Babylon 5: S02E13: Hunter Prey

The episode opens with Sheridan and Ivanova looking at Kosh’s ship.

The episode opens with Sheridan and Ivanova looking at Kosh’s ship. When Sheridan gets too close, it scans him. Cool! An intelligent ship! Garibaldi comes along with information that the president’s doctor, Doctor Jacobs, is coming to B5. A system-wide fugitive alert has been posted for him. The B5 crew wonder what he knows about all the intrigues that have been going on. Jacobs, being a doctor, would have known that Clark wasn’t actually sick when he got off Earthforce one before it blew up. They realise that they had better find him first before Clark’s people do.

Earthdome sends a guy named Kranson to co-ordinate the search for Jacobs. What, did the guy decide to take a vacation from the Maquis?

Garibaldi asks Franklin about Jacobs. Franklin says he might not even be on B5 if it hadn’t been for Jacobs. Well, we can hope! Franklin says Jacobs would never betray Earth. Garidbaldi brings up Franklin’s little episode with Ilya Kurayakin, I mean, his friend from IPX, who got organic technology onto the station and nearly destroyed the place. Understandably, Garibaldi is his usual paranoid self. Franklin asks, “Michael, you ever consider climbing out of the barracks sometime and looking around at the world? Huh?”

Garibaldi replies, “Yeah, I will, when people stop shooting at me.” You know, he does have a point!

Jacobs has, in fact, reached B5 and is wandering around Downbelow. He tries to get an illegal identicard from a vendor, but the guy doesn’t trust him. A sinister looking guy named Max (played by Richard Moll – taking a vacation from Highlander sans his sword) notices him.

Sheridan tries to quiz Kosh about things, but as usual Kosh just spouts Kosh-isms.

Kranson tells Security how to catch Jacobs – he has an implant that will allow them to track him. Sheridan comments, “Just once I’d like to make it through a crisis with a minimum of grief.”

Sheridan meets his contact from General Hague. She says Jacobs does indeed know the truth – that Clark wasn’t sick when he got off Earthforce one. She insists that Sheridan’s people find Jacobs and help him so that they can expose Clark. Sheridan is flip: “Fine, no problem, you want mayo on that?”

Garibaldi sends a message to Franklin to meet him. Meanwhile, Jacobs is taking stims so that he won’t fall asleep and get caught. Hey, first mention of stims, as far as I know!

Garibaldi tells Franklin about Jacobs and what they have to do. Franklin asks him if he believes Jacobs knows. Garibaldi says, “I don’t believe anybody.” Stephen replies, “What a wonderful world you live in.” Garibaldi answers with a typical Michael-ism: “Yeah, well, the rent is cheap, the pay is decent and I get to make my own hours.” Gotta love Michael – so deliciously paranoid. It’ll come back to bite him on the butt in the fourth season in the biggest way, but I digress. They go off looking for Jacobs.

Jacobs is accosted by Max, who has deduced that he’s on the run. He finds a data crystal in Jacobs’ stuff, as well as a watch given to him by the president. (Presumably Santiago, since it seems Clark hates his guts.)

Meanwhile, Sheridan tricks Kranson into looking in a really gross part of the station in order to buy time, and Franklin and Garibaldi reminisce while looking for Jacobs in Downbelow. “I think we lost interest in the future when all the things we were told were coming finally got here,” says

Stephen. Max contacts Kranson and wants to ransom Jacobs.

Sheridan goes to see what Kosh can do, but they talk at cross-purposes. Sheridan, however, isn’t intimidated. Eventually Kosh says he will teach Sheridan about himself, “Until you are ready to fight legends.” Sounds like fun, huh?

Garibaldi and Franklin finally track down and liberate Jacobs, but they still have to get the data crystal. Garibaldi gives a really cool speech while shooting at the bad guy with his PPG: “I don’t have time for this. It’s because I’ve had a really bad day {zap} and I’m in a really bad mood

{zap}. In fact, I’m damn cranky {zap}. So why don’t you give me the fraggin’ data crystal before I start to get surly.” Naturally, Michael’s charm wins in the end and he gets the data crystal.

Kranson has at last figured out that it’s possible to use the internal scanners to track someone. He asks Sheridan why he didn’t mention it. (Maybe because this isn’t Star Trek, thank goodness?) Ivanova gives him a piece of her mind.

But Sheridan has a plan. How did I know? Garibaldi said so! “He’s got a plan. I can tell. He’s got that look.”

They scan the station. Apparently Jacobs isn’t on B5 after all. Sheridan gets self-righteous and accuses Kranson of wasting his time. But Kranson isn’t finished. He won’t let Kosh’s ship leave until he’s scanned it. Of course, the scanners only detect Kosh, and the ship proceeds through the jumpgate.

Now Sheridan gets friendly and helpful. He calls Kranson’s search a “wild goose chase”, and the guy, having nothing to show for it, leaves. (Back to the Maquis, I guess. Much more boring there.)

Back at the docking bay, Kosh’s ship has returned. It spits out Jacobs. They put him out so he wouldn’t see what the inside of the ship looked like. Jacobs tells them the ship sang to him while he was unconscious. (“Ah Louie, Louie…”) With Jacobs safe, Sheridan delivers the data crystal to his contact.

The “Hunter Prey” episode review is © 1999 – 2001 T’Mar
and not for reproduction without the authors express permission

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