Infection
Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri
Click HERE to see a picture from the episode.
Okay, I came into this episode expecting to hate it, because I had read all these comments on-line from fans saying things like "Thank god the second season at least has not yet had any episodes as weak as some first-season episodes such as 'Infection' or 'Grail'." So, I expected to totally HATE it.
However, I didn't. Sure, it's been done, but that didn't stop the episode from being a creepy, suspenseful, science-fictiony story with some great lines (especially from Garibaldi, Ivanova, and Sinclair) and some interesting character development.
It's not going to be my FAVOURITE episode (so far, that honour goes to either "Sic Transit Vir" or "The Long Night") by a LONG shot, but I didn't hate it either.
We learn, for example, that Sinclair has a death-wish and that the reason he's always going out on dangerous missions every chance he gets is because he has been traumatised by the Earth/Minbari war and thinks it would be easier to find something worth dying for than to find something worth living for. We find out that Garibaldi has a rather chequered past--but no more than the fact that it IS chequered--no details as of yet. We find out that there is a growing "Pro-Earth" movement of fanatics heavily against aliens. And we see our first ISN reporter.
I also liked this episode because it showcased (partially) Dr. Stephen Franklin. Franklin is a character that most fans HATE for some reason, and I can never see why. So for me, it's always interesting to actually see him in action, so I can decide for myself. Me, I like him just fine so far. (And this may be a little embarrassing of a thing to put on a public webpage, but I think he's dang exotic-looking! How come whenever female B5 fans are listing the males of B5 that make them drool, he is NEVER mentioned? I mean, what is he, chopped flarn?)
As for the story itself...well, the reason that I LIKED it is probably the exact reason that most B5 fans HATED it. You see, it's very, VERY..."Star Trek".
Yes, I'm serious. The ideals and morals of the story are very much closer to the open-minded, optimistic, "power to the people!" attitude of Trek than they are to the USUAL dark, gloomy, paranoid and predjudiced B5 atmosphere. Maybe it didn't fit but I LIKED that message and I adored Sinclair's quote: "We are ALL aliens, to each other. Too tall, too short, too light, too dark. ALL imperfect."
That sums us up so perfectly.
And of course, that is the EXACT reason--the Trek-ness--why most B5 fans HATED it. Heck, even Straczynski himself said he wishes he could just pretend it had never happened! But that's the amazing thing about Babylon 5. It has so MANY different elements, so much diversity, that different fans can like it for completely OPPOSITE reasons! What one fan loves another may hate--and yet, they are still both fans of the same show.
It had pretty good makeup effects and some very tense action sequences. Ivanova had that great line, to the ISN reporter, when she was trying to bug Sinclair in C&C: "Don't. You're too young to feel that kind of pain."
And the ending speech by Sinclair, which I am sure I am going to mangle, was just BEAUTIFUL. The last line, especially, is sooooo quotable. It also sounds like something Kirk, Picard, Sisko or Janeway would and could say. I'll try to quote it here:
ISN REPORTER: And now for the big question, the one that's on everyone's minds--should we just give up and go home? Is it worth our while to stay out here? Or should we pull back to Earth and deal with our own problems?
SINCLAIR: No, absolutely not. And for a simple reason. Ask 10 different scientists what we should best do to protect our environment, our health, our genetics--and you'll get 10 different answers. But ALL the scientists agree on one thing--one day, it may happen in a hundred years, or a thousand, or even a million, but one day, our Sun WILL cool off and go out. And if we are still confined to Earth when that happens, not only will all of us be lost, but we'll also loose--Marilyn Monroe. And Lao Tsu, and Shakespeare, and Einstein, Buddy Holly, Eristophanes. All of it. It will all have been for nothing--
--unless we go to the stars.
.
Sniff. Beautiful, poignant stuff. Gorgeous. And so true.
Excuse me while I get a handkerchief...and go make a donation to NASA.
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