Babylon 5 was a groundbreaking TV series, and one that in its own way has helped reshape the face of SF TV

The story of what happened to scupper the future of Crusade would probably take up more space than an overview of the episodes that were made. However, in the interests of legality, let me just say that the TV company (TNT) had a radically different view as to the look and direction of the show than its creator, JMS. The full story can be found on the WWW with ease so I shall not dwell on it here other than to say that I do wonder why TNT thought they knew more about how the show should have been than its creator, especially when JMS could point to the success of Babylon 5.

The order of episodes broadcast is not the preferred order to tell the story arc that JMS planned (thank you TNT), but it is not easy to watch them in the right order because of a change in uniform (thank you again TNT). In fact the first episode, continuing from A Call to Arms, was shown after a new batch of six episodes that TNT requested to act as an origin (er..isn’t that what the pilot movie was all about?) and introduce the characters.

Now on to the show:

The Excalibur, under the command of Captain Mathew Gideon (Gary Coleman), has been assigned to track down a cure for the Drakh plague that has been let loose on the Earth. His crew includes John Matherson (Daniel Dae Kim), a telepath operating in Earthforce under the new guidelines in place since the telepath war and the downfall of Psi Corps, Dr Sarah Chambers (Marjean Holden) and IPX representative Max Eilersen (David Allen Brooks). Also on the ship is Dureena Nafeel (Carrie Dobro) thief and last member of a race wiped out by the Shadows, and occasionally rogue technomage Galen (Peter Woodward). Galen and Gideon have a previous history (Galen rescued Gideon after his ship, the Cerberus, abandoned him in deep space), but Gideon is also in possession of a mysterious artefact, an apocalypse box, which offers him advice; including not to trust the technomage. The Excalibur will also be a regular visitor to Babylon 5 (maybe because of its location) and a relationship is beginning to develop between Gideon and Lochley.

The general procedure is that the Rangers report details of any leads they pick up and then the Excalibur follows them up. In the episodes that were produced we learn of the following:

The plague is a nanotech virus and is airborne. Once infection has taken place the virus expands (a bit like unpacking a ZIP file on a PC). The virus mutates regularly exploiting various diseases that prey on man; as a result there are sudden groupings of deaths caused by the same unexpected outbreak of a disease. This indicates that the virus is coordinating its progress; which ties up with a discovery on a similar nanotech virus on a planet which is controlled by a central computer, which once destroyed renders the virus inert (and the inert virus can be reprogrammed to act as a temporary shield against the Drakh plague). A planet that was subjected to the same plague by the Shadows is discovered, but the people did not find a cure and instead went into hibernation luring other races to the planet in the hope that by dissecting them they would find a solution.

There are a handful of self contained episodes included in the few made, but whether they would have had any later bearing we shall never know.

The irony is that TNT cancelled Crusade both before the completion of the first series and before the show had even aired. Even more irony is to be found in the fact that the arc itself was only just beginning at the point when TNT pulled the plug.

What can be inferred though from online sources is that the declared five year mission to cure the Earth would have evolved; with the cure being found much sooner than expected (my guess is that there was a computer controlling the virus (may be on the moon??) and that by destroying this, the plague is defeated). Developments would have followed up the Cerberus thread and have revealed a conspiracy within Earthforce (another one??) concerning the use of advanced alien technologies (perhaps Shadow tech from their liaison with the Clark administration); possibly with Gideon going undercover and being shot at the climax to the season…..

What would have happened regarding the apocalypse box (people usually die after owning it), the technomages (currently hiding somewhere) and the Drakh (would this have lead to the battle for Centauri Prime and Sheridan and Delenn’s captivity??) we may never know L

A complete episode listing for Babylon 5 is not planned at present but here is a listing of what we got and what might have been with Crusade:

War Zone

Where the Excalibur gets a crew, some of which we have already met, and a Drakh official is a well won prize.

First episode, was made 6^th and starts off as an introduction – handy if you haven’t seen A Call to Arms – which was now a long time ago though only a couple of days in story continuity.

The Long Road
Where Earthforce finds that strip mining a planet is not without its problems and Gideon learns that dragons are a technomage’s best friend.

The Well of Forever
Where Galen teaches many lessons in his pursuit of closure, and telepath examiner, Mr Jones finds out just how single minded Dureena can be.

The one with the big amorous alien jellyfish.

The Path of Sorrows
Where the recovery of a strange englobed alien shows that forgiveness is not an easy gift to accept. Galen meanwhile finds himself going no-where very fast.

Patterns of the Soul
Where refugees from Earth find they have the plague while Gideon finds a conspiracy. Dr Chambers finds more than she expected and Dureena finds some ‘family’.

First use of the nanotech shield granting 48 hours of immunity to the plague – pity that it isn’t discovered yet due to TNT’s rescheduling of episodes.

Ruling From the Tomb
Where a visit to Mars results in murder, dancing, and a terrorist with a hotline to God. Gideon finds his conversations with Lochley over a meal are hard to swallow – without choking.

I laughed out loud at the meal scene – excellent stuff

The Rules of the Game
Where a visit to Babylon 5 reunites Gideon with Lochley and results in a lethal game of tag with some overly xenophobic aliens. Meanwhile Max gets to play white knight to his ex-wife and cat.

Appearances and Other Deceits
Where a visit by a pair of Earthforce PR advisers leads to a change in wardrobe. Meanwhile the Excalibur crew finds that one alien mind can go along way.

This change in uniform was prompted by TNT requesting different costumes. The ‘new’ uniforms were the original ones and would have been ‘lost in the laundry’ after the pre-recorded episodes had been completed – that is if the show had not been cancelled.

Racing the Night
Where a visit to a dead world finds that previous victims of the plague settled on a rather grisly means of research – research that is still in progress.

The Memory of War
Where it seems that a dead world (another one) holds a deadly secret (again).

This episode introduces a similar virus that provides both the source of the nanotech shield (that they already have – thanks again TNT) and offers some possible clues both to how the Drakh plague may be disabled and to the secrets of the technomages.

The Needs of Earth

Where an alien refugee holds the forbidden secrets of his race. Secrets that his people will stop at nothing to destroy.

Very sad

Visitors From Down The Street
Where the Excalibur gets drawn into the paranoid conspiracies of an alien government and its own version of the X-Files.

Each Night I Dream of Home
Where Dr Stephen Franklin (infected with the virus and thus quarantined) comes on board to oversee an experiment to chart the Drakh plague. The Drakh launch an attack to prevent this and Lochley returns.

A major turning point in the plague arc. We learn some details of how the plague virus works and so added to info from The Memory of War a cure begins to seem within reach - and then they cancelled it!!

Had the series continued the following would have probably completed the first season:

Value Judgements
Where we learn that Bester survived the telepath war and is now a hunted criminal. This may have focussed on John Matherson, Gideon’s telepathic first officer.

Tried and True
Where Dureena is put on trial by her teacher in the Thieves Guild (branches everywhere: Earth, Mars, Babylon 5, Ankh-Morepork) for hanging round with the authorities.

To The Ends Of The Earth
Where Gideon goes on the trail of the strange (Shadow-like) ship that destroyed his former ship the Cerberus.

In the Path of Sorrows we saw a flash back that showed Gideon being marooned in space after a strange ship destroyed the Cerberus. The ship had definite signs of Shadow technology, but wasn’t a Shadow ship that we had seen before. Gideon was saved by Galen.

The End of the Line
Where Gideon follows up the leads on the strange ship and uncovers a deadly agenda within Earthforce itself.

Rumour is the season would have ended with Gideon being shot. The Drakh plague would have been resolved either by now or during the next season (perhaps – it was basically there just to set up the series, much like the raiders in the first season of Babylon 5) and the Earthforce arc would have explored the unsanctioned use of Shadow technology – perhaps that ship was a prototype, a Shadow/Earthforce version of the Vorlon/Minbari ships that would comprise the White Star Fleet?

Interestingly the aborted movie – The Memory of Shadows would have featured Galen investigating the use of Shadow technology in a similar way, perhaps this would have covered some of the story threads lost here – oh well another lost chance.