Michael Garibaldi's Motorcycle

The first season episode "Eyes," written by Larry DiTillio, transports us to Babylon 5 in the year 2258. Aboard this space station, where people of all species and planets can learn to like and respect different beliefs and ways of life than their own, disagreements often give way to violence. An air of tension and turmoil remains a constant inhabitant, given the need for everyone to get along with people who look different, who act different, who hold different values, and who belong to a nation or culture that may have wronged another people or planet in the past. This uneasy peace often gives way to out-and-out rioting, whenever news of some outrage--a politician's unfortunate statement, a military incursion, whatever--reaches the space station. Still, the space station remains a melting pot of culture and ideas, and many see this process--this constant proximity and interaction--as essential to promoting universal peace.

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi,
played by actor Jerry Doyle

No one wants peaceful coexistence more than Michael Garibaldi. As the Security Chief, it's his job to ensure the harmonious operation of Babylon 5. Yet in "Eyes," we learn what he does in his off-time. He's got a project he's working on: rebuilding a 1990s era Kawasaki motorcycle. We never learn why he decided to build an old gas-powered motorcycle while living on a space station, but he's gradually tracked down all the parts, and won a manual in a card game. Unfortunately, the manual is written in Japanese. Thus, it's fortunate for him that Lennier, the assistant to Minbari Ambassador Delenn, enjoys studying other cultures, learning new languages, and putting things together.

Minbari aide Lennier, played by Bill Mumy,
who in earlier days played young Will Robinson
in the TV series Lost In Space

Garibaldi's Kawasaki isn't the central story in this episode. As events unfold, we learn that Commander Jeffrey Sinclair's command of Babylon 5 is under attack from an Earth inspector who believes he should be running the space station instead. Naturally Sinclair's friend and right-hand man Michael Garibaldi gets swept up in these events. While Garibaldi accepts Lennier's offer, and grants him access to his quarters, he doesn't believe that the Minbari aide will make much progress in his absence.

Thankfully, the Commander is able to fight off the inspector's attacks, and retain command of Babylon 5. And when the dust has settled from this latest conflict--ironically one solely between humans--Garibaldi returns to his quarters to find that Lennier has not only assembled his motorcycle in his absence, but replaced the gas-powered engine with a Minbari propulsion system. At first Garibaldi is miffed, as he had looked forward to the conquering his seemingly impossible project, but then he accepts Lennier's tremendous gift of assistance and friendship gracefully, and takes him on a two-wheel tour of the mammoth space station. As Commander Jeff Sinclair and Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova watch them ride past, with the Earth inspector banished, they reflect on how nice it is that things on Babylon 5 have gotten back to normal.

Garibaldi, Lennier, and the completed Kawasaki motorcycle

"Eyes" is a wonderful episode, revealing all the rivalry and hatred Humans can bear toward each other, but also filled with the love and the desire to embrace the different that made J. Michael Straczynski's series so important to TV history. DiTillio's story also seems to have inspired those authors who wrote Babylon 5 novels. John Vornholt references DiTillio's character, Psi Corps agent John Harriman, in his novels. In The Touch of Your Shadow, the Whisper of Your Name, Neal Barrett Jr. has a religious motorcycle gang riding nuclear-powered Harley Davidsons through the station. They identify with Michael Garibaldi, as he's a fellow biker, and get the humorous idea that Susan Ivanova is his moll. Lots of fun!

The influence of "Eyes" seems surprising, if not downright strange, given how many more episodes contained significant plot elements, and portrayed events that generated higher stakes for those living on the space station and other planets. It is a quieter, more personal story, rather than one of the major foundation-stone episodes that significantly impacted the overarching stories behind the series. But sometimes it's those smaller-scale, quieter, more personal stories that linger in the mind, and prove more memorable and important to you later on, don't you think?

Dragon Dave

Susan Ivanova on Aliens & Chamber Pots

Anyone who has ever traveled, and suffered disturbed sleep patterns as a result, can understand what the people in Neal Barrett, Jr's novel are going through. In The Touch of Your Shadow, the Whisper of Your Name, something is inflicting nightmares upon everyone aboard the space station. And I do mean everyone: all 250,000 inhabitants of the great Babylon 5 station, the universe's best hope for peace.

The nightmares, and consequent lack-of-sleep, don't create a lot of peace on the space station. Quite the reverse. All our little demons--the things about others that bother us, all our fears of suffering pain, loss, and failing those we care about--that we push to the back of our minds when we're properly rested, now force their ugly selves to the forefront. No one proves immune to these disturbing nightmares, and consequent sleepless nights. Not even the beautiful and resourceful Susan Ivanova. 

