| Episode: | 95 | | | Writer: | J. Michael Straczynski | | | Director: | Tony Dow | | | Air Date: | 04-Mar-1998 |
This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching Babylon 5 season 5 episode 7, Secrets of the Soul. It's promising secrets, plural, so it'd better deliver or else I'm going to be slightly disappointed. Or more likely I'll forget what the title was five minutes in and not actually care.
SPOILER WARNING: I'll be going through the episode scene by scene and writing what happens underneath, so if you don't already know what happens that might be a problem. Especially as I'll be talking about earlier episodes as well. I'll not be talking about what happens next though.
Season 4 loved opening episodes with someone recording a log entry via voice over and Franklin's bringing back the tradition here with his doctor's personal log. That means we get to visit Medlab again!
We see him talking to a pak'ma'ra, which gives Optic Nerve a chance to show off. Farscape wasn't the only 90s sci-fi series with animatronics! Franklin's curious about the pak'ma'ra as they're carrion eaters who seem to be impervious to infection (well, except for that Markab plague in season two). The pak'ma'ra explains it's because they're the chosen of God, but Franklin decides to run some tests to see what's going on biologically.
The pak'ma'ra points out that the barium compound he's pouring out isn't on the approved list, but Franklin assures him it'll be fine... even though this is a test, so he's clearly never done this before. I'll spare you the shot of the pak'ma'ra's stomach contents sprayed all over the window afterwards. The moral of the story: never trust a doctor, I guess!
It's a battle of haircuts, with the short haired security officers vs the long haired telepath commune. Though I suppose the guy at the front has fairly short hair. Plus he talks, which is weird for Byron's group. He's also struggling with an obvious stutter, which makes me think back to Simon, the telepath who had problems talking in No Compromises. I'm starting to worry that this guy's not going to survive his episode either.
Zack's not happy about these people coming in though however, as he's sure there's more going on than they're telling them. Plus he's worried about how many more are going to arrive. Byron asks him "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" which eventually leads to the answer that there's going to be as many telepaths coming here as want to come here.
That's not really the firm answer you need when you're managing an air-tight space community with finite resources, but I get the feeling that's not what Zack's worried about.
There's nothing ominous about this scene though; Byron's entirely supportive and the music's mostly just a little bit cringy. So it's weird that this is where it cuts to the opening titles. This is the hook to keep people watching the episode!
Hang on, first there was Simon and now there's Peter. Didn't Jesus have two apostles with the names Simon and Peter? I guess they should be watching out for Judas.
ACT ONE
Everything finally comes out here, with Lyta talking about how pissed off she is that despite all she did for Sheridan and the others, all she got out of it was nothing. Both in the Shadow War and in the Earth Civil War. In fact they wanted to kick her out to smaller quarters and left her so desperate that she signed a deal with Bester!
I'm definitely sympathetic, but I'm curious what she actually feels like she's owed here. What is helping to save the universe supposed to get you? I'm fairly sure Franklin paid her what she asked for her work on Mars and they were already giving her free quarters. I guess she really needs to negotiate for a better price for her services next time!
The thing is, the episode's missing a crucial piece of information that Zack mentioned in the last episode: he already saw a charismatic figure like Byron back in Io. Not a telepath, but someone who was apparently a cult leader. That seems to be where Zack's concerns are coming from. In fact I'm trying to think back and remember any comments he's made about telepaths in the past and I'm getting nothing. He never said a word about them when he was in charge of recruiting telepaths during the war, it was always Garibaldi who didn't trust them.
Babylon 5 hasn't had the best track record when it comes to DownBelow thugs, but this actor's doing a good job I reckon. I can believe he wants to kick Byron's ass. Though Byron invites him to punch him in the face instead.
It's at this point that Byron starts to explain the lesson, asking him "Was one the same as three?" and "Was three the same as one and two?" The lurker doesn't get what he's talking about though and Byron actually seems more annoyed that he's not getting his point than he is about being hassled and punched three times.
But the guy dismisses it as a 'teep trick' to save face in front of his people and it's not clear if this act of self-sacrifice actually solved anything. This is a bit of a depressing scene really, as it shows that punching Byron in the face brings you no joy.
I'm also starting to get the impression that Byron really sees himself as being a wise teacher and it frustrates him that no one ever, ever gets what the hell he's talking about until he dumbs it down for them. He doesn't seem to understand that his manner of speech is obnoxious and pretentious and it's the main reason people don't like talking to him! Well, one of the main reasons.
