One of the many ways Babylon 5 is unique among sci-fi series is that it was written out before the cameras started rolling. That doesn’t mean every script, but the story, the characters, and the plot beats were all developed before the first season was in production. Yet there were still quite a few happy accidents that happened on set to re-direct the series, from the chemistry between Londo and G’Kar, to the addition of Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan. Another happy accident is Star Trek veteran Walter Koenig’s performance as Alfred Bester, which was so good that the villainous telepath went from a “Monster of the Week” to a recurring guest star.
The First Appearance Of Alfred Bester
Koenig first appears as Bester in the Season 1 episode, “Mind War,” which finally goes into the impact of having telepaths running around the space station. Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson) had been established as the resident telepath, helping Londo deal with a delicate personal matter, but in “Mind War,” she’s the one in trouble. Her former teacher, Jason Ironheart, snuck onto the station to hide from the Psi-Cops.
Bester is one of the two Psi-Cops hunting down Jason, who went rogue after learning that telekinetics were to be trained by the Psi-Corp as assassins. Jason himself was subjected to strange experiments to amplify his abilities, resulting in “mind quakes” that shake the station to its foundations, and eventually, he evolves into a being of pure energy. Before leaving, or “becoming” as he says, he gives Talia the gift of telekinetics, and says to Sinclair (Michael O’Hare) that he’ll see him again “in a million years.”
Sinclair Knows Already Bester Smiling Is Not A Good Sign
You’d think someone ascending to a higher plane of existence would be the highlight of the episode. Walter Koenig managed to steal the show as the uptight and stern Bester, giving Babylon 5 something it had been missing: a villain. Koenig’s performance makes it clear that Bester thinks he’s superior to non-telepaths (and even those less powerful than he is). He also acts like he knows everything going on at all times, which, to his credit, he does.
Bester Wasn’t Part Of The Plan
Koenig wasn’t meant to be Alfred Bester, instead he was going to be Knight Two in “The Sky Full of Stars,” but a heart attack prevented him from filming. J. Michael Straczynski then went to the drawing board and created Bester specifically for Koenig. The reaction on set was that Koenig had been wasted on Star Trek: The Original Series as Chekov. Fans agreed, blowing up online message boards with love for Koenig after “Mind War” aired.
“Mind War” is a favorite of fans to this day thanks to the first appearance of Bester, but it also, in retrospect, planted the seed of Sinclair’s fate. Turns out, he really will be able to see the ascended Ironheart in a million years. At the time, no one knew it would be an accurate statement. The first season of Babylon 5 is filled with fun moments that fans didn’t fully understand the meaning of until years later.
As for Koenig, not only would he return as Bester, but he ended up being prominently featured in Season 5’s Psi-War story arc. Not bad for someone who wasn’t supposed to be back on set.
I track TV prices year-round, so I know that these 15+ TV deals ahead of Prime Day are actually worth it
Table of Contents
Best TV deals ahead of Prime Day
Prime Day season is one of the best times of year to buy a TV on sale. That’s been etched into our mental calendars in July for the past decade, but this year, hype for one of the year’s biggest shopping events starts in June: Prime Day 2026 will run from June 23 to 26. As always, worthwhile TV deals are already popping up in the weeks preceding the event.
The good pre-Prime Day TV deals aren’t just at Amazon. Half the time, the reason that TV deals during Prime Day go so hard is that competing retailers like Best Buy refuse to let Amazon get all the attention — and it has already started this year. If you don’t want to wait until the end of the month to grab your new TV, here are 15+ of the best TV deals I’ve found at Amazon and Best Buy ahead of Prime Day. Most models in this list match or beat their all-time record-low price, according to Amazon price tracker camelcamelcamel.
Hisense finally launched its highly-awaited RGB TVs on June 2. While both the UR8 and UR9 RGB TVs are on sale at Best Buy, there’s another 2026 Hisense TV with a much wilder discount: The 75-inch Hisense U7 Mini LED TV is just $1,197.99 after a massive 40% price drop from its usual $1,999.99.
