Babylon 5
Knives
TV Flash files “Knives” as hour 39 of 110 in the TV Flash guide — Babylon 5 (1994–1998) on PTEN/TNT, season 2, episode 17, aired 1995-05-17, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E17: listed hour 39 of 110 in the Babylon 5 guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 2. It aired 1995-05-17 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum” (S02E16). Next is “Confessions and Lamentations” (S02E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Londo gets a visit from an old friend who seeks his help after being labelled a traitor by the Centarum. Elsewhere, Sheridan begins hallucinating after being attacked by a dead alien.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Knives sit in the Babylon 5 guide?
S02E17 is listed hour 39 of 110 — hour 17 of 22 in season 2, season 2 episode 17.
When did Babylon 5 S02E17 air?
Knives aired 1995-05-17 and is listed at 60 minutes.
What is distinctive about its structure?
It was planned as a multi-year novel-like arc rather than mostly standalone episodes — five seasons designed as one composition.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Diplomats and soldiers on a massive station, plotted as a five-year novel when American sci-fi TV still defaulted to reset buttons. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the bulk himself: foreshadowing, payoffs, fascism, faith, and the forever DS9 comparison. Neutral ground until history refuses neutrality. Serialization with actual architecture.
The first useful thing *Babylon 5* does is refuse the reset button. Diplomats and soldiers aboard a massive space station navigate wars, prophecies, and alliances across a deliberately planned multi-year arc. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the vast majority of the series (1994–1998 on PTEN, later TNT association for continuation) as a novel for television — foreshadowing, payoffs, political sci-fi with unusual long-range architecture for 1990s American TV. Humanity's place among alien powers becomes a stage for…
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