Babylon 5 The Complete Second Season
Warner Bros. (1995)
Action, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
In Collection
#167
0*
Seen ItNo
IMDB   8.0
924 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 1   NR (Not Rated)
Bruce Boxleitner Captain John Sheridan
Mary Kay Adams Natoth
Richard Biggs Dr. Stephen Franklin
Claudia Christian Susan Ivanova
Jerry Doyle Michael Garibaldi
Mira Furlan Ambassador Delenn
Stephen Furst Vir
Peter Jurasik Ambassador Londo Molari
Andreas Katsulas Ambassador G'Kar
Bill Mumy Lennier
Michael O'Hare
Tracy Scoggins
Robert Rusler
Andrea Thompson
Jeff Conaway Zack Allan  / ...
Director
Tony Dow
Richard Compton
Producer John Copeland
Robert Latham Brown
Writer J. Michael Straczynski
Peter David


Delenn's future love interest, Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) arrived on Babylon 5 in the first episode of season 2, "Points of Departure." The show marked the handing over of command of B5 to Sheridan from Commander Jeffery Sinclair, actor Michael O'Hare becoming a victim of studio politicians who wanted a bigger star in the leading role. This excellent installment also revealed more about why the Minbari surrendered to Earth at the Battle of the Line when they were on the verge of victory. "Revelations" explains that Sheridan's wife, Anna, died during an archaeological survey of the world Z'ha'dum, the name being just one of many references to Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings (the bridge at Khazad-Dum). "The Geometry of Shadows" introduced the Technomages, characters who featured more significantly in the ill-fated spinoff series Crusade (1999), while "The Coming of Shadows" proved to be Babylon 5's finest hour to date. The story of political intrigue foreshadowing the fate of two of the major characters beat Apollo 13, Toy Story, 12 Monkeys, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Visitor" to win the Hugo award for Best Dramatic Presentation at the 1996 World Science Fiction Convention and proved so powerful that J. Michael Straczynski included it in his Complete Book of Scriptwriting.

"And Now for a Word" took the unusual step of presenting a day-in-the-life of B5 seen through the eyes of a TV news crew, just as the Narn declared war on the Centauri. The inclusion of a PSI-Corps commercial paid homage to Paul Verhoeven's satirical ads in Robocop (1987), while his later Starship Troopers (1997) seemed at times like a spoof of B5's earnest space opera. In "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum," Sheridan learns that Morden was on the ship on which Anna died; the episode sees the captain pushed to his limits by grief and determination to discover why Morden survived. Three exceptional shows conclude the season. The Narn-Centauri war escalates in "The Long, Twilight Struggle," Sheridan faces a most unusual ordeal in "Comes the Inquisitor," and in "The Fall of Night" all hope of peace is shattered as a nerve-racking assassination attempt reveals a startling secret about Ambassador Kosh. --Gary S. Dalkin

Episodes
 45 mins    11/2/1994  1.  Points of Departure
Sheridan arrives at Babylon 5 to replace Sinclair and deal with a renegade Minbari Cruiser.
Director:  Janet Greek  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Richard Grove,  Robin SachsRobert Foxworth, Jennifer Anglin, Jonathan Chapman, Kim Delgado, Russ Fega, Bennet Guillory, Catherine Hader, Mark Hendrickson
 45 mins    11/9/1994  2.  Revelations
Sheridan's sister comes to visit him at his new command, G'Kar returns with grave tidings from the rim of known space, Dr. Franklin tries to wake Gribaldi from the coma with the alien healing device obtained from Dr. Rosen, and something is happening in Delenn's quarters.
Director:  Jim Johnston  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Beverly Leech, Macaulay Bruton, Beth Toussaint, Mark Hendrickson, James Kiriyama-Lem, Gary McGurk, Michael McKenzie, Warren Tabata
 45 mins    11/16/1994  3.  The Geometry of Shadows
A mysterious group known as ""techno-mages"" take up temporary residence at Babylon 5 and Londo is very eager to get an audience with them. Meanwhile the Drazi cause problems for the newly promoted Commander Ivanova with their rather unusual election process.
Director:  Mike Vejar  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Michael Ansara, Kim Strauss, Jonathan Chapman, Neil Bradley, Edward Conery, Warren Tabata, William Forward
 45 mins    11/23/1994  4.  A Distant Star
A giant explorer class ship comes to Babylon 5 for re-supply - it's captain an old friend of Sheridan. Dr. Franklin gets on the command staffs nerves when he starts handing out ""food plans"".
