#007 - B5 1.06 - "Mind War"

This week, we get our first appearance of Star Trek's Walter Koenig as Psi-Cop Alfred Bester in the Babylon 5 episode 1.06 "Mind War."

- What did Dave S. & Todd think about this episode overall?

- Which aspect of the show is a "weak link" for one co-host?

- Is recurring actor Walter Koenig as Alfred Bester in more episodes than any actors that are in opening credits of whole seasons? And, which recurring character (not introduced quite yet at this point in season 1) has been in just barely more episodes than Alfred Bester?

- What are the statistics on telepaths & telekinetics among humans?

- What view of the station interior in this episode did one co-host appreciate?

- What P-ratings are instructors and Psi-Cops in Psi-Corps?

- What is the behind-the-scenes reason Walter Koenig appeared in this episode as the start of a recurring run rather than as a one-shot in a different episode?

- Which Talia Winters quote did one co-host like, and why did the other co-host not totally like that same quote?

- Which Ivanova quip did both co-hosts particularly appreciate?

- Does G'Kar have possibly the best moments of the episode, an episode that barely has anything to do with him? (Note: If the answer is yes, it might become a trend.)

- Does Garibladi have a thing for women in conservative suit jackets?

- What gesture and line of dialogue are homages to the 1960s British TV show, "The Prisoner"?

- To what is the name Alfred Bester an homage?

- And, what did the cast do at lunch during filming to honor Walter Koenig's involvement?

Find out the answers to these and other mind altering questions as we get probed & scanned by "Mind War."

Personal Note: Please bear with us if the release schedule of this podcast or our other podcast, the Discerning Geeks Portal, is affected by a profound loss we have experienced recently. David T., a founding co-host of Discerning Geeks Portal, and our friend & brother for far longer than we have been podcasting, passed away recently after his eight-year battle with cancer. At the time I'm posting this, his death was three days ago, his funeral is still two days ahead, and we are still quite shaken. We hope to somehow honor & memorialize him, but we need to discuss how & when to properly do so in this public forum. Prayers & positive thoughts are appreciated as we process this loss privately for now. In the meantime, reviews of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" were both recorded before his passing...but still without him, sadly. The first of those may be coming soon, but I don't know when. Thank you for understanding.

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Public domain music used in this episode...

- Intro / Transition Into Spoiler Zone / Outro: "Putin's Lullaby" by Alexander Nakarada via FreePD.com (Note: I know with current events going on around Ukraine in March 2022, a song with "Putin" in the title is unfortunate, but I can't help it. That's the name of the song, and the song was picked out weeks ago when the first half of it sounded perfect for a Babylon 5 intro...with a few "swoosh" sound effects added to the end of the intro for added punch.)