Babylon 5: Thirdspace, on TNT
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This is the second Babylon 5 TV movie aired by TNT. It premiered in 1998, during the show's fifth season, though it's actually set during season four, in the year 2261. An enormous artifact is discovered in hyperspace, and towed back to Babylon 5. Resident telepath Lyta Alexander is badly affected by the presence of the artifact, and eventually it starts having similar effects even on non-telepaths, who begin fighting the station's security personnel. (One of the enthralled people is Deuce, played by William Sanderson, who previously appeared in one episode of the show.) Meanwhile, a group of xenoarchaeologists from Interplanetary Expeditions (IPX) shows up at the station, led by Dr. Elizabeth Trent (Shari Belafonte) and her second in command, Bill Morishi (Clyde Kusatsu). Trent makes a deal with Captain Sheridan to let her team examine the artifact. Eventually, Trent theorizes that the artifact is a kind of jump gate that leads to some kind of space other than normal space and hyperspace, a kind of "thirdspace" that would allow for much faster interstellar travel than hyperspace. She convinces Morishi that they should activate the artifact. This causes a portal to open into thirdspace, and alien ships begin coming through. Sheridan and Delenn learn the origin of the artifact from Lyta, whose mind has been taken over by an implanted "race memory" of the Vorlons, and about the aliens that are now coming through into normal space, intent on destroying all other races. So, while a bunch of Starfuries and White Stars fight off the aliens, it's up to Sheridan to destroy the artifact.

Well, I probably liked the movie more the first time I saw it than I did when re-watching it in 2024. I still think it's okay, but I kind of feel like the story isn't as good as it could have been. I learned from the introduction on the DVD that they were going for a sort of Lovecraftian vibe with the aliens, and I'm not sure how well they actually achieved that. The movie doesn't feel as much to me like a proper horror movie as the writers wanted it to be. And the way the artifact is ultimately destroyed... seems to me to be relatively low-tech, considering it was built by Vorlons. In general, I just don't feel like the movie is as epic as it should be, but I did like it. It's an interesting diversion from the usual goings-on on the show. I'm just glad the aliens could be stopped before they posed a real danger to the galaxy. Things were already complicated enough without them as an ongoing wild card.