Director:  Jim Johnston  Writer:  D.C. Fontana 
Guest starring:  Russ Tamblyn, Daniel Beer, Art Kimbro, Miguel Nunez, Jr., Patty Toy, Kim Delgado, Sandy Grinn, Joshua Coxx
 45 mins    11/30/1994  5.  The Long Dark
A 100-year-old space exploration ship appears near Babylon 5 with two passengers - a woman in cryogenic sleep, the corpse of her husband... and something sinister that has unfinished business with a half mad lurker.
Director:  Mario Di Leo  Writer:  Scott Frost 
Guest starring:  Dwight Schultz, Anne-Marie Johnson, Jennifer Anglin, Neil Bradley, James Kiriyama-Lem, Kim Strauss, Warren Tabata
 45 mins    12/7/1994  6.  Spider in the Web
A friend of Talia comes to Babylon 5 to negotiate a deal to help Mars become more self-sufficient, when a man calling out ""Free Mars!"" electrocutes him.
Director:  Kevin G. Cremin  Writer:  Larry DiTillio 
Guest starring:  Michael Beck, Adrienne Barbeau,  James Shigeta, Jessica Walter, Annie Grindlay
 45 mins    12/14/1994  7.  Soul Mates
Londo summons his three wives to Babylon 5 so he can divorce two of them, Talia gets a visit from her obnoxious ex-husband - the only man ever to leave the PSI Corps... and Delenn has her first bad hair day.
Director:  John C. Flinn III  Writer:  Peter David 
Guest starring:  Keith Szarabajka, Lois Nettleton, Blair Valk,  Carel Struycken, Jane Carr, Bryan Michael McGuire
 45 mins    1/26/1995  8.  A Race Through Dark Places
Bester returns to Babylon 5 to shut down an underground organization that smuggles rouge telepaths out of the PSI Corps reach. Meanwhile Sheridan has some disagreements with Earthforce over the rent of his quarters.
Director:  Jim Johnston  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Apesanahkwat, Brian Cousins, Diane DiLascio, Gianin Loffler, Eddie Allen, Kathryn Cressida, Judy Levitt, Christopher Michael, William Allen Young
 45 mins    2/2/1995  9.  The Coming of Shadows
The aging Centauri emperor travels to Babylon 5 despite his failing health. Refa sees this as an opportunity to have Londo publicly embarrass the emperor, while G'Kar prepares to assassinate him.
Director:  Janet Greek  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Fredric Lehne, Malachi Throne, Turhan Bey, Michael O'Hare, Neil Bradley, Jonathan Chapman, Bryan Michael McGuire, Kim Strauss, William Forward
 45 mins    2/9/1995  10.  GROPOS
Babylon 5 gets considerable space problems when 25,000 Earthforce soldiers arrive. Led by General Richard Franklin, Stephen Franklin's father, they are to use Babylon 5 as a staging point for a risky military operation.
Director:  Jim Johnston  Writer:  Larry DiTillio 
Guest starring:  Paul WinfieldRyan Cutrona, Ken Foree, Morgan Hunter, Marie Marshall, Art Chudabala, Elisa Beth Garver, Mowava Pryor
 45 mins    2/16/1995  11.  All Alone in the Night
While leading a Starfury squadron to investigate the disappearance of several ships, Sheridan is captured by an alien vessel. Meanwhile Delenn is summoned to appear before the Grey Council to discuss her recent change in appearance.
Director:  Mario Di Leo  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Nick Corri, Marshall Teague,  Robin SachsRobert Foxworth
 45 mins    2/23/1995  12.  Acts of Sacrifice
G'Kar struggles to control the Narns on Babylon 5 as he asks the different ambassadors for help in the war against the Centauri. Ivanova shows a representative from a new species around the station, so he may decide if humans are worthy of their presence.
Director:  Jim Johnston  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Paul Williams, Christopher Darga,  Glenn MorshowerIan Abercrombie, Jennifer Anglin, Kathryn Cressida, Sandy Grinn, David Sage, Paul Ainsley
 45 mins    3/2/1995  13.  Hunter, Prey
The president's physician comes to Babylon 5 on the run from Earthforce special intelligence. They say he has classified information he plans to sell to alien governments, though Sheridan soon learns otherwise.
