Exogenesis
- Marcus: All we need is one of them to leave the room. Then there will be only one man with the gun.Franklin: Excuse me, where I come from, one man from three leaves two.Marcus: Where I come from is a far more interesting place.
A pair of humans have come to the station to infect lurkers with insectoid creatures, but one of them dies in the process, while Sheridan and Ivanova discuss whether or not to include the newly-promoted Lt. Corwin in their plans. The captain asks her to meet with Corwin and feel him out.
Meanwhile, Marcus finds a friend of his, Duncan, in the Bazaar. Duncan is sick, but refuses to see a doctor, despite Marcus' urging.
In Medlab, Franklin autopsies the body from earlier, finding evidence of a parasitic infection.
Marcus tries to determine why some of his contacts no longer wish to work with him, but gets no answers, as the pair from before put another of the creatures into Duncan. Franklin discovers that the parasite is able to exist in any lifeform, and begins trying to find out where they came from.
Ivanova invites Corwin to her quarters and, while somewhat apprehensive, he accepts. Unsure of what exactly he's in for, he tries to buy some flowers. She's flattered, but he's too embarrassed to admit he brought them himself. They talk for a while, and Ivanova asks him how he feels about bending the rules, or doing what's right even if he's ordered not to. Corwin believes the chain of command must be followed and would report anyone who is working against their superiors. Ivanova thanks him and lets him go.
Marcus finds Duncan has gone missing but is unable to get any help from Garibaldi, but does eventually manage to convince Franklin to help him. They manage to get themselves captured by the hosts of the creatures. Duncan comes and talks to them, explaining that he's one of the Vindrizi, that they don't mean any harm, but Marcus and Franklin are both skeptical. When they have a moment to themselves Marcus asks why Ivanova's so cold with him, much to Franklin's annoyance and confusion. Then the Vindrizi take Franklin to treat one of their hosts, and Marcus takes the opportunity to escape. He tries to call for help but he's trying on Franklin's comlink, which won't allow an unauthorized user. It does notify security, however.
Marcus charges in to where the Vindrizi have Franklin, threatening them unless they let them go, but Duncan tries to convince him not to. He explains that the Vindrizi hold memories from over a hundred thousand years, and that they take hosts from those who are dying to give them a new lease on life. Marcus isn't convinced and the creature inside Duncan exits him. Duncan laments losing it, and forgetting the memories it held, but Franklin is now convinced, though he wants approval over future hosts and their consent as well.
Duncan leaves the station to see some of the things the Vindrizi showed him, while Franklin finds they were being truthful about their plans. He also mentions that Marcus was asking about Ivanova and thinks she should give him another chance. She figures that must be it, and runs off. She finds Marcus and shoves the flowers at him, yelling, "Keep them!" Marcus is quite surprised and begins to think there's hope for them after all.
This episode contains examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch: The episode is made to look like a classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers plot at first, but the intention of the Vindrizi is benevolent and the possession voluntary.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Ivanova reacts rather strongly when she thinks Marcus is trying to come on to her.
- Brick Joke: Corwin arrives in Ivanova's quarters with roses in hand (that he bought for 40 credits). When Ivanova was initially glib about them, Corwin claims that he just found them by the door and has no idea who left them there (and he looks absolutely crestfallen). At the end of the episode, Ivanova concludes that the roses are from Marcus, so she barges towards him and gives them "back" to him. Which then dovetails with another Brick Joke of Marcus wondering if she might be able to be interested in him and her (as far as he knows) giving him roses gives him hope she might.
- Continuity Nod:
- Among the drugs the lurker was taking was Dust.
- Ivanova's invitation to Corwin over to her quarters involves coffee, which Ivanova tells Corwin not to ask her where she got it from.
- Crazy Homeless People: How the Lurkers are regarded by mostly everyone on Babylon 5 (even Garibaldi). Which is why the Vindrizi chose them...and which is why Marcus suspects that things are not what they seem because if the Vindrizi are indeed trying to take over the station, it's odd that they'd go after Lurkers who're not in any position of power.
- Drugs Are Bad: The Lurker who died was a drug user, which caused melding with a Vindrizi to be fatal.
- Exact Words:
- Garibaldi suggests that if Marcus thinks there is something wrong with his friend, he should find a doctor. Which isn't quite the same as saying that Marcus should seek out Doctor Franklin.
- Marcus convinces Franklin to open the door to Duncan's quarters. Franklin opens the door but says that he can't just walk in unless there's a legitimate emergency. As soon as the door opens, Marcus barges in, pointing out that while Franklin can't just come in, he can.
- Foreshadowing:
- Marcus' contact tells him a package should be here in about a week. We find out what, or rather who, it is in the next episode.
- Ranger One aka "Entil'zha" is referenced for the first time. We find out who it is later
- The Centauri are gathering more forces near Centauri space. We're not told what they're doing, but later episodes show that they are stirring up trouble among the League worlds and encouraging chaos, using fear of Centauri aggression as a catalyst.
- Gilligan Cut: In the cold open during the toast for newly promoted Lt. Corwin, Doctor Franklin's toast is "May tomorrow be as quiet and ordinary as today. Cut to a scene of the Vindrizi violently entering a poor Lurker's body.
- Not a Date: Ivanova invites Corwin to her quarters for some coffee. He initially thinks she's coming on to him, and isn't sure what to do about it.
- Old Shame: JMS apologizes, in his scriptbooks, for the latter half of this episode...he screwed up. Basically, he wrote half of it down, did something else...and realized he'd lost the finale. When he tried to recover it...he screwed up.
- Photographic Memory: The Vindrizi remember things all the way back to 100,000 years ago.
- Poor Communication Kills: The Vindrizi certainly don't do much to give the impression that they're not evil.
- Puppeteer Parasite: The Vindrizi take on Lurkers and other forgotten people as hosts, but they are not controlling them, as Franklin and Marcus eventually learn.
- Schmuck Bait:
- Marcus escapes his jailer by pretending that his collapsible pike is some sort of medical scanner, and that you activate it by staring down the hole at the end. Pow.
- Later, he takes out a guard by bouncing a tennis ball on the wall, using the guard's curiosity to check it out to hit him with the Minbari pike.
- The Scottish Trope: Marcus quotes several Shakespeare plays, and when he quotes Macbeth, he substitutes his own name for the title character's, and goes as far as to refer to the play as The Scottish Play. Notably, this was before an incident on set where a hair dresser mentioned the play around Michael York, who made her go through various rituals to reverse the curse she'd unwittingly drawn down on everyone.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: The normally mangy and unkempt Lurkers are these, as shown by the Vindrizi hosts Jacque Lee, Matthew Duffin, and especially Samuel
. - Shout-Out: The visual design of the spine creatures is a very clear homage to the old Vincent Price movie The Tingler.
- Skewed Priorities: Marcus and Franklin are being held prisoner by the Vindrizi, and Marcus wants to know more about Ivanova. Lampshaded by Franklin.
- Transferable Memory: The Vindrizi are able to share their memories with their hosts.
- Tuckerization: The two Red Shirts in the opening scene are named after fans that won a contest.
