Babylon 5
Chief Michael Garibaldi
Actors

Chief Michael Garibaldi'Baldi' to his friends is a good baddy (or should that be a bad goody) who went off the rails due to some head gaming with Bester, and is now he's back on them again. I personally think he is a plonker, but I'm in the minority. If you were to meet Garibaldi in the pub he would be clobbering this Sad Geezer.

Garibaldi was a trusted and competent Head of Security on Babylon 5. He has a past with his old mate Sinclair (ex-Commander of Babylon 5). He has demonstrated a ruthless efficiency in the delivery of his duties and yet also has a reputation amongst his pals as being a little soft hearted, and willing to bend the rules now and again to help someone in need. His role in getting Franklin to admit his drug dependency in "Interludes and Examinations" (series three) is evidence of how important friendship and loyalty are to him, and it also shows us his capacity to care for others.

Garibaldi has had a bit of a shady past but he is resolute, loyal and thorough. I'm in a bit of a dilemma concerning Garibaldi. In most of Series Four I saw him behaving like an absolute git. Oh sure his head was 'fixed', but I can't help but dislike the bloke, even though he seemed to come good in the end.

I'll try and be as objective as I can, his most relevant past concerns 2161.

Towards the end of the Shadow War in 2160, Garibaldi was captured by a Shadow Battleship. We saw him interrogated and yet some of the more observant B5 netnerds noticed that his interrogators had Psi Corp tunics (personally, I found out from Lurkers). His mind was 'fiddled with' and he was let loose only to be found and returned later.

All his pals at Babylon 5 were pleased to see him with the slight exception of Sheridan who, in my opinion, noticed a subtle change in his behaviour (ie. like Garibaldi smacking him across the face in Racing Mars). From then on, Garibaldi slides downhill at an ever-increasing rate. He was approached by the thug Wade who was a sort of gofer for a rich businessman on Mars called Edgars. Edgars was a secretive person with many enemies. He needed the help of Garibaldi to do the odd bit of covert dirty work on Babylon 5.  On Mars   He persuaded Garibaldi to help he and his men capture Sheridan. In return, Garibaldi was allowed 'in' on Edgar's grand plan for the subjugation of the Psi Corps. It involved a debilitating and ultimately fatal drug that was easy to distribute. Only Edgars had the antidote.

Garibaldi had been wholly taken in by Edgars. Only after Sheridan had been captured and Edgars Grand Plan on the verge of being executed, did Garibaldi learn that it was our old pal Bester who had fiddled with his mind. As you can imagine, Garibaldi was more than a little upset to find this out and endeavoured to right this wrongs by leading a team to free Sheridan and later to provide invaluable assistance in the Battle of Mars.

So, it seems that he is back to being a goody. Personally, I can't forgive him for 'shopping the boss' and acting like such a pratt for all those episodes. However, it has to be said that Garibaldi's, is one on the richest characters of the whole Babylon 5 story arc.

In Season 5, Garibaldi is the Head of Alliance covert Intelligence.  He is well suited to the part but receives much criticism from Captain Lockley.

Garibaldi most recently upset us all by becoming an alcoholic again.   This, at a time when his intelligence skills are most required.  In particular, he passed out while on duty. A particularly important message from a Whitestar was sent to him and this information could have averted the opening of hostilities between the Alliance and the Centauri.  In an explanation to Sheridan later, Garibaldi misinformed the Council that the Centauri had opened fire first! 


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