“A Distant Star”
Written by D.C. Fontana
Directed by Jim Johnston
Season 2, Episode 4
Production episode 204
Original air date: November 23, 1994
It was the dawn of the third age… We open on the EAS Cortez, an Explorer-class vessel under the command of Captain Jack Maynard, who has a very specific message sent to B5. They’ve been out mapping the rim, and are coming to B5 for resupply. The ship comes through the jumpgate and proves to be almost as big as B5 itself.
Maynard and Sheridan are old friends—the message he sent refers to Sheridan as “swamp rat”—and their reunion is a happy one. Maynard, who was Sheridan’s first CO, is surprised to see Sheridan in a desk job, and also discusses some weird stuff he saw out on the rim.
Perhaps conscious of Maynard’s dismissive tone toward his new job, Sheridan bites Garibaldi’s head off when the security chief comes to him with a shoplifting issue, which Sheridan thinks is beneath his notice.
Franklin puts Garibaldi on a diet—which he calls an “eating plan” to make it sound less like he’s on a diet. Garibaldi insists that he has always eaten whatever he wants, and Franklin says that was before he got shot. Garibaldi also says he’s soon going to be making bagna càuda, but as soon as he lists the ingredients of same, Franklin puts his foot down that he absolutely should not have that. On a roll, Franklin also provides eating plans for Sheridan (who’s put on weight since taking over the station) and Ivanova (who, like Garibaldi, needs to change her diet due to her injuries).
Maynard and Sheridan tell war stories over dinner with Ivanova, Keffer, and Zeta Team Flight Leader Ray Galus. Afterward, Maynard tells Sheridan about a big black ship he thinks he saw, but couldn’t confirm. (We now know that it was a Shadow ship.)
A Minbari named Teronn meets with Delenn. There is great concern among the Minbari on the station regarding her transformation. They’re not even sure she is Minbari anymore.
The Cortez heads back out, now fully resupplied. But once in hyperspace they suffer a major malfunction, which knocks main power offline and causes the vessel to drift, losing their link to the hyperspace beacon.
Maynard’s visit has not been good for Sheridan, as now he feels like he’s been beached. He was trained to be a starship captain, not the mayor of a city in space. The eating plan isn’t helping, and he, Ivanova, and Garibaldi at one point try to trade foods, until Franklin walks past them with a stern look.
Garibaldi works with Orwell, a customs and import worker, to get the ingredients for bagna càuda, Franklin’s order be damned. Orwell points out that won’t be cheap or easy, but Garibaldi is willing to pay whatever’s necessary.
Delenn goes in for an exam, to her annoyance, but Franklin insists, especially given the unique nature of her transformation. During the exam, Delenn mentions hearing Garibaldi mentioning the arrival of the bagna càuda, which the ambassador mistakenly believes is a new alien race coming to the station.
Maynard orders a distress call sent. It’s a long shot, as it may not penetrate into normal space, but they have to take the chance. Sure enough, B5 hears the distress call. Sheridan sends out the Starfuries, ordering them to act like a chain, with one Starfury at the jumpgate, and others moving increasingly inward, providing a lifeline for the Cortez. Galus and Keffer are the final two ships in the lifeline, and they locate the Cortez. However something (a Shadow ship) moves through hyperspace; it destroys Galus’ Starfury and damages Keffer’s. However, Keffer is able to fire his weapons, and does so continuously in a straight line, giving the Cortez a path to take to the rest of the Starfuries.
The Cortez and all but two of the Starfuries return to B5. Sheridan is saddened to learn that Galus and Keffer didn’t make it.
Franklin shows up in the cargo bay just as Garibaldi is unpacking his box of bagna càuda ingredients. Garibaldi finally explains why this is so important: when he was a kid, his father would always make bagna càuda on his birthday. Since his Dad died, Garibaldi always makes it on his birthday to honor him. Franklin relents and allows Garibaldi to go ahead—but only if he makes enough for two.
Delenn sees Sheridan in the Zen Garden and offers him words of comfort, assuring him that the universe generally puts us where we’re supposed to go.
As Keffer drifts in hyperspace, he sees another Shadow ship. It pops out of hyperspace, and Keffer is able to use that as a reference point to steer back home. Sheridan is relieved that at least one of them made it back. They hold a wake for Galus, and Ivanova also tells Keffer that he’s now in command of Zeta Wing.
Franklin enjoys the hell out of the bagna càuda, even though he admits that he can feel his arteries hardening just being in the same room as it. Meanwhile, Sheridan digs into his mountain of paperwork, feeling better about being mayor now.
Get the hell out of our galaxy! Weirdly, even though it was established that Maynard and Sheridan hadn’t seen each other in at least five years, Maynard doesn’t once bring up Sheridan’s wife, who’s only been dead for two years.
