Sheridan has been captured. Now he's being tortured for information. How long can he hold out?Sheridan has been captured. Now he's being tortured for information. How long can he hold out?Sheridan has been captured. Now he's being tortured for information. How long can he hold out?
Claudia Christian
- Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
- (archive footage)
Jerry Doyle
- Michael Garibaldi
- (archive footage)
Richard Biggs
- Dr. Stephen Franklin
- (credit only)
Jason Carter
- Marcus Cole
- (credit only)
Stephen Furst
- Vir Cotto
- (credit only)
Jeff Conaway
- Zack Allan
- (credit only)
Patricia Tallman
- Lyta Alexander
- (credit only)
Andreas Katsulas
- G'Kar
- (credit only)
Peter Jurasik
- Londo Mollari
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn J. Michael Straczynski's original plan, this was to be the Season 4 finale, saving the "meat" of the Earth civil war for Season 5. The plan had to be substantially altered when it seemed the show would be canceled after Season 4.
- GoofsSheridan is told he has had "pain givers" installed which would cause an increasingly severe shock the closer he got to the interrogator beginning from a couple feet away, yet several times the interrogator comes within less than a foot of Sheridan with no effect. Evidently, that's how the pain givers work - the victim cannot approach the interrogator, but the interrogator can approach the victim without setting off the givers. Such function can be easily implemented even at the current level of technology. Or the interrogator simply lied.
- Quotes
Capt. John Sheridan: You know, it's funny, I was thinking about what you said, that the preeminent truth of our age is that you cannot fight the system. But if, as you say, the truth is fluid, that the truth is subjective, then maybe you can fight the system. As long as just one person refuses to be broken, refuses to bow down.
Interrogator: But can you win?
Capt. John Sheridan: Every time I say "no."
- ConnectionsFeatures Babylon 5: The Face of the Enemy (1997)
Featured review
A fine script
This for me is one of those stand out pieces of screenwriting, where many of the contradictions of human society are confronted and laid bare. Many scifi fans won't like this episode because essentially nothing at all happens, and yet it is an episode which cuts to the heart of things. The central issue, what constitutes reality and truth? Is it what you experience and personally know to be true, or is it what someone else, with power will allow.
Then again who really does have the power? Maybe the man who you THINK has power, is actually himself only another cog in the great machine. Maybe, despite appearances, the power really rests with you, as long as you can hold on to your reason, but then again how long can you hold onto that truth when you are tired, hungry and in pain?
I AM - two words which no ancient Jew could be permitted, because I AM was the name of God, who alone had the right to define reality. In our time we hold no such qualms, but still there remains a question which must be confronted. What is the truth? What is reality? and who has the final right to define it.
It is a question at the heart of many a conflict, and confronted by many a disident to some totalitarian regime. In this case Sheridan finds himself, by simple capture, instantly translated from war hero, to inconvenient disident who must now be silenced or somehow forced to recant his truth. Much verbal jousting will follow, with a tightly written, and surprisingly witty dialogue, for such a dark subject as torture.
Then again who really does have the power? Maybe the man who you THINK has power, is actually himself only another cog in the great machine. Maybe, despite appearances, the power really rests with you, as long as you can hold on to your reason, but then again how long can you hold onto that truth when you are tired, hungry and in pain?
I AM - two words which no ancient Jew could be permitted, because I AM was the name of God, who alone had the right to define reality. In our time we hold no such qualms, but still there remains a question which must be confronted. What is the truth? What is reality? and who has the final right to define it.
It is a question at the heart of many a conflict, and confronted by many a disident to some totalitarian regime. In this case Sheridan finds himself, by simple capture, instantly translated from war hero, to inconvenient disident who must now be silenced or somehow forced to recant his truth. Much verbal jousting will follow, with a tightly written, and surprisingly witty dialogue, for such a dark subject as torture.
helpful•113
- rejennyrateduk
- Apr 20, 2019
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