User Reviews

Well, considering that this episode features Walter Koenig as the recurring character, "Bester", I am being a bit charitable and giving the episode an 8--he's THAT good a supporting character! Bester is an evil and slimy Psi Cop who loves his job of enforcing loyalty to the Corps. In this episode, he's investigating rumors that runaway telepaths are being routed to safety through Babylon 5 and he's here to find the security leak and punish those responsible.

It's not a bad episode, though how Talia becomes involved in the movement is a bit hard to swallow based on where her character eventually goes in the series. Her actions in this episode just seem too inconsistent to who she really is. Otherwise, though, it is an interesting look at a group of people running from the evil clutches of the Corps.

This is a powerful episode in sci-fi or psy-fi, pun intended. A few years prior, we were given Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. Peace among blood enemies. The end of military establishment. All that money and power no longer needed, but it messed with the die hard power hungry military establishment. Now change the story a bit an make it about the true last frontier, the true last safe place. The mind. Forget AI, forget physical weapons, forget pathogens and chemical war. The manipulation of the mind is by far the worst tool or weapon. It makes nuclear bombs look like tinker toys. No secrets left. The ability to make people believe they are living like kings yet keep them in a state they have been vehemently against their whole lives. This episode with the Walter Koenig as Bester, a high level and high ranking Psy Corp. Psy Cop is trying to kill off anyone with psychic abilities not falling in line with the ruling powers corrupt and imprisoning laws. It's fun watching Koenig playing a power mad, sleazy, corrupt, just outright evil human scum, a complete opposite of his character in Star Trek. The best part of this episode is for the pure sci-fi nerds. It gives us the truly underrated character actor from Switzerland, Gianin Loffler, as the Lurker. This is his 2nd and last time this character is shown, yet he could have been a much longer story arc. As such, right before this episode was released, the Stargate movie came out. Gianin played Nabeh, a mentally retarded, but well meaning sidekick to the rebellion leader's son, who is killed trying to fight for his people. In this episode, he is a mental giant fighting as a leader in an underground rebellion against the corrupt Bester. It's really something hearing Gianin speaking intelligent dialog right after he played a character barely capable of normal speech.

Enough about Star Trek Koenig fighting against Stargate Lofflet.

This whole episode shows the horror of what could be if people could really get into other people's heads. It's cool how it shows how a simple children's song can be used to block your thoughts from these attacks. Then the twist in the end to defeat Bester. You may or may not see it coming, but it shows how the rebellion stands together to defeat the corrupt powers in charge without physically defeating the corruption. This episode is as fresh today in 2024 as it was when in aired in January 1995. It shows the blatant corruption of world government and medias. It shows the smoke and mirrors used to manipulate, to brainwash, to condition, to indoctrinate the sheeples minds. Why wasn't this story line wasn't pursued more? Maybe because there were so many more story lines that were just as gritty, with just as blurred lines of trust, blurred lines of alliances, blurred lines of cowards and heroes. This is why hardcore conditioned fandom in Star Trek made the 1990s a hard sell for shows like this. TNG and DS9 followed the same tired black and white good guy alliances. Sure, there were always new aliens introduced in those shows, but you always knew who was bad and who was good at the end of the episode. I wish this show had lasted longer. It was episodes like this that made even the best TNG and DS9 story lines fall flat in comparison. And it didn't need all the money thrown at it like there was in TNG and DS9. And this one story line blended well with all the other twisted story lines in Babylon 5. Babylon, such a wonderful name reminiscent of the empire that was just as corrupt and twisted.