Babylon 5 · Season 1
[Sinclair and Ivanova try to retrieve the machine-ensconced alien while the planet quakes around them.]
Commander, we don't have a lot of time. We're cut off from the way we came in, we don't know if we can find another way back to the ship before we run out of air...
We can't leave him like this!
I know, I know. It's a Russian thing. When we're about to do something stupid, we like to catalog the full extent of our stupidity for future reference.
The third principle of sentient life is its capacity for self-sacrifice, for a cause...a loved one...for a friend.
Ambassador, do you really want to know what's going on down there right now?
Yes, absolutely.
Boom. Boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom. BOOM! Have a nice day.
[She walks away with a smile, leaving Londo to stew.]
Faugh! You can never get a straight answer from anyone around here!
[after Captain Pierce of the EAS Hyperion and an alien ship trade ultimatums]
Worst case of testosterone poisoning I've ever seen.
[A conflict between Earth and Mars has Garibaldi, who grew up on Mars, at odds with an Earther barfly.]
Like my granddad used to say: "Nuke 'em till they glow, and shoot 'em in the dark!" That'll take care of them. Just like magic.
Magic? Want to see magic? I got a little magic trick for ya. I got a little magic that'll make you pass through the top of the bar! [grabs the barfly]
Hey! Leggo!
I'll need complete silence or I'll have to ask for another volunteer from the audience. Let's see, what was that magic word again? Shazam? [slams the barfly into the bar] No, that's not it. I'll tell you what, I'll go home and look at my books, then I'll come back. If you're still talking trash about killing Marsies, we'll try it again and again [slams him again] until we get it right, huh?
God, I hate mornings.
We noticed. Personally, I find it the best part of the day.
Ah, me too.
[sighs] We all have our cross to bear.
The time I really learned to appreciate mornings was during the three years I spent being taught by Jesuits. [His voice drops to a near-whisper, and Ivanova starts to nod off.] We used to get up at five o'clock every morning for sunrise mass. Then an hour of meditation before class. We would sit, quiet, at peace. [Her eyelids are getting heavier.] Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. [She's out cold.] Breathing in, breathing out. [Sinclair winks at Garibaldi, and the chief swaps their just-started breakfasts with dirty, empty dishes, but leaves Ivanova's untouched.]
Well!
[snapping awake] What?
Oh, that was great! Boy, just hit the spot! [to Sinclair] I see you cleaned your plate too! Guess I'd better get going.
Me too, it's nearly seven-thirty.
Sev--seven-thirty? I...I didn't even...I slept through breakfast? This isn't fair! It's n...
Something, Lieutenant Commander?
No! Nothing, I'm fine! I'm fine, you'll have to excuse me. [into her link] C&C, this is Ivanova! I realize I'm late, but I'm on my way! [She runs out, and Garibaldi swaps the dishes back.]
I'll notify your next of kin. [picks up his tray and leaves]
Four...three...two...one...
[out in the corridor, shouting] AUGH! GARIBALDI, YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!
Summoned, I come. In Valen's name, I take the place that has been prepared for me. I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light.
What if we take you with us? Put you on trial?
Zathras not of this time. You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras die. Either way, it is bad for Zathras.
This is the part I hate most: the waiting.
Hmm. (There's a moment of silence.)
Mind if I ask you a question?
Sure.
Okay, it's morning, you're getting ready for work, you pull on your pants --do you fasten and zip, or zip and then fasten?
What kind of question is that?
Well, look, we've got two hours to kill --
Forget it.
Just a question.
Why do you want to know?
Why do I want to know? Because I think about these things sometimes. I was getting dressed this morning, I couldn't remember how I did it, and I started thinking about it. Does everyone do it the same way? Is it a left-handed/right-handed thing --?
(incredulous) You think about this stuff a lot?
Yeah. Look, okay, I'm sorry I asked. You're always so serious all the time. Not every conversation has to be the end of the world as we know it.
I didn't mean to --
Never mind. It's okay. I'll just -- watch my console. Don't worry about it. (After a long pause, Sinclair sighs.)
Fasten, then zip. You?
Fasten zip. (Sinclair chuckles.)
How much longer?
One hour, fifty seven minutes. (pause) Want to talk socks?
No.
Just a question.
I'm not having this conversation.
[Ivanova barges into Dr. Franklin's illicit free clinic. He is bent over a notepad, distracted.]
[not paying attention] You can start by removing your clothes.
Not without dinner and flowers.
I'm still waiting for an explanation, gentlemen.
Yes. And I'm prepared to give you one, Commander, as soon as the room stops spinning.
This station creates gravity by rotation. It never stops spinning.
Well, you begin to see my problem.
[Talia has been recruited to scan a convicted murderer before he undergoes his sentence of death of personality]
I don't want to do this again. I was inside a killer's mind before, on the Mars Colony. There's got to be another way.
. . .
So you're going to walk around in my head, eh? I'd think twice if I were you. Something might just jump out of the shadows and bite you.
. . .
[during the scan, Talia is horrified by Mueller's memories of his victims]
How many? …How many?
How many worlds are there? How many banquets? How many flowers waiting to be harvested? How many new voices, waiting to be recruited into my choir? […] The overture is just beginning…
[Talia tells Garibaldi what she saw in Mueller's mind]
You once said you'd bet good money he'd killed before? You would not have lost.
But this...this, this, this is like... being nibbled to death by, uh...Pah! What are those Earth creatures called? Feathers, long bill, webbed feet...go "quack".
Cats.
Cats! I'm being nibbled to death by cats.
[Londo chats with Morden in the garden.]
There comes a time when you look into the mirror, and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. Then you accept it, or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking into mirrors.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Babylon 5 pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
