TKO

From The Great Machine

Episode Title: TKO
Episode Number: S1E14
Original Air Date: May 25, 1994
DVD Release Date: November 5, 2002
Writer: Lawrence G. Ditillio
Director: John C. Flinn III
Guest Stars: Greg McKinney, Theodore Bikel, Soon-Tek Oh, Don Stroud

1 Preview
2 Synopsis
- 2.1 Main Plot
3 Characters
4 See Also
- 4.1 Season 1 Cast
5 Notes

[edit] Preview

A boxer from Earth tries to enter an aliens only fighting tournament. Meanwhile, a rabbi guides Ivanova in a long-overdue ritual.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot, character development, or ending details follow.

A spaceliner just arriving from Earth carries blasts from two of the crew's respective pasts - Rabbi Yossel Koslov has come to Babylon 5 bearing a legacy from Ivanova's late father, for whom she has yet to sit Shiva; and discredited boxing champ Walker Smith, an old friend of Garibaldi's, who has come on board to enter the Mutai, a deadly one-on-one freestyle martial arts competition open only to selected alien races.

Ivanova disappoints Koslov when she refuses to allow time to pay last respects to her father.

Smith is frustrated when Garibaldi isn't supportive in his controversial bid to become the first Human being to fight in the Mutai. Some of the Mutai's alien spectators aren't thrilled with Smith's challenge either - even to the point of plotting to kill him before he can disgrace the tournament. (Attrib: B5 LogBook [1])

[edit] Main Plot

The Mutai is deadly alien fight match, attracting only the best fighters from the alien worlds.
A Human boxer, Walker Smith, attempts to enter the Mutai, botches his introduction, and then must discover an honorable way around an edict issued by The Muta-Do which denies him and all Humans entry.
A rabbi and old family friend, Yossel Koslov, visits Ivanova.