Exogenesis
Reviewed by Lady Keela Shanri
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Well, from what little I could remember of this episode from my first time out-of-order viewing made me think I would have to unleash the Evil Emperor on this review. But it was not QUITE as bad as I thought...
There were two main plotlines. The A-plot was about these weird crystal worm thingies that were taking over the brains of Lurkers on the station. The B-plot involved Ivanova's attempts to find out if Corwin could be trusted and the misunderstandings that arise from them. In the time-honoured Centauri tradition of getting the worst over with first so you can just relax and party afterwards, I will review the alien-worm plot first.
Well, the episode starts off with some Lurker going nuts (right after Sheridan, in the previous scene, says "Let's hope tomorrow will be just as uneventful as today was" or something like that) and screaming as a horrible scorpion-like thing goes into his back, forcibly, and two people stand by just watching quietly. The body turns up in Medlab later where Dr. Franklin does a scan on it and finds something very odd--a little crystally-looking totally transparent and colourless worm-like thingie, twined around the guy's spinal column. He says "What the hell are you?" and sticks it in a jar.
Meanwhile, Marcus's friend Duncan, a worn-out old Lurker who we have met earlier in the episode, turns up missing suddenly and no matter how hard he tries, Marcus cannot get Garibaldi to have Security look into his disappearance. So when Garibaldi says that "This is more a matter for a doctor, not Security" and also says that Marcus can quote him on it, Marcus goes STRAIGHT to Franklin and says that Garibaldi practically ORDERED him to do so.
(Side note: I thought Garibaldi's remark about how "If they were normal, they wouldn't BE Lurkers" was just as callous and chilling as Marcus did. Yuck.)
Anyway, they go to Duncan's quarters but he does not answer Marcus's constant door-bell ringing, so Franklin uses his authority code to break open the door and Marcus goes running RIGHT in. He finds a secret tunnel leading out of the back of the room and goes right through it, leaving Franklin no choice but to follow.
Now, what follows is a pretty standard sci-fi thing. The idea of bodysnatchers is nothing new, but when we find out that the Vindrizi are BENEVOLENT, that they hold tons of memories from previous lifetimes and live for a really long time, I instantly thought, "TRILLS!" as will anyone else who's ever seen DS9. (Heck, "Next Gen" actually.) But it was saved from TOTAL mediocrity by two things: character development and humour.
It was fun seeing the beginnings of the friendship between Franklin and Marcus--even though they BUG each other! (And I think they make a VERY pretty "couple"! Oh, whoops, that was a "spoiler" for Racing Mars in the fourth season...never mind...hee hee). We first blatantly hear about the fact that Marcus has a thing for Ivanova (he seemed to LIKE her in "Matters of Honor", but he could have been just acting friendly 'cos he was bored; it wasn't OBVIOUS that he was flirting then). And some amusing dialogue. "There are three of them with guns against two of us with nothing!" Franklin points out. "We only need to get rid of one of them," says Marcus, "and then there will only be one with a gun." "Wait a minute--" says Franklin. "Where I come from, one from three equals two." "Where I come from is a much more interesting place." smiles Marcus.
Marcus--ah, a name to make most female B5 fans faint. Not me, although I do think he's pretty. He's FUNNY, though, THAT'S his main selling point in my opinion. Most of the humour of this plotline, if not all, was provided by him. And I'm a big fan of that dry, sarcastic, British humour to begin with, so it's fine by me. By far the funniest part was when he convinced the guard that his retracted Minbari fighting-pike was a "Copeland J-5000" medical scanner, and caused the guy to whap HIMSELF with it in the chin! (An in-joke..John Copeland is the name of one of the show's producers.)
Anyway, they eventually find out what's going on and Franklin allows the Vindrizi to continue living on the station as long as they check with him FIRST before taking over any new people.
That pretty much covers that plot. On to the other one.
The episode begins with a very embarrassed FULL Lt. David Corwin being toasted by tons of friends and colleagues in congratulations for his new promotion. Everyone is havinga good time, but Sheridan is concerned that, with his new promotion, Corwin might start getting into their little secret "loop". (Side note #2: What is Ivanova's problem with Marcus in this scene? At this point, she does not know that he has a thing for her, and she really has no reason to misttrust him so violently...?) So he asks Ivanova to covertly find out where Corwin's loyalties are and what kind of guy he is.
Ivanova, later on, strides right up to Corwin and, since she can't come out and SAY "I want to know if you'd rat on us or not", instead invites him to have a "private discussion" in...her quarters...
Naturally, being a good red-blooded Human boy, Corwin of COURSE takes this the wrong way! He is completely baffled and confused by this attractive senior officer who practically ORDERS him to her quarters, but...what the hey, go for it, ya know? So he goes and buys her FLOWERS. Even when they're fake, roses cost a bundle on B5, so you can imagine his total embarrassment when he shows up at the door of her quarters carrying them, and her first reaction is "Where the HELL did THOSE come from?"
"Uh, I found them," the goofy blonde young officer stammers nervously. "They were just...laying there."
Ivanova then goes on about how much she LOVES roses and that this was a really darling gesture, whoever did it, and now Corwin is thinking that he should have told the TRUTH! That poor boy just can't win either way...
I'd like to take a moment here to praise Joshua Cox on his performance. This episode, probably Corwin's best moment, is not only funny, but it shows how the people in the background CAN have real personalities, too. I never quite understood why they didn't make him a regular--I mean, he practially IS one already; he's in almost EVERY SINGLE FRAGGING EPISODE from the beginning of the second season on. And from THIS season on, he gets more and more to do. Oh, well...
Anyway, Ivanova opens up the conversation by pointing out that the REAL coffee they are drinking was grown illegally in the Hydroponics bay, and when she sees Corwin's slightly shocked reaction to that, she takes it as a bad sign. She then attempts to "casually" ask him about what he would do if "following orders" and "doing what's good for Earth" were mutually incompatible. He gives her a textbook answer about how he can't judge which orders are right and wrong, so he'd follow them all no matter what.
This leads Ivanova to believe that he CANNOT be let into their loop, but I disagree. He was obviously quoting by rote in that interview, not speaking his true feelings. I mean, after all, she IS a superior officer and he was rather freaked out by the whole thing. I think that, if it came right down to the crunch, you could trust Corwin to do the right thing, no matter if he was ordered to or not. But that's just me...
The verdict? Watch it once for the humour, the small arc-hints--such as that the Shadows are evidently massing on the Centauri border!--and the character development, then leave it alone.
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