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- <!-- TITLE The Exercise of Vital Powers -->
-
- <h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
-
- <blockquote><cite>
- Garibaldi arrives on Mars and meets William Edgars. Lyta helps Franklin
- in an attempt to make contact with the frozen telepaths.
- </cite>
-
- <a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Gentile,+Denise">Denise Gentile</a> as Lise.
- <a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Schneider,+Mark">Mark Schneider</a> as Wade.
- <a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Zimbalist+Jr.,+Efrem">Efrem Zimbalist Jr.</a> as William Edgars.
- </blockquote>
-
- <pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/082">8.62</a>
-
- Production number: 416
- Original air week: June 2, 1997
- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DGBEY/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: January 6, 2004
-
- Written by J. Michael Straczynski
- Directed by John LaFia
- </pre>
-
- <p>
- <hr size=3>
-
- <h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>
- <ul>
-
- <li>@@@865323625 Sheridan's forces have liberated the colony at Beta
- Durani, as well as a midrange military outpost.
-
- <li>@@@865323625 Lyta is able to awaken the implanted telepaths
- (<a href="058.html">"Ship of Tears."</a>)
- 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.
-
- <li>@@@865621220 Garibaldi is still in love with Lise.
-
- <li>@@@865621220 Edgars runs the fourth-largest corporation
- on Earth. His company is involved in chemical and biological
- weapons manufacturing as well as pharmaceutical production.
-
- <li>@@@865545104 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.
-
- <li>@@@865621220 Clark's forces still haven't located Sheridan's father.
-
- <li>@@@865323625 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.
-
- </ul>
-
- <h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
- <ul>
-
- <li>@@@865323625 What does Sheridan plan to do with the telepaths?
-
- <li>@@@865364116 Will Psi Corps come looking for the murdered telepath?
-
- </ul>
-
- <h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
- <ul>
-
- <li>@@@865621220 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?
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865968765 Garibaldi said Mars had tried to kill him before. One
- of those occasions was his trek across the surface with Sinclair
- (<a href="004.html">"Infection"</a>
- and issues 4-8 of the
- <a href="/lurk/comic/">comic series.</a>)
- What were the other two?
-
- <p>
- The incident that killed Frank Kemmer
- (<a href="011.html">"Survivors"</a>)
- has been suggested, but Garibaldi said that took place on Europa,
- not Mars.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865797858 He also said he'd sworn never to come back to Mars. But
- in
- <a href="019.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness part 2,"</a>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865622080 In
- <a href="080.html">"Moments of Transition,"</a>
- 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
- <a href="078.html">"Conflicts of Interest"</a>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- Garibaldi was a logical choice because the Corps knew of his connection
- to Lise; in
- <a href="018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness,"</a>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865706778 Edgars appeared to accept Garibaldi's answer that he
- didn't remember what happened to him while he was missing
- (<a href="068.html">"Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?"</a>)
- 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."
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@866938139 During his questioning, Garibaldi told Edgars, "Everyone
- lies." In
- <a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars,"</a>
- 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."
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@866938139 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
- <a href="078.html">"Conflicts of Interest."</a>
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865728347 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?
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865364116 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
- <a href="078.html">"Conflicts of Interest,"</a>
- and the drug Edgars' people were withholding was most likely derived
- from the substance Garibaldi helped smuggle through the station.
-
- <p>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865706271 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.
-
- <p>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865969018 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
- <a href="070.html">"Falling Toward Apotheosis?"</a>
- Or does he know about something else?
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865364116 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.
-
- <p>
- 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
- <a href="058.html">"Ship of Tears"</a>)
- so presumably have no love for the Corps, but that doesn't necessarily
- mean they'll be willing to act on Sheridan's behalf.
-
- <p>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865787203 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865364116 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?
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@866938418 The awakened telepath didn't react reflexively to Lyta's
- Psi Corps badge the way Carolyn did in
- <a href="058.html">"Ship of Tears."</a>
- 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865622552 Lyta's indignant response to Zack's request was likely
- brought on by his previous request that he scan Garibaldi
- (<a href="080.html">"Moments of Transition."</a>)
- That request may have led her to automatically assume the worst when
- Zack asked for her services.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865622456 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.
-
- </ul>
-
- <h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
- <ul>
-
- <li>@@@854134623 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."
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865970223 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.
-
- <p>
- A more recent use of the same term was to describe Hitler's
- <a href="http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm">purge</a>
- of the rival SA faction of the Nazi Party in 1934.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865442107 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.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865621220 Both Edgars and Sheridan love fresh orange juice
- (<a href="025.html">"The Geometry of Shadows."</a>)
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@884248227 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.
-
- </ul>
-
- <h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
- <ul>
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865498639 It's a very different feel...leisurely, in a way, but no
- less tense. A good addition to the mix.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865969998 One thing on the line Wade speaks...the actor consistently
- got the line wrong. It read, "Everything is illusion, Mr. Garibaldi;
- <em>constructs</em> of light, language, metaphor," rather than concepts.
-
- <p>
- There is a subtle but distinct difference.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@865498639 Garibaldi's said he doesn't trust telepaths ever
- since the pilot movie. It's a question of degrees at this point.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@875077421 <em>What book was Edgars reading when Garibaldi walked
- in?</em><br>
- The Bible.
-
- <p>
- <li>@@@866152425 <em>Were the scars on the sick telepaths from the removal
- of implants?</em><br>
- No, just standard lesions.
-
- <p>
- Remember, a man as smart and rich as Edgars can surely afford
- private lesions for his "kids."
-
- </ul>
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