Episode: Ship of Tears
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Season: 3
MIA: Marcus, Vir, Allan, Londo
Ranking: 4 out of 5

Word has gotten out that ISN is about to come back on (after having been knocked off the air back in Severed Dreams). Imagine the disappointment upon learning that it's now merely a propaganda mouthpiece for President Clark. Meanwhile, Sheridan has been taking one of the newer model Starfuries they inherited from the Churchill for a spin when a distress call is picked up. He's quite alarmed upon seeing that the vessel in question is a Starfury with the sigil of Black Omega, a fighter wing attached to the Psi Corps. Three guesses as to who the pilot is and the first two don't count. For those having trouble, it's Bester and he has a proposition which he claims will serve both their interests as well as his. Lately, Bester has been finding out about the Shadows and their subversion of the Psi Corps and is not happy with the direction they're taking. Having learned of a convoy transporting weapons components for the Shadows, Bester proposes that they attack it, but insists that the cargo ship be captured rather than destroyed. He'll tag along to use his powers to pinpoint the convoy, as locating a ship in hyperspace through conventional means is near impossible. But you've got to wonder why Bester insists on capture and if he's really playing straight with them (don't be ridiculous, of course he isn't).

It's an episode with Bester so it can't be all bad, right? This is more or less an accurate sentiment. As you would expect, Walter Koenig is still in top form and gets plenty of excellent dialogue to work with. The rest of the episode is of similarly high quality for the most part. There is one flaw however. The scene where Delenn tells G'Kar about how they had known of the Shadow assistance in the conquest of Narn yet made no attempt to stop it was laid on thick. I mean really thick. Thicker than Jamie McCrimmon's skull. But other than this minor annoyance, it's pretty decent.