Day of the Dead (Babylon 5)
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| Babylon 5 episode | |
| "Day of the Dead" | |
| Image:B5 Day of the Dead 1.jpg | |
| Season | 5 |
|---|---|
| Episode no. | 11 or 8 |
| Prod. code | 511 |
| Airdate | 11 March 1998 |
| Writer(s) | Neil Gaiman |
| Director | Doug Lefler |
| Guest star(s) | Penn & Teller (Rebo & Zooty) Joshua Cox (Lt. Corwin) Bridget Flanery (Zoe) Fabiana Udenio (Adira Tyree) |
| Year | 2262 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous episode | Phoenix Rising or Secrets of the Soul (see text) |
| Next episode | The Ragged Edge or In the Kingdom of the Blind (see text) |
"Day of the Dead" is an episode from the fifth season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. It is particularly notable for being written by author Neil Gaiman, and the fact that it was not written by J. Michael Straczynski, who wrote nearly every other episode of the series. The episode also features Penn & Teller, who portray comedians "Rebo & Zooty". It is a break from the show's usual continuing story arc, though some events do have relevance to the rest of the series.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
The dead return for one night during a mysterious Brakiri religious festival: Garibaldi is visited by a ground pounder with whom he almost had a romantic fling three years ago, Lennier is visited by the Shadows' associate Mr. Morden, and Captain Lochley is visited by her younger sister. Kosh also delivers a message to Lochley for Captain Sheridan: "When the long night comes, return to the end of the beginning."
[edit] Arc significance
As a stand-alone episode it's hard to determine where this episode fits into the arc. The original broadcast order (and DVD order) place it after "Secrets of the Soul"; episode guides place it after the conclusion of the telepath crisis in "Phoenix Rising". As the episode takes place in only one night and does not involve any of the characters from "Secrets of the Soul", it could work just as well during the telepath crisis as afterward.
[edit] Writing
Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman was inspired to write this story when he heard of the Jewish concept of an eruv, a shared physical domain that allows Jews to carry objects from one household to another on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. According to a literal reading of the Torah (the five books of Moses) it would seem that one may not leave one's household on the Sabbath, which the rabbis found both impractical and not in the spirit of the holiday. Rabbinic literature records the development of the eruv as a legal device which allows Jews in a community to symbolically, or in many views literally, merge their separate domains into one shared domain, thus allowing carrying and travel on the Sabbath. The idea of sharing distinct domains for a religious purpose was taken by Gaiman and expanded upon: what if one legally borrowed a domain that is far from one's home world? What if this merging of domains was made manifest in a literal and physical sense? The episode's storyline develops from Gaiman's extension of this idea.
[edit] See also
- Day of the Dead (holiday)
