Column Babylon 5 Rewatch Babylon 5 Rewatch: Third Season Overview A look back at the highs and lows of the third season of Babylon 5. By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on August 25, 2025 Credit: Warner Bros. Television Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Television Babylon 5 Third SeasonOriginal air dates: November 1995 – October 1996Executive producers: Douglas Netter, J. Michael Straczynski It was the dawn of the third age… The season starts with the officers of B5 dealing with the growing threat of the Shadows. Aiding in that is the assignment to the station of a Minbari-Vorlon hybrid ship the White Star—which by season’s end proves to be the vanguard of a fleet of powerful ships that can form their own jump points and at least hold their own against the Shadows. The White Star proves to be a valuable asset against the Shadows, helping keep a Shadow vessel unearthed in the solar system out of EarthGov’s hands and also bringing the fight to the Shadows. They also learn from the Book of G’Quan that telepaths are a weapon against the Shadows. To that end, the Vorlons deliberately genetically engineered humans to develop telepathy and the Shadows are trying to use telepaths to counter that disadvantage. The Rangers are also now working more overtly, with a Ranger named Marcus Cole assigned to B5. The Rangers are the ones who learn how extensive the Shadows’ machinations are, setting nation against nation. Meantime, creeping fascism on Earth is causing more and more problems. NightWatch is upping their enforcement of the more draconian laws. Earth even sends a political officer to B5, though she’s recalled when our heroes publicize footage taken by the Great Machine of Clark admitting to being behind Santiago’s death. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Eventually, the EarthForce personnel who are working against Clark under General Hague are targeted, with Hague himself killed, while several colonies declare independence, and ISN is forced to go dark—only to come back as an obvious propaganda tool. There’s a showdown at B5 that only ends when Delenn shows up with some Minbari capital ships to support the station. This leads to B5 following the lead of those colonies and declaring independence. NightWatch is kicked off the station, with Narns loyal to G’Kar supplementing Garibaldi’s security staff. G’Kar himself continues to fight for his people, while staying on B5 where he has asylum, though the Centauri make several attempts to get him to leaver the station. He endeavors to make himself indispensable with the goal of being read in on the Army of Light, which Sheridan and Delenn only do after procrastinating, due to having to reveal to him that they knew the Shadows were behind the Centauri’s aggression against the Narn. G’Kar also works with Mollari to take down Refa—the one who ordered the mass drivers to attack the Narn homeworld. Mollari is fooled by Morden into thinking that Refa had Mollari’s lover Adira killed (it was really Morden who did it), which also leads to him renewing his association with the Shadows. He also banishes Vir to Minbar as Centauri ambassador, mostly so he doesn’t have to put up with Vir being his conscience. However, Vir works to save Narns from suffering, which causes him to be recalled. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Sinclair returns long enough to fulfill his destiny: going back in time with Babylon 4 to become Valen and win the first Shadow War with the aid of B4’s from-a-millennium-in-the-future technology. This also explains why all of Valen’s prophecies came true. (That same adventure also sees Sheridan go two decades into the future, where we learn that the final fate of Mollari and G’Kar isn’t quite what we thought it was from Mollari’s premonitions…) Sheridan and Delenn are able to build a coalition from what’s left of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to fight the Shadows. Sheridan even convinces Kosh to get the Vorlons to make an offensive strike against the Shadows, though the Shadows retaliate for this action by killing Kosh. These losses concern the Shadows enough that they pull Anna Sheridan out of the Shadow ship she’d been bonded with, attempt to reconstruct her personality, and send her to B5 to convince Sheridan to go to Z’ha’dum. However, while Sheridan does go to Z’ha’dum, he doesn’t buy the Shadows’ line, and uses the White Star and some heavy weapons to do significant damage to Z’ha’dum—and seemingly to die, as he’s last seen jumping into a very deep abyss. Sheridan’s visit to Z’ha’dum is simultaneous with the Shadows surrounding B5—but they retreat after Sheridan’s attack, though they do take a prisoner: Garibaldi. Favorite Get the hell out of our galaxy! From “Passing Through Gethsemane”: Sheridan says his faith is eclectic and open-minded. Theo says he’s rudderless, directionless, and cast adrift without a compass on an ocean of ecclesiastical possibilities. Which he says right before he puts Sheridan in checkmate. