"A Spider in the Web" (original) (raw)

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Contents: Overview -Backplot -Questions -Analysis -Notes -JMS

Overview

Talia is caught in a treacherous web of intrigue after she witnesses a murder. Adrienne Barbeau as Amanda Carter.Michael Beck as Abel Horn.Jessica Walter as Senator Voudreau.

(Originally titled "A Trick of the Mind")

Sub-genre: Mystery P5 Rating: 8.04

Production number: 206 Original air date: December 7, 1994 DVD release date: April 29, 2003

Written by Lawrence G. DiTillio Directed by Kevin Cremins

Watch For:

Sheridan's drink.
San Diego.
Shattering glass.
"Erronium."

Backplot

Talia's first assignment was on Mars Colony, where she scanned several members of the radical group Free Mars (cf."A Voice in the Wilderness.")
Sheridan is a conspiracy buff; he collects information about all sorts of black projects and secret organizations.
After the last rebellion, the Mars Conglomerate, a powerful group of business interests, nearly pulled out of Mars.
In the 2230s, the Earth Alliance began experimenting with electronic brain implants. The experiments were unsuccessful because the machines couldn't operate in conjunction with conscious thought. Later, after the project was officially closed down, a group within the Earth Alliance began trying a different approach. They took people who were nearly dead and, with telepathic deep scans by one or more members of Psi Corps, fixated the subjects' minds on the moments of their deaths, blocking out all other conscious thought. That allowed the implants to operate as long as the subjects remained fixated.
A secret group within the Earth government called Bureau 13 is deeply involved in, if not responsible for, the continuation of the experiments. Bureau 13 has at least one officially deceased PsiCop in its employ, possibly even its head.

Unanswered Questions

Who is the Bureau 13 "Control" Officer on B5?
If the cyber-experiments failed, what is Abbut, the "vicker" from"Deathwalker?"
Is "Abbey," Talia's mentor from her first year in Psi Corps, the Bureau 13 PsiCop?
The station's computer system has a secret override built in which Bureau 13 has access to. What, if any, other subversions are in place on Babylon 5?
What role, if any, will the T'Kar play in the future, assuming they decide to come to Babylon 5? What's so special about them?
What did Sheridan learn when he was on the T'Kar ship?

Analysis

Since Talia scanned Free Mars members, it's reasonable to assume that Psi-Corps is still doing so. Why, then, were they apparently caught unawares by the rebellion in"A Voice in the Wilderness?" In that episode, the Psi-Corps representative expressed surprise at the size and well-equipped nature of Free Mars, something that presumably would have been discovered during the course of scans. Either some within Psi-Corps are actively hiding such information from the rest of the Corps (and from Earth) or Free Mars is run very tightly and almost no members know enough to compromise the organization as a whole.
Sheridan's interest in secret organizations and conspiracies may explain why he was so ready to believe in an assassination plot against the President (cf."Revelations.") Most other people seem to believe the accident cover story (cf. comic"In Darkness Find Me.")
What about Abbut, the "Vicker" or "VCR" from"Deathwalker?" He was quite clearly human, and also clearly carrying a brain implant. (Indeed, his brain was exposed, surrounded and penetrated by what looked like quite extensive implants. The exact quote by Garibaldi was, "Most of the cyber experiments were a bust." Abbut could have been one of those few that worked. In principle implants recording and monitoring what Abbut experiences are fundimentally different from an implanted AI that controls your actions.
In a related but more tenuous vein, what about the Technomages? Some aspects of their abilities (all based on technology, remember) seem to imply non-vocal, non-manipulatory control over their gear. The production of an orange blossom while walking, talking and gesturing. Sleight of hand is one explanation, (sidestepping the issue of how the orange blossom was produced,) but an alternative one is that they have some kind of control device implanted someplace -- not necessarily their brains. This would also explain their preternatural knowledge. Elric always seemed to know more than anyone else, and some of that could have come from a built in data system or an implanted link to one. Add to this Elric's ability to pull up holograms literally in the palm of his hand, and the arguement seems strong for such an implant. But again, it could be nothing but an IO path, not an AI, and so again different from the cyber experiments' failures.
Sheridan said Earth's cyborg research took place in the 2230s. That places it just after the Dilgar war ("Deathwalker.") In"Deathwalker," Na'Toth recalled that the Dilgar were experimenting with brain implants. Was Earth continuing the Dilgar research? Did they receive research data after the war, the same way the allies obtained Nazi advances in rocket technology after World War II?
B5's computer system is compromised. At the very least, communications are insecure and under the control of the Bureau 13 AI, including both local and interstellar channels. This is supported by the way the public computer console is quickly taken over by the AI, and the quickness with which it handled the exchange between the Bureau 13 Psicop in San Diego and the control officer on site at B5. The extent of the problem isn't known, but the AI isn't omnipresent. It doesn't prevent Captain Sheridan from modifying the environmental sensors, for instance.
Is Bureau 13 set up in a cell structure, like an organized underground or revolutionary movement? We know of two Bureau 13 members, and we saw them interacting via the Bureau 13 computer. They never saw each other, and never refered to one another by name. This hints that Bureau 13 is indeed set up this way, which points to an an explanation for the episode title. The cell structure of an underground, with its singular links between cells, is indeed a web. And at the center of such a web would be a central directing authority -- A Spider in the Web.

