Appearances and Other Deceits

Overview

As a group of propaganda specialists visits the Excalibur to try to improve its image, the crew comes across a derelict alien ship. John Vickery as Mr. Welles. 
Production number: 113
Original air date: July 28, 1999
DVD release date: December 7, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Stephen Furst

Plot Points

  • @@@933615846 Mr. Welles ("The Fall of Night") is still working as a propagandist for the Earth government.
  • @@@933615846 Somewhere in the galaxy there exists a race of aliens who are able to pass their consciousness from one body to another by touch, effectively possessing the new host. They reproduce by subdividing as they spread, the old host retaining part of the alien presence and passing it on to the new. Rather than send their physical bodies out on risky space journeys to colonize other worlds, they sent out a series of probes, each imbued with a piece of the alien consciousness. As the probes are discovered, the aliens take over the worlds in question.

Unanswered Questions

  • @@@933615846 Where is the mind-altering aliens' original homeworld?
  • @@@933615846 How many other probes are drifting through space waiting to be discovered?
  • @@@933615846 Where did the derelict spacecraft come from?

Analysis

  • @@@933615846 Though it turned out to be correct, Max's line of thought about the alien writing missed an obvious possibility. He noted that the writing on the ship and the aliens' spoken language seemed to bear no relation to one another. The explanation could have been as simple as the ship being manufactured by one group of aliens and crewed by another; the crew might have bought or stolen the ship from someone else.
  • @@@933658333 As the alien was being forced out the airlock, it tried to say to Gideon, "I know what you're looking for. I know where you can find it!" Was it referring to a cure for the Drakh plague? If so, did it in fact know of a cure, or was it just trying to tell whatever lie was necessary to save its life?

Notes

  • @@@931207368 Director Stephen Furst played Vir in the original series.
  • @@@931207368 The costume changes in this episode are a result of a quirk in the series' production: after five episodes were filmed with the "new" costumes and set designs introduced in this episode, TNT increased the show's budget. This episode and the ones before it in the airing sequence were filmed after the budget increase. Had the series continued beyond 13 episodes, the 14th episode would have featured an "accident" in the laundry room that forced the crew back to their more expensive uniforms.

jms speaks

  • @@@935688992 It's obvious that the episodes filmed 6th through 13th were intended to air before the first 5 that were filmed. Why on Earth would you do that?
    Let me ask you a real simple question:

    What makes you think it was my decision?

    TNT wanted the "new-look" episodes aired first. They wanted to push the first 5 back as far as possible. I initially figured we'd do 5-6 of the "new look" ones first, the minimum possible, then the first 5, then the new-look (black uniform) ones to the end.

    TNT *mandated* that the black-uniform ones would go first. It was not my choice. I have NO control over broadcast.

    Not only did they want to hold them back, they were debating if they'd even allow us to FINISH post on the first 5. It was a struggle to let them finish 'em, and they were the last ones to go through post.

    Before you fire, it's always a good idea to know what the target is first.

  • @@@934310433 "As Gideon was preparing Greenberg's body for Airlock'nLoad, the alien within was pleading:"Don't do this! I know what you're looking for!" Was this a reference to the Plague/Cure?"

    Yep. But since the body couldn't talk aloud, it couldn't communicate this effectively.