Overview

An addictive drug with telepathic effects is found on the station, prompting a visit by Bester. G'Kar reaches a turning point. Walter Koenig as Bester.

P5 Rating: 8.62

Production number: 306
Original air week: February 5, 1996
DVD release date: August 12, 2003

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by David Eagle

Backplot

• Londo's original assignment to Babylon 5 was at the direct request of Emperor Turhan, who chose him after everyone else turned the position down.
• Dust, an addictive drug, allows non-telepaths of several races to probe the minds of others, experiencing all the victim's memories and thoughts in the space of a few minutes. Unfortunately, this leaves the victims unconscious, and telepathic victims never recover. The more often Dust is taken, the more is required to achieve the effect the next time. Dust was originally developed, and is apparently still being produced, by Psi Corps in an attempt to induce permanent telepathy in normal humans; the experiment has been a failure so far.
• The Narn used to have telepaths, long ago, but they and their families were exterminated. The genes for telepathy were too weak in the survivors to allow the Narn to breed natural telepaths, but their abilities can still be unlocked, briefly, by Dust.

Unanswered Questions

• How much does G'Kar know about Londo's association with the Shadows? Did Kosh stop him before he was able to discover everything?
• Why did Kosh stop G'Kar? (See Analysis)
• @@@833220507 How did Kosh know what was happening?
• Was Bester telling the truth about the Psi Corps combatting secret threats to the human race, things ordinary people never hear about? If so, what are those threats?
• What happened to the Narn telepaths? (See Analysis)
• Will the Dust have a permanent effect on G'Kar, such as giving him some measure of telepathic ability?
• What did the Corps learn from Talia? Was she actually dissected, or was Bester just baiting Garibaldi? Did they find out about Ironheart's gift ("Mind War?")

Analysis

• What is the rest of the Psi Corps' business on Babylon 5? Perhaps it involves Lyta Alexander; her presence is probably common knowledge by now.
• The extermination of Narn telepaths may be connected to the Shadow occupation of the Narn homeworld in the last war. See "Voices of Authority." Or perhaps the Centauri were responsible, during their previous occupation. It's also possible, though perhaps less likely, that the Narn killed all their own telepaths.
• G'Kar asks Londo if being helpless helps him understand the plight of the Narn. But the reverse effect may have taken place as well; G'Kar has experienced at least some of the past several years from Londo's point of view now, and thus presumably understands why Londo did what he did. Whether that understanding can lead to forgiveness, though, is another question.
• Kosh's intrusion into G'Kar's probe of Londo can certainly be viewed as manipulation, especially given the use of the image of G'Lan. What Kosh is trying to achieve by appearing to G'Kar, and why he's willing to interfere with the Narn and Centauri now when he expressed no interest in them before ("Midnight On the Firing Line") isn't clear.
• In addition to the mention of the Narn and Centauri being alone and dying, reminiscent of "Midnight On the Firing Line," Kosh also tells G'Kar, "I have always been here." This echoes Kosh's statement in Sheridan's dream in "All Alone In the Night." It's still not entirely clear what he means, however. Could it have something to do with the "path" revealed to Ivanova in "Voices of Authority?"
• Kosh may have stopped G'Kar to prevent him from learning too much about the Shadows, on the assumption that G'Kar would likely speak out about them in public. Since the forces of light are still gathering, that'd be something Kosh would want to prevent. It's also likely that Kosh was maneuvering G'Kar to be of greater use in the future, perhaps testing his ability to influence G'Kar's behavior through the use of religious visions.
• Probably just a coincidence: Kosh ends G'Kar's quest for Shadow information in Londo's mind by saying, "It is enough." That's exactly what Londo said to Endawi (Matters of Honor") after recalling his dream of the Shadow ships flying overhead on Centauri Prime.
• Did G'Kar overdose on Dust? It is possible that he was about to die, given the intensity of all the images he was seeing - the drug hasn't been tested on Narn. And that would be consistant with Kosh's previous appearances, when Sheridan was in danger of dying ("All Alone in the Night" and "The Fall of Night.") Is Kosh's direct manipulation restricted only to near-death appearances?
• Who are the characters in G'Kar's vision? The man on the tree is his father (which G'Kar mentions, and which fits with his recounting in "And Now For a Word.") It's not clear who the second person is, the old man. G'Quon, perhaps? The third person we know as G'Lan, from G'Kar's exclamation in "The Fall of Night."
• @@@868381277 Kosh dodged the Vorlon question when G'Kar put it to him; in response to being asked, "Who are you?" the vision replied, "I am who I have always been," a self-referential answer that conveys reflection rather than information.
• Kosh's statement about sacrifice can be interpreted to cover the entire Narn race; he may be saying that the Narn (and perhaps the Centauri, given his earlier statement about the two races) must die so that the rest can live. If that interpretation is correct, Kosh is preparing G'Kar to accept the death of his people as inevitable. Will G'Kar continue to fight for the Narn?
• Vir's position on Minbar was a joke to Londo (strictly a means of getting him out of his hair) just as Londo's position was originally viewed. Could Vir parallel Londo's ascension to power, potentially rising to great importance in the coming war? Given his newfound affinity for the Minbari, and his distaste for Londo's politics (and especially Morden,) he could be a great ally of the Army of Light. On the other hand, Londo did get Vir the position in the first place, and at the time he told Delenn that it was to get Vir out of danger.
• Franklin continues to be on edge; could this be a consequence of his stim habit? ("A Day in the Strife")

