Mind War

Andrea Thompson is hot sauce on a stick. Dude just went and got all glowy, that can’t be good, can it? What in the name of all heck is Chekov doing on my space station? Did I mention that Andrea Thompson is all kinds of hot? If I show up at a planet and a giant glowing spruce decides to suck the energy out of my ship I might crap my pants on the spot. Who knew entering a transport tube tunnel could be so hot? Speaking of hot, did I mention that Andrea Thompson is hot?

Written By: J. Michael Straczynski
Directed By: Bruce Seth Green

Bare Essentials:

A Plot - A rogue telepath, Jason Ironheart, makes his way to B5 with two Psi Cops, Bester and Kelsey, on his tail. Ironheart meets with his former lover Talia and informs her of the experiments done to him and how powerful he has become. Talia and Commander Sinclair manage to smuggle him off the station, but not before he kills Kesley. Ironheart ascends to another level and leaves this area of space, but not before giving Talia the gift of telekinesis.

B Plot - Catherine Sakai leaves against the warnings of G’Kar to survey the planet Sigma 957. While there she encounters a mysterious ship and her ship is damaged. Luckily G’Kar dispatched a few craft that save her and bring her back to B5. G’Kar informs Catherine that he helped her simply because he could.

More Arc, Less Arch:

Ivanova hates Psi Corps, that has been shown in previous episodes and will be shown in more to come. But, when Talia is done with the scan Ivanova immediately offers her a glass of water illustrating her change in feelings that is in the middle of happening towards Talia.

Ironheart warns Talia of Psi Corps growing power behind the scenes and in political circles. This is a thread that will run for the rest of the series and will be highlighted most notably in the season four episode, The Face Of The Enemy.

Catherine’s trip to Sigma 957 isn’t fruitful for her, but it is for the series. That ship is a First One ship and more will be revealed about the First Ones in season two’s In The Shadow Of Z’ha’dum and later in the season three episode, Voices Of Authority and in the first six or so episodes of season four.

The Jump Point formed by the ship at Sigma 957 looks much different, it has an electrical or lightning look to it, from a normal Jump Point. This suggests a difference in their jump technology or in the space they are jumping out of and back into. The difference in jump technology will show up again with the Shadow vessels and the difference in the space they are jumping out of and back into will finally be possibly highlighted in The Lost Tales: Voices In The Dark.

Talia says that the Psi Corps will dissect Ironheart if they capture him. That is quite ironic considering what we learn about her possible fate in season three’s, Dust To Dust.

Ironheart ascends to a higher being at the end of Mind War. He gives Talia the gift of telekinesis and as he leaves he tells Sinclair that he will see him in a million years. This is a reference to when humans will ascend to a higher level of existence like the First Ones as shown in The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars in season four.

G’Kar’s speech about beings “billion of years older than we are” is echoed later on by Delenn. The first few seasons the main characters are in awe and fear of these beings but by the fourth season things have changed somewhat.

Who Are You? What Do Yo… Hey, I’m Asking The Questions Here!:

Did Ironheart actually work for EarthForce Covert Intelligence? Or was that fabricated to cover up the Psi Corps experimentation?

Shouldn’t the scan of Talia take place in a room other than the Commander’s?

If Ironheart’s numbers on the amount of human teeps and teeks is correct then one wonders how come they are still an inferior power to mundane humans? If there numbers are that strong they should because of their powers be the dominant people among the humans.

Sinclair tells Bester to omit any involvement on Talia’s part. But, we all know Bester will file an unofficial report detailing everything that happened. Why then doesn’t Talia ever face any repercussions for her actions in aiding Ironheart?

Did Ironheart give Talia any other abilities besides telekinesis?

What happened to Ironheart? Where did he go?

Idiosyncratic Musings:

Mind War highlights why there would never be a group like Psi Corps. Because of the capabilities of teeps and teeks they would be used in military and covert operations from the moment their existence was found out. Teeps and teeks would never be allowed to form their own governing body and to separate from the military but rather would always be used as special agents in the military. Their power is too great to be allowed to run free and there is no way that any Earth government would allow them to run free.

Mind War features quite possibly the thickest and heaviest metaphor ever in B5. In the scene where Talia is talking to Sinclair in a transport tube about Ironheart she reveals that they were lovers. The moment she goes into detail about what making love with another telepath is like the transport tube plunges into a darkened tunnel and all the while Talia talks more and more erotically. Quite the adult metaphor for its time and all the scene is really missing was an exit from the darkened tunnel as Talia returns to a more normal less erotic narrative.

Mind War wants to make Jason Ironheart into a sympathetic character. It succeeds, but it also fails on a certain level. The story glosses over Ironheart having killed the main researcher in charge of him. This is treated as a formality, that the researcher had to die and there was nothing Ironheart could do about it. Talia and Sinclair seem to accept this without question and the story wants the viewer to do the same. However knowing how strong Ironheart is I have a problem with this scenario. Ironheart could have deleted the researchers memories of his research. Maybe the researcher was trying to kill Ironheart when Ironheart started to rebel, but this is never hinted at in the story. Knowing what I know from the story presented I can’t help but feel that Ironheart is a killer that is being given a free pass and for no good reason.