Actress Claudia Christian as Commander Susan Ivanova

For all her wit, charm, and understanding of human frailties, she suffers from her own inner demons. Chief among these are her mother's death, caused by the powerful drugs forced upon her when she refused to join Psi Corps. More than most, she knows the intimacy afforded those with telepathic abilities. So in the episode "Eyes," when Harriman Gray, a PsiCorps telepath, arrives on Babylon 5, she tells him in no uncertain terms that if he dares to peer inside her mind, she will relieve his body of his head, and use the unnecessary article for her chamber pot. 

Did I mention that she could be resourceful? I mean, using someone's head for a chamber pot. Not a lot of people would think of doing that!

So, in The Touch of Your Shadow, the Whisper of Your Name, when she learns that a Centauri youth has been kidnapped by a group of aliens known as Live Eaters, she heads down to their quarters to interrupt their Feast & Dissolution Ceremony. There she informs the giant squid people, in no uncertain terms, that no matter how intolerable they find living in close proximity with other lifeforms, that doesn't give them the right to eat them. 

So the young Centauri male remains locked in his capsule, while Susan Ivanova is forced to watch the Live Eaters commit suicide by...well, I'll give you one guess how they end their existence. It's not a pretty thing to watch, but then, at least she's saved the Centauri male's life. That's a worthwhile act.

It's easy to let life get on top of us, especially when we're tired. And no matter how hard we try, there will always be some people who refuse to draw close to us, to allow us into their hearts, and truly befriend us. We all know how heartbreaking it can be to desperately want to break down another's walls, only for them to refuse all our best efforts. But no matter how similar we appear to others, no matter how closely we're linked by ties of family, career, or society, we're all aliens to each other. It's up to us to get over our fears, and the knowledge that some people will always refuse to really live in harmony with us. It's our duty to emulate Susan Ivanova, to stand up for our rights, to fight for the rights of others, and never to give in to fears and seemingly hopeless situations. 

As for repurposing other people's body parts to perform household tasks, particularly in the smallest room in your house, I'll let you make up your own mind about that. Personally, I prefer the modern toilet to the outdated chamber pot. But then, when I have to call out the plumber, and wonder how horrendously he's going to bill me for his services...

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Another Welcome Return to Babylon 5 

The Role of Mothers in Babylon 5: Part 2

As in the TV series, Security Chief Michael Garibaldi plays an important role in the first two Babylon 5 novels: Voices, by John Vornholt, and Accusations, by Lois Tilton.  He regards Commander Susan Ivanova as a friend, and so he works hard to clear her name in Accusations, despite all the roadblocks the Earth inspectors throw in his path.  While he’s never forgotten Lise Hampton, the woman he left behind on Mars when he took the job aboard Babylon 5, he feels drawn to the telepath Talia Winters.  Although she doesn’t return his interest, he nonetheless cares for her.  When she flees the station in Voices, he follows her to Earth.  He knows he’ll have no official authority there, but it’s his only chance to protect her from the Psi Cops intent upon killing her. 

Michael Garibaldi was raised in the Bronx of New York, but his mother seems to have played no role whatsoever in his life.  His father worked in law enforcement, was an excellent cook, and the life of any party (particularly any dinner party).  Michael followed in his father’s footsteps, pursuing a career in Security.  Yet his life somehow took several wrong turns, giving him a bad name in his chosen career, wrecking promising relationships, and driving him into alcoholism. 

In the episode, “A Distant Star” (written by D. C. Fontana), we learn that Garibaldi always makes the Italian dish Bagna Cauda on his birthday.  “Now Pop was a great cook, and Bagna was his specialty,” Garibaldi tells Dr. Stephen Franklin, who in the episode is trying to force him onto a diet.  

"You know, this dish is loaded with fat!
Wow, hang on, that's good!"

"Too bad, Doc.
You disrespected the Bagna Cauda, so
I'm keepin' the dessert to myself."

Over the course of the series, Garibaldi leaves his job to start his own business, ends up being manipulated by the evil Psi Cop Bester, and reverts to alcoholism.  Because of the stresses he endures, or simply because he ate too many Bagna Caudas (a dish consisting of Olive Oil, Butter, Garlic, Anchovies, and pepper, served up like fondue), Garibaldi grows increasingly overweight.  He never mentions his mother, but tells Franklin that his father, who has been dead for a long time, always made him the dish to show him that he loved him, even if he could never say it.  Perhaps his father might have found it easier to express his feelings, and Garibaldi might have endured fewer hardships, had his mother played a greater role in his life.

