Babylon 5 Rewatch: “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars”

“The Deconstruction of Falling Stars”
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Stephen Furst
Season 4, Episode 22
Production episode 501
Original air date: October 27, 1997

It was the dawn of the third age… Sheridan and Delenn arrive at B5 with “JUST MARRIED” stencilled on their shuttle. Upon arrival, Franklin and Garibaldi meet them with confetti and a crowd of dozens looking to celebrate. The happy couple had been hoping to keep things low-key, but the doctor and erstwhile security chief were never going to let that happen.

They are, of course, met by press, and we see the ISN feed of this occasion, which then futzes out a bit, and an unseen user has to adjust the stored record of this image and re-set things.

Someone is watching a history of the Interstellar Alliance from far in the future.

2262: We get an episode of ISN Nightside. First the anchor, Derek Mitchell talks about how, after the crazy-ass events of the end of the previous year, it’s good to pause and reflect. A reporter, Jim Bitterbane, reports from B5 discussing Sheridan’s backstory. Then Mitchell turns to a panel of experts: EarthDome Senator Elizabeth Metarie, Mars-based journalist Leif Tanner, and political operative Henry Ellis. Metarie is guardedly optimistic about Sheridan and the ISA; Tanner is willing to give them a shot; Ellis is completely against the whole idea.

2362: The next record is from a hundred years later, an educational stellarcast featuring faculty from the University of York, NYU, and the University of Japan discussing the first century of the ISA. The focus is on deconstructing the myths that have grown up around Sheridan and Delenn, saying that their role in the ISA has been overblown, and also that they’ve made their share of mistakes. They mention a colony of telepaths that Sheridan gave sanctuary to on B5 and how that ended in disaster (they show security footage from B5 at the point of the ending-in-disaster bit).

The discussion turns to Delenn, and speculating as to whether or not she’s even still alive, since she hasn’t been seen in ages, and then an elderly Delenn herself enters the studio, telling them that John Sheridan was a great man and that they’re close-minded twerps.

2762: The next record is from Earth five centuries after the founding of the ISA. The planet is divided between two factions, one of which supports the ISA, the other of which is more isolationist. We meet Daniel, working in a holographic chamber that has re-created a conference room on B5. Daniel is working to create propaganda that will support the isolationist side. He has re-created sophisticated versions of Sheridan, Delenn, Garibaldi, and Franklin, ones that have those characters’ personalities and memories. Indeed, the holographic versions are such accurate re-creations that they’re completely appalled by what Daniel wants to do. He adjusts Sheridan first, making him a despotic loony, inspiring the troops to kill the hell out of their enemies. As she, Franklin, and Garibaldi watch, Delenn laments that they should be able to do something.

Daniel then has Franklin giving a log report about all the fun vivisections and genetic experiments he plans. Garibaldi then approaches Daniel, saying that he’s figured out that this is all just a prelude to a military strategy, yes? Daniel admits that this is true, and Garibaldi points out that they’ve just re-created a really really good tactical specialist in himself. He might be able to give him some useful advice. Daniel then provides the entire battle plan.

Garibaldi, however, has been busy digging into the source code of this little lab and has taken over the communications and broadcast his entire battle plan to their opponents. Which means they’ll probably make a preemptive strike. A horrified Daniel runs for the metaphorical hills. Just before this installation is destroyed, Garibaldi tells the images of Sheridan, Delenn, and Franklin to rest easy.

3262: The next record is on Earth after the second Earth Alliance Civil War resulted in the Great Burn, which wiped out most of the technology on Earth. The world is now completely isolated and virtually medieval. This monastery—which has not been recognized by Rome—has tasked itself with preserving Earth’s history, mostly through illuminated manuscripts. Brother Alwyn is in the midst of making a recording when he’s interrupted by Brother Michael, who is having a conflict of faith. He wonders if all the stuff he’s recording about the great Sheridan and Delenn is true. He also wonders if the prophecy that the Rangers will return to save humanity is true, when there’s been no sign of them. Brother Alwyn encourages him. When Michael leaves, we find out that Brother Alwyn is, in fact, a Ranger here to help save humanity—but they’re doing it slowly and subtly. The recording he started at the top of the scene is, in fact, a message to his fellow Rangers.

