A Spider In The Web

You may be hot Talia Winters, but you have quite the disconcerting laugh. Secret organizations and terrorist cells are all the rage in this episode, not that they make a lick of sense or are interesting in the least, but hey, they’re here. Really, I’m struggling for anything to say about this episode, it left me empty, like a soulless monstrosity, but since I don’t believe in souls I don’t know where that leaves me?

Written By: Lawrence G. Ditillio
Directed By: Kevin G. Cremin

Bare Essentials:

A Plot - An old friend of Talia’s, Taro Isogi is murdered by a former Mars terrorist Abel Horn shortly after he had concluded a meeting with Mars Government representative Amanda Carter. It’s discovered that Horn was near death at one point and was taken by a secret organization known as Bureau 13 and reprogrammed into a cyborg like being for their purposes. Captain Sheridan figures this all out and is able to save Talia from Horn’s clutches, but not before Horn attacks Sheridan and his troops and is killed in the process.

More Arc, Less Arch:

It’s a minor thing, but Sheridan’s conversation with Senator Voudreau gives a brief glimpse into the political landscape back on Earth and how freedoms being circumvented for the greater good will become more and more the norm and lead to organizations like the Ministry Of Peace and Nightwatch.

A Spider In The Web gives a tiny glimpse into Ivanova’s growing feelings for Talia. She shows concern for Talia and their growing relationship will continue until the episode Divided Loyalties.

Bureau 13 isn’t arc related, but the flashing screen that represents Control may be. It bears a striking resemblance to the same screen that is used on a brain washed Garibaldi in the season 4 episodes The Summoning, Epiphanies and Conflicts Of Interest. While I don’t think that signal was related to Bureau 13 specifically, it is very possible that it’s either a general Psi Corps brain washing signal or that Bureau 13 is no more and was folded into the Psi Corps facility on Syria Planum.

A bit of an odd arc point is that of Talia and Control. First you have the issue of Talia lying to Sheridan about what she saw in Horn’s mind. She is either lying out of loyalty to the Corps or because her secondary personality is forcing her to do so. But, I don’t believe in the second reason, so for me it’s more out of loyalty and therefore would only be a minor ac point that deals with Talia’s growing disenfranchisement from the corps. Then there is the issue of Control, and who exactly Control is. It’s an issue that is never answered, although some have posited that it’s answered in Divided Loyalties, and that Control is actually Talia. I don’t buy that for a second, because it’s frankly idiotic. Control orders Horn to kill Talia and as we will discover in Divided Loyalties Talia’s secondary personality is programmed for self-preservation. With that being the case there is no way that Control in A Spider In The Web would order Horn to kill Talia if this Control were in fact Talia’s secondary personality because then Control/Talia would be ordering Horn to kill herself. What I come away with from all of this is that we have no idea who Control is, never will, and any attempt to link it to Divided Loyalties is stupid.

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

Just who is Control?

If as Sheridan asserts and the episode shows cyber implants aren’t stable at all in human brains, then how the heck do the Vickers, as seen in Deathwalker, exist?

I See What You Did There:

Any meetings of a private nature on Babylon 5 are just that, private. Whether they are corporate, national or something else they are private and they are not subject to any interjection from the Station or Earth authorities.

Talia’s first assignment was to Mars Colony.

One of Mars’ moons, Phobos, gets a mention.

After the last Mars rebellion the Mars Conglomerate, a powerful group of Mars businessman, almost left Mars.

There’s a decease of unknown capabilities, it may be fatal though, known as Torg’s Syndrome.

Sheridan’s trait of collecting information on secret organizations will be dropped summarily the moment this episode ends and never be touched on again.

Yes, I Am A Fleet Junkie:

The EAS Pournelle, an Omega Class Destroyer, makes an appearance in Abel Horn’s mind. It shoots down his transport over the moon of Phobos.

Let’s Go Planet Side:

We see Earth for the first time as we get a passing glimpse of the San Diego Wastelands. It’s an impressive shot of a city that is completely in ruins.

It’s Your Cultural Imperative:

When telepaths are brought into Psi Corps at an advanced age they are assigned a senior telepath to help guide them. They serve as surrogate parents for the first year that the new telepath is in the Corps.

In the 2230’s EarthForce conducted cyber experiments, known as the Lazarus Project, fusing a living person with a machine/computer that would control their actions. They also would receive prosthetic implants that would allow them to access data crystal ports, communication ports and to deliver a lethal electrical charge from the prosthetic hand. The experiments were eventually abandoned by EarthForce, although they appear to have been picked up by Psi Corps, due to most of the test subjects being highly unstable.

