The Exercise of Vital Powers

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Exercise of Vital Powers
Series = Babylon 5


Caption =
Season = 4
Episode = 16
Airdate = 2 June 1997
Production = 416
Writer = J. Michael Straczynski
Director = John LaFia
Guests = Denise Gentile (Lise Hampton)
Mark Schneider (Wade)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (William Edgars)
Episode list = List of "Babylon 5" episodes
Prev = No Surrender, No Retreat
Next = The Face of the Enemy

"The Exercise of Vital Powers" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television series "Babylon 5".

ynopsis

Ivanova broadcasts news that the resistance is continuing to liberate more colonies and make progress towards earth.

Garibaldi sees this as part of Sheridan's continuing megalomania. Garibaldi arrives on Mars to meet his new employer, Bill Edgars.

Franklin tries to wake up one of the frozen telepaths, without success. He wonders why Sheridan is suddenly in a hurry to do so. Lyta comes into Medlab looking for Zack and seemingly out of curiosity tries to contact the telepath. This wakes him up.

Garibaldi meets Lise and Bill Edgars. Garibaldi explains that he's come to find out what he's been smuggling past customs and to stop Sheridan's war against earth. Bill replies that President Clark needs to be stopped, but not by military action.

Lyta appologises for ruining Franklin's experiment. He asks how she did it and requests her to do it again.

Garibaldi is taken by force from his bed to an interrogation room. Edgars asks him what he thinks about telepaths. Garibaldi implies that they are a menace to society. A telepath in the room finds out that he is still in love with Lise. Garibaldi leaves and the telepath is killed.

Lyta successfully wakes up a male telepath slowly with Franklin monitoring what happens. Unfortunately the telepath wants to kill Franklin and then commit suicide. He is only prevented by Lyta.

Bill Edgars explains to Garibaldi that Clark has been putting telepaths into positions of power, to ensure peoples' loyalty to him. However, the real power is with mega corporations. They don't want to see telepaths taking power from them. So they have a plan to stop this. However, Sheridan's actions are disrupting their timescales and giving Clark a real enemy makes him more paranoid.

Franklin talks with Sheridan and says that he has found a way to neutralise the telepaths' implants for a brief period of time. Sheridan shocks Franklin with the way he wants to use the telepaths, even though Franklin thinks he's right. Franklin tells Lyta that he has long term work for her on Mars.

Lise and Garibaldi talk about their relationship. Lise loves Bill but still feels for Garibaldi.

Edgars visits a small hospital ward with 3 very sick telepaths who have not received a drug for 5 days. They are in pain and dying. Edgars asks for them to be put down. Later Edgars asks Garibaldi to capture Sheridan to prove his loyalty. Garibaldi says he will do that by tracking down Sheridan's father.

Arc significance

* Lise's husband, William Edgars is working against Clark in his own way, and he sees Sheridan as a problem that might force Clark to act before he's ready.
* In order to prove his loyalty to Edgars, Garibaldi must turn Sheridan over to Clark.

Production details

External links