Notes

• Dust has been mentioned before; for example, in "Hunter, Prey," Max, the kidnapper, asks Dr. Jacobs if he's a dust smuggler.
• @@@877023485 A possible inconsistency: Bester said the Corps had been working on Dust for five years. But in "Survivors," Garibaldi recalled a Dust problem on Mars 17 years ago. Perhaps the Corps took over production of an existing drug, or perhaps the Corps worked on Dust for five years sometime in the past.
• The Dust vendor's two aliases, Lindstrom and Morgenstern, are the surnames of two characters from the comedy series "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
• Morgenstern means "morning star," one of the names used to refer to Lucifer in Judeo-Christian texts.

jms speaks

• Walter [Koenig]'s first appearance this season will be in "Dust to Dust," #306.

• An interesting thought...as for Bester's personality, keep an eye out for "Dust to Dust," episode #6, where you see Bester from a different and very interesting angle. Some of what you say here, he says. (Not about the corps, but about doing what's right as he sees it.)

  'Course, whether or not one should *believe* anything he says is another question altogether.

• Re: Kosh...we'll see him again outside his suit in "Dust to Dust," but in a somewhat unconventional fashion....

• The end credit music changed!
  Yes, we did change that. Because we -- I -- forgot to have Christopher re-score it when we were re-doing the main title.

• @@@865181914 Why didn't we do the music change in the end credits at the very start of the season, you ask? Why, what a silly question, it was all planned, all intentional, it means...er...it means....

  It means we *forgot*. More correctly, *I* forgot. We were all so busy getting the new main titles done, we just kinda forgot about it until the first mix...and then we sorta looked around and said, "....oops."

• "Dust To Dust" - Looks like a non-arc episode initially, but by the end it has a strong effect on the overall storyline, and makes some permanent changes in one of our characters. Combines Bester, the telepathic-assault drug Dust, weapons dealers, and brings to a head a major part of the G'Kar/Londo thread.

• "Dust to Dust" is what I call one of my "pretty box" episodes. I set down the pretty box in front of you, and you think you know what it is. Then something else entirely jumps out of it at your face. There's more coming here and there. I like pretty boxes....

• It's about time we had some heavy arc episodes!
  I get this at the start of every season. Let me repeat what I've said, oh, about two dozen times already before.

  At the start of every season, we have new people sampling the show. Do you want the show to continue? If you do, then you have to continue to add new viewers. If viewers tune in and they're lost in the overall arc, they're going to tune out again. So you give them some stand-alone episodes in the beginning, shows that are a little more accessible, but introduce them to the characters, the situations and the universe so that when the arc begins to move again, they know enough to get into what's going on.

  Sure, I could've just kept going right with the strong arc episodes. Which the new viewers, 90% of whom sample shows in the first few weeks of a new season and not thereafter, wouldn't have been able to follow well. And they would've tuned out. And it would've been a very big nail in the cancellation coffin. You can bring in new viewers, or you can get canceled and never tell the whole story. Pick one.

  Second, you cannot -- CANNOT -- sustain the kind of intensity you have in the final four over the course of a season. You need to have some lighter moments as contrast or people are going to start sticking their heads in ovens all across the country. So at the start of a season, I try to do some lighter stuff, to bring people back up a little, bracing for the next drop in the roller coaster. You need peaks and valleys to develop any kind of rhythm, or to appreciate the other side of it.

