A spaceliner just arriving from Earth carries blasts from two of the crew’s respective pasts – Rabbi Yosef Koslov has come to Babylon 5 bearing a legacy from Ivanova’s late father, for whom she has yet to sit shiva; and discredited boxing champ Walker Smith, an old friend of Garibaldi’s, has come on board to enter the Mutai, a deadly one-on-one freestyle martial arts competition open only to selected alien races. Ivanova disappoints Koslov when she refuses to spend any time to pay last respects to her father, and Smith is frustrated when Garibaldi isn’t supportive in his controversial bid to become the first human being to fight in the Mutai. Some of the Mutai’s alien spectators aren’t thrilled with Smith’s challenge either – even to the point of plotting to kill him before he can disgrace the tournament.
written by Lawrence G. DiTillio
directed by John C. Flinn III
music by Christopher FrankeGuest Cast: Greg McKinney (Walker Smith), Soon-Teck Oh (The Muta-Do), Don Stroud (Caliban), Theodore Bikel (Rabbi Koslov), James Jude Courtney (Gyor), Robert Phalen (Andrei Ivanov), Lenore Kasdorf (ISN Reporter), Michael McKenzie (Migo), Marianne Robertson (Tech #1)
Notes: Curiously enough, Ivanova can be seen early in the episode reading Working Without A Net, the [fictional] autobiography of series creative consultant Harlan Ellison.
LogBook entry by Earl Green