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Favorite Nothing’s the same anymore. From “War Without End, Part 2”: Sinclair turns out to be Minbari Jesus Valen. This goes a long way toward explaining why Valen’s prophecies tended to come true… Favorite Ivanova is God. From “Matters of Honor”: Ivanova already knew all about the Rangers and Sheridan, Delenn, and Garibaldi’s role with them. Sheridan is nonplussed to discover this, to which Ivanova says that he should start worrying when something happens on the station that she doesn’t know about. Favorite The household god of frustration. From “Dust to Dust”: After Bester pretends to still be telepathic in the interrogation of Van Troc, Garibaldi angrily confronts Bester about still being able to use his psi powers, because Garibaldi apparently skipped the class about how to conduct an interrogation in security school and didn’t realize that Bester was bullshitting Van Troc. Seriously, lying to the perp to get a response is Interrogation 101, and Garibaldi should know that, and the only reason he didn’t is because the script needs to let the viewer know that Bester is lying. It would’ve been much better—and not made Garibaldi out to be spectacularly incompetent at his job—if Garibaldi very reluctantly complimented Bester on his technique, especially since Van Troc couldn’t possibly have known that Bester was on sleepers. Favorite If you value your lives, be somewhere else. From “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”: Part of Delenn’s attempt to get Sheridan out of his funk is to discuss her search of the meaning of cranky, which led her to grouchy, which led her to crotchety. She expresses frustration with how words in English seem to just mean other words, plus she’s skeptical that “crotchety” even is a word. At one point, Sheridan shoots her a look, and she says, “Never mind—your face just broke the language barrier.” Credit: Warner Bros. Television Favorite In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… From “Dust to Dust”: Vir’s report is that the Minbari are a lovely people interested in culture and art, they have cities that are thousands of years old, and that they’re a deeply spiritual people. Mollari’s counter to this is that they are decadent and soft, out to impose their views on everyone else, and their lack of new construction is a sign of their faltering economy, and it may make them aggressive. However, he says Vir should leave in the part about how they’re deeply spiritual—it always scares people. Favorite Though it take a thousand years, we will be free. From “Ceremonies of Light and Dark”: G’Kar is too busy trying to continue to be indispensable to attend the rebirth ceremony. Besides which, he says, he was already born once, “and quite sufficiently, I think.” Favorite We live for the one, we die for the one. From “Grey 17 is Missing”: The Rangers were run by the Warrior Caste back when Valen formed them, but they disbanded some time after the first Shadow War. At one point, Cole gives the Rangers’ mission statement: “We walk in the dark places no others may enter. We stand on the bridge and no one may pass.” (One hopes they’re better at guarding bridges than this guy…) Favorite The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. From “Passing Through Gethsemane”: Alexander is, strictly speaking, a rogue, though the senior staff doesn’t turn her in to Psi Corps because Psi Corps is a bunch of big stinkies, and besides, they can use Alexander to do all kinds of unethical things now! Credit: Warner Bros. Television Favorite The Shadowy Vorlons. From “Z’ha’dum”: Justin and Morden spell out the history, at least from their perspective, of how the Vorlons and Shadows have guided and manipulated younger races for the last several hundred millennia. Favorite Looking ahead. From “War Without End, Part 2”: Delenn has a flashforward to her watching Sheridan sleep, only to be interrupted by a woman’s voice. This scene will come to pass in “Shadow Dancing.” We see the fullness of Mollari and G’Kar’s strangling of each other, first mentioned in “Midnight on the Firing Line” and foreseen by Mollari in “The Coming of Shadows.” We have previously been told that Sheridan will die if he goes to Z’ha’dum, so Delenn’s urging of Sheridan not to go to there is understandable, though if he’s still alive seventeen years hence, he obviously doesn’t die—exactly. This will all be explained in “Z’ha’dum” and the first several episodes of season four. The Keeper is of Drakh origin—we’ll see more of the Drakh in the future. Mollari’s acquisition of the Keeper will happen in very aptly titled season-five episode, “The Fall of Centauri Prime.” G’Kar will lose his left eye in “Falling Toward Apotheosis.” Favorite No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. From “Exogenesis”: At the end of the episode, Franklin tells Ivanova that Cole wants a second chance with her, which leads her to think that Cole is the one who left the flowers by her