Babylon 5
Confessions and Lamentations
TV Flash files “Confessions and Lamentations” as hour 40 of 110 in the TV Flash guide — Babylon 5 (1994–1998) on PTEN/TNT, season 2, episode 18, aired 1995-05-24, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E18: listed hour 40 of 110 in the Babylon 5 guide, hour 18 of 22 in season 2. It aired 1995-05-24 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Knives” (S02E17). Next is “Divided Loyalties” (S02E19).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
When a fatal and contagious plague threatens the Markab race with extinction, Dr. Franklin races to find a cure before more of the station's residents are killed. However, his efforts are obstructed by the Markab themselves, who believe the plague only affects the immoral.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Confessions and Lamentations sit in the Babylon 5 guide?
S02E18 is listed hour 40 of 110 — hour 18 of 22 in season 2, season 2 episode 18.
When did Babylon 5 S02E18 air?
Confessions and Lamentations aired 1995-05-24 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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