These are the... uh... I'm not actually sure what race they are, sorry. We do learn that they're a gerontocracy though, ruled by their eldest. We also learn that they are serious about protecting their medical data, and the ambassador's posh British attaché Kirrin blurts out the question of whether he'd die to protect it. Which is a bit rude really.
We already know the lengths he'll go to prevent his data from being used in biogenetic warfare, but he really seems to avoid giving them a straight answer, until finally admitting 'yeah, pretty much'. He also says it'll be password encrypted and if you enter the wrong password it'll be erased. Man, if that was true of website passwords then every account I have would've been deleted by now.
Wow, it's like I'm back in season one or two again! This cheesy dialogue's so nostalgic.
ACT TWO
Byron hints that he's really not into having people around at the moment, but she's determined to treat his wound. He's not too upset, as it gives him a chance to preach to her about the Psi Corps adopting the violent ways of the mundanes and how that's not their way. I feel like Byron's carrying too much resentment and frustration to really be the charming telepath Jesus he seems to have positioned himself as. He doesn't wish well upon his fellow man, he wants to show how telepaths are better than them.
Then he echoes one of G'Kar's famous speeches a little bit, saying that no tyranny or government based on violence has ever lasted. I don't know enough about history to know if that's true or not, but it seems like a bit of a stretch to use that to justify asking someone to punch him in the face.
Lyta's still kind of furious about how the thugs treated Byron and he smiles and calls her a BCFMO - a brightly coloured, fast moving object, which seems to be an acronym he's made up on the spot. It's probably Byron's best scene so far, as he's talking like a regular person for the most part. And then they kiss again.
He says "Stay with us tonight", which I can't help but notice was phrased as the kind of request he took issue with her obeying when they first met. She doesn't feel like she can though.
While this happens the soundtrack plays a little of the melody from their song that they sung at the end of the last episode. I can't tell if it's supposed to be sinister or not, but then I never can with Byron's group.
He's a bit preoccupied at the moment with what he's read in the other files... or what he hasn't read to be more precise. Their civilisation has been around for 7000 years but their files on their evolution and medical history only span 800 years. I wonder how long our files span right now.
In fact B5 hasn't got any records of any of their history from before 800 years ago so it definitely seems like they're hiding something. Oh, we got a name by the way. These are the Hyach and I'm not sure they've been introduced before this episode.
We definitely haven't seen this actress before as this seems to be her very first on screen role. She's apparently more of a voice actor.
The transport tube heading down from the Zocalo to the darkest corners of the slums is full, so he decides to let his friends go ahead and wait to catch the next one. Why would they not hang around in the Zocalo with him and take the next lift together? Do they not remember that he's new here and there are violent thugs hanging out in the hallways? Are they shunning him because of his short hair?
Fortunately the next lift arrives almost immediately (the extras must have slipped out of the side of the set), but when it brings him to his destination his friends are nowhere to be seen. Did he go to the wrong floor?
Peter tries using his TK on them, throwing trash like Darth Vader, but the lead thug just puts him up against a wall and beats him with a pipe. It's a pretty harsh scene, though it's hard to care too much because of how predictable it is. I've had 20 minutes to prepare myself for this, because he may as well have had his fate written on his identification papers when came onto the station. What else was going to happen to the nice, harmless telepath with a speech impediment?
Unfortunately the thug finds beating up Peter a lot more satisfying than beating up Byron, and he keeps on hitting him with the pipe as the screen fades to black. I guess 4, 5, 6 and 7 were not the same as 1, 2 and 3.
ACT THREE
Peter's a bloody mess and Franklin's team are racing to save him. Lyta and Byron rush in and Byron demands to know why Franklin isn't working on him, apparently failing to spot all the other people crowded around his bed. Byron's furious and says that he was attacked by "one of you". I understand why Byron's so pissed off, but wrong target man. He's lashing out at his closest ally!
You can compare Zack calling Byron's group "those people" and Byron saying that the thug was "one of you", but the important distinction is that Zack clearly wasn't grouping all telepaths together as he was talking to Lyta at the time. Byron's basically treating non-telepaths like they're an alien species, and not in the "please send us your alien medical records so we can do a better job of treating you in the future" kind of way.
Speaking of Byron's people, he's a bit concerned about what they're going to do in revenge. He's a strong believer in non-violence, but they're not necessarily going follow his teachings here. Franklin wonders why they're not in Medlab if they're so upset about Peter, but Lyta reveals that they are here.
Peter's stronger than a typical telepath as well though, and in his current state he's a danger to everyone treating him. We see a cart rocking in a worrying way and a tray flies across the room. Unfortunately Byron can't stick around to help. His connection with the other telepaths apparently isn't strong enough for him to talk sense into them from this distance so he has to run back to speak to them in person.
