And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place

Infobox Television episode
Title = And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
Series = Babylon 5


Caption =
Season = 3
Episode = 20
Airdate = 14 October 1996
8 September 1996 (UK)
Production = 320
Writer = J. Michael Straczynski
Director = David Eagle
Guests = Erick Avari (Rabbi Leo Meyers)
William Forward (Lord Refa)
Louis Turenne (Brother Theo)
Mel Winkler (Rev. Will Dexter)
Episode list = List of "Babylon 5" episodes
Prev = Grey 17 Is Missing
Next = Shadow Dancing

"And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" is an episode from the third season of the science-fiction television series "Babylon 5".

ynopsis

Lord Refa and a high-ranking minister of the Centauri government arrive on Babylon 5. Refa is a powerful and sinister aristocrat and a onetime ally of Londo Mollari, another aristocrat and the Centauri Ambassador to Babylon 5. However, the two men have since become bitter rivals and enemies, and their rivalry has become so troublesome and vindictive that the Centauri Emperor himself has ordered it to end. To that end, Refa has brought the Centauri Minister - the Emperor's representative - to Babylon 5 to see just how dangerous Londo has become, and to convince him to side with Refa. Londo visits the Minister and announces that he will end the rivalry. He tells his aide Vir Cotto about his plan - he will lure G'Kar, a famous Narn and another enemy, back to the Centauri-occupied Narn homeworld. Once there, G'Kar will be captured by soldiers loyal to Londo's House and turned over to the Centauri Emperor, thus winning the Emperor's favor for Londo. Vir, horrified, protests, but Londo dismisses his concerns and gives Vir a fake message to take to G'Kar's quarters. The message is meant to lure G'Kar back to his homeworld. Shortly afterwards, Vir is kidnapped by Refa's agents and his mind is forcibly scanned by a Centauri telepath. Having thus learned of Londo's plan, Refa tells the Minister that he will end the rivalry by presenting the Emperor with the much-wanted Narn rebel G'Kar, thus winning the Emperor's favor for his House.

G'Kar returns to the Narn homeworld, which lies in ruins after the Centauri's recent bombardment of the planet with small asteroids. While leading a small group of Narn through some underground tunnels, he is surprised by Lord Refa, who gloats over G'Kar's seeming capture. However, much to Refa's surprise, G'Kar calmly shows Refa a taped message from Londo. As it turns out, Londo had anticipated such a move from Refa and planned accordingly. The Centauri soldiers with Refa are loyal to Londo, and it is Refa, not G'Kar, who has been led into a trap. To get G'Kar's compliance, Londo has agreed to free thousands of Narn prisoners, and he tells G'Kar and the other Narn in his message that it was Refa who ordered that the Narn homeworld be bombed with asteroids. When the message is finished, the soldiers leave Refa and he faces G'Kar and the Narn alone. G'Kar places a message crystal on Refa which will make it appear that he is a traitor to the Centauri. He then tells his fellow Narn not to damage Refa's face, as it will be needed for identification purposes. Terrified, Refa tries to flee, but is easily caught and beaten to death by the enraged Narn. On Babylon 5, Londo rescues Vir from Refa's men, and informs Vir of his real objectives. Vir is furious that Londo lied to him and placed him in danger, but Londo scoffs at Vir's concerns, and tells him "Nonsense, you're not important enough [for them] to kill." However, Vir is still upset and it is obvious that he will not completely trust Londo again, at least for some time. Shortly afterwards Londo meets with the Centauri Minister and presents him with the fake message crystal detailing Refa's "treason" against the Centauri Republic. The Minister appears skeptical that Refa would be a traitor, but agrees to accept the matter as closed and declares that the Refa-Londo rivalry has been "concluded" to his satisfaction.

Meanwhile, a secondary plotline involves the visit of several Human religious leaders to Babylon 5. The leaders have come at the invitation of Brother Theo, who leads a group of Catholic monks on the station. The leaders represent several of the Earth's major religions - Jewish, Protestant Christian, Buddhist, etc. They are also active in the underground resistance movement to Earth Alliance President Morgan Clark, who has abolished the Earth Alliance Constitution and assumed dictatorial powers. They have brought Captain Sheridan important information about the resistance movement on Earth and several other colonies (one minister has information hidden in his Bible). Near the end of the episode, a Protestant minister holds an enthusiastic religious service; as the choir sings "No Hiding Place Down Here", the song coincides with images of Refa's capture and subsequent death at the hands of the Narn.

Arc significance

* Londo uses G'Kar to kill Lord Refa on Narn, thus ending the rivalry between their noble houses.
* Delenn unveils the White Star fleet to Sheridan.
* Sheridan and Delenn acknowledge their feelings for each other.
* Sheridan deduces the Shadows' battle plan - to push as many refugees as possible into a single area to strike and deal a devastating blow to the morale of the alliance.

Production details

* The gospel song "There's No Hiding Place Down Here" was originally written and performed by The Original Carter Family, a country music and gospel group from the 1930s. The song was appropriated and modified by J. Michael Straczynski to suit the needs of the episode.

* A Rabbi featured in the episode is seen dancing and singing along to the gospel song. JMS later admitted that at production time he had mistakenly believed that the biblical story was from the Old Testament.

External links