G’Kar is usually portrayed as a self-serving individual, or an individual who only cares for the concerns of Narn. However, G’Kar does have compassion for other people. He helps Catherine, but he doesn’t do so out of personal gain or to curry a favor with the Commander. He saves her and tries to warn her beforehand because she is someone that has never done anything bad to him and thus he doesn’t see any reason for her to suffer a bad ending. He really does save her for the simplest of reasons, “Why not?”

I See What You Did There:

Garibaldi and Talia have another meeting in a transport lift. This one goes badly for Garibaldi’s stomach when his thoughts migrate to where all thoughts on Talia should go.

Bester makes the first of what will be many appearances as a high ranking Psi Cop, and this episode shows him preferring to speak telepathically as opposed to through spoken word. This is a character trait that will be dropped rather quickly. Bester also is very flippant with his use of his powers and going against the known Psi Corps regulations. Later in the show he won’t be as overt in these areas and will instead adopt a much more subtle and effective approach.

Jack, unnamed at this point, makes his first appearance as a security guard on the station. He claims to have never met a Psi Cop before, but based on what we find out about him later he is probably lying.

Vibe showers are used on B5. This means that dirt and grime is removed through a sonic vibration as opposed to water and soap. We also find out that quarters on B5 cost 500 credits a week. That seems pretty expensive, even for the future.

Ironheart was an instructor at Psi Corps, and Talia’s former lover, and his dedication to the core led to him volunteering for experimental testing. The testing worked and increased his abilities, but he now suffers from mindquakes. His burgeoning powers are beyond his ability to control every time they increase in level and the effect of this jump in level is a quake that causes massive damage to the area surrounding him.

Of the three new teeps that show up, Bester and Kelsey are P12’s, while Ironheart was a P10, although he is well beyond that now.

A deep telepathic scan appears to be very painful and violent. It’s unclear if it is just as painful on a mundane as it is on a fellow teep or if the natural blocks that a teep has built up adds to the pain and violence as the person performing the scan rips them away.

G’Kar makes an actual reference to being in the Third Circle of the Narn power structure as I discussed in The Parliament Of Dreams. G’Kar also states the Frazi Class Heavy Fighter by name for the first time in the series.

An interesting aside that is barely noticeable, but Bester’s left hand is useless. If you pay attention to him in this episode and in further episodes that he appears in he never uses his left hand to pick up anything or touch anything and he almost always holds his left arm across his stomach because that hand is crippled.

Say It Again Mac:

G’ Kar, “No one here is exactly what he appears.”

G’Kar, again, “There are things in the universe billions of years older than either of our races. They are vast, timeless, and if they’re aware of us at all it is as little more than ants.”

Yes, I Am A Fleet Junkie:

The Starfuries that are seen in the opening sequence are members of the Black Omega Squadron. They are standard Aurora Class Starfury Heavy Fighters, but they are matte black, have the Psi Corps symbol on their upper canopy and are only piloted by Psi Cops. They are completely wiped out in seconds when Ironheart suffers a mindquake.

The ship Catherine encounters at Sigma 957 is huge with lots of flashing lights. It looks a lot like a tree with a saucer attached to the bottom. It has different jump technology and it’s mere presence drains Catherine’s ship of 90% of its power. But, it doesn’t show off any capabilities other than that.

Let’s Go Planet Side:

Sigma 957 is a grayish planet.

It’s Your Cultural Imperative:

Jump Gate construction on Earth has slowed due to a shortage of the mineral Quantium-40.

Psi Cops are the “watchmen” of the Psi Corps. They wear all black uniforms, are allowed to carry PPG’s, and every one of them must be rated a P12. Bester reveals that all instructors at Psi Corps must be a P10 level.

Ironheart tells Talia that 1 in 1,000 humans is a telepath while 1 in 10,000 telepaths is a telekinetic and that half of them are insane.

I Think This Might Be Based On Something:

Bester is named after acclaimed sci-fi author Alfred Bester, and we will later learn that the character of Bester’s first name is also Alfred. Bester the author wrote a series of novels dealing with telepathy and possibly his most famous work, The Demolished Man, dealt with a guild of telepaths not all that unlike the Psi Corps.

Ivanova’s quote, “Who watches the watchmen?” is from the Roman poet Juvenal.

Ironheart’s quote, “You cannot harm one that has dreamed a dream like mine, ” is a Native American saying.

Bester’s farewell salute, a tip of a nonexistent cap, and the line, “Be seeing you” is an homage to the 1960’s TV show, The Prisoner.

You Look Mighty Familiar:

William Allen Young, Jason Ironheart, is most notable for his appearance on the terrible TV series Moesha as Moesha’s father, Frank Mitchell.