Then we get a first person view of his limbs on fire! Actual fire, not cheesy mid-90s TV budget CGI fire! That's a good way to show what a psychic attack is like. I mean it's nothing new for sci-fi, they did something similar in the pilot episode for Star Trek: The Original Series, but it works. Doesn't make for a good screencap though unfortunately.
He's able to calm them down though, then goes to check on their victim...
Oh come on, no one ever arrives in time to stop a crime in DownBelow, especially not the chief of security! This looks more suspicious for Zack than it does for Byron really. Though Byron's the one getting arrested, for the crime of not having a good excuse for why he was there next to an unconscious man.
Zack decides that the best thing to do here is to take the (allegedly) charismatic leader away from the angry mob and then leave them to it.
Man, it's like Zack's trying to get them to do something stupid. What does he think is going to happen here?
Though what's happening here isn't all that different to what the Rangers did a week or two ago in Learning Curve. The main difference is that they haven't dragged Peter out of his sickbed to fight the thug's leader in one on one staff combat.
This is the first time I've actually kind of felt sorry for Byron, as now that he's completely isolated from other characters and has no one to talk to, we're seeing his actual honest true feelings, and he's obviously horrified by what's going on. He's not taking the slightest bit of satisfaction in the revenge his people are taking on the guy who attacked him.
The computer wakes him up to tell him it's found a log in the records of another race, and Franklin activates the translation program so he can hear him speak in English. Is this the first time we've ever seen evidence of a translator in Babylon 5?
The guy on the screen mentions that a Hyach-Do tried to arrange for passage on his ship, but it was in his contract to refuse them, so he contacted those in charge of collection instead. The thing is, there's no mention of the Hyach-Do in any Hyach records or literature.
Franklin has used the time to change from his medical uniform to his Army of Light uniform, but as he leaves Medlab with his printed notes the camera pans to the floor to reveal another set of feet following him.
ACT FOUR
Turns out that there was a case of two sentient species evolving in parallel on the same world, like the Centauri and the Xon on Centauri Prime, and like the Xon the Hyach-Do are all dead. But this wasn't the result of a war over land and resources, it was because of a systematic extermination that took place long after the two sides had learned to co-exist. 40 million Hyach-Do were killed in the end... which seems like a weirdly tiny number considering that it happened when they were a spacefaring race.
The low death toll might have worked better if the Hyach-Do had been wiped out back in their middle ages or something. Plus it would've made it a little more plausible that all trace of them had been erased.
Anyway Franklin has discovered the Hyach's secret and that means... that they must accept it. It's only if he betrays them that he has to die, they were very specific about that in that earlier scene.
Though there's another twist, something that neither of the Hyach thought was worth mentioning until now, even when they were talking between themselves: their entire race is slowly dying out. Their birth rate has been decreasing for centuries, and it's all because of the Hyach-Do. Turns out that they needed something in the Hyach-Do's DNA to keep them alive.
Okay, I admit I don't know a whole lot about biology, but something seems weird here. How could the Hyach have evolved to rely on breeding with a different species to survive? Especially as they were separate competing groups at first. Did they screw themselves over by interbreeding? Did they become a new race of Hyach/Hyach-Do hybrids that need to breed with pure Hyach-Do to correct a genetic flaw that gets worse every generation?
Either way it sucks to be them, as the Hyach-Do are all dead.
I guess he's in a bad mood after being woken up by a beeping computer. Plus they had a gun pointed at his head and made him walk for ages. That'll make anyone grumpy.
It doesn't really matter what he thinks though, as he explains that it'd take several worlds working for decades to solve this mystery. This isn't something he can figure out himself by staring at computers in Medlab for 42 minutes. But maybe if they revealed their secret they could get started on that...
The two Hyach agree that their shame must be revealed, now that someone's stumbled onto it (like they knew he would), and they ask that he someday forgives them. He replies that the only ones that can forgive them are the Hyach-Do, so it's too bad they're all dead!
Good news, Byron is being released! Turns out that the guy he was trying to help backs up his story, so they've got nothing to hold him for really.
Zack mentions that the guy worked for a guy called Carl Townsend, who hassled the telepaths the other day and was just found dead. He wonders if Byron would know anything about that, but Byron points out that Zack's given him a pretty solid alibi by locking him up in a cell all night. He also points out that maybe if he hadn't been locked up this could've been avoided.
Wow, I didn't expect Byron to put the blame on his own people like that, especially seeing as Zack's got no evidence to tie them to it.