Ivanova is God. Ivanova eats well and exercises, so she’s more than a little put out by Franklin’s eating plan, especially since it means she’ll gain weight initially. This prompts a complaint from Ivanova about how she’s fought against imperialism all her life and now is becoming the expanding Russian frontier, to which Franklin makes the rather icky riposte, “With very nice borders.”
The household god of frustration. Garibaldi didn’t have the closest relationship with his father, but the birthday bagna càuda is one of the fondest memories the security chief has of him. The ritual obviously means a great deal to him, and it’s to Franklin’s credit that he not only lets him go through with it, but asks to participate.
If you value your lives, be somewhere else. Delenn is pretty obviously flying blind and without a net, as the Minbari doubt that she’s even still Minbari, and the non-Minbari don’t really know what to make of her, either.
She also quotes Carl Sagan without attribution…
The Shadowy Vorlons. The Shadows apparently like to just hang out in hyperspace…
No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Delenn bucks Sheridan up, which proves beneficial to him, and which also gives us the first signs of their eventual relationship.
Welcome aboard. The big guest is the great Russ Tamblyn, of West Side Story, Peyton Place, and Twin Peaks fame, as Maynard. Other members of Maynard’s crew on the Cortez are played by Daniel Beer and Patty Toy. (Toy previously played a Psi Corps representative in “A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I.”)
Art Kimbro plays Galus and Miguel A. Nuñez Jr. plays Orwell. Joshua Cox is back from “The Geometry of Shadows” as Corwin; he’ll be back in “A Spider in the Web.” And Sandey Grinn plays the first of three different roles as Teronn; he’ll return as a Narn captain in “Acts of Sacrifice” and a human telepath in “The Exercise of Vital Powers.”
Trivial matters. Bagna càuda is a real thing, a fondue-like dish full of garlic and anchovies, which has its origins in Piedmont, Italy, and which is common in northern Italy and southeast France, as well as places like Argentina and parts of the U.S. that have lots of immigrants from that region.
Keffer mentions reading an article about the possibility of something living in hyperspace. He’s probably referring to the Universe Today article, the headline for which was seen in “And the Sky Full of Stars.”
Much of Delenn’s pep talk to Sheridan lifts from Carl Sagan, particularly the famous quote “we are starstuff.” Sheridan acts as if he’s never heard the phrase before, which I find difficult to credit for someone who makes his living in space, but I suppose it’s possible.
Ivanova is still injured from last time, mirroring the real-life injury suffered by Claudia Christian.
The echoes of all of our conversations.
“You think that’s good, wait till dessert.”
“Now wait a minute, I didn’t authorize dessert.”
“No? Then you can’t have any.”
“What is it?”
“Doesn’t matter—you’re not getting any.”
“No no no, let’s not be hasty.”
“No no no no no, too late.”
—Garibaldi torturing Franklin over bagna càuda.
The name of the place is Babylon 5. “We are starstuff.” To me, this will always be the bagna càuda episode. While it’s not something that was ever in the repertoire of my various Italian-American relatives, it’s still a yummy Italian food, which always makes my heart happy. And it’s a nice tradition Garibaldi has with his Dad. I especially like that, once it becomes something personal, Franklin modulates from Garibaldi’s doctor to his friend and asks to partake in the tradition.
Having said that, the put-everyone-on-a-diet subplot is weak-tea sitcom nonsense, complete with silly 90s euphemisms (“eating plan”), creepy dialogue (Franklin’s oogy “nice borders” line), and mediocre humor (the plate-switching scene).
The rest of the episode is good. As with last time, the guest casting hits it out of the park, as Russ Tamblyn is superb, making Maynard a very lived-in character, with perfect best-friend chemistry with Bruce Boxleitner. The rescue mission is handled well, especially since the Cortez is made up entirely of guest stars, and killing off the main character’s heretofore-unseen best friend is a long-established cliché, so there’s an expectation that Maynard and his crew might not make it. Adding to this is the constant stream of portentious utterings about the coming darkness we’ve been getting since “Chrysalis,” and you genuinely fear for the Cortez. Which makes their rescue all the sweeter.
Alas, the redshirting of Galus doesn’t land as well, nor does the attempt to give Keffer a minor spotlight. Both characters are complete ciphers, making it hard to get worked up over their danger, especially since Galus is a guest star and Keffer is an opening-credits regular, so the former’s death is expected for the same reason that Maynard’s was feared, and Keffer’s survival is almost a given. (Caveat necessary for reasons that will be clear at season’s end.) This is Keffer’s second appearance and he has yet to be granted a personality, which is problematic.
I’m iffy about the writing decision to have Delenn quote Carl Sagan without attribution, but it’s such a great quote, I think I can forgive it. And it’s nice to see Sheridan come to embrace his job, and also see the beginnings of the Sheridan-Delenn pairing in the conversation where she quotes Sagan.
Next week: “The Long Dark.”
