Babylon 5
The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father
TV Flash files “The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father” as hour 101 of 110 in the TV Flash guide — Babylon 5 (1994–1998) on PTEN/TNT, season 5, episode 13, aired 1998-04-15, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E13: listed hour 101 of 110 in the Babylon 5 guide, hour 13 of 22 in season 5. It aired 1998-04-15 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Ragged Edge” (S05E12). Next is “Meditations on the Abyss” (S05E14).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A telepath murders his roommate and escapes on a ship bound for Babylon 5. Bester is given the job of capturing him, and brings along two PSI Cop interns to show them how he works.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father sit in the Babylon 5 guide?
S05E13 is listed hour 101 of 110 — hour 13 of 22 in season 5, season 5 episode 13.
When did Babylon 5 S05E13 air?
The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father aired 1998-04-15 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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