When Devon discovers that Theo and the others from the St Louis meeting are being held in Milhaven, Thunder Mountain work out a plan to rescue them.

Devon and a team from Thunder Mountain stay on at Valhalla Sector to sterilise the place, secure military plans and see if anyone else managed to survive. He discovers that Theo and the others from the St Louis meeting are being held in Milhaven. Libby has been there before to pick up supplies, so she and Jeremiah take a Valhalla Sector helicopter to find out more. Kurdy leads an assault on the town and they free Theo and two hundred other prisoners.

Having freed the town, Markus wants to use it an example of the new world they wish to build - essentially restart the aborted expansion first explored in "Tripwire". He wants Jeremiah to run it and Libby to assist him, because he thinks the townsfolk will respect Jeremiah more than someone who has been cloistered in Thunder Mountain. Jeremiah agrees to give it a try.

The former controllers of Milhaven escape. One joins with a group of travellers to head east, towards Daniel.

Mister Smith claims to come from Portland, same as Kurdy. However, later he tells someone he comes from New Orleans, suggesting he tells people he comes from the same place as they do as a way of gaining their trust.

Libby says she was five when they brought her into Valhalla Sector.

The leader of Milhaven mentions a man named Daniel who apparently has extreme views; and says that Valhalla Sector don't have much time for him.

Mister Smith says that he attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. As he began to drown, he heard a voice say "not yet". He was washed up onto the shore, and has heard God's voice since.

Markus to Jeremiah: "Are you trying to say I talk too much? Because we can talk about that."

Jeremiah tries to get his head around Mister Smith's name: "So if I was going to introduce you to somebody, I'd say this is Mr Mister Smith?" "Yeah."

Smith tells Kurdy of his latest message: "Just now, there was sadness, grief, weariness, and under all of it, anger… God says, look to the east, and despair."

Smith again, this time what he told God the first time he heard his voice: "Screw you! You ran out on us! You let pain and death into the world and now look at us - look at what we've become. What you let happen." God apparently replied, "I know. I've been away too long. But I'm back now. My voice will be heard: you will be my voice."

"I'm just God's sock puppet, OK? He shoves his hand up my ass and words come out the other end. Who knew Math was involved?" - Guess who…

God's "Look to the east, and despair" has an echo of Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias": "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, / Look on my Works ye Mighty, and Despair!" Read the full poem.

Many people have claimed that Military Intelligence is a contradiction in terms, but Groucho Marx is considered to be the first.

There are plenty of good online references for Fractal Theory, but the most fun way to explore it is to create some of your own, which you can do with a program such as Fractal eXtreme. As for the concept of strange attractors, well it gets mathematical very quickly, but if you're feeling ambitious, Julien Sprott's site is a good place to start, as it provides access to the full text of his book Strange Attractors: Creating Patterns in Chaos in Word, PDF or HTML format; together with some program listings for trying out the examples from the text.

There's a good opportunity to see exactly where Milhaven is (See below).

Libby says that another Presidential election was due at Valhalla Sector.

Who or what might be the "strange attractors" that give the episode its title has excited some debate. We may never know for sure, but from the events of this episode a number of possibilities emerge:

The former leader of Milhaven, and Markus.

The scene where Kurdy and Markus discuss fractal theory merges into one where the former leader of Milhaven joins a group of travellers; he may try to gain support, rebuild in another location and later directly oppose Markus.

Daniel.

The former leader of Milhaven mentions this new leader. The travellers and he both want to seek him out. Further evidence for this comes from the fact the they are travelling east, suggesting that Daniel's behaviour or his plans are what so angered God.

Kurdy and Jeremiah.

This episode reminds us of the rift between them; both inspire loyalty but in different ways: Kurdy is empathic and yearns for a sense of belonging. Jeremiah is noble and just, but driven. Should the rift between them deepen any further, those who know them at Thunder Mountain may be torn between which to support, and this division may undermine Markus' future goals.

Valhalla Sector and Thunder Mountain.

Although it seems that no one else survived the assault on Valhalla Sector, we are reminded that they had many contacts and supporters in other towns. Valhalla Sector is in the east, too. Perhaps God wants to warn us that those loyal to Valhalla may well remain a threat, and may retaliate against the capture of Milhaven.

God and… the devil?

Although we haven't yet met another character who hears voices, there may be someone or something who opposes God and sends helpful messages to a different person. What Markus says about seeing the effects of a strange attractor but not knowing what it is, gives strong evidence for this view.

Of course, it's perfectly possible that there are no real strange attractors, and J. Michael Straczynski is having a laugh at our expense… ;-)

Another question that exercises much thought: what's the real deal with Mister Smith and God? One possibility is that Mister Smith really did die, and is now some form of angel. Another is that he's a confidence trickster and is making it all up. Evidence for this comes from his different stories about where he originally came from. However, this doesn't explain the fact that he seems to have access to information that he can't possibly know. Another, rather more prosaic, theory is that he's receiving the information via some other means, such as hidden radio contact.

Yet another aspect to chew on: given that Daniel and Valhalla Sector are both from the east; and that some loyal to Valhalla Sector have heard of him but people like Jeremiah haven't; might there be some connection between Valhalla Sector and Daniel? Maybe Daniel arose from within Valhalla and left to form a rival group; or Valhalla might have been secretly controlling him but putting out misinformation that they aren't connected with him; for example, they may have groomed him to be an attractive leader as part of their plan for controlling the population: using Daniel as the carrot and the Big Death as the stick.

And another: was Ezekiel's "warning / blessing" from "The Long Road" also a message from God?

More generally, the theme of belief and religion is foregrounded. Remember that in "Man of Iron, Woman Under Glass", Jeremiah told God to come down to earth. If God was listening, he might have taken heed and created Mister Smith as a prophet. If one follows this line of reasoning, then the emergence of prophets such as Smith might serve as a prelude to God himself coming down to earth, as it does in Christian tradition. It's also worth remembering that David ( "Journeys End in Lovers Meeting") put forward the theory that technology had drowned out the voice of God, and now that the world was quieter, his voice could be heard again.

Sending Jeremiah to do reconnaissance in Milhaven seems a bit odd, given the sequence of events when he went there in "Things Left Unsaid Part Two". What if someone recognises him?

Why take the prisoners to Colorado anyway? Doesn't Valhalla Sector control any towns near St Louis?

Although the plan to rescue Theo drives the story forward (and provides a classic Theo / Jeremiah scene), it's the quieter, more reflective moments that linger from this episode. In particular, the odd friendship that is beginning to develop between Smith and the sceptical Kurdy is very nicely written and performed.