Day of the Dead (Babylon 5)

"Day of the Dead"
Babylon 5 episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 8
Directed by	Doug Lefler
Written by	Neil Gaiman
Production code	511
Original air date	11 March 1998
Guest stars
Penn & Teller (Rebo and Zooty) Joshua Cox (Lt. Corwin) Bridget Flanery (Zoe) Fabiana Udenio (Adira Tyree) Harlan Ellison (Voice of Zooty) Marie Marshall (Pfc. Elizabeth 'Dodger' Durman) Ed Wasser (Mr. Morden) Jonathan Chapman (Brakiri Ambassador) Skip Stellrecht (Customs Officer) Ismail Kanater (Brakiri Salesman)
Episode chronology
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List of Babylon 5 episodes

"Day of the Dead" is an episode from the fifth season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. It was written by science fiction and fantasy author Neil Gaiman, and is the only episode after the second season not written by J. Michael Straczynski. The episode also features Penn & Teller, who portray comedians Rebo and Zooty. It is a break from the show's usual continuing story arc, though some events do have relevance to the rest of the series.

Synopsis

The dead return for one night during a mysterious Brakiri religious festival: Garibaldi is visited by a ground pounder, Dodger, with whom he almost had a romantic fling three years ago (see Gropos), Londo cherishes a night with his lost love Adira Tyree (see Interludes and Examinations), Lennier tolerates the Shadows' associate Mr. Morden, and Captain Lochley is visited by her friend for whose death she feels responsible. Kosh also delivers a message to Lochley for President Sheridan: "When the long night comes, return to the end of the beginning."

Writing

Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman was inspired to write this story when he heard of the Jewish concept of an eruv, a shared physical domain that allows Jews to carry objects from one household to another on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. According to a literal reading of the Torah (the five books of Moses) it would seem that one may not leave one's household on the Sabbath, which the rabbis found both impractical and not in the spirit of the holiday. Rabbinic literature records the development of the eruv as a legal device which allows Jews in a community to symbolically, or in many views literally, merge their separate domains into one shared domain, thus allowing carrying and travel on the Sabbath. The idea of sharing distinct domains for a religious purpose was taken by Gaiman and expanded upon: what if one legally borrowed a domain that is far from one's home world? What if this merging of domains was made manifest in a literal and physical sense? The episode's storyline develops from Gaiman's extension of this idea.

Continuity

This episode was aired out of chronological sequence, the first and only Babylon 5 episode to be so after Season 2. Chronologically it comes after "A View from the Gallery" and before "Learning Curve".

See also

• Day of the Dead (holiday)

External links

• Day of the Dead at The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
• Babylon 5: Day of the Dead - TV.com