A million years hence: These records are all being gathered by the last human on Earth shortly before its sun goes nova. Said human turns to energy and enters a very Vorlon-ish encounter suit before buggering off to “New Earth.”

2262: We cut back to Sheridan and Delenn in their quarters on B5, Sheridan musing on whether or not anyone will even remember them a hundred or a thousand years from now, and Delenn saying that all they can do is the best they can and history will take care of itself.

Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan will become a revered, and sometimes controversial, figure in the future.

The household god of frustration. Garibaldi’s personality is so strong that a hologram created based on him is able to foil an evil plot to take over the Earth. Because he’s just that awesome.

If you value your lives, be somewhere else. Delenn will apparently live to at least the age of 160.

In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Mollari is confused by the celebration on B5 in 2262, thinking it to be funereal. On Centauri Prime, wedding celebrations are solemn affairs, whereas funerals are usually big parties like this.

Though it take a thousand years, we shall be free. G’Kar is of the considered opinion that Mollari is a big poopy-head.

We live for the one, we die for the one. The Rangers will apparently continue to be in operation in some form or other for the next million years. We see them working covertly on Earth doing what they always do in 3262, and the ship that the last human on Earth takes off Earth before it goes boom has a Ranger logo on it.

The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. More mentions of the Telepath War that we never got to see, as well as foreshadowing of a major telepath plotline that will run through season five.

The Shadowy Vorlons. A million years hence, humans will be just like Vorlons, apparently…

Looking ahead. The scene in medlab with Garibaldi being held hostage and Sheridan on the comms saying they wouldn’t negotiate with terrorists will be seen in full in “Phoenix Rising.” That scene has the first mention of Captain Lochley, played by Tracey Scoggins, who will join the cast at the top of season five.

The discussion of Sheridan’s mysterious death 80 years ago in the 2362 segment, the reference to B5’s destruction in the 2762 segment, and the mention of Sheridan by Brother Alwyn in the 3262 segment all refer to events that will play out in “Sleeping in Light.”

Welcome aboard. Tons of guests in this one…

For the 2262 segment, we have Rob Elk, Bennet Guillory, Doug Hale, Kathleen Lloyd, and Kenneth Taylor. For the 2362 segment, we’ve got genre veteran Alastair Duncan (among other things, one of the go-to voices for Alfred Pennyworth in various DC animated productions), Nick Toth, and Joanne Takahashi.

The only guest in the 2762 segment is another genre veteran Eric Pierpoint (Alien Nation, five different roles on Star Trek) as Daniel, while the 3262 has another genre veteran in Roy Brocksmith (Total Recall, a couple of Star Trek roles) teamed with Neil Roberts. And then, in the final jump forward a million years, we’ve got David Anthony Smith as the future human watching all these old records.

Trivial matters. By 1996, PTEN had completely fallen apart. Its only actual successes were B5 and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, and both shows were no longer going to be distributed to syndicated markets by PTEN after their fourth seasons were complete. The latter show was unable to find a taker, and simply ceased production. B5, knowing that the end may well have been nigh, was rejiggered by J. Michael Straczysnki so that it could end with season four if necessary. To that end, “Rising Star” was written as a series finale, with “Sleeping in Light” filmed as the coda. Then in 1997, TNT picked up the show, agreeing to not only air the fifth and final season, but also produce several TV movies and air a spinoff series, Crusade (all of which this rewatch will cover once we’re done with season five). This episode then became the coda to season four and was the first episode produced on season five’s budget (hence the 501 production number), but slotted in at the end of PTEN’s run of season four, with “Sleeping in Light” (produced with the rest of season four) held for the end of season five. Cha cha cha.