door. (Which was, of course, a lie by Corwin to cover that he brought flowers to a staff meeting.) Ivanova then tosses the flowers at Cole, saying, “Keep them.” Cole, naturally, thinks that Ivanova got the flowers for him, and believes that he has a chance with her again. Wheeee! Credit: Warner Bros. Television Favorite Welcome aboard. New recurring guests this season include Vaughn Armstrong as a never-named security guard, Jennifer Balgobin as Hobbs, Melissa Gilbert as Anna, Rance Howard as Sheridan’s Dad, Diana Morgan as a propaganda-drenched ISN anchor, Louis Turenne as Brother Theo (eschewing the Minbari makeup of Draal for the lack of makeup necessary for a human monk), and Tim Winters as Rathenn. Back for more are recurring guests Ardwight Chamberlain as the voice of Kosh (as well as another Vorlon, Alkesh, and the First Ones in “Voices of Authority”), Kent Broadhurst as Krantz, the magnificent Tim Choate as Zathras, Joshua Cox as Corwin, Maggie Egan as Jane the ISN anchor, William Forward as Refa, the great Walter Koenig as Bester, Damian London as a Centauri official, Gary McGurk as Clark, Michael O’Hare as Sinclair, Robin Sachs as Na’Kal, John Schuck as Draal, Patricia Tallman as Alexander, Marshall Teague as Ta’Lon, the great John Vickery as Neroon, and Ed Wasser as Morden. Some nifty one-off guests: Wayne Alexander (“And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”), Lewis Arquette (“Point of No Return”), Erick Avari (“And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”), Majel Barrett (“Point of No Return”), Thom Barry (“Grey 17 is Missing”), Ron Campbell, Jeff Corey ( both in “Z’ha’dum”), Brad Dourif (“Passing Through Gethsemane”), Robert Englund (“Grey 17 is Missing”), Erica Gimpel (“Walkabout”), Francois Giroday (“And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”), Matt Gottlieb (“Severed Dreams”), Dona Hardy (“A Late Delivery from Avalon”), Marva Hicks (“And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”), Michael Kagan (“A Late Delivery from Avalon”), Stephen Macht (“A Day in the Strife”), Kim Mayori, Bruce McGill (both in “Severed Dreams”), Aubrey Morris (“Exogenesis”), Phil Morris (“Severed Dreams”), Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow (“War Without End, Part 2”), Jim Norton (“Dust to Dust”), Tucker Smallwood, Kitty Swink (both in “Matters of Honor”), Cary-Horiyuki Tagawa (“Convictions”), Carmen Thomas (“Sic Transit Vir”), and Michael York (“A Late Delivery from Avalon”). But by far the best guest turn this year is by Mel Winkler, simply superb as Rev. William Dexter in “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place.” Favorite Trivial matters. Probably the one for “Sic Transit Vir,” mostly because I love being able to tell the story of Chiune Sugihara (as well as that of Oskar Schindler). Favorite The echoes of all of our conversations. From “Severed Dreams”: “This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection—withdraw or be destroyed.” “Negative, we have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ships.” “Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me—you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.” —Delenn having her crowning moment of awesome against EarthForce, and providing the source of the Minbari category in this rewatch. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The name of the place is Babylon 5. “If you go to Z’ha’dum, you will die.” Everything clicks very nicely into place in this third season, which is characterized by genuine progress and periodic setting of the status quo on fire. Ivanova’s opening voiceover for this year states that B5 has gone from the last, best hope for peace—at which it has failed, as there’s very little peace to be found in the galaxy at this point—to the last, best hope for victory. That is mainly due to B5 being the focal point of the coalition of people working for order against the chaos of the Shadows, particularly Sheridan and Delenn. It’s Sheridan who convinces Kosh to get the Vorlons to be more overt, which not only scores a major victory against the Shadows, but helps in recruiting people to the Army of Light. It’s Delenn who provides the White Star fleet, a major offensive weapon. But they’re not working alone. G’Kar and the Narns on the station provide needed assistance in keeping the station secure. Garibaldi is the one who figures out that telepaths are the best weapon to be used against the Shadows, and Alexander is the one who tests that theory. Even Bester, of all people, gets into the act, as he views the Shadows as impediments to his own ambitions, so he is willing to work with our heroes to deal a body blow to the Shadows’ plans by retrieving the telepaths they kidnapped. So many well-done storylines here. The NightWatch and Clark Administration plotlines that dominated the early half of the season are particularly striking to watch in 2025, and in general, writer/executive producer J. Michael Straczynski expertly shows the creeping fascism, from Kitty