Babylon 5: November 1994

The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind...the year the Great War came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
- Captain Sheridan

Season 2, entitled "The Coming of Shadows," started airing on November 2, 1994 with the episode "Points of Departure." Most of the same characters from Season 1 carry on, with a few new faces and others we don't see. One significant change this season is the change of the Station Commander from Commander Jeffrey Sinclair to Captain John Sheridan.

Plotline:
In Season 2, we see Sinclair be recalled to Minbar and Captain John Sheridan take over command of Babylon 5. We also discover what happens to Delenn--she transforms into a Human/Minbari hybrid. Londo makes a precarious agreement with a nefarious race called the Shadows, trying to restore the Centauri's former glory. G'Kar becomes more spiritual, and warns that the ancient race (Shadows) are now back, called into action by Londo. Garibaldi also has an assassination attempt on his life, and after he recovers, realized something is increasingly suspect with Earthforce, especially after the "accidental" death of President Santiago. Psi Cop Alfred Bester also makes an appearance, much to the chagrin of many staff on Babylon 5.

Characters:
[many thanks to The Lurker's Guide]

Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner)

The commander of Babylon 5 and representative of the Earth Alliance. One of Earth's few war heros, Sheridan scored the only major victory against the Minbari during the war, something which has earned him the hatred of the Minbari warrior caste. Generally jovial, occasionally serious, Sheridan was hand-picked by the President to replace Sinclair. Sheridan is still recovering from the loss of his wife Anna, who died on an alien archaeological dig. Most of his career has been spent aboard starships; he's still in the process of getting used to being the head of what is essentially a small city in space. Sheridan and Ivanova have served together in the past.

Commander Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian)

Second in command and in charge of the day-to-day operations of Babylon 5, Ivanova is an ambitious career officer. She can be quirky or pessimistic at times, but she has a dry sense of humor that shows itself in the rare moments she is able to relax among others. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and raised abroad on Earth, she has a strong dislike for the Psi-Corps, whose legally-mandated drug treatments drove her mother to suicide after it was discovered her mother was a latent telepath. Although she has become more comfortable with her job and her role on Babylon 5, she has a tendancy to bury herself in her work. Her promotion to Commander has given her new ambassadorial duties, which she finds extremely challenging.

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle)

In charge of security on Babylon 5. He has a troubled past, bouncing from position to position and trying to overcome alcoholism. He was picked by the station's first commander, Sinclair, who knew that Garibaldi would be persistent, not willing to give in to political pressures -- in Sinclair's words, "a pain in the a**." Garibaldi is something of a smart-aleck, always ready to crack a joke, but given to bouts of self-doubt and introspection when nobody's looking. His natural sense of paranoia wasn't reduced when he was shot in the back by his own second-in-command while trying to prevent the assassination of President Santiago; he recovered, but is now convinced that something is dreadfully wrong at the heart of the Earth Alliance.

Zack Allen (Jeff Conaway)

One of Garibaldi's lieutenants, Zack is earnest and trustworthy, if not necessarily the brightest person on the station. After the arrest of Garibaldi's old aide for attempted murder (cf. "Revelations,") Zack has risen to a new level of importance in Garibaldi's staff.

Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson)

Babylon 5's resident telepath, on her first solo assignment, with level 5 psi rating, bound by the rules and regulations of the Psi Corps. She sells her telepathic services to businessmen and occasionally assists the station personnel. Talia was raised and trained by the Psi Corps, meaning that that organization is her family. Last year, she was visited by an old teacher who had undergone a Psi Corps experiment. He altered her, giving her telekinetic abilities and possibly other powers as well. He also warned her of the changing nature of the Corps; she is now not entirely sure she trusts its motives.

Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman)

Lyta was Babylon 5's first commercial telepath, rating P5, in her early thirties or late twenties. She was transferred off the station shortly after examining Kosh, presumably due to her newfound knowledge of the Vorlons.

Alfred Bester (Walter Koenig)

A Psi-Cop, one of an elite unit of the Psi Corps whose function is to track down rogue telepaths, among other things. Perhaps in part because of his P12 psi rating -- more than twice as high as Talia's -- he seems to have risen to a position of some importance in the Corps. Bester ruthlessly pursues his agenda, which most of the time is the same as the Corps'.