Felicity Waterman, Kelsey, appeared in the SeaQuest DSV episode, Abalon as Mika. She also appeared in the forgettable Team Knight Rider episode Spy Girls as April.

The lady who helped show Ironheart his room is Elisa Gabrielli. She just voiced Pepper Pots in the animated feature, The Invincible Iron Man.

I shouldn’t need to tell you this, but Walter Koenig, Bester, appeared countless times in multiple Star Trek series and movies as Pavel Chekov.

Casting Ahead:

Catherine Sakai is back on the station.

Michael McKenzie previously appeared in The Parliament Of Dreams as a pilgrim. In Mind War he plays the Narn Captain Sh’Drog.

That Wasn’t Supposed To Happen:

The idea of teeps needing to be in the line of sight in order to affect their targets is introduced in Mind War. While it’s not a problem in this episode it is a fact that will be used, discarded, forgotten, and brought back depending on the needs of the plot.

When Ironheart is first surveying his quarters he pours himself a glass of water. However when he suffers a mindquake and the glass falls over it is empty.

JMS has always insisted that he has back doors for every character if they decide to exit the series. According to him Talia’s secondary personality was that back door. However there is a scene in Mind War where Ironheart makes mention of being able to see everything, down to the smallest molecule. With that being the case why then doesn’t he remove Talia’s secondary personality , which he should obviously be able to sense, since it is a threat to the Talia that he knows and loves? The obvious answer to this is because there never was a secondary personality until Andrea Thompson decided to leave the show and JMS came up with that idea on the fly. This episode however, and Ironheart in particular, really cause some continuity issues with Talia’s implanted personality down the line.

The Ombuds Have Decided:

A surprisingly good episode, I didn’t have fond memories of this episode, but it was delightfully good. Like I said in Idiosyncratic Musings I believe they were too cut and dry with the Ironheart character in regards to his actions pre-B5. But, that didn’t stop the show from dealing out a good amount of facts, giving Talia Winters a good storyline to work around in and proving that the show doesn’t need the main actor or any of the alien Ambassadors to be in the forefront to be good.

Although their interaction is minimal the chemistry between Sinclair and Catherine is greatly improved. Before they seemed wooden and fake, but here they play off of each other nicely and come across as a completely real couple that I can buy being together.

Andrea Thompson does a tremendous job of A) being hot and B) bringing a real depth to her character. In this one little episode she was able to convey so much through her acting and the rest was supplied by JMS’ writing. Prior to this, and still afterwards, Talia comes across as a stiff, dry, and uninteresting character. But Mind War shows Talia when her guard is down and she is willing to let people in. Talia has fun in the lift with Garibaldi, but she later shows she can be serious and will go to bat for people that she cares about by standing up to Psi Corps for Ironheart. These traits will surface again later from time to time, but I don’t think they are ever present at the same time again or done as spot on as they were in Mind War.

G’Kar’s interactions with Catherine give a good insight into the tight nature of the station and into what might lay beneath the surface in G’Kar. Two very divergent characters like G’Kar and Catherine are able to come together and their storyline makes perfect sense. Their interactions and dialogue are superb, although to be honest you could put Andrea Katsulas next to an empty lawn chair and you would still get a tremendous interaction.

That being said, the episode did have a few deficiencies. There was nothing wrong with the character of Bester, and I rather liked Walter Koenig’s portrayal of him. But he is for all intents and purposes shown to be a rather black and white character with very little depth. While that may be a minor detriment to this episode it helps the overall series of B5 immensely. Based on what is seen of Bester in this episode no one would dare to think he could come back later and show so many different sides of himself and prove to not be a black and white character in any way.

The scene where Bester and Kelsey scan Talia comes across as far too cheesy with their hand gestures and the walking around her in a circle. Luckily as the show progressed the hand gestures would be trimmed down more and more while the walking around a person while you scan them effect would disappear completely.

There were a few problems with the final main corridor scene. When Kelsey confronts Ironheart the scene falls flat because of her lack of emotion. That was supposed to a life or death situation but Kelsey has no emotion at all on her face and doesn’t emote any of the danger that should be present in that scene. The CGI of Kelsey burning up wasn’t bad per say, but it wasn’t good either. The CGI of Ironheart hurling an energy ball at Bester was fine, but the execution wasn’t good and it looked too cheesy.

The music that accompanies Ironheart every time he appears was not some of Christopher Franke’s best work. He has a background in synthesized music and that was clear in Ironheart’s theme. That particular piece sounded too synthesized and distracted from what was happening on screen.

But, this is a good episode, warts and all. Everything comes together to present a nice package that makes you think, allows you to feel the true depth of a minor character and introduces many threads for down the line.

Rating:

78/100

B-

That’s all I’ve got for this time. Next time I will bring you The War Prayer where everything is a cliché and a cliché is everything.

Cheers,
Bill

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