Captain John Sheridan, who commands Babylon 5, facilitates Garibaldi’s efforts to protect Talia Winters and Susan Ivanova.  Although he never emerges as a primary character in either novel, he becomes the most important person in the TV series.  After winning two wars, he retires from Earth’s military, marries the Minbari ambassador Delenn, and settles into his new career as President of the Interstellar Alliance.  He frequently tells Delenn stories about growing up on Earth with a mother and father who always did their best to take care of him, and never left him in any doubt as to their love and respect for him. 

While Talia Winters’ life ends in tragedy, Susan Ivanova finishes her Earthforce career as a general.  She never marries, but after she leaves the military, commits her life to serving as the head of the Rangers.  Michael Garibaldi eventually marries Lise Hampton-Edgars, and rules her former husband's corporation Edgars Industries.  However, neither he nor Ivanova end up as powerful and important as John Sheridan, and both have to battle inner demons throughout their lives.  So there you have it, a testimony to the importance of mothers in the space age, courtesy of Babylon 5, writers John Vornholt, Lois Tilton, and D. C. Fontana, and series creator J. Michael Straczynski.  If you want to live a happy life, suffer a minimum of inner turmoil, and end up ruling the universe, a loving, supportive, and nurturing mother is absolutely essential.  I’ve benefitted from my mother’s influence in my life.  How about you?

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there who play a strong supportive role in your children’s lives.  (Even if, for some unfathomable reason, you don’t love Babylon 5). 

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Notes on "A Distant Star" and a recipe for Garibaldi's Bagna Cauda 

Another Welcome Return to Babylon 5

In her novel Accusations, Lois Tilton returns us to Babylon 5, a space station built by humans after the Earth-Minbari War.  While Commander Susan Ivanova played a small role in John Vornholt’s novel Voices, Tilton’s story centers on her.  While working in Command & Control (C&C), she gets a call from J. D. Ortega, her former flight instructor.  The man has retired from the military and works on Mars.  He sends her a message, asking to meet with her later in the Alpha Wing ready room.  When he doesn’t show, Ivanova visits Michael Garibaldi, the Chief of Security, who informs her that Ortega is wanted for terrorism and conspiracy back on Mars.  This makes no sense to Ivanova.  As with Talia Winters’ uncle in Voices, Ivanova cannot believe that Ortega is a terrorist.  Garibaldi conducts a search, only to discover that Ortega has been murdered.

Babylon 5 then receives a mayday signal: raiders are attacking a transport ship.  Susan Ivanova leads the Starfuries of Alpha Wing from the station.  Before they reach the ship, the raiders take its cargo, and kill its crew.  Raiders have grown bold of late, and hit a large number of heavy transport vessels.  Ivanova conducts an investigation into inventory records, and discovers that many of these transports were carrying supplies of morbidium, a metal mined on Mars, and important in the manufacturing of military weaponry.  She sends her findings to Earthforce, in the hopes of preventing future attacks. 

Events rapidly escalate on Babylon 5.  After an investigation team arrives from Earth, Ivanova is relieved of her duties in C & C.  Meanwhile Garibaldi discovers another body.  The investigators round up anyone with the slightest ties to Mars, and they order Talia Winters to scan their minds, or even perform deep probes.  As these are conducted without the witnesses’ permission, she protests.  But the inspectors produce orders from Psi Corps: she must accede to the team’s demands, without question.

Mysteries build upon mysteries, and we’re never sure what will happen next, or why.  But Tilton keeps us focused on Garibaldi’s search and Ivanova’s dilemma.  The heavy-handed methods of the inspectors impede Garibaldi’s efforts, and their superior access to computer records make it difficult for him to discover clues before they classify the records or arrest a potential informant.  But he won’t quit, as inspection team has linked Ivanova with a Martian terrorist.  Ivanova also does what she can, knowing that her career is over unless she can uncover the plot involving Ortega, and demonstrate that she was not involved in…whatever it is that Earthforce seems so concerned about.

In Voices, John Vornholt returned us to Babylon 5, showed us Earth in the twenty-third century, and then whisked us off to Mars for a thrilling climax.  Now Lois Tilton returns us to Babylon 5 for an entire novel, and spins such an involving mystery that I tore through the book in a couple days.  I literally couldn’t put Accusations down for the last seventy-five pages.  If you loved the show, seek out these novels.  They’re real treasures, and would have made wonderful TV movies.  Plus, both tantalize us with the possibility of colonizing Mars.  And who doesn’t love stories about Mars?

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

John Vornholt’s Mars Novel

Talia Winters’ Plight