Babylon 5 (TV Series) A Tragedy of Telepaths (1998) User Reviews

See evil telepaths fighting evil (but less evil) telepaths

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 10 June 2007]

This and the following episode featuring Bester are the worst of the season, as we see more and hear much more of poor old Byron's angst. He's sad,...he has a secret,...he's pained,...he doesn't want to tell his beloved Leta the truth,...he spouts poetry,...etc., etc., etc. Byron is among the whiniest and most annoying characters in the show. The only good is that he's only in one more episode. Also, for the most part, Bester is wasted in these shows as he appears weak and ineffectual for the first time--and the chemistry between him and Byron is such that you almost wonder if their relationship was a lot more intimate than audiences were willing to hear. Actually, playing up this aspect would have greatly improved this show, though at least there are some relatively evil telepaths that break away from Byron and run amok on the ship--providing SOME excitement. All in all, this and the previous episode were rather poor in spots, though the next one sinks even lower into the abyss. It's a shame, as I loved this series and hated to see it just fizzle out this way.

Who is the bad guy here?

[InfiniteJesterII · 7/10 · 28 July 2022]

In this episode, we again follow Byron and his telepaths as they lock themselves up in down below, in protest of the fact that the ISA won't give them a homeworld. Bester is called to the scene by Captain Lochley. Meanwhile, G'Kar discovers, while on Centauri Prime with Londo, that his aide, Na'toth, is still alive an in a cell. They bust her out, and she goes back to the Narn homeworld. Finally, the members of the ISA are growing restless about the attacks on the shipping lanes. When they find a piece of metal belonging to one of the races, they blame them, and when they find a piece of metal from the ship of another race, they blame them. It is then revealed that it was a setup, that the pieces were not blown off but cut off, and that there are larger forces at play here.

This is an okay story. I do not agree with the irrational reasoning of Byron and the telepaths. They're just kind of being jerks at this point; I could have thought up many more effective ways to have them establish a colony. It may have worked for Ghandi, but it sure as hell won't work for Byron, as you'll see in the next episode.