Episode no. Season 3
Episode 7 Written by J. Michael Straczynski Original air date 12 February 1996 | Directed by Kevin Cremin Production code 307 | |
Exogenesis is an episode from the third season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.
Contents
Synopsis
Lieutenant JG Corwin receives a promotion to full Lieutenant and Captain Sheridan asks Ivanova to "talk" to Corwin and determine if they can trust him enough to bring him into the "Conspiracy of Light". Ivanova asks Corwin to come her quarters for a talk, which he mistakes for an invitation for a date and buys her flowers. When Corwin realizes that it isn't a date, he claims to have found the flowers outside her door.
Meanwhile, Marcus is in the process of building an internal network on Babylon 5; he notices several of his contacts beginning to act strangely. In the midst of his investigation with Dr. Franklin they discover parasitic aliens attaching themselves to lurkers. The parasites turn out to be Vindrizi claiming to want to save lives. While incarcerated by the people controlled by the Vindrizi, Marcus asks Franklin his opinion of Ivanova, stating "I sense in her a key as yet unturned", to which Franklin responds by laughing at their situation.
One of the Vindrizi is dying during the melding. The others bring Franklin to save it, allowing an opening for Marcus to escape and rescue Franklin. During the rescue it is discovered the Vindrizi are 500,000 years old and are living records. They travel the galaxy in their host bodies and their current hosts have volunteered for this life in order to serve a purpose from within. In order to prove their sincerity to Marcus and Franklin, one of the hosts (a friend of Marcus) removes his symbiont, essentially returning him to normal.
In the end Ivanova decides that Lt. Corwin is unfit for the "Conspiracy of Light", and Franklin agrees to assist the Vindrizi in their mission. While talking with Ivanova and Garabaldi, Franklin tells Ivanova that Marcus would like a second chance. She believes Marcus is the one who sent the flowers and returns them. Caught unaware of the situation, Marcus is quite pleased that he received flowers from Ivanova stating, "I guess there's hope for us after all."