Babylon 5
The Face of the Enemy
TV Flash files “The Face of the Enemy” as hour 83 of 110 in the TV Flash guide — Babylon 5 (1994–1998) on PTEN/TNT, season 4, episode 17, aired 1997-06-09, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E17: listed hour 83 of 110 in the Babylon 5 guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1997-06-09 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Exercise of Vital Powers” (S04E16). Next is “Intersections in Real Time” (S04E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After arranging for the arrest of Sheridan's father, Garibaldi urges his former commander to come to Mars to arrange a rescue operation, and must decide whether or not to betray Sheridan to Clark's forces. Meanwhile, Franklin and Lyta arrive on Mars with their cargo of frozen telepaths.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Face of the Enemy sit in the Babylon 5 guide?
S04E17 is listed hour 83 of 110 — hour 17 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 17.
When did Babylon 5 S04E17 air?
The Face of the Enemy aired 1997-06-09 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…
Filed against
- Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan
Bruce Boxleitner’s Lee Stetson gave Scarecrow and Mrs. King a trench-coat glower — 1980s catalog espionage as domestic farce, Kate Jackson packing lunches between dead drops. Babylon 5 later asked the jawline to run a five-year novel. TV…
- Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova
Claudia Christian played Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5 — 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 writing the bulk:…
- Jerry Doyle as Michael Garibaldi
Jerry Doyle’s Michael Garibaldi kept Babylon 5’s station armed and hungover — diplomats and soldiers on a five-year novel, J. Michael Straczynski plotting when American sci-fi still defaulted to reset buttons. Foreshadowing, fascism,…
- Mira Furlan as Delenn
Mira Furlan’s Delenn gave Babylon 5 a diplomat’s spine when American sci-fi still defaulted to reset buttons — 1990s five-year novel, J. Michael Straczynski writing the bulk, foreshadowing, fascism, faith, the forever DS9 comparison. TV…
- Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar
Andreas Katsulas’s G’Kar turned Babylon 5 into a five-year novel you could see in a face — diplomats and soldiers on a massive station, fascism, faith, the forever DS9 comparison. J. Michael Straczynski plotted when American sci-fi still…
- Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari
Peter Jurasik played Londo Mollari on Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski’s 1990s five-year novel on a massive station — diplomats and soldiers, foreshadowing, payoffs, fascism, faith, the forever comparison to another space opera. Neutral…