Babylon 5 Season 3 Premiere (Episode 1). Written by J. Michael Straczynski, directed by Kevin Cremin. Originally aired on November 6, 1995.

Primary Plot: A representative from Earth, David Endawi, arrives to investigate the strange ship (Shadow vessel) captured on film at the end of last season.

Secondary Plot: Londo attempts to sever his ties to Morden.

Tertiary Plot: Sheridan is introduced to the White Star, a new class of ship constructed by the Rangers.

Commentary: The season openers on B5 were always a little weak, but this is probably the best of the five. Endawi comes across as a fairly reasonable and open-minded guy, serving as a counterpoint to all the slimeballs EarthGov had sent to the station lately. I guess JMS wanted to get the point across that not everyone in the government is part of this new order--but that it is getting increasingly difficult to find people high up in the pecking order who aren't.

Ed Wasser, as always, does a great job of playing Morden here. You can just FEEL the slyness eminating from him when he "carves up the universe" with Londo, like he just knows that there's no way in hell this is going to be the last time Londo has to deal with him. And, of course, he's quite correct. It's also neat to see Morden on Earth at the end of the episode; just another level of intrigue added to the question of just how many pots he has his hand in.

Jason Carter joins the regular cast in this episode playing Marcus Cole, a human Ranger.


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