Swink’s senator in “Matters of Honor” to Vaughn Armstrong’s NightWatch toady in “Messages from Earth” and “Point of No Return” to Diana Morgan’s propaganda-spewing ISN anchor in “Ship of Tears.” Indeed, the NightWatch plot’s only misstep is the kidnapping of Delenn in “Ceremonies of Light and Dark.” Of particular note is Jeff Conaway’s Zack Allan, newly promoted to the opening credits this season, who is caught betwixt and between, not important enough to be read in on the Army of Light’s secret missions but also of sufficient unimportance to be used as a tool by EarthGov and NightWatch. The season’s back half is dominated by the war against the Shadows, and that too is a thrill-ride, with everything building to Sheridan’s fateful trip to Z’ha’dum. Of course, the best part is, as always the Centauri-Narn conflict in general and the Mollari-G’Kar dynamic in particular. The latter two go through quite a bit, from being trapped in a transport tube in “Convictions” to the futile attempt to replace him as the Narns’ representative in “A Day in the Strife” to G’Kar’s temporary telepathy giving him brutal insights into Mollari in “Dust to Dust” to the pair actually working together to kill Refa in “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place.” But the best is the brilliant revelation of their future in “War Without End, Part 2,” a masterpiece of unexpected foreshadowing. While much of the acting this season is excellent—a far cry from the first season’s parade of wooden performances from both regulars and guests—the thespic glue that holds it all together is Bruce Boxleitner. An ensemble only works with a charismatic lead, and Boxleitner has the perfect mix of determination, tactical acumen, friendliness, openness to change, and stubbornness that a leader needs. Sheridan goes through a helluva lot in this season, particularly in its final few episodes, and Boxleitner nails every nuance, every emotion, and every line of dialogue. In “Z’ha’dum,” Justin calls him a nexus, and it very much feels like it. The season is not perfect. Franklin’s addiction and recovery arc could charitably described as uninteresting, and I rewatched this season thinking that I would’ve been happy if his resignation in “Interludes and Examinations” was the last time we saw the character. And in general, the season—written entirely by Straczynski—has wildly inconsistent writing, with periodic bits of clunky exposition (e.g., several times in “Dust to Dust”), weak attempts at humor (“Ceremonies of Light and Dark,” “War Without End, Part 1”), and the occasional doofy-ass plotline (the titular portion of “Grey 17 is Missing”). Still, when he’s on, Straczynski can definitely bring it, from the nicely nuanced EarthGov official played by Tucker Smallwood in “Matters of Honor” to Sheridan’s powerful speech announcing their independence from Earth in “Severed Dreams” to Justin’s almost-reasonable-sounding description of the Shadows’ MO in “Z’ha’dum,” as well as G’Kar’s closing voiceover in that episode. Best of all is one of the series’ best episodes, “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place,” which is a masterpiece by Straczynski: From the friendly-abuse banter between Louis Turenne’s Theo and Mel Winkler’s Dexter to Mollari’s holographic verbal evisceration of Refa before setting the Narn on him to the magnificent late-night conversation between Dexter and Sheridan to Dexter’s powerful sermon to that stunning climax intercutting the gospel singing with Refa’s murder. The season builds beautifully to the climax of “Z’ha’dum,” and leaves you really really really wanting to know what’ll happen next, with Sheridan having seemingly jumped to his doom, with Garibaldi missing, and with nobody knowing quite what will happen with the Shadows now… Next week: We’re taking the week off for Labor Day and for your humble rewatcher to go to Dragon Con 2025. In two weeks, we’ll kick off season four with a look at “The Hour of the Wolf.”[end-mark] The post <i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: Third Season Overview appeared first on Reactor.

With the rise of social media and a population hungry for the truth, the YouTube and podcast industry has been growing exponentially. We see many conservative male thought leaders dominating the top charts and continuing to impact the next generation. Think Charlie Kirk, Tucker Carlson, The Nelk Boys, Matt Walsh, and even Joe Rogan.   My question is: Who is reaching the young women?   We saw a historic voter shift in the conservative direction, but the ladies are behind! Yes, there are conservative female podcasters out there who touch on a variety of topics, but they seem to be more niche-driven or have something missing. Of course, they all mix to diversify their audiences, but who is out there trying to compete with podcasts like Call Her Daddy and working to fill the void of the lack of female-focused podcasters for conservative women?   Looking forward to 2028 and beyond we need to make a conscious effort to reach out to young women in a relatable way!  