The Long Dark (Babylon 5 episode)

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For the video game, see The Long Dark (video game).

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"The Long Dark"
Babylon 5 episode

Ivanova and Garibaldi
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 5
Directed by Mario Di Leo
Written by Scott Frost
Production code 205
Original air date 30 November 1994
Guest actors

Anne-Marie Johnson (Mariah Cirrus)
Dwight Schultz (Amis)
Episode chronology
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"A Distant Star"		 Next →
"Spider in the Web"
List of Babylon 5 episodes

"The Long Dark" is the fifth episode in the second season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. It originally aired on November 30, 1994, in the United States. The DVD brochure included with season two teases the episode by saying "A drifting, century-old spacecraft carries a crewperson (Anne-Marie Johnson) in hybernetic sleep. And something else: a phantom-like spaceling that a self-styled prophet (Dwight Schultz) calls a Soldier of Darkness."[1]

Synopsis

A cryonic exploration vessel from a hundred years ago approaches Babylon 5, bringing with it a deadly creature and a human from the past. The vessel's name is the Copernicus and it is broadcasting a signal in English. The vessel is brought aboard Babylon 5 and boarded. On the vessel, Sheridan, Ivanova, and Dr. Franklin find two cryonic chambers. One chamber contains only a corpse, while the other contains Mariah Cirrus (played by actress Anne-Marie Johnson), who begins waking up. An investigation reveals that the corpse is the body of Cirrus' husband Will and that he did not die of an accident.

Meanwhile, a man named Amis (Dwight Schultz) begins making grand assertions of doom, paraphrasing scripture, and shouting in the Zocalo. Garibaldi pulls him aside for creating a disturbance and unlicensed proselytizing and he is placed in the brig. When Garibaldi investigates his past, he discovers that Amis was a decorated combat veteran of the Earth–Minbari War. Garibaldi takes an interest in Amis, and asks him to explain his story. Amis explains that when his unit was attacking a remote enemy base, they came across a ghostlike alien that began feeding on his men.

The unexplained death of Will Cirrus and the pronouncements of Amis cause distress to the residents of the station. The two story lines merge when it is revealed that the creature that killed Amis' men and attacked him (leading to his current pronouncements) is the same creature who ate Will Cirrus. The creature is then destroyed by station personnel.

Cast

Regular

Guest

Arc significance

  • Z'ha'dum is mentioned as being a possible destination for the creature that attacked the station. A stylized depiction of the creature is also shown to be in the Book of G'Quan at the end of the episode.
  • Jumpgate technology was given to humans by the Centauri, in exchange for trade.
  • Garibaldi was a ground-pounder "Gropo" (see episode "Gropos") during the war.

Series themes

One of the major themes in Babylon 5 is the significance of dreams and visions. In this episode, several characters experience significant dreams. Amis dreams about the mission where his men were killed by the creature. Garibali reveals that he still has dreams about his time in the Earth-Minbari War. Mariah Cirrus has a dream about the creature aboard the ship.

Historical references

  • The Lord's Prayer - Amis tries to recite the Lord's Prayer, a significant prayer in Christianity, but fails to remember all of the words
  • Hail Mary - Amis also tries to recite a Hail Mary, a type of intercessional prayer
  • Matthew 7:17 - Amis paraphrases this verse, which reads "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit."
  • Air and Space Museum - Ivanova remarks that she first saw a cryogenic chamber in the Air and Space Museum, but does not specify which one
  • Sheridan references an "old Earth" saying that "where there's smoke, there's fire."
  • The exploration vessel the Copernicus is possibly named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the famous Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center.


External links

References

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ru:Из тьмы веков

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