Then we get another scene of Byron at home being miserable, while Lyta tries to help. He's beating himself up this time, because he wasn't able to teach his people that murdering someone in revenge is bad. He doesn't know who did it, but he saw the murder happen across 14 decks, which is pretty impressive. Also now I know that the cells are only 14 decks away from DownBelow, which is another pointless bit of trivia to file away in my brain.
But first, she has to warn him that the Vorlons changed her and her powers might be a bit too strong now. We learned in an awkward conversation back in season 1's Mind War that when telepaths make love their mental barriers go down and she's worried she might burn him with her brain. He's in a 'let it burn' kind of mood though, so he doesn't give a damn.
The rest of Byron's telepaths are starting to stir at this point, woken up by the clips Lyta's broadcasting.
Tears stream down the telepath's faces as they see more alien babies in tanks.
Well this night didn't go the way Byron and Lyta planned.
ACT FIVE
Byron's all kinds of pissed off now. So much that he's not even going to wait for Lyta to put some clothes on before starting his rant.
We already knew all this, as Justin told Sheridan the truth on Z'ha'dum, but Sheridan apparently kept it to himself as it's news to Byron. All his life he thought being a telepath was a natural mutation, but now he knows that he could've been normal if it wasn't for aliens screwing with their DNA. All his talk of being superior and different to mundanes has vanished; now he's just bitter he's not like them.
The Vorlons are long gone by this point, but the other races all made use of the telepaths to save them in the Shadow War so he's considering them responsible for their condition. And they're going to force the Alliance to give telepaths a proper homeworld of their own.*
*Also presumably do something about that 60 day countdown before they're arrested by Bester that everyone seems to have forgotten about.
CONCLUSION
You know, the more I think about it, the more Secrets of the Soul sounds like it should be the title of a Crusade episode instead of a Babylon 5 episode. It'd fit right in with titles like Ruling from the Tomb and, uh, Patterns of the Soul.
The story doesn't feel very Babylon 5 to me either and part of the reason for that is that it's the first episode to be missing Sheridan since his arrival 72 episodes ago. He had a good run though, beating Ivanova's unbroken stretch of 67 episodes and Garibaldi's uninterrupted run of 56 appearances. The episode's also missing Garibaldi, Delenn, Londo, G'Kar, Lochley... pretty much everyone aside from Franklin, Zack and Lyta. In fact the main story is driven by Byron. The end result is an episode that feels like it's got a B-plot and a C-plot but no main story.
Franklin's plot is about him getting woken up when his Google search reveals a dark secret about a race we've never met. Turns out that some of the Hyach have been covering up an atrocity for 800 years and he doesn't feel it's morally right to save their race from extinction until they come clean. The moral of the story: Franklin is mean when he gets woken up in the middle of the night. I hope this isn't what the 'Franklin is researching alien viruses' plot was leading to, as this story barely even qualifies as being a story.
The Franklin plot becomes very relevant to the other plot however, after Byron discovers that the Vorlons had a dark secret as well. In Franklin's story the victims all died, in Byron's the perpetrators all vanished, but their conclusions are the same: the people alive today who have been an accomplice in some regard should take responsibility for their actions. Sure Sheridan's fleet fought for everyone, mundanes and telepaths, but Byron feels like the Alliance now owes them.
Plus the moral of the Franklin plot is 'maybe getting rid of a minority group will be a really bad idea in the long run', which shines a different light on Byron trying to move his minority group to a different planet. Maybe isolation isn't the great idea he thinks it is. Especially as they'll still be reliant on others, even if it's only to protect them from Raiders. They're struggling enough already with low level thugs on the station.
I think the story benefits from coming so soon after Learning Curve, because we've just seen how the heroic Rangers dealt with a similar situation. They beat the crap out of the thug and his henchmen with a metal bar. This was considered legal and good. A few people get attacked in this story and the only person who gets taken in by security is an innocent man, so maybe the telepaths were right to defend themselves with violence? It goes against Byron's philosophy (and the whole purpose of the station), but Byron's approach of volunteering to be a punching bag ultimately didn't work. It's a shame all the heroes took the episode off as one of them might have come up with some kind of solution here.
Overall this was probably my least favourite episode this season and it's actually the Franklin side of the story that drags it down the most. I can't say I was ever bored by it though. It's a long way from something like Soul Hunter or Infection.
COMING SOON
If you've got anything you want to say about the episode, I'm sure the comment box will be happy to relay your message.
It's a battle of haircuts, with the short haired security officers vs the long haired telepath commune.
ReplyDeleteYou are Arnold J Rimmer, and I claim my £5.
They started to make me feel sympathy for Byron, but it didn't survive that ending.
ReplyDelete