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   _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
   - [13]Notes - [14]JMS
   
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Overview

     Garibaldi arrives on Mars and meets William Edgars. Lyta helps
     Franklin in an attempt to make contact with the frozen telepaths.
     [15]Denise Gentile as Lise. [16]Mark Schneider as Wade. [17]Efrem
     Zimbalist Jr. as William Edgars.
     
[18]P5 Rating: [19]8.62

Production number: 416
Original air week: June 2, 1997

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by John LaFia

     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Plot Points

     * Sheridan's forces have liberated the colony at Beta Durani, as
       well as a midrange military outpost.
     * Lyta is able to awaken the implanted telepaths ([20]"Ship of
       Tears.") After observing the effect of her mental contact with
       them, Franklin has devised an artificial equivalent and feels he's
       well on his way to reviving them.
     * Garibaldi is still in love with Lise.
     * Edgars runs the fourth-largest corporation on Earth. His company
       is involved in chemical and biological weapons manufacturing as
       well as pharmaceutical production.
     * Edgars says President Clark has become increasingly paranoid since
       taking office. Learning of the Shadows' interest in Psi Corps,
       Clark developed an interest as well. As his paranoia increased, he
       started giving the Corps more and more power, since telepaths were
       able to tell him absolutely whether the people around him were
       loyal. The Corps, of course, isn't eager to give up its newfound
       clout, and Edgars and others fear that if Sheridan takes his
       battle to Earth, Clark may panic and give the Corps unprecedented
       control over society, a development that wouldn't be easy to
       reverse. He therefore wants Sheridan's campaign stopped for
       Earth's own good.
     * Clark's forces still haven't located Sheridan's father.
     * According to Edgars, the real power in Earthdome has never been in
       the hands of the politicians; the mega-corporations have always
       called the shots. They let Clark declare martial law, but didn't
       foresee the Psi Corps connection until it was too late.
       
Unanswered Questions

     * What does Sheridan plan to do with the telepaths?
     * Will Psi Corps come looking for the murdered telepath?
       