Bureau 13 is a secret Psi Corps government organization. They operate out of the San Diego Wastelands. Their purpose and intent is unknown and since they aren’t heard from after this episode they really don’t matter.

I Think This Might Be Based On Something:

It’s not based on it, but there was a computer game by the name of Bureau 13 and that is the reason why there was never any mention of Bureau 13 after this episode.

The EAS ship Pournelle is named after science fiction author Jerry Pournelle.

There’s a transport ship called the Matheson that gets mentioned in A Spider In The Web. That is named after science fiction and horror writer Richard Matheson, whose most famous work was I Am Legend.

Amanda Carter’s great grandfather, John Carter, is based on the John Carter from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series of novels.

Can’t believe I didn’t mention this yet, but the design for the Omega Class Destroyer is an almost exact replica of the Alexei Leonov from the 1984 sci-fi film, 2010.

You Look Mighty Familiar:

Jessica Walter, Senator Elise Voudreau, provided the voice of Fran Sinclair on the series Dinosaurs. But, as much as I liked Dinosaurs the role everyone should know her from is that of Lucille Bluth on the shortly run but hilarious Arrested Development.

James Shigeta, Taro Isogi, played Vietnamese President Chi for a couple of episodes of SeaQuest DSV. He is probably most famous for his part as the ill fated Mr. Takagi in Die Hard.

Jeff Conaway, Zack Allen, is most known today for the fact that he’s a sort of fat dude that is completely crazy and throws fits on celebrity weight loss shows. But, prior to Babylon 5 he was most well known as Bobby Wheeler from Taxi.

Adrienne Barbeau, Amanda Carter, is most famous to me for her role as the snake charming seducer Ruthie on Carnivàle. She portrayed Cretak in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges. She was Mother Morehouse in the Sliders episode Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?. She voiced Selina Kyle/Catwoman for a number of appearances on Batman: The Animated Series. She has starred in a number of B movies, but her most famous genre roles would be that of Alice Cable in Swamp Thing, Wilma Northrup in Creepshow and Maggie in Escape From New York.

Casting Ahead:

Zack Allen makes his first appearance on Babylon 5 as a security officer. He will be back many times before finally becoming a cast regular from season 3 onwards.

That Wasn’t Supposed To Happen:

When Talia goes to visit Amanda Carter, Carter is already unconscious. If that’s the case then the door never should have opened since it’s been established that it’s necessary for the occupant of the room to command the door to open from the inside.

The Ombuds Have Decided:

A Spider In The Web is an episode that’s too dependent on one plot. Nothing else happens in the episode besides that one plot, therefore A Spider In The Web sinks or swims based on the strength of that plot. Unfortunately the Abel Horn plot isn’t that strong. It features characters we don’t know or care about involved in events that we don’t know or care about. A second subplot would have greatly benefited A Spider In The Web. Something to draw away from the plight of Horn and the too corny Control & Bureau 13 would have been a welcome respite. A Spider In The Web falls short on humor, dialogue, intrigue, action and story. But where it falls short the most is in how unimportant it is to the overall story of Babylon 5. If the episode itself isn’t that good then at the very least a tie-in to the greater arc of the season or series could help it, but no such tie-in exists in A Spider In The Web at any level that is significant. A Spider In The Web goes through the motions and we go along for the ride. But, it’s a ride we forget as soon as it’s over and we don’t feel the need to hop back on any time soon.

I find Ivanova’s initial reaction when told that on the Observation Dome that there’s been a murder to be over the top. She acts shocked and surprised, but this is B5 we’re talking about, people are murdered on the station all the time. There’s no reason she should be shocked about this random murder. Claudia Christian did follow that up with some nice acting after she accidentally let slip that she was concerned for Talia and then tried to cover it up with fast and distracting talk.

The ending to A Spider In The Web is just too clean. Everything is tied up in a neat and tidy bow. Talia will speak to FutureCorp, and Amanda Carter will continue to hammer out Isogi’s proposal with FutureCorp. The audience knows there’s zero chance of Isogi’s plan taking shape now that he’s dead, and the characters should know this as well, it’s a bunch of nonsense that would never happen in real life. In short, it’s a contrived Hollywood ending.

Rating:

62/100

C-

Thank Odin that A Spider In The Web is over with, next we shall try to reclaim my nonexistent soul in the Londo-centric Soul Mates.

Cheers,
Bill

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