Star Trek veteran turns Babylon 5 appearance into show's best recurring character

The author Jonathan Klotz
| Published 9 seconds ago

For better or worse, cast from Star Trek: The Original Series for decades after the series ended, their careers were all about science fiction. It ended well for Walter Koenig, the original Chekov, who found a late-career revival Babylon 5 as Albert Bester, the villainous Psi-Cop that became the series' five-season run. Chekov was supposed to appeal to young fans, while Bester was a villain from his first scene to his last, and through it all, Koenig took all the material he was given and knocked it right out of the park.

Albert Bester was Babylon 5's biggest villain

Walter Koenig's first appearance on the site Babylon 5 “War of Minds,” the show's sixth episode, introduced viewers to the dark side of the Psi Corps right from the start. Albert Bester, a member of the mysterious Psi-Corps, lands on a space station to capture a renegade telepath. Bester doesn't get along with the station commanders, lying to Geoffrey Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) in the first of many times the Psi-Cop will obfuscate his true mission, regardless of who might get hurt. Koenig's performance was well received by fans immediately after the episode aired, and to this day, his 12 episodes are among the show's best.

More in common with Khan than Chekov, Walter Koenig Babylon 5 Psi-Cop was driven by the desire to create a world where telepaths would rule over everyday things. He wasn't subtle about it either, and thankfully none of the other characters held back when discussing their feelings for Bester, resulting in some of the show's best lines. Only a perfect match between actor and character can produce a line as serious as this: “Pinata, right? So you think of me as something bright and cheerful, full of toys and candy for little kids? Thank you! It makes me feel so much better about our relationship. “

The Circle of Redemption is nowhere to be found

Walter Koenig became more comfortable playing as the series went on Babylon 5's an outright villain, Bester slowly transitioned from irritating antagonist to ally as the Shadow War heated up. Not only did it not last long, but it completely fell apart during Season 5 and the Telepath War. Sheridan's (Bruce Boxleitner) effort to try to shelter a telepathic colony on a space station was started with the best of intentions, but it nearly ruined the budding alliance even before Bester's hands got dirty.

Besker wholeheartedly embraced the Psi Corps' strict rules and strict discipline, characterized by the motto, “Corps is mother, Corps is father,” and his sense of superiority. Even after the Corps was destroyed as a result of the Telepath War, he helped solidify his beliefs, and in fact, the Season 5 storyline wasn't the end of Psi Cop. Walter Koenig is scheduled to appear again Babylon 5 separation, Crusadebut the show was canceled before that could happen, which is a shame because given how far he fell by the end of the show, his rise from the ashes had limitless story potential.

As great as Walter Koenig's performance as Chekov Star Trek: The Original Series is if someone says that his real greatest science fiction the role is played by Albert Bester Babylon 5it would be hard to argue. We had five seasons of menacing stares, unexpected mind control, and wonderfully cheeky comebacks, including the delightfully dry, “Anatomically impossible, Mr. Garibaldi. But you're welcome to try.” Not once in any episode was there an attempt to give Bester a redeeming arc or to paint him as anything other than a selfish villain willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.