Episode 1.9: Deathwalker
DEATHWALKER stands as a companion to SOUL HUNTER to create a perfect demonstration of Babylon 5's strengths and weaknesses. Both beginning in almost the exact same way: somebody shows up on the station, and a character who should have more self control tries to kill them on sight for something awful they did during the war. SOUL HUNTER spins this off into a story about a space serial killer, and ends with a chase and a brawl; none of that is inherently bad or boring, and plenty of shows--including SF shows--get their meat and potatoes out of exactly that kind of story. Babylon 5 is not one of those shows, and the episode was rote and boring. DEATHWALKER, on the other hand, takes an identical premise in a completely different direction, weaving a tale of war crimes and diplomacy and multi-faction scheming. This is right in Babylon 5's wheelhouse, and they hit it out of the park.
The would-be murderer in this case is Na-Toth, G'Kar's assistant, and her vicious attack on the war criminal shot her way up in my "favorite character" rankings. Delenn's assault on the Soul Hunter was desperate and sloppy, but Na-Toth is a warrior and a Narn, and when she strikes she strikes to kill. There's something about the way she did it--her body language, or the look on her face--that made me her look incomparably badass. We don't get much Narn in this episode, though we do get a nice talk between her and G'Kar, and they continue to be my favorite aliens in the show: as devious as Romulans, but as passionate as Klingons. It's a nice mix, and I love they way they go after their unsavory goals with underhanded glee.
Word quickly spreads that the infamous Deathwalker is here, and every faction on board wants her for themselves: some want her to stand trial, some want her to avoid trial because they don't want to be implicated, and Earth wants her because she claims to have discovered the secret to immortality. As far as I could tell, most of the other species didn't know that she had this secret, because even the people who hated her seem like they should have been willing to hold their nose and help her if it meant they could live forever. Either way, it doesn't matter: after all of the deals and doublecrosses that the ambassadors use to try to screw their enemies and get what they want, Kosh and the Vorlons step out of the gate at the last minute and blow up her ship, ending the question once and for all. And this is what I'm most interested in seeing next, because this is an unprovoked attack on an Earth vessel. Will their be repercussions? Will the Vorlons face censure? There's no talk of it in this episode, and that seems crazy: I'd be a lot more invested in the Vorlon's decision to blow up a ship if I knew that they'd have to face a devastating blowback for it. If the next episode begins with no fallout and everyone's fine, I'll be very disappointed. "Tense relations" doesn't count--this was an act of war, and I want the show to treat it as such.
The B-plot also revolves around Kosh, who hires Talia the telepath for what is very obviously an attempt to mess with her head. We figure this out long before Taliapath does: the negotiation is blatantly meaningless, designed only to trigger painful memories in her head, and when she finally has a full-blown freakout remembering a previous scan of a serial killer, the negotiation ends and the dude gives Kosh a data crystal with said freakout duly recorded on it. Taliapath does not come off very well in this storyline: she looks foolish and incompetent. And, once again, Kosh is an obvious antagonist.
Will the next episode include a scene where Sinclair sits down with Kosh and says "you blew up an Earth vessel in an unprovoked attack which is a clear breach of the peace treaty you signed with us, plus you went out of your way to gain leverage against our telepath, so you kind of look like a villain and we need to sort this out"? Or will the show just move on? Maybe I'm still too buried in episodic TV, but I give it maybe a 70% chance, at best, that we'll see the Vorlon's censured in the very next episode. I hope I'm wrong.
Fears for the future aside, this was a great episode. I can watch these people scheme against each other all day, and Deathwalker is a suitably nasty villain with a suitably desirable macguffin to sit at the center of such scheming. Her speech at the end about how her immortality cure will only work by stealing life from others is dripping with vitriol, and I loved it. As for the cure itself, the show goes to great pains to explain that without her it won't work: they have the forumla, but they can't use it without her. I assume this means we won't be dealing with it anymore, but I guess time will tell.
