'''Season 2, Episode 4:'''
!A Distant Star
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b5adistantstar_8367.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Two captains, one huge space station and [[MileLongShip one huge starship]].]]
->''An old friend of mine once quoted me an ancient Egyptian blessing: "God be between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk."''
--> --'''Captain John Sheridan'''
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The Explorer ship ''Cortez'' is about to make a supply stop, and the captain, Jack Maynard, has a specific destination in mind, and he sends a particular message. On Babylon 5, Sheridan gets a message addressed to "Swamprat," which he says is a long story. The jumpgate activates and the ''Cortez'' comes through, dwarfing everything around it. Ivanova announces that Sheridan's friend "Stinky" has arrived.

Once Maynard is aboard, he and Sheridan spend time catching up, Delenn comes up wanting to talk to Sheridan later. Maynard is surprised at her appearance, but Sheridan can't tell him much beyond what she has said.

Garibaldi is still recovering and Franklin decides he needs to change his diet to expedite his recovery. Garibaldi is dismayed as it's almost time for him to make his favorite meal, Bagna Cauda. He starts to describe it to the doctor, who cringes as he lists the ingredients, and forbids Garibaldi to make it.

In Sheridan's quarters he's recounting the things that happened since he arrived. Maynard is interested but he is surprised to find Sheridan in what is essentially a bureaucratic position. Sheridan says he can make a difference here, but it's still a desk job. Later he and Garibaldi are making rounds. Garibaldi is talking about some minor thefts which Sheridan dismisses impatiently, telling the chief he needs to take care of the details.

In Earhart's later, Sheridan and Maynard are swapping stories with Ivanova, Keffer and Zeta Squadron leader Galus. After a few humorous jibes at each other someone asks about stories of things living in hyperspace. Maynard mentions there is something out there. After they leave Sheridan asks about it. Maynard describes a time when he was in a shuttle and got separated from the ''Cortez'' and saw a dark shape that blocked the star behind it. When he looked again it had vanished. Sheridan notes that he's the second person to say there's something strange happening on the rim.

Meanwhile, Garibaldi meets with one of the dockers to see about getting the ingredients for Bagna Cauda on station, without letting Franklin know. Franklin is at that time putting Sheridan on a diet, to lose ten pounds.

Delenn is meeting with Teronn, another Minbari. He is asking why she made her change, voicing concern among the Minbari on station that she is no longer one of them. Delenn dismisses the claims and says she can't tell them anything more. Teronn is not satisfied and requests permission to send a missive to the Grey Council. She grants it and sends him off.

Ivanova is also put on a diet to help her ankle heal. She balks when she sees the plan, "I'll gain weight!" Franklin assures her it would only be temporary, and she quips, "Figures. All my life I've fought against imperialism. Now, suddenly I ''am'' the expanding Russian frontier." As she leave Franklin quietly adds, "But with very nice borders."

As Maynard prepares to leave, Sheridan wishes he could go along. He goes up to C&C and personally gives clearance for the ''Cortez'' to depart. Later in his office, Ivanova is informing him of a complaint one of the ambassadors has filed, insisting that only he can resolve it. Sheridan is fed up and begins ranting about everything, the troubles, the pettiness. Ivanova points out that it's not all that different from managing a crew, so there must be something else bothering him. He finally admits that he resents being turned into a bureaucrat.

The ''Cortez'' is in hyperspace when a fire suddenly erupts in their control system, throwing off their navigation, and rendering them unable to leave hyperspace. Eventually they are able to get off a distress signal, which Babylon 5 receives, and immediately orders all fighters to prepare for launch.

Meanwhile, Franklin is examining Delenn for any side-effects of her transformation. Attempting to deflect more personal probes she asks when the new delegation will arrive, the one Mr. Garibaldi is waiting for, Bagna Cauda. Franklin rolls his eyes in response.

In the launch bay, Sheridan and Ivanova are briefing the pilots. They are to form a chain from the jumpgate into hyperspace which the ''Cortez'' will follow to safety. It's risky but the pilots head off to their ships and into hyperspace after launching. They keep comms open hoping to hear a signal from the ''Cortez''. Finally, the last two fighters, Galus and Keffer, manage to locate the ship, but just as they do, one of the strange black ships appears and flies across their path, destroying Galus and damaging Keffer's fighter. He fires his weapons in a certain direction indicating which way the ''Cortez'' should go, but he himself seems doomed to be lost in hyperspace.

In C&C an alert goes off as the ''Cortez'' and the fighters, minus the two that were lost, jump back in. Later Sheridan is in the garden when Delenn comes up. She listens to him and offers comfort, assuring him that the Universe puts people in places where they can make a difference, and finally telling him a great secret:

-->Perhaps the greatest of all time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this station, and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are starstuff, we are the universe, made manifest, trying to figure itself out. As we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of perspective.

Back in hyperspace, Keffer has managed to repair his navigation system when the black ship reappears. He observes its trajectory and uses that to determine which way the beacon is. On the station, C&C has just shut down for the night when the gate opens and Keffer comes through requesting permission to dock. Sheridan jubilantly grants it.

