them, which is another way in which the episode is good. (Also, Dr. Franklin is of course right on the money with his "even the self righteous arrogant ones with delusions of godhood" description.)
Trivia: the backstory Bester briefly gives for himself when the interns ask him how he joined the Corps - that his parents died in an accident when he was a few months old and he then was raised by the Corps from this point onwards, meaning the Corps really was Mother and Father for him - is in the books (i.e. the Psi Corps trilogy) both what he believes to be the case until he's in his early 20s, and a complete lie as in the books the baby who wasn't yet called Alfred Bester was the child of two rogue telepaths, the most prominent anti Corps telepaths pre B5 time frame, who didn't die in an accident, to put it mildly. He finds about this mid volume 2 and promptly goes into complete denial about it; that he can't move his left hand is the psychosomatic result. Now, book canon isn't tv canon, but as I said earlier, some of the background the Psi Corps novels establish for Bester came pretty close to getting canonized and would have been if Crusade hadn't been cancelled.
Lauren's "I've never seen anyone fight for our people the way you do" strikes me as a deliberate callback and contrast to Lyta's "he's hurt so many of my people" in s3's Epiphanies, and a point of this episode is that both are true.
As the Bester-relevant B5 canon is now complete: Seven Virtues was written by me on a dare of
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hobsonphile's and inspired by andraste's similarly themed Scorpius story, and it was my attempt of an overall Bester portrait; Coming in from the Cold is a DS9 crossover in which Garak meets Bester, because I thought they really really should.Meditations upon the Abyss
This was the episode where during my last show rewatch years ago
deborah_judge said that if you turned down the sound in the early scene with Delenn and Lennier and asked an unsuspecting audience about which character was supposed to be in unrequited love with the other by body language alone, they'd pick Delenn. I don't quite agree in that Delenn has nothing of the pining and restraint on herself I'd associate with unrequited love, but said opening sequence is certainly an intriguing emotional mess, as Delenn continues her tried and true habit of lying to and keeping secrets from Sheridan For His Own Good (tm), arranges for a secret meeting with Lennier by using his pledge to be at her side whenever she needs him and gives him the hand-on-cheek treatment twice. Now, this does not happen just because she missed him, there's an actual important point to the meeting as she puts him on an investigative mission which is key for the survial of the new alliance, and it's about time that investigation was carried forward by someone competent, too. HOWEVER. Picking Lennier, out of all the Rangers at her disposal, is at once selfish and selfless in a very Delenn manner and I'm with Lennier here, Sheridan (still) doesn't know that part of her.BTW, in the later scene when Sheridan is all "pity the Drazi didn't succeed in bugging Londo's quarters, then we'd know what the hell is going on with the Centauri, but of course WE can't bug Londo's quarters, that would be wrong" , note that Delenn says bugging Londo's quarters would be pointless since she's still sure he doesn't know about these goings on, not that she agrees with Sheridan that spying on Londo would be wrong. You bet that if Delenn thought Londo was involved in these raids, she'd have no problems bugging his quarters.
Speaking of Sheridan in that scene, and his "if these actions are ordered by someone other than Londo, who is the PM after all, things are dangerous and dire": this brings up a good old deceased equine of mine, to wit, you really have to fanwank that Sheridan post Z'ha'dum has either selective or complete amnesia about his time travel experience on Centauri Prime. Otherwise the man who told Delenn via recorded message in the s3 finale that he wants to prevent that future by going to Z’ha’dum really should put two and two together now when pondering what it could mean that Londo, as PM, does not seem to be aware about actions which at the very least some of his own people are involved in. You did see the Keeper on Londo's shoulder, Sheridan. You heard Old Londo say that there were servants of the Shadows left behind on Centauri Prime after the Shadow War ended. Great Maker!
... hence my headcanon about dying and getting resurrected leaving Sheridan with some holes in his mind.
