Babylon 5 (TV Series) The Long Dark (1994) User Reviews

Babylon 5 -- The Long Dark

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 4 January 2014]

So it is possible Babylon 5 has brought aboard a "darkness" unknowingly and the "ravings of a kook" (Dwight Schultz; wild and crazy are his specialty), at first taken with a grain of salt, just might be correct. An Earth explorer ship called the Copernicus, carrying a human female in cryostasis, has a petrified corpse with all his organs removed (as if something reached into him and jerked them out), and this soon happens on the B5 where an alien was treated as a "snack", the same way. That corpse was the husband of another crew member on the Copernicus, Mariah (Anne-Marie Johnson, of the television show of In the Heat of the Night), and Dr Franklin starts to fall in love with her. Mariah is a suspect in her husband's murder, but it's obvious by how he died (and that she was in suspended animation helps cast suspicion elsewhere), she's not looking good for his murder. The minor romantic subplot of Mariah and Franklin aside (it just never quite materializes into something special; too much else going on), this is quite an excellent showcase for Schultz (with duel parts on both B5 and Star Trek: The Next Generation, he found a good place in sci-fi) and seeing one of The Shadows killed by Captain John Sheridan and company provides a little satisfaction considering what these beings typically do to others on the show. This episode also touches on something I wish had been pursued a bit more but isn't: the past converging with the present as a ship from centuries ago makes its way to Babylon station offering history for Sheridan to get giddy about and a passenger on board seeing a different time than she could have ever imagined. I briefly thought about the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Neutral Zone", where Earthlings are found in a damaged ship in cryogenic chambers by the Enterprise crew, reacting to their surroundings with wonder and amazement as a possible threat to the Federation (the Romulans) are introduced significantly. I think The Neutral Zone did a better job of establishing both plots and giving them time to evolve, while "The Long Dark" is more concerned with the war-scarred Amis (Schultz) trying to tell others about The Shadows, enduring ridicule and mockery. I loved Garibaldi's sympathy towards Amis, realizing (as he also suffered) that this supposed lunatic may not be so off-the-wall in his pleas to those on the station. "The Long Dark", to me, is really another minor paragraph in a larger story regarding The Shadows, but each side-plot is necessary as a little piece to a grander master-novel. I think where this truly excels is at depicting the trauma that happens to war vets who return home so damaged that finding themselves a place to exist is rather difficult. Schultz, I think, does well by illustrating just what The Shadows can do through how their "feeding" (taking from humans, draining them and leaving a little of themselves in their victims) from human victims. Like Amis, Mariah can "feel" The Shadows alien killer and this episode allows us to see what they sense, what they can somewhat see. Siphoning a bit at a time from Amis and Mariah is presented as grueling and horrifying. I think there were two good stories to be told here, and not enough episode to really provide them what they deserve. Still a solid bit of sci-fi entertainment. Too bad Amis wasn't used on the show with any regularity; he seems like a fun character.

Nice episode! Unlike any before

[KingConrad · 8/10 · 18 December 2007]

I am writing this as the person who is commenting on most B5 episodes wrote a unfair review on this one (Most of his/her reviews are good).

I just thought I would say that this episode was very good and even though maybe a filler did give some new things to the story and I do think is a must watch episode.

I agree it could have been better and maybe was sort of "easy" for the crew to get rid off... But was very nice and creepy unlike the rest of the season I have watched so far.

I think this episode is important (Not finished B5 yet though) as it shows that there is a army gathering that was once dead and in waiting.... It also shows that these evil things are not seen and have been in contact with people from earth before. I think it also shows that there are many forms of this dark side and that some of the aliens know more then they are letting on about them.

I liked the sort of "horror" episode. Hope we get more like this.

This SHOULD have been a better episode!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 8 January 2007]

I century-old spaceship from Earth is found derelict in space. When the B-5 crew boards the ship, they find that there is one living lady in suspended animation and one dead crew member who WAS in "hypersleep" but somehow died. This crewman should NOT have died, as the equipment was working properly so the doctor is understandably concerned. And, since there is no one else to suspect, it strongly appears as if the surviving woman killed him. BUT, how he was killed was so weird that it seems impossible for her to be the guilty party. So who murdered this man?! Later, it turns out the Shadows are somehow involved and this is one of the first time you see them on the show.

Unfortunately, while the plot is excellent and the episode features the Shadows, the episode had one BIG problem. The doctor's character behaved so stupidly and unprofessionally that it made my head hurt!!! Even though the lady from the derelict ship MIGHT be a murderer, the doctor chases after her like a dog! Think about it--he JUST met this woman and she is his patient and yet they are soon "doing the nasty"--this just doesn't make sense and seems like a poorly written aspect of the show. Generally on BABYLON 5, the characters are consistent and engaging--this is definitely NOT the case here, nor is the behavior of the doctor midway through season 3 when he goes on his extended "walkabout"--yuck.

A Good One

[VenVes · 24 July 2018]

Good episode. Just goes a bit too far with the Doc and his chasing a woman. Becomes more melodrama rather than what the rest of the episode feels of.