NOTE: Someone in the comments pointed out that this was not actually an Earth vessel, but a Minbari one. I still think it qualifies as an unanswered act of war, and it still bothers me that nobody is talking about it even two episodes later, but at least this makes it more believable that Earth is not pitching a giant fit.
The would-be murderer in this case is Na-Toth, G'Kar's assistant, and her vicious attack on the war criminal shot her way up in my "favorite character" rankings. Delenn's assault on the Soul Hunter was desperate and sloppy, but Na-Toth is a warrior and a Narn, and when she strikes she strikes to kill. There's something about the way she did it--her body language, or the look on her face--that made me her look incomparably badass. We don't get much Narn in this episode, though we do get a nice talk between her and G'Kar, and they continue to be my favorite aliens in the show: as devious as Romulans, but as passionate as Klingons. It's a nice mix, and I love they way they go after their unsavory goals with underhanded glee.
Word quickly spreads that the infamous Deathwalker is here, and every faction on board wants her for themselves: some want her to stand trial, some want her to avoid trial because they don't want to be implicated, and Earth wants her because she claims to have discovered the secret to immortality. As far as I could tell, most of the other species didn't know that she had this secret, because even the people who hated her seem like they should have been willing to hold their nose and help her if it meant they could live forever. Either way, it doesn't matter: after all of the deals and doublecrosses that the ambassadors use to try to screw their enemies and get what they want, Kosh and the Vorlons step out of the gate at the last minute and blow up her ship, ending the question once and for all. And this is what I'm most interested in seeing next, because this is an unprovoked attack on an Earth vessel. Will their be repercussions? Will the Vorlons face censure? There's no talk of it in this episode, and that seems crazy: I'd be a lot more invested in the Vorlon's decision to blow up a ship if I knew that they'd have to face a devastating blowback for it. If the next episode begins with no fallout and everyone's fine, I'll be very disappointed. "Tense relations" doesn't count--this was an act of war, and I want the show to treat it as such.
The B-plot also revolves around Kosh, who hires Talia the telepath for what is very obviously an attempt to mess with her head. We figure this out long before Taliapath does: the negotiation is blatantly meaningless, designed only to trigger painful memories in her head, and when she finally has a full-blown freakout remembering a previous scan of a serial killer, the negotiation ends and the dude gives Kosh a data crystal with said freakout duly recorded on it. Taliapath does not come off very well in this storyline: she looks foolish and incompetent. And, once again, Kosh is an obvious antagonist.
Will the next episode include a scene where Sinclair sits down with Kosh and says "you blew up an Earth vessel in an unprovoked attack which is a clear breach of the peace treaty you signed with us, plus you went out of your way to gain leverage against our telepath, so you kind of look like a villain and we need to sort this out"? Or will the show just move on? Maybe I'm still too buried in episodic TV, but I give it maybe a 70% chance, at best, that we'll see the Vorlon's censured in the very next episode. I hope I'm wrong.
Fears for the future aside, this was a great episode. I can watch these people scheme against each other all day, and Deathwalker is a suitably nasty villain with a suitably desirable macguffin to sit at the center of such scheming. Her speech at the end about how her immortality cure will only work by stealing life from others is dripping with vitriol, and I loved it. As for the cure itself, the show goes to great pains to explain that without her it won't work: they have the forumla, but they can't use it without her. I assume this means we won't be dealing with it anymore, but I guess time will tell.
NOTE: Someone in the comments pointed out that this was not actually an Earth vessel, but a Minbari one. I still think it qualifies as an unanswered act of war, and it still bothers me that nobody is talking about it even two episodes later, but at least this makes it more believable that Earth is not pitching a giant fit.
I don't want to give any spoilers, but there are reasons that the governments of the alien races might not complain much about the Vorlons.
ReplyDeleteDeath walker left in a minbari flyer so earth can't really protest about that.
ReplyDeleteHoly crap you're right! I completely screwed that up!
ReplyDeleteYou won't get a good grip on the Vorlons until the end of Season 3, but it is worth the wait. Very cool reveal.
ReplyDeleteDo not mess with the Vorlons!!!!
ReplyDelete