Later in Earhart's, Keffer offers a toast to Commander Galus. Ivanova asks if he knows anything else about the object he saw. He doesn't, other than the feeling he had that something dark and dangerous had just gone by. He wants to know more, but with the loss of the squadron commander, Zeta Squad needs a new leader, and Ivanova names Keffer.

Garibaldi is in his quarters preparing the Bagna Cauda. Franklin, who had caught him red-handed with the ingredients earlier, is also there. Garibaldi told him about how his father used to make it every year on his birthday as a way of saying "I love you." Franklin is convinced to join him for the meal. The doctor is making disparaging remarks about its effect on their health, until he tastes it. Any thoughts of health are immediately forgotten.

Ivanova finds Sheridan in his office in much better spirits. His talk with Delenn has given him a new perspective and he's ready to tackle the day-to-day issues that come up with his usual good cheer.

!This episode contains examples of:
* AFriendInNeed: Somewhat downplayed; when the ''Cortez'' ends up lost in hyperspace, Sheridan can't leave the station himself, but he is determined to do all he can to save his friend Captain Maynard--even though no ship lost in hyperspace has ever returned before, and the method he plans to use is very risky. Nevertheless, he gives the order to send Zeta Squad...after which he insists on never leaving C&C until he knows the results of the mission, one way or the other. And while the ''Cortez'' is rescued and even Keffer makes it back eventually, the loss of Galus does weigh on Sheridan to some degree.
* BlackMarketProduce: Garibaldi goes to some lengths to acquire the ingredients for ''bagna cauda'' due to how far Babylon 5 is from Earth.
* CallBack: Garibaldi's still recovering [[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E22Chrysalis from being shot]] InTheBack. Ivanova's foot [[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E03TheGeometryOfShadows is still broken]][[note]]In this case, because Claudia Christian really had broken her foot[[/note]]. Both these plot points are referred to when Doctor Franklin hands out "food plans" to them.
* ContinuityNod:
** Keffer mentions a story printed some months back about [[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E08AndTheSkyFullOfStars something living in hyperspace]].
** Maynard is the [[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E02Revelations second person in a month]] to tell Sheridan that something strange was going on out on the Rim.
** "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E05TheParliamentOfDreams Understanding is not required, only obedience]]."
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The petty thieves are sentenced to community service... cleaning out the waste recycling plant.
* CoolStarship: Sure the ''Cortez'' might not be the prettiest ship you ever saw, but (1) it's huge and (2) it can build jumpgates!
* DietEpisode: Franklin takes the opportunity to put the entire command staff on one, much to their annoyance. Every single one of them is on a diet of something they hate and one of the others loves. At one point they try to swap plates, but Franklin catches them.
* DistressCall: From the ''Cortez'', after she suffers her accident in Hyperspace.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Finally averted in the opening sequence. The voiceover for this season is spoken by Bruce Boxleitner in-character as John Sheridan. However, when it was originally recorded, Boxleitner had nothing but the text to work from. When the footage was put together for the opening credits, Boxleitner asked to re-record the speech to better match the action on the screen, and to do it with more feeling. The improvement between the two takes in incredible. This is the first episode that includes the new take.
* ExplosiveInstrumentation: When the ''Cortez'' malfunctions after entering hyperspace, this happens in the background. [[WordOfGod This was done by the director despite JMS's desires]].
* GhostShip: Maynard's story about running into a mysterious black ship during a scouting mission (implied to be a Shadow vessel).
* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: This episode establishes this is true for the [=B5=] 'Verse. The ''Cortez'' suffers a catastrophic equipment failure, losing her navigation systems in the process. If she cannot find her way back onto one of the Hyperspace lanes, she will become endlessly lost in the eddies and currents of Hyperspace. To make it worse, when Zeta Squadron's fighters locate her, they run afoul of a large unidentified ship[[note]]A Shadow battlecrab[[/note]] passing through, destroying one and leaving the other similarly crippled and lost. Several discussions in this episode also center on whether or not something lives out there...
* InsistentTerminology: Doctor Franklin isn't putting the entire command staff on ''diets'', he's putting them on ''[[DistinctionWithoutADifference food plans]]''.
* MileLongShip: The EAS ''Cortez''.
* NoodleIncident: Several are mentioned.
** Sheridan's nickname "Swamprat", which he says is a long story. Possibly related to Maynard's nickname "Stinky".
** Maynard's leave on Mars involving a dancer, though we can probably guess on that.
** July 12, 2253.
* ShoutOut:
** Delenn's "we are starstuff" speech echoes themes touched upon by Creator/CarlSagan, especially in ''Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage''.
** The ''Cortez'' is an exploration ship returning from a [[Franchise/StarTrek five year mission]] exploring the Rim of known space. It even has ExplosiveInstrumentation! Fittingly enough, the scriptwriter wrote several of ''Star Trek's'' most famous episodes.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Maynard is named after the father of DC Fontana's childhood best friend.
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