  I got the same thing in season one, and season two..."Why these light episodes? What's happened to this arc?" Then by season's end, the chorus usually turns to "That was a GREAT season!" So my response is, Unless you think I've suddenly turned stupid, or I've decided to betray the series I've now worked 10 years of my life to produce...will you for chrissakes *trust* me once in a while? Show a little patience. When I introduced Vir, everybody on the planet jumped funky all over me. "He's just a comic character! It's Flounder! He's dumbing down the show! Space him! He stinks! Joe's losing it!" And now, of course, we see what Vir is, and in many surveys he's now one of the most popular characters.

  You know what the #1 comment from the pilot was, on the nets and elsewhere? "LOSE the guy with the funny hair! He's just ridiculous." Londo. Every time I've done something a little different in the show, I've usually been jumped on, because they're not willing to trust that I know what I'm doing...until they've seen it for a while, then they Get It, and it's "Oh, now I see it." Great, thanks, now that you've been beating on my head for six months. Next time show a little patience. (And btw, ALL of the comments related above are real ones, many of them right here on Compuserve, from people still around here.)

  Every story can't be an arc story at this point; you've got to see the characters outside the arc, in the way they live their lives, in other things that happen to them, or else you won't CARE what happens to them in the arc. No, the Purple/Green Drazi story didn't move the arc ahead, but it showed you a lot about Ivanova, didn't it? So now if and when something should happen to her in the arc, you care about her. It's the difference between just being chess pieces, and being *people*.

  Okay, here's the breakdown. Season 3. You had arc episodes only a bit in the first batch. "Honor," "Voices" and now a little in "Dust." You've got one more stand-alone next week, "Exogenesis." That's the last one for a LONG time. Episodes 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 are ALL arc stories, most of them heavy, none less than moderate.

  I said, from the start, that each season would have stand-alones and arc stories. About 20% in year one, 35% in year two, 50% in year three, 70% in year four, and 100% in year five. And the stand-alones tend to get pushed toward the beginning of a season for the reasons stated. Is nobody paying attention when I say these things? Because if so, then why do I get gigged each season at the start by people saying "HEY! HOW COME THESE AREN'T ARC EPISODES?" (And as it looks now, year 3 has closer to 13-14 arc episodes, so we're ahead a bit.)

  Before people start making sweeping generalizations about the season, it might behoove you to see the season first. If anything, my concern in looking at what's been done for year 3 is that we're too GRIM for the larger portion of it, and maybe a bit complex...so I'm working to clarify a few things here and there as I do these last few.

• @@@865181914 You'll see Walter again this season after "Dust," and I'm trying to work in one more before the end of the season, but it's tough, given what's been going on in the latter half of 2260.

• @@@833560613 BTW, here's something to notice when you watch DTD again. The montage scene with Londo and G'Kar lasts, I think, 10 maybe 12 seconds. But that one piece took John and me *hours* to put together. Go through frame by frame, and you'll see some of those bits are only 3 or 4 frames long (one second is 24 frames). We were nearly blind by the time we were done, but it was worth it.

• RE: Bester...thanks. I'd decided a while ago that the next time we saw him, he either had to win, or he had to be right. If he lost again, it'd cut his credibility out. This gave me a chance to do some interesting things with him. He's a fascinating guy...a creep, and I wouldn't trust him for a second, but fascinating nonetheless....

• Wouldn't the telepaths have tipped Bester off that something was going on between Sheridan and the Minbari?
  Simple fact is, the rules of the Psi Corps would forbid them from engaging ANY human telepath for this purpose. So the only other recourse is non-humans.

• Did Bester read Franklin when he was injected?
  I think you're misremembering; Bester nudged up his right sleeve with his left hand and held it out; Franklin stuck the needle in. I don't believe he held his hand (which was gloved in any event).

• @@@865181914 If Garibaldi knew Bester was drugged, why did he suspect Bester of reading the smuggler?
  I think it came out of the fact that Garibaldi doesn't trust ANYthing about Bester, and that it's not out of the realm of possibility for Bester to find some way to defeat the drug. If not, then his line was basically another way of stating "What the ___ are you pulling and why are you doing it and why the hell didn't you TELL me you were going to do this before pulling it?"

• Londo knows G'Kar knows, yes. He couldn't not know.

• Was the music during G'Kar's rush of images from Londo new?
  With some thematic exceptions, most of the music Chris composes for us each week is unique, and tailored for that episode. So yes, it's all mainly new.

  Re: the coat of welcoming...here's a little tidbit...we had to make up an entire alphabet for most of our major races (and I've been gradually building up a dictionary here and there for languages). So they came and asked if they could embroider something in Minbari on the shirt Vir's wearing when he comes back. I said sure. Did I have anything in mind? No, not really.

