Column Babylon 5 Rewatch Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Strange Relations” Bester arrives at the station to arrest the Downbelow telepaths… By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on April 7, 2026 Credit: Warner Bros. Television Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Television “Strange Relations”Written by J. Michael StraczynskiDirected by John C. Flinn IIISeason 5, Episode 6Production episode 507Original air date: February 25, 1998 It was the dawn of the third age… Delenn speaks to Lochley on the subject of her past relationship with Sheridan. Specifics are not mentioned, but Lochley asks Delenn to keep this revelation secret, to which she agrees. Garibaldi, however, overhears the conversation. Allan informs Mollari that the ship that is taking him to Centauri Prime is coming through the jumpgate. Allan is surprised at how down-in-the-mouth Mollari is about his impending emperor-hood. One of the erstwhile ambassador’s regrets is that he’ll probably never return to B5, except maybe for an official function or two. Unfortunately, there’s an accident in the docking port involving a ship that doesn’t give control to CnC and crashing into the dock wall. Ships are stuck waiting outside the station until repairs are made, including the Centauri ship and a Psi Corps vessel. Franklin walks in on Alexander purloining medical supplies for the telepath colony. It’s all stuff Franklin can spare, and so he lets her take it on the condition that next time she ask first. Franklin is then approached by Delenn and G’Kar to research and collate medical information on all the IA species, which Franklin jumps at the chance to do. Alexander takes the supplies to a grateful Byron. When she urges Byron himself to take some of the vitamins, and also get some rest, he tries and fails to distract her with a stupid parable. Then all the telepaths get squirrelly, because they sense the presence of Psi Corps bloodhounds. A guard comes into the security office looking for Allan, but only finds Garibaldi, who is also waiting for Allan. Reluctantly, the guard gives Garibaldi the message: Bester is on board. Garibaldi immediately storms to the captain’s office to find Lochley and Bester having a pleasant conversation over tea. Before Garibaldi can beat the shit out of Bester, Lochley has him arrested. Sheridan is not thrilled at Bester’s arrival nor at Garibaldi’s being detained, but Lochley stands by her actions. Psi Corps has every right to be here, by dint of the very sovereignty the IA promised all its member worlds. Sheridan reluctantly agrees but also makes it clear that Byron’s gaggle has been granted asylum, and instructs Lochley not to let Bester take them. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The Centauri ship is on a schedule and can’t wait for the dock to be fixed to pick up Mollari. Corwin says he’ll pass on their regrets to the future emperor. Then, as soon as the Centauri ship sends a signal to the jumpgate, it explodes. Allan’s people investigate, and discover that the bomb was tied to the navigation system—specifically to go off when the ship was heading back to Centauri Prime. This indicates that the target of whoever planted it was someone who was bound for Centauri Prime on that ship from B5. The most obvious target would be Mollari. Alexander manages to block Bester and his bloodhounds (totally the name of my next band) physically, telepathically, and telekinetically. Bester suspects that she can’t do that forever or against a larger group of people, but he retreats for the time being. Alexander then urges Byron to scatter his people about the station. Lochley confronts Garibaldi in detention. She explains why she was so chummy with Bester: he stopped a rogue telepath who was murdering people on a base she commanded. She doesn’t trust him or Psi Corps, either, but she is grateful to him and, again, he has a right to be there. Garibaldi finally admits that he is suspicious of her because he doesn’t know why Sheridan chose her, especially since she seemed to be on the other side of the civil war. Lochley finally explains it while the cameras are rolling: she and Sheridan were married for about seven-and-a-half seconds after EarthForce training. They split amicably. Sheridan wanted the symbol of someone on the other side of the civil war, but also wanted someone he could trust. Garibaldi then asks to be let out, and Lochley refuses for the moment. Then Allan contacts her, saying Bester has started rounding up the telepaths. Alexander is frustrated by the telepaths being rounded up, while Lochley is frustrated by Bester doing everything by the book and therefore giving her no in to keep the telepaths on the station. Byron insists on allowing himself to be captured, as he doesn’t want to abandon his people, even though Alexander offers to protect him. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Franklin informs Lochley of the new task the IA wants him to perform, which means he’ll need to reduce his time in medlab. Lochley approves, saying Hobbs can pick up the slack. His mention of quarantine procedures gives the captain an idea. She informs Bester, pseudo-reluctantly, that due to quarantine regulations, the telepaths need to stay on B5 for another 60 days. After that, Bester can have them. Bester is not at all happy about this, but accedes, provided Lochley puts this all in writing. Delenn and G’Kar discuss the assassination attempt on Mollari, and they agree that Mollari will need a bodyguard on Centauri Prime—someone they can trust. To G’Kar’s horror, Delenn suggests G’Kar himself be that bodyguard. To his greater horror, he realizes that he’s the right person for the job. To Mollari’s even greater horror, he agrees to it, agreeing that the symbolism is entertaining. They head off to another transport—this one presumably bomb-free—and argue over the seating arrangements. Corwin commends Lochley on her handling of the telepaths. Belatedly, Lochley remembers that she hasn’t freed Garibaldi yet… Alexander joins the telepaths in a singalong that isn’t at all creepy and cult-like, taking care to remove her Psi Corps badge before doing so. Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan very obviously really really hates that he can’t just kick Bester off the station. Never work with your ex. Lochley actually follows the rules and is pretty much the only grownup in the story. The household god of frustration. Garibaldi gets thrown in jail for being a doofus. And deserves it. If you value your lives, be somewhere else. Delenn comes up with the hilariously brilliant idea of G’Kar being Mollari’s bodyguard, which is completely hilariously brilliant. In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Mollari’s not even emperor yet, and he’s already had an assassination attempt. You have to admire the efficiency. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free. After spending pretty much his entire time on the station wanting Mollari dead, G’Kar is now tasked with keeping him alive. Like I said, hilariously brilliant. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. Byron’s telepaths are fugitives from Earth, which means Earth gets to arrest them by the terms of their membership in the IA. Sheridan probably should’ve checked to make sure they weren’t fugitives before granting them asylum… Looking ahead. Bester hints at Byron’s rather nasty past, which will be revealed before too long. No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Sheridan and Lochley were married. They split up when they realized that they both wanted to be in control too much. Welcome aboard. It’s recurring regular theatre! Back from “Rising Star” is Walter Koenig as Bester; he’ll return in “A Tragedy of Telepaths.” Back from “A View from the Gallery” are Robin Atkin Downes as Byron and Joshua Cox as Corwin. Down will return next time in “Secrets of the Soul,” while Cox will be back in “Day of the Dead.” Trivial matters. The details of what Bester did to Garibaldi were spelled out in “The Face of the Enemy.” Though they are not seen, both Connoly, the head of the dockworkers union whom we saw in “By Any Means Necessary,” and Hobbs, the deputy chief medical officer who ran medlab while Franklin was on walkabout, whom we saw in “Interludes and Examinations” and “Walkabout,” are mentioned as still doing their jobs. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the song the telepaths sing at the end. The echoes of all of our conversations. “I have an obligation to be courteous.” “And I have an obligation to shove his face through a bulkhead.” “Your hobbies are your concern, Mr. Garibaldi.” —Lochley and Garibaldi discussing Bester. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The name of the place is Babylon 5. “I’m caught in a web of my own good intentions.” This should be a much better episode than it is, and while two of the reasons why it isn’t are ones I’ve mentioned before since we started in on season five—the severe limitations of Robin Atkin Downes and Tracy Scoggins—they’re far from the only ones. Let’s start with this: two entire ships are blown to pieces and the only manner in which either of these are discussed are (a) how it affects the traffic on the station because of the dock damage, and (b) what it means for Mollari’s safety going forward. The fact that two shipsful of people are dead never once is even mentioned. The deaths of dozens of people is an abstraction at best, and it’s revolting. Next is the out-of-left-field revelation that Lochley and Sheridan were married. First off, there was no kind of indication or hint previously, even in scenes with just the two of them. Secondly, Sheridan supposedly chose Lochley because she’s a symbol of unity, a person on Clark’s side of the civil war working with Sheridan. Except she’s moved heaven and earth to keep the fact that she was on Clark’s side a secret for the past several episodes (and who can blame her, as Clark was a fucking war criminal), so not really that effective a symbol now, is it? The moment where the fifth season lost me completely the first time I watched the show twenty-six years ago was the end of this episode, when Alexander joins the cringey singalong. I swear, I remembered them actually singing “Kumbaya,” which they obviously didn’t sing, but it was in the same vein and was just awful. Given what eventually happened with these telepaths, having them come across as creepy kinda works, but the execution of the scene was, well, not great. Ditto the latest in a series of Lochley-Garibaldi dialogues that just fall flat thanks to Scoggins’ inability to convey human emotion. As usual, it’s left to Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik to provide the episode’s only watchable moments, though even their scenes are muted and not all that, especially since they’re overshadowed by the total lack of concern for the shipful of people who died on the Centauri transport. Even Walter Koenig’s magnificently slimy Bester can’t salvage this. Next week: “Secrets of the Soul.”[end-mark] The post <i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “Strange Relations” appeared first on Reactor.