Babylon 5: Character Bios: Elizabeth Lockley

The magnificent Tracy Scoggins plays Captain Elizabeth Lockley.

lockley the magnificentShe’s not what she seems you know! Lockley is a little bit too straight-laced, a little too humourless and efficient for us to feel a particular affinity for her in the same way we did Ivanova. Yet JMS slips tantalising little stories about her past to keep us interested.

If you were to meet Lockley in a pub she would be the landlady and she would probably be throwing you out for your drunken behaviour. Lockleys pub wouldn’t be one of those places with plastic cartwheels on the walls or plastic imitation antique chairs and tables used by plastic people drinking plastic beer. Naa Lockleys pub would be a bit rowdy, a place where you could relax and get drunk. Garibaldi would like Lockleys pub.

A bit formal for friends?!Lockley is Sheridan’s ex-wife. I know, I know, it seems totally implausible to me too. Mind you, having your ex-wife working for you would be fun! Apparently, when they were both training to be officers they fell in love and got married. It lasted weeks rather than years and they separated and divorced soon after. They are supposed to be good friends, though I have yet to see any evidence of this. When Sheridan and Lockley are in the same room together there is a, ….. a sort of ….. nothing.

When Susan Ivanova left Babylon 5 Lockley was asked to take up the position of Captain. Sheridan wanted someone he could trust and with a non-confrontational leadership quality. Delenn knows about it but she only found out AFTER Lockley had been assigned to the station.

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Approximately 20 years ago, Lockley was considered WILD! She wasn’t frightened of playing rough and shared an apartment with her best pal, a ‘smack head’ called Zoe. They were stoned most of the time (though I think Lockley was not nearly as bad as Zoe in that respect). Lockleys dead druggy friend, ZoeOne of the most disturbing experiences of Lockleys life was finding Zoe dead in he apartment from a drug overdose. This was a traumatic time for Lockley and I think it affected her personality.

The death of her best friend probably made her a tougher character. Lockley had always wondered if Zoe meant to commit suicide with a drug overdose or if her death was an accident, I think she probably felt responsible. The password Lockley uses to access Babylon 5 secure information is “Zoe’s Dead“. In the episode ‘Day of the Dead‘, Zoe returned to see Lockley and told her that her life was unbearable and that she DID commit suicide.

When Lockley arrived on Babylon 5, the entrance was formal and intimidating. She had to have an air of authority but instead, this ‘handsome‘ woman rather patronised her way onto the station. I felt more than a little deflated. Captain Lockley would show resourcefulness, intelligence and a strong ability to command during this first episode, but I missed Ivanova almost immediately.

Having said that, she showed that she had clear leadership qualities and the experience to win against the odds in a battle with an unknown alien armada in A View From the Gallery.

Nope, she hasn’t yet posed for Playboy but Lockley does look VERY fetching in a little pink and black number that she sported in River of Souls. We only saw glimpses (this pick was wizzed from the TNT Babylon 5 site) but the image is of a computer generated Lockley in a Brown Sector cyber brothel!   Apparently she is more popular with the female customers!  Who says JMS doesn’t have a sense of humour.

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Prospective lover, Garibaldi?Lockley and Garibaldi have a bit of a thing going on. OK, ok, so there is no evidence of this -but they seem very flirty!  After each of their encounters I feel like saying, ‘just get a room!’

Garibaldi was sure that she was untrustworthy and Lockley was convinced that he was bad at his job, rude and inconsiderate.  A sound basis for a strong relationship don’t you think?

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The ‘Fun-people biographies’ are © 1999 – 2001 Tony Fawl.
Not for reproduction without the authors express permission

The BABYLON 5 names, characters and everything else associated with the series are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, TNT and Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company. All rights reserved.

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