G'Kar attempting a variation of Platonian imagery when talking philosophy with his people and finding himself unable to communicate with them is on the surface a light hearted scene but actually continues the theme from the earlier episode where they treat his book as canon to be recited and repeated but not debated and thought over by themselves, and prefer meaningless soundbites ("truth is a river") to something more complicated. Knowing what this builds up to, it strikes me in a way it didn't during my original watching.
Lennier in training is on the one hand reminding us of all his good qualities - looking out for fellow Minbari Ranger Findell as he does - , but on the other: it's pretty rich to lecture Findell on having joined the Rangers for the wrong reasons (i.e trying to fill in for his deceased siblings) instead of following an inner calling when you yourself joined because of the Delenn situation. Not to mention that Findell's reason for joining the Anla'shok is pretty identical to the late Marcus Cole's orignal reason for joining up.
The Londo and Vir conversation reminds me that the existence of "McBari's" is actually canon, though I never can decide whether this is meant to be a Minbari restaurant or a human restaurant using a bad pun. Probably the later, yes?
The other episodes
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People in my family to this day refer to themselves as not biologically equipped to handle fast food.
(I have trouble imagining even an entrepreneurial Minbari coming up with the name, so I think I always assumed it was more Minbari-style than actual Minbari cuisine, but I love the idea of a restaurant that does serve various kinds of Minbari street food and I hope Vir got to eat at one sometime.)
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Awwwwww! I had hoped we were going to get lots more of Bester and Lyta facing off. Oh well.
and btw, it cracks me up that even the opening credits sequence features the Psi Corps sign instead of the B5 one
I had to go back and watch this! This is great.
She also learns them by encountering Zack Alllan whose first words are a crass joke about the telepath she's just seen murdered and who from her pov keeps implying telepaths don't deserve to live.
I spent a lot of those scenes going "how... how does Zack retain his job??" I think it must be a bit of an artifact of the 90's. I just find it super hard to believe that, everyone hating telepaths/Bester or not, Zack can make those kinds of jokes and not get in trouble with B5's HR. (I know, B5 doesn't have HR.)
handling Lauren's pass in a kind yet definite way that makes it clear this won't happen without shaming her
That was greeeeeat and the greatest part about it was that I felt it was totally in-character. Without, as you say, retconning his other deeds!
And the Dr. Franklin part was great too, and I loved how he was all "yeah, and I'll submit to a scan, too."
This was the episode where during my last show rewatch years ago [personal profile] deborah_judge said that if you turned down the sound in the early scene with Delenn and Lennier and asked an unsuspecting audience about which character was supposed to be in unrequited love with the other by body language alone, they'd pick Delenn.
Forget the body language, it's even the words, if you had no context! One of these characters is like "ohhhhh, stay looooonger!" and the other one is like, "yeah, it's not actually a good idea for us to, like, SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER," and... well, okay, yeah, I also might not say unrequired love exactly, but one of these people is acting Sensible and the other Is Not. :P (Get awaaaaaay from her, Lennier! I know you love her, she's no good for you!)
as Delenn continues her tried and true habit of lying to and keeping secrets from Sheridan For His Own Good (tm),
As we knew I was going to say: OH DELENN NO. (And good catch Lennier, asking whether Sheridan knows!) Wow, there are so many things here. One of them being, if I were Sheridan, I'd have some trouble with learning that my wife was sneaking off IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT to meet the guy who I know perfectly well has a super huge crush on her. I assume she never gets caught in these things so it turns out okay for her, but... still... does Delenn never ask herself how these things look? (No, she does not. I know.) Also way to infantilize her husband the President of the Alliance, but whatever.
Lennier continues to be my sensible and competent fave, though I also did snigger at the join-the-Rangers-for-the-wrong-reasons thing. Oh Lennier.
I feel like Londo is such a competent politician (when he wants to be!) that they really ought to tell him, and also G'Kar should tell him what he knows. He'd be able to figure it out and it would save everyone a lot of time!