New in the podcast scene—but not new in the political world—is Katie Miller, who just launched “The Katie Miller Podcast.” If you don’t know Katie yet you will now! The 33-year-old mom of three stepped away from her full-time job as communications aide to Elon Musk under DOGE to begin this new journey. This venture marks Miller’s transition from aide and adviser roles into media entrepreneurship. Her husband, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, is not only supportive but also pitching in with guest bookings.   Fun fact: They met while working in the White House!  Today, I’m launching the Katie Miller Podcast. As a mom of three young kids, who eats healthy, goes to the gym, works full time I know there isn’t a podcast for women like myself. Hope you’ll join me. pic.twitter.com/bmbfNofapx— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) August 7, 2025 We have seen many impressive women—especially in the Trump administration—who are making impact in our culture while being mothers. Katie is great example of this seemingly “having it all!” Stepping away from a highly-demanding job and transitioning to media I see as an incredible way to be more present and at home with your children while still cultivating impact. Her goal through this new podcast is to reach conservative women, especially mothers balancing family, careers, wellness, and lifestyle. Miller positions it as filling an underserved space in online media.   Katie expressed that “For years I’ve seen that there isn’t a place for conservative women to gather online.” and “I wanted to create that space, where we have real, honest conversations with people across the political spectrum and across the world.” Shifting the focus toward relatable topics like health, motherhood, and cultural trends, Miller hopes to influence and engage conservative female audiences, potentially shaping broader cultural and political narratives. It doesn’t all have to be about politics. In order to shape and change culture we have to go to the culture.  Her first episode featured none other than the Vice President of the United States JD Vance discussing almost everything but politics! This is what I love to see! We need more humanizing and relatability, especially from our leaders. Vance offered a slice of what parenting is like when you are vice president and expressed how he prioritizes a couple hours a day dedicated to his family despite his demanding position. VP Vance sits down on the Katie Miller podcast to talk about life as the Vice President with small kids. Watch the full episode below ?? pic.twitter.com/57T2SRZ90k— Vice President JD Vance (@VP) August 11, 2025 Peeling back the onion layers, Vance gave us a glimpse into his parenting strategy. Katie asked the vice president, “How do you handle a child’s tantrum in public?” He detailed a story that in airports, people will go up to his wife Usha praising her for her patience and reasoning with their children. Vance stated, “I immediately grab them, take them to the bathroom and say, ‘ You’ve got to cut this s— out.’”   It’s so fun to see Vance open and able to share candidly what tougher situations look like, especially when you have cameras on you at all times.  It was a personal and lighthearted interview with many laughs. He even mentioned that he and Usha, enjoy watching the HBO show “The Guilded Age.” One of my favorite pieces was when he said he’d invite “Issac Newton, Donald Trump, and Abraham Lincoln” to dinner.  My top three all-time dinner guests?Watch the full podcast with @KatieMiller: https://t.co/Qb41cxxl3o pic.twitter.com/uyqeBtWmC9— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 11, 2025 Throughout Katie kept the conversation far from the weeds of policy, instead leaning into culture, lifestyle, and personality. It’s exactly the space she’s carving out where parenthood, career ambitions, wellness, and entertainment take center stage over partisan sparring. Her second episode, with former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele, dropped last week. Coming up she has more star-studded guests, including legendary boxer Mike Tyson. Who is someone you would like to see Katie interview on her podcast?  I am personally very excited to see more guests speak candidly and have fun on a show that’s not overtly political but directed to female culture issues—adding in the relatability that I think is necessary to continue the conservative shift. Many others share this mission, including Problematic Women, a weekly podcast that checks the pulse on politics and pop culture with The Daily Signal.   Maybe we will get Katie on the show soon and chat all about the culture shifts happening with young women!   We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.  The post Welcoming a Young Conservative Female Voice: ‘The Katie Miller Podcast’ Debuts appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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