Overall: 8.3
Sucks to be Garibaldi. And also? I hate to say it, but Bester is a little bit awesome.
Plot Synopsis:
The Lurker's Guide covers the details here.
The Skinny:
I think I've said this before, but allow me to reiterate: Bester is a great character. His motivation is always 100% consistent: Protect my telepaths at all costs. And notice the use of the possessive there. Bester considers every telepath to be, in some sense, his child (or his pet if you feel like putting a less sympathetic spin on it). The trouble with that attitude is this: it leaves no room for personal freedom. Bester is, in essence, babying grown adults. He's so concerned with preserving his "species" that he doesn't allow his fellows to make their own choices. This, folks, is a necessary consequence of any collectively-oriented worldview.
Of course, JMS is very careful. He makes sure that Bester's fascism comes from something real. When you have people like William Edgars waiting in the wings to murder and/or enslave you and your fellow telepaths, it's not exactly irrational to circle the wagons and enforce a tyrannical group pride. To use a real world analogy, I understand why groups like the Black Panthers came into existence. It's a natural human response to lash out when you are a persecuted minority. Breaking the cycle of hate and building bridges, on the other hand? That is the unusual choice.
But enough about Edgars and Bester, who are two sides of the same hateful coin. Let's talk about Garibaldi. Ah, poor Garibaldi. I can definitely see why he hits the bottle next season. How would you feel if you were forced to betray a friend against your will? Pretty crappy, I'd wager -- especially if your other friends are anything like Ivanova (whose vengeful "shoot him on sight!" reaction to the news of Sheridan's capture is very much in character, but also exquisitely painful). I think the only thing that really holds this plot back is the fact that Jerry Doyle is only a so-so performer. But that's a perennial issue for this series.
Writing: 9.0
Granted -- Bester's Evil Monologue of Evil is the mother of all exposition dumps. However, I'm willing to be forgiving because 1) Garibaldi's predicament is interesting, and 2) the tension JMS is exploring between the telepath population and the normal population is also pretty compelling. (It's just a shame that JMS ultimately fails to capitalize on the latter. Of course, that's a discussion for the fifth season.)
Acting: 8.0
The acting is generally solid, though there are disappointing moments here and there. Number One, for example, didn't impress me at all, and Jerry Doyle, as I said, could've been better.
Message: 8.0
It gives me a slightly queasy feeling to have to take Bester's side on this, but yeah -- telepath genocide = bad.
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