Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Menachem Binetski

Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

I vacillate between J. Michael Straczynski being eerily prescient, or human nature to make the same mistakes over and over, and he just amplified this on Babylon 5. In particular, it’s the tendency for some to embrace authoritarianism because they don’t believe its downsides will ever touch them. While re-watching this episode, Voices of Authority, with my husband, we were both struck by how relevant it is to the current situation in the United States.

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) joins Minbari Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan), Captain Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner), Commander Ivanova (Claudia Christian), and Marcus Cole (Jason Carter) at a meeting where Delenn details the background of the “First Ones”. Delenn has been in contact with Draal (John Schuck), the Minbari who is now part of the great machine on the planet below Babylon 5. He appears at the meeting to state how exciting contacting the First Ones seems, but also how dangerous. Draal has information from the Great Machine that details numerous encounters with them. He invites them down to the planet to see for themselves.

Meanwhile, Security Officer Zak (Jeff Conaway) is tasked with meeting a representative from the Ministry of Peace, Julie Musante (Shari Shattuck). She’s rather terse and abrupt, especially given that Captain Sheridan isn’t with him. Captain Sheridan meets her in his office, and she challenges him about the fact that he has little in his office that shows him as aligning with the Earth Government. She also announces that she is the new political officer on Babylon 5. Sheridan bristles at that, saying he has the ultimate military authority here and he won’t answer to a civilian. Julie tells him it doesn’t matter; she is there to advise.

Former Narn Ambassador G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas) confronts Delenn in public with his knowledge of the Rangers. Meanwhile, Julie meets with Zak, and asks him to tell her things that Captain Sheridan won’t.

Sheridan has to have dinner with Julie Musante and orders Ivanova to go down to the planet in his place. Draal is angry at first when he sees Ivanova, but grows to like her. He invites Ivanova to plug herself into the machine like he is. Ivanova finds herself looking at Sigma 957. They attempt to pull her in, but Ivanova manages to pull away. As she is doing so, she has a vision of President Clark (Gary McGurk) ordering the assassination of President Santiago. The voice that Ivanova hears Clark discussing with is Mr. Morden, although I’m not sure she recognizes that. She asks Draal to make a recording of the vision. Captain Sheridan passes it along to General Hague, who knows who can use the information.

At dinner, Sheridan discusses the darker side of life with Julie. She states there is no problem with the homeless on Earth. Anyone who wants a job can have one, and if they don’,t it’s because of the choices they have made. The same with poverty. Crime is caused by the mentally unstable, and there’s no prejudice. Sound familiar?

Julie tries to seduce Sheridan in his quarters. As he’s rejecting her, Ivanova appears in the form of a hologram. He prevents Julie from seeing her by kissing her passionately.

Good luck, Captain. I think you’re about to go where…. everyone has gone before..

– Susan Ivanova

G’Kar next confronts Mr. Garibaldi about what is going on. What he doesn’t know is that Garibaldi is trying to help Ivanova with trying to contact the First Ones, who might be of help to them against the Shadows. Garibaldi puts G’Kar off, but isn’t happy about it. Having failed to seduce Captain Sheridan, Julie meets up with Zak, who also puts the moves on her. Mr. Garibaldi is watching them. Julie meets with Babylon 5 security officers and tells them dissent among the officers and military has been outlawed, and she wants to be notified if they catch anyone expressing negativity about Earth Government. Zak is uncomfortable with what she’s asking.

Ivanova is on the White Star with Marcus and the Minbari crew. They encounter one of the First Ones. There’s an energy drain on the ship, and Ivanova makes contact. She asks them for help in defeating the Shadows. They seem to reject the idea, and Ivanova uses their apparent rivalry with the Vorlons to manipulate them. They tell her that when the time is right, she should return to this place and call on them.

The news of President Clark’s involvement in the death of President Santiago hits the news. Mr. Garibaldi is preparing his officers for unrest. Zak confronts him about the secrets Garibaldi is keeping. Garibaldi throws back his meetings with Julie. The two argue, and Zak walks away, angry. He talks to Julie before she heads back to Earth to deal with the new crisis in the government.

G’Kar gives Mr. Garibaldi the Book of G’Quan and tells him to read it, then they’ll talk.

There is so much to unpack in this episode. If I had reviewed it a year ago, I would have said it was sounding an alarm. Now, much of the rhetoric from Julie Musante sounds like it comes directly from the current government of the United States. From blaming the disenfranchised for their own situation to calling any dissent unpatriotic, it’s hard to believe that this was written back in the 1990s. It’s also hard to imagine from back then that we would vote in people like that, but here we are.

With an ongoing story-arc, there are a lot of things being set in motion here. Ivanova is getting more responsibility as Sheridan sends her not only to meet with Draal but also to contact the First Ones. When she arrives on the White Star, Ivanobva is expecting Lennier to be there to act as translator for the Minbari crew. Instead, it’s Marcus. There will be an ongoing unrequited love on his part and you can see the beginnings here.

Julie Musante is never seen again after this episode, but the idea of a political officer to spy on the crew and make sure they remain loyal is nothing new. Things are about to get crazy on Earth, however, as well as Mars. She’s likely reassigned elsewhere due to this. I think it would have made it interesting to have a nefarious political officer they have to watch out for in the story, but it didn’t work out that way.

The fracture between Zak and Garibaldi is also something that will go forward. Zak joined the Night Watch as a goof; a quick way to make a few extra credits. He didn’t anticipate what he’s now being called on to do. He doesn’t want to spy on the people he’s come to know and respect, including Sheridan, Ivanova, and Garibaldi. Still, some of Julie’s argument why they need them to do just this resonates with him since he knows there are things going on that he’s not privy to.

Finally, we have G’Kar giving his Book of G’Quan to Garibaldi. With all his skulking around, G’Kar knows more about what’s happening than he’s letting on, despite being shut out of any official meeting since he’s no longer an actual Ambassador.

The acting is stellar, with the possible exception of Shari Shattuck. It feels like she’s overacting at times, rather than being a smooth operator. I would expect her to be a bit more devious. The scene between her and Sheridan in his quarters is a lot of fun, as he’s made very uncomfortable and you can tell she’s a woman who’s used to getting her way. It’s Claudia Christian who carries the episode, as she’s the one who meets with Draal, she’s the one who gets the information to Sheridan, and she’s the one sent to meet with the First Ones. I’ve always thought Ivanova was my favorite woman in science fiction and it’s easy to see why here.

The updated special effect work, in particular Ivanova’s encounter with the First Ones. The lines are crisp and don’t bleed the way they did in my old set of DVDs of the show. It really gives the show a more pleasing visage to watch.

Voices of Authority is a good episode, that rings all too true right now. Humanity has a lot to answer for, and it appears we are never going to learn our lesson.

Previous episode of the series:

Next episode of the series: