The official "prequel" to the saga of "Babylon 5"

I just started watching "Babylon 5" from the beginning, which means that I get to watch this 1998 television movie prequel from a different vantage point from those fans who watched the science fiction series from the beginning. Which means that what little I had heard or seen about the series distorted my perceptions a bit since I and did not understand the relative importance of Jeffrey Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) versus John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) during the first couple of seasons of the show. The primary purpose of this prequel is to tell the story of the Earth-Minbari War that took place about a decade before "The Gathering," the two-part "movie" that starts off the series.

"In the Beginning" starts off on Centauri Prime, where outside the royal palace the city is burning. A young boy and girl intrude upon Emperor Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik), who gives the boy an opportunity to issue one order. "Make it good," the old man advises, and the boy does, saying, "Tell me a story!" The Emperor does, going back to the start of the Third Age. This would be the year 2243, when a young Londo arrived at the Earth Dome as liaison to the Centauri delegation. Earth had recently won the Dilgar War and the government of Earth is now expanding its sphere of influence. Earth is having some success in its attempt to make treaties with the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, and now Earth is sending an expedition to make contact with the mysterious Minbari. Londo advises General Lefcourt to send only one ship and to be wary of the Minbari, but, of course, the military of Earth is nothing if not arrogant. Even not knowing the "history" of the series, it was clear that when Londo mumbles something about Earth not waking up the dragon it foreshadows hard times for Earth. Any and all doubts disappear when Lt. Cmdr. John Sheridan (Boxleitner) shows up and calls Captain Jankowski, the leader of the expedition, "a loose canon."

Before the Earth ships reach Mindari space we learn something about the warrior caste of these people and Lenonn, the leader of the Anla'shok (the Rangers). Lenonn is worried about the prophecies of Balen, which indicate that a time of crisis is coming during which the Anla'shok will play an important role. We also hear about the Vorlons for the first time. Then Captain Jankowski shows up and despite having been warned not to make first contact (which begs all sorts of questions about why this particular captain was sent with a fleet on an intelligence gathering mission) gets close enough for the Mindari to engage their senses. This begins a chain of events with tragic consequences, as both Jankowski and the Mindari prove equally adept at having no understanding of cross-cultural communication.

The importance of this exchange is that this little encounter is the spark that ignites the Earth-Mindari war, and the importance of that war is that the forces of Earth are no match for the Mindari. It is ironic to watch "In the Beginning" today, a year after the war with Iraq, because it is hard not to see strong parallels between the one sided wars. The great strength of this story is the idea that there is nothing Earth can do to stop the Mindari from destroying the Earth and ending the human race, a far cry from the superiority of the species that is a constant in the vast majority of science fiction (e.g., the "Star Trek" universe.

The problem is that just as the cause for the war was a bit far fetched (one of the first things you learn in encountering another culture is that symbols do not mean the same thing; e.g., do not hitch hike in central Africa because that gesture is their version of flipping somebody off), so is the end of the war, where a convenient bit of information pretty much pops out of nowhere. Still, on balance, there is a clear sense that in the universe of "Babylon 5" that humanity is occupying one of the lower rungs on the intergalactic totem pole, which is a decidedly different premise from what we are used to in the realm of science fiction series. Those of us who start the "Babylon 5" experience at this point also get to watch those first season episodes knowing all about the "hole" in Commander Sinclair's mind.

Ironically, while "In the Beginning" does a nice job of filling in the back story of the Earth-Mindari war, it also raises a new series of questions with regards to how we get from the end of this prequel to the start of the official "Babylon 5" series. It might be just me but I think the Minbari should be a bit more proactive in their relationship with the humans given the big surprise of this storyline. If it is big enougth to suddenly bring a war to a screeching halt, then it should lead to something more substantial in the diplomatic realm as well.

A Perfect B5 Fix

This movie is everything a tv movie should be. All our favorite characters appear and answer many questions raised during the series while raising still more that the series later tackles. Beautifully done as always with B5, with realistic characters, gorgeous CGI, and an engrossing plot. Whenever I pine for the series, I can pop this video in the VCR and indulge.