Analysis

     * Lise tried to warn Garibaldi off. Why? How much does she know
       about what her husband is planning? How far will she go to protect
       Garibaldi?
     * Garibaldi said Mars had tried to kill him before. One of those
       occasions was his trek across the surface with Sinclair
       ([21]"Infection" and issues 4-8 of the [22]comic series.) What
       were the other two?
       The incident that killed Frank Kemmer ([23]"Survivors") has been
       suggested, but Garibaldi said that took place on Europa, not Mars.
     * He also said he'd sworn never to come back to Mars. But in [24]"A
       Voice in the Wilderness part 2," he told Lise he had some leave
       coming up and was thinking of taking it on Mars. Maybe he only
       considered that after he realized Lise was in danger during the
       uprising.
     * In [25]"Moments of Transition," Bester claimed in his log entry
       that Garibaldi was inching closer to where Bester needed him to
       be. It's plausible that Bester has been priming Garibaldi to join
       up with Edgars. The Corps seems to be aware of the telepathic
       virus (the assassins in [26]"Conflicts of Interest" were likely
       Corps operatives) and is thus probably aware that Edgars has some
       interest in it. Given the presence of the virus, they wouldn't be
       able to use a telepath as an undercover agent. Setting up a
       non-telepath to be their spy and/or saboteur in Edgars'
       organization would be the Corps' only recourse, and they'd have to
       do it with subconscious programming since Edgars isn't above using
       telepaths to test potential employees' loyalties.
       Garibaldi was a logical choice because the Corps knew of his
       connection to Lise; in [27]"A Voice in the Wilderness," Garibaldi
       asked Talia to look into Lise's condition by going through Corps
       channels. It wouldn't be much of a leap for the Corps to assume
       that Lise would therefore recommend Garibaldi to her husband,
       making Garibaldi the best possible candidate for the job of
       unwitting spy.
     * Edgars appeared to accept Garibaldi's answer that he didn't
       remember what happened to him while he was missing ([28]"Whatever
       Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?") Given how paranoid Edgars is in other
       respects, will that really be the end of the matter? Does Edgars
       know more than Garibaldi does about what happened? Perhaps Edgars'
       seeming trust of Garibaldi is really an application of the old
       adage, "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."
     * During his questioning, Garibaldi told Edgars, "Everyone lies." In
       [29]"And the Sky Full of Stars," Sinclair said the same thing to
       Garibaldi, and elaborated: "The innocent lie because they don't
       want to be blamed for something they didn't do, and the guilty lie
       because they don't have any other choice."
     * Garibaldi stood in front of a mirror during his questioning,
       staring at his own reflection. But the mirror was warped,
       distorting his image. Garibaldi studied the image as he spoke;
       perhaps he viewed it a metaphor. Garibaldi also studied his
       reflection in [30]"Conflicts of Interest."
     * The telepath indicated that Garibaldi was telling the truth when
       he claimed not to remember what happened during his absence. Yet
       Garibaldi has had flashes of memory, so that answer wasn't
       entirely honest. Was the telepath lying herself, perhaps to
       protect the interests of the Corps, or did Garibaldi simply
       believe he was telling the truth, in that he can't recall more
       than brief cryptic flashes?
     * The people in Edgars' laboratory are presumably telepaths. If
       that's true, their condition is probably related to the telepathic
       disease Garibaldi learned about in [31]"Conflicts of Interest,"
       and the drug Edgars' people were withholding was most likely
       derived from the substance Garibaldi helped smuggle through the
       station.
       It's worth noting, however, that the placement of the sores on the
       patient's face were very similar to the insertion points of the
       Shadow implants in the telepaths on the station. Perhaps Edgars
       managed to get his hands on some implanted telepaths and is
       performing his own experiments on them.
     * It's also possible the substance Garibaldi saw wasn't a cure for
       the virus, though that was implied by Edgars here in that there
       was clearly some drug that can be given to ease whatever illness
       his test subjects were suffering from. If instead Edgars is
       developing the virus itself with the intent of releasing it and
       wiping out all human telepaths, spreading rumors before its
       release about a genetic flaw inherent in telepaths might help
       deflect suspicion later.
       Or, to take it further, Edgars may be producing both the virus and
       the cure, with the intent of infecting Earth's telepaths then
       using availability of the cure -- which apparently requires
       continuous usage -- to gain control over the Corps himself.
     * Franklin said Sheridan hadn't changed since returning from
       Z'ha'dum, "except for..." He stopped himself before completing
       that sentence. Was this just a reference to Lorien's
       life-restoration energies, which Franklin noted in [32]"Falling
       Toward Apotheosis?" Or does he know about something else?
     * Assuming Sheridan asked Franklin to bring the newly awakened
       telepaths with him to Mars, it's likely he's anticipating some
       kind of conflict with the Psi Corps when he moves to liberate it.
       Given Franklin's reaction, it's unlikely Sheridan proposed
       anything as innocuous as using the telepaths to help shield
       members of the Mars resistance from detection.
       It's also not clear where the frozen telepaths' loyalties will lie
       even if Franklin manages to extract their implants and give them
       back control of their own minds. They're all fugitive telepaths
       ("blips," as Bester called them in [33]"Ship of Tears") so
       presumably have no love for the Corps, but that doesn't
       necessarily mean they'll be willing to act on Sheridan's behalf.
       Of course, that assumes Sheridan wants Franklin to give them back
       mastery of their own thoughts; perhaps his order was instead for
       Franklin to find a way to use the implants to take control of the
       telepaths.
     * Given the frozen telepaths' effect on computer systems, one
       possible use would be to smuggle them onto Mars and wake them up
       near some of Earth Force's communication network; they'd
       presumably throw it into disarray and allow Sheridan's forces to
       move in on a disorganized enemy.
     * Lyta's expanded powers were in evidence again. The psi rating of
       the telepath in Medlab was never mentioned, but Lyta was
       telepathically strong enough to force him to stop in his tracks as
       he tried to kill himself. If she can do that to a fellow telepath,
       who presumably would have instinctively tried to block her, can
       she do the same -- or worse -- to a normal human?
     * The awakened telepath didn't react reflexively to Lyta's Psi Corps
       badge the way Carolyn did in [34]"Ship of Tears." Why not? He
       wasn't merged with any machinery as Carolyn was, so he couldn't
       have thrown lightning bolts. But he didn't appear to react at all.
       Perhaps the Shadows' anti-Corps conditioning wasn't universally
       applied.
     * Lyta's indignant response to Zack's request was likely brought on
       by his previous request that he scan Garibaldi ([35]"Moments of
       Transition.") That request may have led her to automatically
       assume the worst when Zack asked for her services.
     * Edgars and Clark may believe that Clark is using the Psi Corps,
       but it's just as plausible that by now, they're using him. The
       Corps could feed misinformation to Clark in order to bolster its
       own standing, and since, as Edgars said, Clark is trusting the
       Corps to ferret out liars and turncoats, he'd be unable to tell
       that they were leading him on.
       
Notes

     * The title is a reference to Aristotle's definition of happiness:
       "The exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life
       affording them scope."
     * Edgars alluded to "Clark's 'Night of the Long Knives.'" That's a
       reference to Roman history, when, in the year 31 AD, the emperor
       Tiberius had his aide Sejanus and his followers killed in a purge.
       A more recent use of the same term was to describe Hitler's
       [36]purge of the rival SA faction of the Nazi Party in 1934.
     * The title as shown at the top of act one is missing the leading
       "The." But the "The" was present in the pre-show information
       screen on the initial US satellite feed, and it's present in the
       episode listings sent out by Warner Bros., so it's included here.
     * Both Edgars and Sheridan love fresh orange juice ([37]"The
       Geometry of Shadows.")
     * Continuity glitch: When Lise and Garibaldi are talking in his
       room, after she brings him dinner, she starts to leave, but stays
       and closes the door most of the way. After she's done talking,
       Garibaldi moves across the room to her and shuts the wide-open
       door.
       
jms speaks

     * It's a very different feel...leisurely, in a way, but no less
       tense. A good addition to the mix.
     * One thing on the line Wade speaks...the actor consistently got the
       line wrong. It read, "Everything is illusion, Mr. Garibaldi;
       _constructs_ of light, language, metaphor," rather than concepts.
       There is a subtle but distinct difference.
     * Garibaldi's said he doesn't trust telepaths ever since the pilot
       movie. It's a question of degrees at this point.
     * _What book was Edgars reading when Garibaldi walked in?_
       The Bible.
     * _Were the scars on the sick telepaths from the removal of
       implants?_
       No, just standard lesions.
       Remember, a man as smart and rich as Edgars can surely afford
       private lesions for his "kids."
       

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      [44]Last update: January 8, 1998

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