Patterns of the Soul

General Information

Episode Number: 105
Written By: Fiona Avery
Directed By: Tony Dow

Starring:
Gary Cole as Captain Mathew Gideon
Daniel Dae Kim as Lieutenant John Matheson
Carrie Dobro as Dureena Nafeel 
Peter Woodward as Galen (not seen in this episode)
David Allen Brooks  as  Maximilian Eilerson 
Marjean Holden as Dr Sarah Chambers 
Tracy Scoggins as Captain Elizabeth Lochley (not seen in this episode)

Guest Starring:
Peter Deanda as General Thompson
Sharprise Baker as IPX Official
Brian Thompson as Robert Black
Eric Ware as Tim

Also Starring:
Scott Corollo as Colonist
Nancy Linehan Charles as Villager
Curt Lowens as Old One

Plot

Summary:A group of human colonists on Theta 49 are suspected of carrying the Drakh plague and the Excaliber is ordered to investigate. While at Theta 49, several startling discoveries are made by Dureena, Dr. Chambers and Captain Gideon.

Detailed Summary: Coming soon.

Observations

Facts

• IPX doesn't have paid holidays for its employees
• Anti-viral agent that allows crew to be among infected populace only good for 48 hours
• Robert Black and his colonists are former members of Earth force that took part in bioweapons experiments. 2248 Medal of Honor winner.
• Dureena's people were taken to the stars by others for (slave?) labor, which resulted in the ones found on Theta 49.
• Robert Black was a member of Earth Force who fought at the Battle of the Line and then later joined Earth Force Bio Weapons Research to develop cybernetic enhancements
• Ultraviolet codename: Benetic Password: Sharks Secondary access password: anteup
• Pro Zeta Corporation is protein manufacturing and extremely well connected, headquarters Ceti Gamma 2

Effects

   The f/x this episode continue to improve, especially the "virtual world" creations. The cliff were Dureena's people were found was especially well done as was the rocky terrain. The planet was exceptionally well detailed as well. Part of the planets surface looked very familiar (the US Great Lakes area?).

Characters
   Captain Gideon

• Likes to associate with trouble makers (like Dureena)
• Got access codes by gambling but never uses them to compromise the person he got them from.

   Dureena Nafeel

• Dureena's homeworld was Xanda Prime, which was destroyed during the Shadow War.
• By tradition Dureena's people go away to be alone when they die.
• Dureena's people will die within a year from the plague.

   Max Eilerson

• In a moment of decency, Eilerson erased the information regarding the discovery of Dureena's people from his report to IPX.

Quotables

• "Well that explains the boring part."--Max Eilerson
• "There is nothing left to be said between us that the stones have not said for us."--Dying
• "To figure that out we'd have to figure out the difference between a rat and a starship captain and I don't think we have that much time."--Dureena
• "Synchronicity like this is a signal that your in the wrong place at the wrong time."--Robert Black
• "Consider it the gift of reincarnation." --Cpt. Gideon

Questions

• Are other lost tribes from Dureena's race out there that have not been found?
• Whose passcodes did Gideon use?
• Was it really the Shadows who shot down the hip that brought the Dureena's people to Theta 49 a hundred years ago? Or one of the Shadow servant races given the time period?
• Is Robert Black and his fellow comrades part of the experiments Sheridan mentioned in "Spider in the Web"?
• How much pull does Pro Zeta Corps have? Just with Earth Force or into the highest level of authority of Earth Alliance?

Ratings

Story: 8.00
Acting: 8.00
Special F/X: 8.00

Notes: So far, I feel this is the best episode to date. It had good character interaction, nicely twisting storylines that were seperate and yet tied together, good acting and great visual fx. For the first time in awhile I felt like I was watching Babylon 5 again (or at least in this case something truly worthy of that show). The episode finally focused on some of the other characters other than Gideon and Galen, which was a welcome relief. I like these characters but I want to learn more about the others as well. This episode gave me the impression that most of the cast and crew were finally getting comfortable with the show.

Best Actor/Actress: Carrie Dobro. While a difficult choice between Carrie Dobro and guest Brian Thompson, I gave it Carrie Dobro for the apparent ease in her delivery of her lines and interaction with other characters/actors. The only acting I did not like in this episode was that of Marjean Holden. She sounded uncomfortable in delivering her lines through most parts of the episode.