I loved the Platonian scene with G'Kar!
The Londo and Vir conversation reminds me that the existence of "McBari's" is actually canon, though I never can decide whether this is meant to be a Minbari restaurant or a human restaurant using a bad pun. Probably the later, yes?
I figured it was some sort of human-Minbair joint entrepeneurial enterprise, where the human picked the name and the advertising, because... golden headbones??
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I know, and I gave them some more scenes in my Lyta story, but that one has spoilers for the remaining season, and so I can't link you yet.
I spent a lot of those scenes going "how... how does Zack retain his job??" I think it must be a bit of an artifact of the 90's. I just find it super hard to believe that, everyone hating telepaths/Bester or not, Zack can make those kinds of jokes and not get in trouble with B5's HR. (I know, B5 doesn't have HR.)
Explain to the not-American what "HR" stands for? I mean, I can guess from the context, but I would like the literal standing for so I know in the future.
As to how Zack retains his job; well, this is the station where Ivanova already tried to kill Bester (and was stopped by Sheridan at the last moment) in s3's "Dust to Dust", and I seem to recall at least once in conversation there was a dialogue like: Bester: (plot reason for his arrival)...the lives of everyone on this station and in Psi Corps"... Ivanova: So there's one thing to worry about. Basically: precedence.
That was greeeeeat and the greatest part about it was that I felt it was totally in-character. Without, as you say, retconning his other deeds!
Exactly. I always think it's a good characterisation mark if villains/antagonists feel like the writing has considered what they're doing the rest of the time when not making trouble for our heroes, including what their own behavioral conduct is. Back in the day when I first started to seek out B5 fanfiction, there wasn't much with Bester in it, and so I read this ridiculous story where he kidnaps, tortures and rapes Delenn. (I don't even know how it ends, that's when I stopped reading.) I don't even remember what the in-story reason for this was, but as Delenn and Sheridan were marked as the two main characters, I suppose it was Doylist wise so Sheridan could rescue her. And, just - no. By which I don't mean "rape is a special kind of evil" and that Bester is too good for non-consensual acts per se; what he does to Garibaldi in s4, the brainwashing, is non consensual as hell. But not sexual rape, and not torture for torture's sake. There's always a point to his actions. And just as he's fine with blackmailing Lyta into rejoining the Corps (that's reuniting the family (tm) in s4, and also useful because of her expanding powers), I would not buy a story where, say, he blackmails her to have sex with him instead - that's just not how he rolls.
And the Dr. Franklin part was great too, and I loved how he was all "yeah, and I'll submit to a scan, too."
That was excellent, and the one part where Bester was a bit non-plussed, because you could tell Franklin meant it, and was that certain (and I think correctly so) about what Bester would find.
As we knew I was going to say: OH DELENN NO.
Indeed. :) Btw, I had forgotten that Lennier tells her about his Morden encounter and Morden's prediction. Which made me wish for an AU where Delenn for some reason during "Day of the Dead" is in the Brakiri owned part of the station instead of having dinner with Reebo and Zooty, and there encounters Neroon. Who is definitely the person to say "oh Delenn no!" and "what do you think you're doing with Lennier?!?"
I figured it was some sort of human-Minbair joint entrepeneurial enterprise, where the human picked the name and the advertising, because... golden headbones??
Yep, it definitely has to be a human doing the advertising, you're right. :)
I feel like Londo is such a competent politician (when he wants to be!) that they really ought to tell him, and also G'Kar should tell him what he knows. He'd be able to figure it out and it would save everyone a lot of time!
Not only time, she agrees with a strangled voice....
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He also asks her 'what is it you want from me?', which isn't quite word-for-word 'what do you want' but in the context of relating a conversation he's had with Morden, maybe not a sign that he is in a good place. (Although it's also a reasonable question! I can believe Delenn can rationalise everything she does and says in this scene as fine, but on the other hand: in an alternate universe where Marcus lived and it's him rather than Lennier in this scene, would it have gone the same way? Meeting him in a dark unsavoury bar without telling Sheridan, probably yes; stroking his face and asking him to stay longer and having a conversation about how much her husband loves her vs understands her, no, I really don't think so.)