Dr. Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs)

Dedicated and assured, a specialist in xenobiology (alien biology) and in charge of Medlab on Babylon 5. His background is mainly in experimental medicine, so his bedside manner is occasionally not what it should be. His strong sense of personal morality is at times in conflict with his duties as the chief medical provider for aliens from hundreds of worlds and cultures, some of whom view his obligations rather differently. In his middle thirties now, he spent years hitchhiking through space, offering his doctoral services in exchange for the opportunity to examine new life forms. Dr. Franklin is known to operate outside the rules when he feel the issue is important. He runs a free clinic in the Downbelow section for those who cannot afford medical care.

Ambassador Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik)

The representative of the Centauri Republic. Londo views Babylon 5's mission as something of a sham, with limited chance of helping his people regain their lost glory and sense of purpose. He has a biting, cynical sense of humor. Without realizing it at first, Londo has struck a bargain with the Shadows, who are working to advance his career and restore the Centauri to their past splendor, asking in return only the granting of an unspecified "favor" at some point in the future. It is a bargain he is already beginning to regret, but the restoration of his people means so much to him that he feels it's worth the price.

Vir Cotto (Stephen Furst)

Centauri assistant to Londo. Generally timid and unsure of himself, Vir occasionally works up the nerve to confront Londo about the dangerous path he's following by dealing with Morden.

Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan)

Represents the Minbari. A member of the Minbari ruling body, the Grey Council, she came to Babylon 5 posing as a simple ambassador to study humans after the discovery that some of them carry Minbari souls. She was offered the leadership of the Council but turned it down, instead returning to Babylon 5 to play a role in a prophecy involving a struggle between darkness and light. Once back, after consulting with the Vorlon ambassador, she used a mysterious device to transform herself into a bizarre half-Minbari, half-human hybrid. She claims she undertook the change to act as a bridge of understanding between humans and Minbari; whether that's the real reason or not, only she knows.

Lennier (Bill Mumy)

Delenn's aide, fresh out of a monastery on the Minbari homeworld. He reveres Delenn as an almost holy figure and accepts her transformation without question. Still something of an innocent thanks to his isolated upbringing, Lennier is slowly learning the ways of diplomacy.

Ambassador G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas)

Represents the Narn Regime. Though ambitious and often antagonistic, G'Kar is extremely spiritual, and his knowledge of ancient scripture has led him to realize that an ancient race has come back to help the Centauri rebuild their empire. He has even survived an attack on the shadows, but none in his own government or the Babylon 5 council believe him.

Na'Toth (Mary Kay Adams)

A female Narn, assistant to G'Kar. She is one of the few who he's told about his discovery that a new race (or rather, a very old race) is on the move. She is fiercely loyal to G'Kar, even if he's not ready to believe it at first. She prefers the direct approach rather than G'Kar's subterfuge and deception.

Ambassador Kosh Naranek (Ardwright Chamberlain/Jeffrey Willerth)

After a year and a half on the station, Kosh and his people are still an enigma. With the coming of the Shadows -- Kosh is one of the few who seem to know about them -- he has started attending council meetings, though his reasons for coming to Babylon 5 are still unknown. Kosh communicates through a complex sequence of musical tones, translated into English by a device on his encounter suit. When he speaks, his words are few and sound cryptic, but often have a strange truth to them. Kosh's quarters are filled with a dense atmosphere of methane and other gases; whether he needs it or is using it to make himself less accessible is an open question. Even when he's receiving visitors there, Kosh wears his suit.

Morden (Ed Wasser)

Little is known about the human agent of the Shadows. He is able to communicate with them directly, and is one of the few who know they've been on Babylon 5. Never a major player, he is always ready to talk to Londo and pass messages to and from his "associates." Delenn and G'Kar have met him, but only Delenn has any idea who he is. Morden is meticulously polite, but nonetheless is a menacing presence who can casually discuss the deaths of tens of thousands of Narn as easily as most people talk about the weather.