Director:  Menachem Binetski  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Bernie CaseyTony Steedman, Richard Moll, Bryan Michael McGuire, Damon C. Reiser, Debby Shively, Robert Silver, Wanda de Jesus
 45 mins    4/27/1995  14.  There All the Honor Lies
Sheridan is assaulted by the Minbari Lovell, and is forced to kill him in self-defense. But a Minbari who witnessed the incident claims Sheridan assaulted Lovell - and everybody knows Minbari do not lie.
Director:  Mike Vejar  Writer:  Peter David 
Guest starring:  Julie Caitlin Brown, Sean Gregory Sullivan, Neil Bradley, Jonathan Chapman, Vincent Duvall, Eliott Harold, Mark Hendrickson, Ossie Mair, Michael McKenzie
 45 mins    5/4/1995  15.  And Now for a Word
We see life on Babylon 5 through the eyes of ISN, supplemented by interviews, statistics and even a few commercials.
Director:  Mario Di Leo  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Kim Zimmer, Christopher Curry, Granville Ames, John Christian Graas, Leslie Wing, Jose Rey
 45 mins    5/11/1995  16.  In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Sheridan is shocked to learn that one of the crew of the Icarus, a science ship that exploded with his wife aboard, is alive - namely Mr. Morden. A representative of the Ministry of Peace comes to the station to recruit personnel to the Nightwatch.
Director:  David J. Eagle  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Alex Hyde-White
 45 mins    5/18/1995  17.  Knives
Londo gets a visit from an old friend who seeks his help after being called a traitor by the Centarum. Sheridan starts hallucinating after being attacked by a dead alien.
Director:  Stephen L. Posey  Writer:  Larry DiTillio 
Guest starring:  Carmen Argenziano, Elisa Beth Garver, William Dennis Hunt, William Forward
 45 mins    5/25/1995  18.  Confessions and Lamentations
A 100% fatal and 100% contagious plague is killing the Markabs. Dr. Franklin tries to find a cure, but is being opposed by the Markabs themselves, who believe the plague only affect the immoral.
Director:  Kevin G. Cremin  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Jim Norton, Diane Adair, Andrew Craig, Mike Manzoni, Michael McKenzie, Bluejean Ashley Secrist, Kim Strauss, Dan Woren,  Rosie Malek-Yonan
 45 mins    10/12/1995  19.  Divided Loyalties
Lyta Alexander returns to Babylon 5 with a message from the telepath resistance - one of the command staff is a mole for PSI Corps.
Director:  Jesús Salvador Treviño  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Douglas Bennett, Danny De La Paz, Jani Neuman, George Simms
 45 mins    10/19/1995  20.  The Long, Twilight Struggle
Draal reveals himself for Sheridan, while Refa and Londo set a plan in motion that will lead to the final defeat of the Narns.
Director:  John C. Flinn III  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  John Schuck, Riff Hutton, W. Morgan Sheppard, Neil Bradley, Jonathan Chapman, Elisa Beth Garver, William Forward
 45 mins    10/26/1995  21.  Comes the Inquisitor
Kosh summons an inquisitor to test Delenn's motives, and G'Kar tries to maintain his position as leader of Babylon 5's Narn population while organizing an underground resistance.
Director:  Mike Vejar  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Wayne Alexander,  Jack Kehler, Diane Adair, Jim Chiros, Mark Hendrickson, Michael Francis Kelly, Kim Strauss, Craig Thomas
 45 mins    11/2/1995  22.  The Fall of Night
Two officials from the Ministry of Peace come to Babylon 5; one to deal with the Centauri's continued expansion, and the other to check on the local Nightwatch. Meanwhile a Narn heavy cruiser seeks sanctuary while they make repairs, and Keffer continues his search for proof that Shadow ships exist.
Director:  Janet Greek  Writer:  J. Michael Straczynski 
Guest starring:  Roy Dotrice, Juliana Donald, Rick Hamilton,  Robin Sachs, John Vickery, Donovan Brown, Elisa Beth Garver, Mark Hendrickson, Joshua Patton, Kim Strauss
Edition Details
Edition The Complete Second Season
Series Babylon 5
Distributor Warner Home Video
Release Date 4/29/2003
Packaging Custom Case
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3, Letterboxed)
Widescreen (16:9)
Subtitles Arabic; Dutch; English; English (Closed Captioned); French; Spanish
Audio Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 [English]
Layers Single Side, Dual Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 6

Features
Disc 01 "The Making of..." Documentary Bonus Feature Interactive Game Scene Selection Theatrical Trailers