I also wonder what the 'right' reasons for joining the Rangers are, given that so many Rangers we meet have a similar 'wrong reason' type of backstory. But then, the Rangers as an institution seem to work better when we see less of them and just see Rangers as individuals - any time they get screen time as an organisation they don't seem to come off very well, and not even in an 'ah, there is some moral ambiguity here' sense but in a 'that philosophy seems not very well thought through and also, yikes, what sort of ridiculous/awful practice is THAT?' sense (thinking of 'Learning Curve' and the Legend of the Rangers film).
Unlike Psi Corps, which gets a really good episode with 'The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father'! And makes sense as an institution which is not any more good than it seemed before, but makes sense from its own perspective. As does Bester of course, who is such a good antagonist partly because he isn't a one-dimensional villain, but also partly because he knows that's what he looks like to the main characters and plays with it even before this - like in an earlier season when he tells Garibaldi about having picnics on Mars with his wife and daughter, and says something like 'does that sound like I'm a monster to you?'. So getting to see more of him as he looks like from other perspectives here feels entirely earned, without backtracking on the portrayal of him from every other time we've met him.
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Quite. Of course, Delenn never answers Morden's question in s1, which is wise of her, but that doesn't mean she has really resolved it for herself, I don't think.
But then, the Rangers as an institution seem to work better when we see less of them and just see Rangers as individuals - any time they get screen time as an organisation they don't seem to come off very well
It's really tricky to write non-evil mysterious organisations, especially when the degree to which they're supposed to come across as ambiguous instead of "solely" good is never quite clear. The Rangers share that lot with the Jedi, to a point. :)
Unlike Psi Corps, which gets a really good episode with 'The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father'! And makes sense as an institution which is not any more good than it seemed before, but makes sense from its own perspective. As does Bester of course, who is such a good antagonist partly because he isn't a one-dimensional villain, but also partly because he knows that's what he looks like to the main characters and plays with it even before this
Very true. On this rewatch, it struck me that in a "normal" episode we would, for example, just get the scene where Franklin says it has to be a higher ranking telepath inflicting those injuries and Bester in his usual Bester way says "you'd think that" , but in this episode we see him change demanour immediately once he and the interns are out of Franklin's earshot when he tells them "this is very bad", showing he absolutely agrees with Franklin's conclusion, but he doesn't break persona.
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Heh, I hadn't thought of that at all as a callback to Morden's question. But it is as you say also a reasonable question! Poor Lennier :(
stroking his face and asking him to stay longer and having a conversation about how much her husband loves her vs understands her, no, I really don't think so
OMG YES. That whole time I was all "welp, I had wondered whether this season was going to give me more OH DELENN NO and it is CERTAINLY DELIVERING ON THIS." (I do think Delenn is portrayed very consistently in this respect -- it's very on-brand for her to be very committed to what she's doing and having hella ulterior motives she won't admit to herself, while both not doing the most aboveboard thing and not really allowing herself to think about that she's not doing the most aboveboard thing.)
but also partly because he knows that's what he looks like to the main characters and plays with it
Yes, that's a good articulation of why he's such a great character!
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And, just - no.
Yeeeeah.
Which made me wish for an AU where Delenn for some reason during "Day of the Dead" is in the Brakiri owned part of the station instead of having dinner with Reebo and Zooty, and there encounters Neroon. Who is definitely the person to say "oh Delenn no!" and "what do you think you're doing with Lennier?!?"
Ah MAN, this would be great!
