The Good: "Born To The Purple" is real good
The Bad: "Infection" is unspeakably bad
The Basics: One good episode of Babylon 5 and one true lemon - one of the few for the series - combine to make an unsatisfying video release.
One of my favorite television series's is Babylon 5 and for a while before the advent of DVD, Warner released episodes on VHS with two episodes per tape. They are collector's items now! Given the expense of the series on DVD (though it is worth it!), finding the old videos for a song may be a great, inexpensive way to get into the show before committing to the whole set (the entire series set is reviewed here!). The problem, of course, with reviewing the two-episode tapes is made perfectly evident with the video for "Born To The Purple" and "Infection;" the former is a good, solid episode, the latter is easily one of the worst five episodes of the series.
For those unfamiliar with Babylon 5, the first season takes place in the mid 23rd century on space station Babylon 5. It is essentially a U.N. Building in space in neutral territory, charged with helping bring peace to the troubled galaxy by inspiring communication between the five major races (and a host of lesser ones).
"Born To The Purple" is a solid story about Londo Mollari. When he falls in love with an exotic dancer, Adira Tyree, the Centauri Ambassador becomes vulnerable. As a slave, Adira is beholden to her owner, who wants Londo's secret blackmail files on the Centauri royalty. In the wrong hands, the information Londo possesses could embarrass or crush the government and when Adira is forced to steal them, Commander Sinclair sees an opportunity to un-stall some negotiations between the Centauri and the Narn.
"Infection" is a pretty pathetic episode wherein an old friend of Dr. Franklin's arrives at the station from an Interplanetary Expeditions mission. He comes bearing an ancient organic technology that is newly unearthed from a distant world and that technology soon releases itself upon an archaeological assistant who is turned into pretty much the ultimate killing machine. Sinclair and Garibaldi track the supersoldier through the station as its weaponry becomes more powerful and threatens to destroy everything.
There are a number of comparisons made between Star Trek (especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Babylon 5. Usually, those comparisons are a stretch and are based on weak logic, threads that do not hold up under careful scrutiny. In the case of "Infection," though, the episode bears a striking resemblance - especially in its resolution - to the terrible Star Trek episode "The Changeling" (reviewed here!). Indeed, the final gambit devised by Dr. Franklin and Sinclair is almost identical to the one developed by Kirk and Spock in the classic Star Trek episode. And in getting there, there is a sudden influx of information that seems to be derived from a real stretch of scientific logic.
As Babylon 5 was just starting out, the terrible special effects are almost forgivable in "Infection." But the special effects are pretty bad, making them often look like they were created in the '60's as opposed to the '90's. Worse than that, the lighting in many of the scenes is awful, giving the series a darker and grainier look than it ought to have had. "Infection" is an all-around bad episode and in large part it is because it is so plot driven.
"Infection" involves almost no character development. Dr. Franklin is supposedly tempted by his former mentor's offer to join him in exploring the galaxy, but it never clicks, it never seems genuine. Add to that, the giant killing machine running around the station simply takes over the complete attention of the entire crew. The episode degenerates into a series of attacks that are not smart, nor impressive, nor even particularly consequential. The plot becomes a big, noisy distraction for an hour.
Babylon 5 usually succeeds because it is heavily serialized; it is telling one long story over the course of its five year arc. "Infection" is one of the rare bottle episodes that does not advance any of the plot, nor the characters. All it does is set up the thread that Interplanetary Expeditions is somewhat corrupt and willing to bend the rules of scientific ethics and station import procedures to turn a profit.
The only redeeming factor of "Infection" (it would be one star in my ten point system) is that its actors are decent. David McCallum guest stars as Franklin's associate and while he is not stretched as an actor in the role, he performs the part adequately. Similarly, Richard Biggs is given a lot of technobabble which he works his way around with competence and grace throughout the episode, even if he does not significantly grow his character. And Michael O'Hare is given the chance to play action hero - a role he is not given often on his brief tenure on the series.
But O'Hare does perform magnificently in "Born To The Purple." Sinclair's role is primarily to be an administrator and in "Born To The Purple," he finds himself at an inevitable and unfortunate impasse in negotiating between the Narn and the Centauri. This gives O'Hare the opportunity to infuse some genuine leadership and negotiation qualities into his character. He does it quite successfully, while also infusing a wry wit that will please a lot of the viewers; he has a great ability to emote with his eyes. In "Born To The Purple," he does that admirably.
It is, primarily, Londo's episode, though and actor Peter Jurasik does a pretty magnificent job. Until now in the series, Londo has been full of bluster or overcome by feelings of worthlessness as his assignment is largely treated as a joke to those back home. In this episode, Londo experiences love and Jurasik transforms the character with a wonderful portrayal of pure joy. Jurasik infuses energy and zest into his performance to enhance the character while still playing the reticence needed to not make the character suddenly seem like a parody of himself.
But "Born To The Purple" has several of the elements of what Babylon 5 does best. Namely, the story is character-driven and it illustrates well the actions the characters take having consequences. The chain of consequences for Londo and Adira resonate because it is largely their prior decisions that put them into the predicament they find themselves in. For fans of the series, the resolution to the episode has consequences that reverberate into the fourth season. It's a small episode, but thematically, it embodies much of the best of what Babylon 5 tries to present over its run.
As important, "Born To The Purple" establishes Londo as a vital character. Adira is an interesting character and for a guest character to be given a huge role and the main decision of the episode is very generous for the writers and producers (it's one of the few episodes not written by J. Michael Straczynski!). But Adira's choice between love and the life she is enslaved in makes for a compelling character conflict that works well for her. The viewer empathizes with her struggle as she is forced by her owner to betray a man she loves.
And because the episode is character-driven, it feels much more like it is resolved by the wits and skills of the show's protagonists rather than by random chance. That makes for great television. Fans of political drama - in addition to those who like science fiction - are liable to enjoy "Born To The Purple" quite a bit. Sadly, I'm not entirely sure who would enjoy "Infection" as it represents hard science fiction and seriously overdone science fiction at that.
[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Babylon 5 - The Complete First Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the debut season by clicking here!
Thanks!]
"Born To The Purple" – 7/10
"Infection" – 1/10
VHS – 3.5/10
For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the t.v. episodes, DVD sets and series’ that I have reviewed!
© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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