Each Night I Dream of Home

General Information

Episode Number: 113
Written By: J. Michael Straczynski
Directed By: Stephen Furst

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

Guest Starring:
Richard Biggs as Doctor Stephen Franklin
Lance Legault as Senator Jacob Redway
Timothy Williams as David Williams


Also Starring:
Liz Lavone as Carole Miles
Carl Reggiardo as Drakh

Plot

Summary: Excalibur becomes the secret staging area for medical testing which might lead to a better understanding of the Drakh plague. All goes smoothly until the Drakh intercept a message to earth and attack the Excaliber.

Detailed Summary: Coming soon.

Observations

Facts

• Only a few Warlock class dedtroyers have been built yet. Appears to incorporate artificial gravity as it lacks a rotating section.
• Senator Redway voted against funding the Excaliber
• Only a dozenof EA Senators wer offworld at time of Drakh attack.
• Sector 100 x 17 x 3 location of Earth
• David Williams is a plumber, was working on Omega 7 mining colony when theDrakh attacked. Want to be infected so he can go to Earth and marry his fiance.
• The Exacliber has artificial gravity and inertial dampeners in the landing bay that help control out of controlled and heqavily damamgeed Starfury's land safely on the ship.
• Lochley injured in trap set to stop some Raiders.
• 2 woke up 2 days after being picked up by Excaliber
• Any ship leaving quarantine is to be shot down.
• The Drakh virus is airborne. Works differently on each species it infects.
• 850 died of ebola the day the virus was released, 712 died of Hepatitis-B 48 hours later. All mutations of the Drakh virus.
• Nano-Virus penetrates all but the non critical regions of the body.
• 3 Heavy Drakh ships, 1 Drakh carrier, 2 unnmed Drakh ships
• Lochley takes command of Excaliber's Delta Wing
• Sterilizationprocedure 3 minniutes flashheat to 1200 degrees centigrade.

Characters

   Cpt Gideon

• Appears to keep track of EA senatorial politics
• Again reinforces that he will not leave someone abandoned because of what happened to him.
• Father is dead

   Dr. Franklin

• Needs this experiment done so can track how the Drakh virus infects its host.

Quotables

• "Congratulations, Lieutenant. You're even more nieve than I gave you credit for."--Gideon
• "Then you're just going to have to drive carefully."--Gideon
• "Never eat anything bigger than your head. Never shoot pool at a place called Pops. Never eat food at a placed called Moms."--Gideon
• "Earth is constant. Earth is forever."--Matheson
• "You're too young to be having thoughts this old."--Gideon
• "I'll be dead if we don't win this."-Cpt Lochley
• "Is that far enough out of your sky, Captain?"--Lt. Matheson
• "It'll do."--Cpt Gideon
• "Life goes on."--Gideon
• "Indeed it does."--Matheson

Questions

• Where was the rest of Lochley's Delta Squadron? Did she order them back to B5?
• Why are the Drakh so worried about Franklins experiment? Is Earth tech that close to possibly solving the problem even without the alien technology?

The following are questions obviously left over since the story at present  (9.5.99) has not been concluded:

• Is the Drakh Virus cured?
  As seen in The Deconstruction of Falling Stars humanity does survive but still leaves open just how much damamge the Drakh plague did.

• What excatly is the Apocalypse Box and how does it effect the search for the cure and Gideon's life?
• Does Dureena find anymore of her people?
• Is the technomages technology given to/discovered/borrowed/ from the First Ones (particularly the Vorlons and Shadows)?
• Do the technomages finally return?
• Is the Great Machine on Epsilon 3 used to help locate possible worlds to search?

Ratings

Story: 9.40
Acting: 9.80
Special F/X: 9.50

Notes: The best of the Crusade episodes. Unfortunately the abrupt termination of the series by TPTB at TNT now leaves us hanging with a tense, if not hopeful, open storyline that needs to be concluded. Hopefully the various orginizations fighting to bring back Crusade will be succesfull and we'll see the story concluded.

Ironic note: Lochley was commanding B5's Delta Squadron against the Raiders and then helped coordinate the Excaliber's Delta Wing.

Best Actor/Actress: Richard Biggs.