"Infection" was the first script written for a regular Babylon 5 episode,[1] and involves the arrival aboard the station of an extremely powerful ancient bio-weapon created by the Ikarrans, a long-extinct alien race.
Hendricks tells Franklin that while excavating the long-dead planet Ikarra VII for the corporation Interplanetary Expeditions, they had come across some artifacts that they determined were organic in nature, and something that humanity has been trying to develop themselves.
An ISN news reporter finally gets the interview with Sinclair she had been waiting for, asking him whether – with what he's been through – humanity's continued presence in space is worth the effort.
"[1] Regarding Garibaldi confronting Sinclair, Straczynski recalled that people were startled by the scene, "Normally you don't ask the hero that question: what do you do it?
"[3]: 57 Ensley Guffey and Dale Koontz note that one of the story arc seeds introduced in the episode is ISN, the Interstellar News Network, which will become important later in the series, as Straczynski highlights the tension between a free press and media which is intrusive.
Also introduced is Interplanetary Expeditions (IPX) – a corporation which aims to exploit archaeological alien technologies – which will reappear several times during the series.
I had six lines on the Observation Deck, a lot of techno mumbo jumbo, and I hit my mark, and sixteen takes later they finally got it.
"[3]: 55 Vance Hendricks was played by Scottish actor David McCallum, who is known for his portrayal of Soviet agent Kuryakin in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Makeup designer Everett Burrell recalled the department dressing Teague up in the suit from the episode: No one had seen it yet and it was pretty scary looking.
[9] The Babylon 5 makeup department involved in this episode – consisting of Everett Burrell, Greg Funk, Mary Kay Morse, Ron Pipes and John Vulich – would win the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for the next episode, The Parliament of Dreams.
Garibaldi is revealed as having been fired five times in different jobs for unspecified personal reasons, with the ISN reporter saying that Babylon 5 was his last chance to make good.
The authors continue, "At the end of 'Infection', the viewer is left with three dedicated, talented men whose heroism is matched by their frailty, and with an early education in Straczynski's own mastery of character as a driving force of storytelling.
[12] Kaiser also highlights out the scene where Dr Franklin and Ivanova discuss the rising xenophobic sentiment on Earth, followed by a confirmation of their fears: EarthForce security arrives to confiscate the organic weaponry for its own bioweapons division.
Kaiser writes, "Even though 'Infection' is a Star Trek-like episode, with a patriarchal captain solving a violent situation through diplomacy and application of logic, there’s still a moment where Babylon 5 builds its darker, more serialized universe a tiny bit.
"[12] Elias Rosner, writing in Multiversity Comics, also points out the scene where Garibaldi calls out Sinclair on his death wish, as a "great, small moment of characterization."
"[13] Rosner sums up, "The politics of Earth start to catch up to Sinclair, a weapon based in eugenics is unleashed, and the corporations rear their ugly head.