Mashable Deals
By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Just released in March, the Hisense U7 series has a pretty incredible lighting system for its price range. Its backlight benefits from full-array local dimming, which uses clusters of tiny LED bulbs that can fully turn themselves on or off for more precise contrast during any scene or livestream. Other impressive numbers include a peak brightness of 3,000 nits (great news for FIFA fans trying to watch a game during the daytime) and a native 165Hz refresh rate (great news for gamers on a budget).
This past weekend, Freddie and I sat in the park and played cards. The game was fun, but you know what was even more compelling? People watching. Couples, families, and a gazillion Knicks fans walked by us, and I realized that there’s a definite print of the summer…
Gingham! Do you wear it? It looks so cool and summery. Here are 15 pretty pieces — including the gorgeous shirt above — in partnership with Nordstrom…
Thoughts? If money were no object, this sundress is beautiful — and don’t forget about classic picnic baskets. 🙂
(Gingham shirt at top by Döen. This post is sponsored by Nordstrom, a retailer we’ve loved and worn for decades.)
By now, most audiences are aware of Liam Neeson’s status as an action thriller star, best known for taking on hordes of enemies at once in non-stop thrill rides such as Taken, The Grey, and The A-Team. In 2014’s mystery thriller A Walk Among The Tombstones, Liam Neeson stars as a private investigator hired by a drug kingpin to solve a mysterious crime. The film is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
A Walk Among The Tombstones combines two of Liam Neeson’s best qualities as a performer, allowing him to show off his impeccable fighting skills as a physical powerhouse while making great use of the actor’s unflinching humanity.
One Of Neeson’s Best Action Flicks
A Walk Among the Tombstones follows Liam Neeson’s Matt Scudder as he pays his bills performing private detective work in New York. As a disgraced former detective, Scudder is willing to work outside of the law with a number of unsavory characters, including a local drug dealer named Kenny Kristo. Kristo explains to Scudder that his wife has been kidnapped and subsequently murdered despite having paid the ransom that the kidnappers demanded.
In A Walk Among The Tombstones, Liam Neeson’s Matt Scudder is joined by a street-wise homeless youth named TJ (Brian Bradley), who assists him in making connections among the criminal underworld. Scudder and TJ begin to follow ledes that uncover corruption within the DEA, as well as a conspiracy by international drug trafficking rings that threaten to start an all-out gang war on the streets of New York.
As tensions continue to rise, Scudder brings TJ under his wing after learning that the boy has sickle cell anemia and is in declining health.
From there, Scudder and his team set up a sting in order to catch the kidnappers in the middle of a handoff with their next victim. When a shootout ensues, A Walk Among The Tombstones becomes an all-out gunfight, featuring one of Liam Neeson’s most gripping action sequences to date. The conclusion features a revolving door of gunshots that ring out, killing hordes of thugs, leading to the police finally taking down the drug traffickers.
Matthew Scudder’s Novelized Legacy
The film was written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Scott Frank, best known for screenwriting the hit 2017 film Logan, starring Hugh Jackman. Frank later went on to create, write, and direct the Netflix mini-series The Queens Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy.
A Walk Among The Tombstones stars Liam Neeson alongside a number of big-name actors such as Downton Abbey‘s Dan Stevens, The Predator‘s Boyd Holbrook, and Stranger Things‘ David Harbour. The film is based on a 1992 novel of the same name written by American crime writer Lawrence Block and serves as the second time the character of Matt Scudder has been brought to the big screen, according to IMDb.
Before the character appeared in A Walk Among The Tombstones, Matt Scudder was portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the 1986 film 8 Million Ways To Die. Block has penned 20 novels in the long-running series, the most recent of which was released in 2023. The events of A Walk Among The Tombstones adapt the tenth book in the long-running series as a standalone adventure.
Though A Walk Among The Tombstones did very well at the box office, the film received mixed reviews from critics.
The Liam Neeson-led movie made over $62 million at the worldwide box office against an estimated production budget of only $28 million, opening at number two at the box office behind The Maze Runner. The film holds a solid 68 percent score on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, though the audience score clocks in at only 53 percent.
To this day, A Walk Among The Tombstones remains one of Liam Neeson’s most underrated movies, which fans of the Northern Irish actor would surely be elated to check out. Though modern film fans have largely forgotten the over decade-old movie, it holds some of the best action sequences in Liam Neeson’s long and storied career while still giving the actor room to perform as a deep and nuanced character.