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I think that struck me most about this one is the ending. Unlike Byron's tipping moment, the murder here is presented as entirely routine and mundane but also, a ship destroyed in hyperspace can be written off as lost to natural courses. That guy was openly arrested and taken into PsiCop custardy. There must be a record on Zack's system of that and the custardy transferral so killing him should be a lot more difficult to cover up and implies multiple levels of the system are okay with Psi-Corp doing this. Even post Clark/Shadow influence. EarthGov is pretty dystopic.
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I don't have much to say about "Meditations upon the Abyss" but i do agree regards Delenn's choice of Lennier and their meeting being... rather blind to appearances especially given the lying to Sheridan. (again their marriage is weird to me) and Lennier's talk about the wrong reasons.
Like is Findell hopeless because he joined for the wrong reason? Or does he just need more basic training before being thrown into these trial by fire scenarios? I do like Captain Montoya though. I wish there were more reoccurring characters like named Rangers.
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I don't think so, though I'm not surprised Lennier assumes this. As I said in the post, Findell's reason for joining the Rangers is the same one Marcus Cole had, who did very well as a Ranger; Lennier himself passes all these trials and yet had completely the wrong reason for joining the Rangers. Otoh, both Lennier and Marcus had a lot of practice at improvising in new and strange situations, whereas Findell comes across as being fresh from Minbar and from a safe background, which is a better explanation as to why he freezes and panicks.
Agreed on Captain Montoya being very likeable, though. Presumably given that one of the several spin-offs which didn't work out was "Legends of the Rangers", JMS had a few more stories about them in the back of his mind.
Unlike Byron's tipping moment, the murder here is presented as entirely routine and mundane
Yes, that struck me, too, and I think it shows how the situation within the Corps got much worse in the ten years or so between Byron leaving and now. I mean, Byron isn't an intern anymore, he's an active Psi Cop, when he's ordered to basically murder a mundane, and while the reaction when he tries to report this proves Bester isn't alone in using this as a kind of loyalty test, the fact it happens the way it does would indicate there's still some effort to disguise what's happening. Whereas in this episode, Lauren is an intern, and Bester doesn't have to say anything to her, which means by now, interns are openly taught something like this is expected from them before they ever leave the academy.
it's a little sad it's only the two changed shots rather than something more like Buffy's Superstar I imagine there's complicated contract reasons why they can't change who's in the sequence to say replace Bruce Boxleitner with Walter Koenig or anything.
Yes, I assume that's the reason, and agree a revised credits sequence a la Superstar would have been a treat!
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Ohhhhh yeah, the difference between Lauren and Byron didn't occur to me. Doesn't he say something to her like, "So that's your first?"
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Now that is an interesting take -- it offers a unique spin and it would make so many things make sense, especially the selective memory and occasional galaxy brain of season five...
Picking Lennier, out of all the Rangers at her disposal, is at once selfish and selfless in a very Delenn manner and I'm with Lennier here, Sheridan (still) doesn't know that part of her.
Delenn's ability to compartmentalize fascinates me - Sheridan doesn't know that part of her because she doesn't share it, but Lennier also doesn't know so many things about her, including the part where she's using his emotions against him to her own benefit. Arguably neither of them recognize exactly how manipulative and sneaky she is (across the series) because at various points they are kept from the truth and (almost) always agree with the outcome.
And, of course, this is the point where we see that Lennier is lying to himself about why he joined the Rangers, and we see exactly how good it would be for all of them for him to go find something else, far far away from her...but, of course, that is not how this will end.
I always assume McBari's is a human restaurant selling pale imitations of Minbari food. Like, fast food flarn, if you will. :D
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Let's just say it's a good thing Delenn was never anywhere near The One Ring...
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Re: McBari's, I would put my money on the humans if only for the famous McIndians of Leicester which had the glorious line of "you've had the cowboys, now try the Indians".
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LOL, yes. And let's not forget, the last person who tested someone as to whether they're into the hero business for the "right" reasons on this show was Jack the Ripper, on behest of the people who later showed they're cool with destroying planets.