The Face of the Enemy | For the Second Time

] The years: 2026

[1:39] We had a chance to even like do better with that because we things were incredible with that series so incredible that we're now watching this for the second time, because Babylon 5 is a show you to watch for the first time twice and what did we call that show yeah we called it Babylon 5, for the second time, The bastions of creativity here. And then we started another show where we watched Stargate and we called that one Stargate SG-1 for the first time. For the first time.

[2:08] And already regretting that because we're going to watch more than Stargate SG-1. And so. You know what will not happen though? What's that? Stargate SG-1 for the second time. It will. It just won't be captured in podcast or video form. Right. Going to do that on my. In fact, I've done something. You've already got it. Yeah.

[2:24] Fair enough. Fair enough. And you know what we can also do in both shows, no matter which time we're watching it? What's that? Seek out the messages that are contained within. That we can. The things that hold up a mirror to society, give us hope that things can be better in the future, or just tell us how to be better human beings to one another. You know what else we can't do? Fly? Take back a spoiler. Because once a spoiler is given, you can't unhear things. You can't unsee things. And for those of you out there who have never seen Babylon five for yourself for the first time, stop. This is your warning. This is your roadmap. This is yellow sign. Jeff and I are, we're saying abort, abort. Go join us for Babylon five for the first time where everything is completely unspoiled. Make sure you come back and join us here once you get through that. Trust us. It is far, far better of a way to watch this show. My warning is sincere. Ignore it at your own peril. This week, Brian, we are watching The Face of the Enemy for the second time. When we watched this series for the first time, we played a game where we predicted what each episode was going to be about based on the title alone. I predicted that we were going to get some more on the teepsicle plan. Garibaldi's programming was going to kick in. And one of my big things was that.

[3:47] The dad stuff that he brought up was just like kind of a threat. It wasn't going to actually happen. And he was going to find another way to get to Sheridan. What did you predict for this one? I said that Sheridan was going to put the mission at risk by going after his dad. And then he was going to get captured, thus putting the mission even more at risk, which is great drama, right? And Garibaldi would basically go full on Judas. That's what I said. Pretty close to it. Yep. I'd say, yeah, he's almost exceeded. Except I don't think he went after his dad. I think he just got captured because Garibaldi went Judas on him. Yeah. Feeding him some information. What do you say, Brent? Why don't we go back and we watch some of the highlights from our first time viewing of this thing. Have we seen this one before? Yeah, we've watched it for the first time once. What did we say back then? You know what? Let's find out. Hmm.

[4:43] Previously, on Babylon 5, for the first time, the face of the enemy. This tells us exactly what happened to Mr. Garibaldi. What was Sheridan thinking? About going after his dad? You know, going after his dad, but even earlier than that? Going on the Agamemnon. As soon as I saw the Agamemnon, and he's like, I'm going over there. I was like, nope. Yeah, don't do it, dude. Nope. Not a good idea. Danger, danger, danger, Will Robinson. Yeah. So Garibaldi goes through and he does what he needs to do. He slaps that thing on his hand. Now, he called it a train. I would have thought Sheridan would have passed out. No, it was pretty much his drugs. Yeah. He just got high real fast. Dude, I don't know who was standing in the booth and all of a sudden flipped on the strobe light while a fight was going on in the bar. Well, this makes you wonder how many times fights break out. They were like they literally have a process they're just like oh fight smoke machine and strobe right and band keep playing yep it almost felt too long but also like i never lost interest in the fight like it kept my attention right yeah it's really right as soon as they got his dad, yes of course sheridan's getting captured let's bring this back to garibaldi he goes back to uh to edgar's, and gets the full story wade is sitting there on the couch.

[6:12] And he says, I don't know the exact line, homo sapien versus homo superior. Isn't that the term that's used in X-Men to describe the mutants? Edgar has his whole big plan. From the minute he gets on that train, the minute Garibaldi gets on that train, he's sitting there and he's dead staring. And he's just like, go homies. And then he just stares. Bester comes and sits. He barely even blinks. He's just dead. Dead i even loved besters questioning of like what should i do with you now, like i'm gonna let you know what you did i feel like it was that's torturous for garibaldi but it also kind of says to garibaldi i actually don't see you like you're not a threat there's nothing of value to you anymore so go ahead just be you again i don't care but i think my hopes for an anti-hero bester are, are dead like think so he's just a villain, i finally finally starting to understand that dying a thousand that's holy cow you and i look so different we do isn't that wild it's so wild i can't get over it man.

[7:22] I feel like I look like my brother. Hey, so it turns out I was wrong about my prediction. Sheridan is going after his dad, and that's how he winds up getting captured. So spot on me. Well done. You had a question about the Agamemnon. Yep. I have an answer. Would you like it now or would you like it later? Let's get it now. Okay, cool.

[7:43] And this is more of just a bit like a neat thing, okay? Because Sheridan does get back on board the Agamemnon, and that's what eventually leads to his capture, right? JMS says this. There's a bit of irony in the fact that the stage for Sheridan's capture is set when he steps foot aboard the Agamemnon, his old ship.

[7:59] In history, Agamemnon was the supreme commander of the Greek forces at the Battle of Troy. Agamemnon survived that war, but he was betrayed and murdered by his wife after returning home because he blindly and arrogantly stepped into a trap, just as Sheridan also does. Interesting. So let's look for the blind arrogance that Sheridan steps into this trap as he steps on board the Agamemnon in this episode. Definitely. We're going to do that by watching the episode right here, right now with all of you. We're going to pull it up. We're going to watch the episode. Brent and I will comment on it, pull out the messages there in real time, all the good stuff. If you're going to watch this on YouTube, you're going to view the edited version, like the reaction video. The full and the unedited version is available on our Patreon page. In fact, it is made available about a week before it releases on YouTube, but it's over at patreon.com slash bad nerds. And if you guys are listening to this on an audio podcasting app, no worries. You're going to catch all of that goodness. We're going to have all those conversations and we'll have all the stuff on the backside. So you guys will not be left out and you can listen to this on your pod catcher of choice. Jeff, let's press play and watch the face of the enemy. Accessing file.

[9:16] Commander's personal log So many personal logs And her colonies continue.

[9:23] Franklin and Lita should be on Mars by now, along with their cargo. Along with their cargo. They have fully dehumanized them.

[9:34] Hey, did you know this was done on EGA computers? How bad? So that shimmering wall right there that was right over his shoulder. Do you know what that was? Uh-uh. Somebody asked. It was the ship's automatic repair systems. Okay. At work. Very cool. That's what that was. I say again you are ordered to stand down and surrender your vessels we have no desire to destroy your ships but if you continue to fight we'll have no choice as soon as our forces surrender our crews are taken out executed and then replaced by Mambari crews, Is that what you've been told? It is. And I believe. So what do you do? Here's what I was told. Here's what I was briefed on. Here's if they've been lying to me this whole time and I've taken all of these actions based on their lies. Oof. Yeah. What else have I done? Am I going to get in trouble for that? If you're lying to me and I stand down and all of a sudden this happens to us. Oof. Have you ever heard of the idea of having personal bank accounts with people? Yeah. You know, this is this is an interesting, an interesting piece. You know, like we all have personal bank accounts. You make deposits, you make withdrawals. Right. It based on how you interact with the relationship. Right. And here's Mackie standing up being like, hey, don't worry about any of this. You and I have a personal thing. You know me. Listen to what I'm saying here. This is a personal thing from us, not in the chain of command, whatever.

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