Thought it would be fun and informative to post this....
As many Crusade fans know, Crusade was nixed after disagreements between TNT and creator J. Michael Straczynski; the network wanted more sex and violence in line with its burgeoning lineup of wrestling, and Straczynski refused to compromise his vision and allowed Crusade to be cancelled.
Below is a summary from the logbook:
Value Judgements
written by Fiona Avery
Story: The Excalibur visits a planet where Max Eilserson's IPX team is due to investigate some local artifacts. Gideon is most annoyed to learn that, not having made any prior arrangements (or payments) to the planet's governor as IPX has, any Earthforce personnel wishing to visit the surface must pay a fee. Thus far, this policy has kept Earthforce away, but the governor has never met anyone like Gideon (who is willing to play poker for permission to send a team down). In the meantime, something goes horribly wrong at the dig site, leaving two of Eilerson's team members in critical condition, permanently brain-damaged. Dr. Chambers and Lt. Matheson both conclude that the attack, which emanated from behind a locked door, is telepathic. Dureena examines the lock which caused the incident in the first place, and gives her professional appraisal of it as an obvious booby trap - and says it's not even the real lock. Even Matheson can't hack the psychic defense mechanism that really locks the door. However, over his game of poker with the governor, Gideon learns that there is a telepath who lives on this planet, someone from whom the locals keep their distance. And with good reason - the telepath is Al Bester, former Psi Cop and fugitive war criminal from the fall of the Psi Corps. Far from being alarmed at the sight of an Earthforce team at his door, Bester cordially invites Gideon and the others in for tea, showing little interest in the dilemma of the vault's telepathic defense mechanism - until Max starts to talk money. Bester, however, wants something else. He wants transport to the Excalibur's next stop, and then wants to be allowed to disembark quietly, all without a word to Earthforce. Bester's request grows in urgency as bounty hunters track him down, and he resorts to blackmailing Lt. Matheson - threatening to implicate the Excalibur's telepathic first officer in Bester's war crimes - to get what he wants. And in the meantime, an old enemy of Bester's is hot on his heels.
Guest Cast/Characters: Walter Koenig (Bester), ? (Governor), ? (Thug #1), ? (Thug #2), ? (Pilot #1), ? (Shuttle Pilot), ? (Rogue telepath), ? (Pilot #2)
Note: This episode was not completed due to the cancellation of the series. This episode would have featured the return of Bester, on the run after the dissolution of the Psi Corps - which, at the end of the episode, would appear to be not quite as dissolved as Earthgov would like to think.
To The Ends Of The Earth
written by J. Michael Straczynski
Story: Gideon's apocalypse box alerts him to a presence. Gideon has asked the box to let him know if any ship resembling the one that destroyed the Cerberus (the ship on which Gideon served nine years prior to the Drakh crisis) is detected. Such a ship has been found, and has just annihilated an entire ship full of innocent beings. The captain orders a pursuit course, following the hostile vessel through any number of hazards and taxing the Excalibur's capabilities to the limits. When the two ships finally meet, it becomes apparent that the threat is a Shadow hybrid vessel - and in the ensuing fight, when the critically damaged Shadow ship fires off a coded signal just before self-destructing, Gideon discovers evidence that the leftover Shadow could have connections to Earthforce.
Note: This episode was not completed due to the cancellation of the series.
End Of The Line
written by J. Michael Straczynski
Story: Still following the signal transmitted by the Shadow hybrid vessel, the Excalibur follows the trail to a distant and supposedly uninhabited system. Galen warns Gideon of a carefully-placed minefield just before the ship runs into it, and the captain orders Matheson to search for comm leaks. A junior crew member is found to be the cause of the link, but before Gideon can interrogate him, the crewman commits suicide. As anticipated, enemy forces arrive to warn the Excalibur away...but these enemy forces are flying Starfuries. Gideon is contacted by an Earthforce officer on a nearby planetoid base who begrudgingly gives the captain permission to visit the installation. The visit, however, only confirms the obvious - that the base is top secret, and the Excalibur's presence is not welcomed. Unsatisfied with the official denial, Gideon enlists Galen's help to slip him past the base's defenses. But what Gideon finds inside the base is horrifying - hideously mutated human test subjects, the results of highly-guarded attempts to meld humans with leftover Shadow technology from the great war. Gideon's knowledge of these chilling experiments calls the loyalty of an old friend into question...and lands the captain on a short list of people who know too much, and must be prevented from ever revealing that information to others.
Note: This episode was not completed due to the cancellation of the series. This would have been the season finale of the first year of Crusade.
B5 Crusade Unfilmed Episodes
