1.2 -
Soul Hunter Spoilers Apply
A few notes first ... I don't normally pay attention to wacky bloopers within the episodes, but studying them again for the reviews has proven .. interesting. For one thing, I had never noticed the overabundance of hats on extras before. Now, every scene in the Zocalo shows that every Human female (and at least one Drazi female) has to wear a hat. Weird.
But I notice that in the stunt doubles, they aren't even trying to get someone who looks like the actor. You'll see.
Soul Hunter is an odd choice as a second episode. It's not a *bad* episode, nor is it a bad choice, it's just an odd one. Why? Because it delves into the metaphysical, into territory never even attempted in Star Trek.
What happens after you die? That is the question raised in this episode.
The Soul Hunter (if they are given names, they do not reveal it here) travels to Babylon 5 on a damaged ship.
He is taken to the MedBay at Sinclair's request, where he is operated on by newly-arrived Dr. Stephen Franklin of Earth. Within seconds, Delenn arrives to investigate; upon seeing the Hunter, she panics.
It is through this panic, and the ensuing chaos, that we discover she was a Satai, and as Sinclair learns a Satai is a member of the ruling body of Minbar, known as the Grey Council.
"What is one of the great leaders of the Minbari doing here playing Ambassador?" the Soul Hunter asks. He does not get an answer.
He escapes from the MedLab and visits N'Grath, who can give him access to all the secret routs within Babylon 5. This means he'll be able to get to Delenn without being tracked.
A second Soul Hunter is tracking the first and arrives on the station, helping Sinclair and Garibaldi to find Delenn in time to save her life. The first Soul Hunter is not so lucky.
In the end, he's dead and the second Soul Hunter leaves the station without his brother's collection of souls. Delenn, in her quarters, cracks open the soul collection, freeing the souls.
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Now, a few more things ... There was a lurker who was killed after cheating in a game. Because his family can't afford to ship his body back home, the corpse is given a "space funeral" in which the body is flown into the sun.
I knew it was coming, but had forgotten that the funeral scene included Dr. Franklin. It threw me out of the episode and brought back what happened, like a ton of bricks.
"From the stars we came, and to the stars we return. We therefore commit this body to the deep."
Bloopers ... Did they think we wouldn't notice N'Grath is a guy in a suit? You can even see his legs ...
And did they even try to match the stunt double with the actor playing the Soul Hunter?
Both of the guest actors from this episode will be seen again. William Morgan Sheppard, who plays the Soul Hunter, will be seen again in episode 2.20, playing G'Sten. John Snyder, who plays the second Soul Hunter, will be seen in just a few episodes playing Orin Zento (in the episode by JMS's wife, "By Any Other Means").
New Characters Introduced --
Dr. Stephen Franklin
N'Grath
Tech (well, she was seen briefly in Midnight, but here she actually has lines! She's played by Marianne Robertson, who has no credits other than her time on B5)
Just for the fun of it - Minbari Bondage!
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And in other news, President Santiago returned from an inspection tour of the station at IO. He praised Captain Palaz's handling of the recent crisis as "swift, decisive, motiving and bold."
E-Vid Entertainment, a company recently discovered to have crreated holo brothels using quote "substandard equipment" endquote has been charged in the death of two brothers from Mars. E-Vid owner Maximillian Brite is expected in court later this week.
Turning our eye once again on Babylon 5, correspondant Mary Anne Cramer will be visiting the station next month. Here is your chance to find out the answers to those burning questions. For the next 72 hours, you can submit questions to Mary Anne. She will then answer as many of those questions as her time on the station will allow.
Here's my question, Mary Anne. What is Ambassador Kosh hiding under that mysterious encounter suit?
And now back to you, Alison!
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Will do B2tP and Infection soon.
I was very quickly drawn in to the Narn/Centauri debate, especially because Londo Mollari and G’Kar were instantly the most charismatic characters. (Incidentally, is it a Centauri rule that everyone should try to look like Kramer from Seinfeld??) Also liked the fact that neither is shown to be entirely in the right, even from the start: liked the mention of the Ragesh 3 sovereignty dispute, for example.
To tell you a little of my own history with B5, I actually stopped watching B5 after only a few episodes when it first came out, and Centauri hair was one of the reasons. I thought it looked simply absurd, and more than that, outright distracting. 