All the opening-credits actors’ contracts had to be re-done once TNT picked up the series (except for Jason Carter, who wasn’t returning, obviously), and the only one who couldn’t come to terms was Claudia Christian, which is why Ivanova doesn’t appear in this episode. Christian also isn’t in the opening credits: she appeared in “Sleeping in Light,” and that was the episode that was part of her contract to be on the show; this one wasn’t.

The similarities between the names of Henry Ellis, an intemperate gadfly who dominates the panel discussion in the 2262 segment, and Harlan Ellison, the show’s creative consultant, who was an intemperate gadly who always dominated any panel discussion he was on, is totally coincidental. (It’s not at all coincidental…)

One of the still shots of Sheridan from earlier in his EarthForce career in the 2262 segment is a publicity shot from the movie In the Beginning.

The medical experiments Daniel has Franklin claim to be conducting are similar to the ones the Clark Administration claimed B5 was doing in “Face of the Enemy.”

The echoes of all of our conversations.

“Faith and reason are the shoes on your feet. You can travel further with both than you can with just one.”

—Brother Alwyn postulating that science and religion are symbiotic rather than opposing.

The name of the place is Babylon 5. “Rest easy.” This episode is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, as it were: the coda to the season written hastily to fill in for the series finale that they could now put off for a year. And it’s fine. Like any episode that’s broken into distinct bits, some are better than others.

Sadly, the weakest parts are the first two. The news program in 2262 is fairly standard stuff, and the panel discussion in 2362 is more of the same, truly. The smug self-righteousness of so many of the commenters in both segments gets very tiresome very quickly. Even the lovely moment when the elderly Delenn stumbles into the studio is kind of ridiculous. How’d she know this was even happening? And to just come in at that moment? It was a little too pat. Though Mira Furlan killed it as usual.

The 2762 segment is elevated by two things. One is the always-reliable Eric Pierpoint as Daniel. Pierpoint has a remarkable ability to provide just the right tone with his resonant voice to perfectly embody the character he’s playing, whether it’s George Francisco’s winsomeness or Captain Sanders’ friendliness or Harris’ nastiness.

The other is that Garibaldi can save the Earth even from beyond the grave. And yeah, it’s even more contrived than Delenn just happening to show up at a dramatic moment during the 2362 segment, but dammit, it works. I love the idea that they did such a good job of re-creating Garibaldi that they sowed the seeds of their own downfall. And it’s fun to see the Orwellian fascist get his…

Unfortunately, the presence of Garibaldi in that scene is a little problematic. If Daniel wants to re-create the early days of the ISA, why is Garibaldi there? Franklin, you can barely make a case for, since his medical experiments are part of what they want to use in their propaganda machine, but what’s a civilian private investigator going to do to help them? Garibaldi stopped being part of the B5 command structure long before the ISA formed, and he’s not part of its infrastructure.

The best part is the 3262 segment, and three decades on, I think that’s the part that resonates the most. It’s very A Canticle for Leibowitz, with monks working to preserve humanity’s history after an apocalypse. A big part of what makes it work is Roy Brocksmith’s magnificent combination of exhausted and earnest, which works particularly well in contrast to Neil Roberts’ youthful panic.

It’s at once a filler episode and a very important episode. It’s a very cynical episode of what it, ultimately, a very cynical show. It focuses significantly on the negatives of B5’s future—from minor negatives like snotty pundits to the more aggressive negative of Daniel’s side of Earth’s divide to humanity plunged into medievalism by civil war to humanity having to abandon the Earth because it’s going nova way way sooner than it should.

But the seeds of hope are contained in each segment, from the optimistic members of the panel to Delenn’s grand entrance to Garibaldi’s sabotage to Brother Alwyn’s covert mission to New Earth.

Next week: Fourth season overview. icon-paragraph-end