  So I'm on the set that day, and I see the embroidered shirt, and I ask what these five letters spell, since I don't offhand read Minbari yet. He looked up at me and smiled. "It spells out ALOHA."

  We have a very demented crew.

• Kosh would rather sacrifice all the Narn through manipulation than take direct action?
  Exactly. I mean, in three years, what the heck have the Vorlons actually *done* to help "our side?" Let the others do it.

• Actually, I tend to agree with that assessment. They've guided and instructed and pointed, yes...and manipulated...but they still haven't had to step up to the plate in other areas.

  And I don't think the Narns have sacrificed nearly enough yet. You can always sacrifice more.

• A person can be sincere and still manipulative, in Kosh's case. If he believes he's right, perhaps he's willing to manipulate anyone toward that goal, if it's worth it.

• @@@865181914 Oh, the Vorlons can be *very* invasive, when they want to be, if it suits their purposes. There's no Vorlon prime directive...it's manipulation, whether small or large.

• Why not sooner?
  Because G'Kar needed to hit bottom, real bottom, before he would be receptive to the message...because time doesn't mean to the vorlons what it means to us...and because he was finally mentally receptive due to the dust.

• @@@850297524 It was his father in the first part, G'Lan in angelic form, since after all that was G'Lan's form.

• @@@865181914 The figure he was talking through during the scene appeared to him as his father; the very last figure, seen departing, was that of G'Lan.

• Well, G'Kar doubtless *thinks* he saw a spirit, possibly the spirit of his father, possibly something else...revealed later as G'Lan, of course, taking that image in order to give him a revelation.

• @@@840404655 Why didn't G'Kar embrace his father?
  Logically, G'Kar knows that his father is dead. He saw him die. So whoever this was, wasn't his father, even though he was appearing that way. Or was a spirit, and either way, he would've been sufficiently apprehensive about it not to go blithely around embracing something he didn't understand. I sure as hell wouldn't.

• Correct. They see reality, and time, and space somewhat differently than we do.

• No, I wouldn't say that the shadows and vorlons see space, time and reality in the same ways.

• What did G'Kar shout out?
  And what G'Kar said was, "Dear G'Quon, no more...."

• Did G'Kar recognize Morden?
  G'Kar probably has not yet put that together; remember, he only met Morden once, for about 4 minutes, a couple of years previous to this.

• Does Kosh find it easier to appear to people when they're in altered mental states?
  Yes, it helps if the person's mind is in a different state -- asleep, exhausted, in a heightened state of awareness -- for the Vorlons to make contact, which is why their presence is often associated with dream imagery.

• The sign behind Kosh says, "WARNING!"
  Yes, the sign does indeed say warning. Look for another sign right behind somebody at the end of "Severed Dreams."

• G'Kar really beat Londo up.
  Implying more than one sees is something that you kinda have to learn over time. It can be very effective, as here.

  You just have to kinda put yourself out on a limb, as a writer or as an actor.

  This scene *should* be very affecting. It goes to Joe's Theory of Violence on TV. To wit...that we need more of it, but it has to be realistic violence. It has to show consequences. You glorify or desensitize violence when you shoot somebody, and they just go down, no yelling in pain, no sobbing as their guts fall out onto the street. It's just gunfire, loud noises, excitement and fun. If you're going to show violence, then show it for what it *is*, and show it the way people would react to it. Make the audience understand that this is a *person*, not one in a series of body counts.

• Actually, just to clarify the legalese, the judge sentenced him to *no less* than 60 days; that's the minimum, it could be more.

• The female Psi Cop here *was* the same as in ARTDP, played by Judy Levitt, who is also Walter's wife.

  Yeah, everyone turned in great performances in this one, very intense and layered. And as a result of G'Kar's attack, the next several episodes will find him still in prison. In the B5 universe, you don't just go in for a long time at the end of an ep and next thing you're out again. He has to serve his time, and now we'll see him in a cell for a while.

  And yes, you'll learn more about what happened to the Narn telepaths in coming months.

• With Ivanova, I've tried to construct a small emotional arc, in that when she arrived, she was the new kid, she was a bit uncomfortable with the job, and responded by being very formal, very businesslike, a bit on the snide side. As she's gotten more comfortable with the job, and the people around her, she's relaxed a bit around her co-workers...but if somebody crosses her, as Bester tends to do, she lets fly with some pretty sharp lines.