Story: The Memory of War
Written By: J. Michael Straczynski
Season: Crusade
The Excalibur comes to a planet that’s population was wiped out by war 100 years ago. Galen warns that the planet is essentially forbidden by the Technomages and warns that they shouldn’t go down, but Gideon and co. decide to risk it for the potential of finding a cure. The get down, someone dies, and that death reveals to Galen that the virus on the planet was created using nanotechnology, and was created by a Technomage.
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It is a solid episode, though if this had been the second episode (as
planned) I would’ve been frustrated. Straczynski seemed to want to jump
right in and not have to deal with any set up. That is all well and
good, but in doing so he didn’t develop any of his characters. Maybe in
his head he did, but he didn’t want to share that info with the rest of
us. Who are these people, what makes them tick? We get some of that in
episodes that rightly come before that, but I still don’t have a good
feel for anyone. Straczynski is good at building a universe and
plotting out winding storylines, but he isn’t the greatest at
characterization. It took two seasons before he finally began to get
the characters on Babylon 5 developed enough that I felt I knew who I
was watching each week…and if you look at it he dropped and changed a
bunch of characters in that time.
The mystery of what the Apocalypse Box is intriguing, though it is used as if we understand what it is…I wouldn’t mind a mysterious box guiding Gideon, but it’s use just shows up at the end of the episode and it lacks total context. Is his use of this good, or bad, or is it just something I missed because this series order is completely out of whack. I’m guessing it was meant to be mysterious and foreshadowing for something to come later…it just seems like it is some plot point that lacks any context, and I don’t know what the damn thing is.
An important note on this episode is that Dr. Chambers and Galen was able to use the nanotech to create a sort of breathable temporary vaccine for the plague on Earth. People breath it in, and it will protect them from the virus for 48 hours…it wont help anyone already infected, and it wont last…but it is a start to finding a legitimate cure at least.
NEXT TIME: Refugee with Info
Written By: J. Michael Straczynski
Season: Crusade
The Excalibur comes to a planet that’s population was wiped out by war 100 years ago. Galen warns that the planet is essentially forbidden by the Technomages and warns that they shouldn’t go down, but Gideon and co. decide to risk it for the potential of finding a cure. The get down, someone dies, and that death reveals to Galen that the virus on the planet was created using nanotechnology, and was created by a Technomage.
.png)
The mystery of what the Apocalypse Box is intriguing, though it is used as if we understand what it is…I wouldn’t mind a mysterious box guiding Gideon, but it’s use just shows up at the end of the episode and it lacks total context. Is his use of this good, or bad, or is it just something I missed because this series order is completely out of whack. I’m guessing it was meant to be mysterious and foreshadowing for something to come later…it just seems like it is some plot point that lacks any context, and I don’t know what the damn thing is.
An important note on this episode is that Dr. Chambers and Galen was able to use the nanotech to create a sort of breathable temporary vaccine for the plague on Earth. People breath it in, and it will protect them from the virus for 48 hours…it wont help anyone already infected, and it wont last…but it is a start to finding a legitimate cure at least.
NEXT TIME: Refugee with Info
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