Search - Christopher Franke :: Babylon 5: Whatever Happened To Mr. Garibaldi? (TV Series Episode)

Mystery, wonder and awe

Earl Green | 01/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Babylon 5 returned a lot of the sense of mystery, awe and wonder to science fiction, a TV genre which had been stripped of that sensibility by the almost commonplace, workaday adventures of various Starfleet crews (not that I dislike the Trek series, mind you). The fourth season of B5 drew a truly epic canvas, including this episode in which Sheridan discusses life, death and resurrection with Lorien, a being who may be the oldest creature in the universe. Most of their scenes are covered with a haunting clockwork motif that grows in awe as Sheridan realizes what/who he's dealing with. There are other movements as well, including a chugging rock instrumental which is heard in a bar where G'Kar is inquiring about the whereabouts of the missing Garibaldi, but the real meat of this score is that sense of mystery - and the music doesn't need the accompanying visuals or dialogue to convey that. A rare instance of something which can evoke that reaction apart from its source material."