Entertainment
Babylon 5 Stars Favorite Episode Is A Nearly Perfect Hour Of Sci-Fi
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Babylon 5 was intricately plotted out from the very beginning which is made clear in the eighth episode of Season 1, “And The Sky Full Of Stars,” which not only calls back to the pilot episode, “The Gathering,” but lays the groundwork for a grand conspiracy. It was one of many episodes written by creator J. Michael Straczynski, and has become a fan favorite thanks to the performance of both Michael O’Hare as a captured and tortured Sinclair, and Christopher Neame as the sadistic interrogator Knight Two. It also gets to the heart of an early series mystery, what did happen at the Battle of the Line to end the Earth-Minbari War?
The Earth-Minbari War
There’s no secret that Earth was going to lose against the Minbari. Humanity’s technology was no match for the Minbari ships, and yet, the Minbari surrendered to Earth. As mentioned in “The Gathering” by one of the Minbari, Sinclair has a “hole in his mind” and can’t recall one day during The Battle of the Line. That’s what the unnamed Knight One (Judson Scott) and Knight Two (Neame) have arrived at the station to find out. They have the theory that Sinclair has been compromised and is a Minbari Sleeper Agent.
By abducting Sinclair and putting him in an elaborate digital reconstruction of Babylon 5, Knight Two wants to torture the information out of the Commander. Using pain and psychological warfare by walking Sinclair through his military career, up to the day so many of his comrades died, Knight Two relentlessly digs at the truth (and chews the scenery with a purposely hammy performance), when Sinclair gives in, dives into his missing memory, and recalls his time on a Minbari ship where he met the Minbari Grey Council. And Delenn was there.
Michael O’Hare’s Favorite Episode
“And The Sky Full Of Stars” was one of O’Hare’s favorite episodes, and for good reason. He had brothers who served in the military, and wanted to respect the real danger that comes from serving your country. The incredible moment where he’s turning and seeing his comrades killed, over and over with each turn, was a bit of stage direction suggested by O’Hare himself.
The wham moment of the episode though, which reveals Delenn (Mira Furlan) being there while Sinclair was a Minbari prisoner, would go on to impact the rest of Babylon 5. Up to this point, Delenn had been the most reasonable of the ambassadors, a representative for the Minbari Religious Caste, and at no time gave a hint that she was directly involved with the Grey Council. With one lift of a hood, everything fans thought they had figured out regarding Human/Minbari relations went right out the window.
Originally, Walter Koenig was supposed to take on the role of Knight Two, but his health prevented him from being available for filming, resulting in the character of Bester being created for him. Patrick McGoohan, creator and star of the legendary sci-fi series The Prisoner was the second choice, but he was also unavailable. It all worked out, as Christopher Neame’s performance was so good, it’s still praised by fans to this day.
Babylon 5 eventually revealed the entire mystery behind the Grey Council and the Minbari, along with Sinclair’s ultimate destiny, but it took awhile to get there. Since there was always a story in place, unlike other sci-fi shows that claimed to have a plan when none existed, “And The Sky Full Of Stars” is able to pay off what came before, set up what comes later, and in retrospect, stand out for laying all the pieces in front of the audience before they even knew the puzzle existed.