"Crusade" War Zone (1999)

Director:

Janet Greek

Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski (writer)

TV Series:

"Crusade" (1999)

Original Air Date:

9 June 1999 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Capt. Matthew Gideo assembles the crew that will be with him on the experimental starship Excalibur. Their mission: explore the reaches of space to find a cure for the deadly Drakh virus that will overrun Earth in five years. |

Plot Keywords:

Plague | Space | Alien | Dragon | Telepathy

Cast

Gary Cole	...	Capt. Matthew Gideon
Tracy Scoggins	...	Capt. Elizabeth Lochley (credit only)
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Lt. John Matheson
David Allen Brooks	...	Max Eilerson
Peter Woodward	...	Galen
Marjean Holden	...	Dr. Sarah Chambers
Carrie Dobro	...	Dureena Nafeel
Alex Mendoza	...	Trace Miller
Tim Thomerson	...	Senator McQuate
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christopher Comes	...	Aide (as Chris Comés)
Maggie Egan	...	Jane / ISN Anchor
Don Fischer	...	Captain Henson
Mark Hendrickson	...	Drakh Captain
Elijah Mahar	...	Crew #1 (as Elijha Majar)
Rebecca Markham	...	Sam
Brook Susan Parker	...	Lieutenant Ross (as Brook Parker)
John Sanderford	...	Mr. Ames
Will Schaub	...	Jenson
Otto Sturcke	...	Ensign (as Otto Stürcke)

Trivia:

According to J. Michael Straczynski's posts on the internet the opening of the first episode aired, "War Zone", was required by TNT to open with a fistfight. Later in the episode, the Senator briefing Gideon has a line to the effect of, "We've had to make a lot of compromises to get this thing off the ground" - literally about the Excalibur's mission, but also a line J. Michael Straczynski intended as a comment on the series itself.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jane: The alien forces that attacked Earth struck without reason or provocation. Although they were driven back by our forces, on their way out, they left behind a biogenetically engineered virus that has completely penetrated the atmosphere. As a result, Earth has been quarantined. Repeat: Earth has been quarantined.

Worth Watching

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

While "War Zone" has its weak points (mainly the TNT-mandated stuff, the fight scene, the riot footage, the exposition, etc.), it is definitely worth watching, even if only for Eilerson's scenes. Damn, that guy's good! I really miss that character.

The episode picks up right after the events of "Babylon 5 - A Call to Arms" (the TNT TV movie), and immediately goes into a TNT-mandated fight scene (a scene which makes no sense when you think about it.). "War Zone" was the pilot episode that TNT wanted because they decided, late in the game, not to air "A Call to Arms" right before the first episode of Crusade. It does a decent job of introducing the characters, but most of that wouldn't have been needed if they'd aired "A Call to Arms" and then gone right into "Racing the Night" (JMS' intended first episode of Crusade.). Also, "War Zone" ends on pure exposition, sort of a connect-the-dots bit for people completely unfamiliar with Babylon 5 (the TV show).

Anyway, give it a full viewing and you might be surprised at how much of it you end up liking.