Notes

The title shown onscreen is "Spider in the Web," but all previous references to the episode by JMS and others have called it "A Spider in the Web," so that's the title listed here. The longer title was also listed on the title page before the original satellite uplink.
The name "Bureau 13" may be a role-playing game reference; it is the name of the US paranormal investigations branch in the game "Stalking the Night Fantastic." (Of course, that could just be a coincidence; another theory is that it refers to P13-level telepaths.)
The ship that fired on Abel Horn was the Earth Forces Cruiser Pournelle, according to the computer readout on his history.
Sheridan orders a Jovian Sunspot; the only other time that drink has been referenced is in"Deathwalker," which also involved Talia and a cyborg of sorts. Probably just a coincidence.
According to Isogi, Ms. Carter's great-grandfather John piloted the first colony ship to Mars. "John Carter of Mars" is a classic SF story by Edgar Rice Burroughs; the character also appears in other Burroughs stories such as "Princess of Mars." See theProject Gutenberg home page.
The animation of the destruction of Abel Horn's ship by an EarthForce cruiser over Phobos is quite detailed. When his ship is hit, the window Abel Horn was looking through shatters, and the air rushes out carrying odd bits and debris with it.

jms speaks

Having lived in San Diego from 1974-81, it's just my way of giving a wink to the old home town. Though there are some important things going on underground, in areas no one goes...the choice of SD is just a bit of fun.
San Diego was nuked by terrorists some time earlier; but if you dig deep enough, you could probably build something with enough money; and who knows how bad it *really* is.
How big was the San Diego Nuke? Big enough, and dirty enough, to make the area officially uninhabitable for a long time.
The San Diego wastelands was a physical model, yes.
Local in-house joke: Abby's last name...Normal.
If you're a telepath, Psi Corps IS your family. (And no, that wasn't Abby, too young; also not a case of programming/rebuilding...the DECEASED is a cover to get her out.)
Actually, the age on Abby is fairly straightforward...Talia came to the Psi Corps as a young child; she was assigned to an adult Psi Corps member to help her adjust. So Abby would be anywhere from 15-20 years older than Talia. Or more.
No, the Bureau 13 rpg precedes our show; we weren't aware of it at the time we did the episode.
We hadn't heard of the Bureau 13 game when we did the episode, it was just something we came up with 'cause it sounded neat. Later, we found out there was a game by that name. At which point I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate to use that name again, and had a good conversation with some folks at the game company about it. There was no problem, I just didn't want to walk on their turf intentionally or otherwise. Logically, any secret group is going to change its name from time to time *anyway* (it's not like they're in the yellow pages or anything), so the organization would remain under varying names.
The security guard didn't trigger the detonation; he picked up some energy buildup on his scanner the moment Horn's heart stopped.
Basically, Garibaldi's third favorite thing...is whatever the member of the opposite sex is having....

Originally compiled by Dave Zimmerman

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