(No, you haven't lost count; this ep got viewed out of order through my own stupidity. No permanent harm, but being that it's the cap of the second third of season, the order we're watching it is a bit tonally off.)
The ISN "36 Hours" episode is the framing piece for this ep (http://goo.gl/LqeNoj http://goo.gl/ixr1tU), so let's look at the plotlines.
A-Plot is the progress (or worsening) of the Narn/Centauri War. As the news crew arrives, a small Narn ship blows up a Centauri freighter, just outside the station (http://goo.gl/918QkW). This provides plenty of nice interview fodder with Londo and G'kar, especially when the Narn claim the destroyed ship was transshipping Weapons of Mass Destruction — a charge that wreckage analysis confirms to be true. But the Centauri balk at allowing their other ships to be boarded and searched, and back that up with a honking-big Centauri cruiser (http://goo.gl/wGr6MO) to blockade B5 until the other Centauri ships are allowed to leave.
Sheridan's about gotten that problem talked away when a Narn cruiser jumps in, destroys the Centauri cruiser (http://goo.gl/DVURDp), then is destroyed itself when unable to successfully keep a jump point open to get away.
The increased bloodshed drives home the escalation of the war, and how B5 is very likely to get caught right in the middle of it. Which brings us to …
… the B-Plot, which is all about what's going on back home on Earth, how the Earth government really doesn't like B5 very much, and how very much the media (http://goo.gl/PTvEO9) is influenced by that government. This is clear from the tepid support and undercutting done by the interviewed Senator who's in charge of the B5 committee (http://goo.gl/C81Ghj), but all the more so from the "show the controversy" reporting by the ISN talking head who, either to pump up ratings or following editorial direction from higher up, is seems more than happy to snipe at B5, its cost, its purpose, and its risks to Earth at every opportunity (http://goo.gl/pPKdps). Not all of Sheridan's speechfying (not helped by Franklin talking about how dangerous space is) can counter the rhetorical damage, which is made "fair" by a more reflective commentary at the very end of the "36 Hours" episode.
The acting (or direction) is fair-to-middling. Ivanova's a bit stiff. Delenn completely loses her cool (http://goo.gl/4RHFY3) in the face of a few harsh questions from the reporter — yeah, she's having a rough time these days, but she's also an accomplished diplomat, and the rapid shift into knuckle-biting near-weepy mode feels out of character. On the other hand, Londo's nicely shmoozy and imperious by appropriate turns. G'kar comes across like a the spokesman for a a belligerent African nation — making you feel kind of sympathetic for what the former colonialist oppressors did (http://youtu.be/NH5BXFW0ALM), but too bellicose and shouty to be trusted.
The whole TV news show framing works pretty well, and provides some of the more amusing bits, including the attempt to interview Kosh (GIFfy: http://goo.gl/vGxp4Z), the reporter's introduction of "perky and energetic Commander Susan I've-A-Nova," and a Very Special Psi Corp Public Service Announcement (http://youtu.be/qTbpyd_8mSM and, for a brief moment, http://goo.gl/dbZarR). It does let us see the story through other folks' eyes (even jaundiced ones), though that gives it an impersonal feel that jars with the increasingly personal tone of the series.
All in all, it's not a great episode, but it's an entertaining one that moves things along (and explains things to latecomers to the series) before events start plummeting downhill for our heroes in a precipitous fashion over the last third of the season..
Most Dramatic Moment: G'kar talking about what the Centauri did to the Narn — and his own personal story. (http://goo.gl/5G5NwO)
Most Amusing Moment: Lt. Corwin is interviewed about how he likes working at B5 in C&C … while obviously aware of Ivanova lurking in the background.
Most Arc-ish Moment: The interview with Delenn. Even though I found it much more unbelievably maudlin than it should have been, it reminds us of the Earth/Minbari War, the Earth "party line" about the conflict, and Delenn's current struggling role in trying to recover from that whole mess. It's useful and dramatic.
Overall Rating: 3.0 / 5
– Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/037.html
– Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/And_Now_For_a_Word
– IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517627/
– AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/babylon-5-there-all-the-honor-liesand-now-for-a-wo-96869
– Kay Shapero: http://www.kayshapero.net/b5review/Confessions.htm
– TV Tropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BabylonFiveS02E15AndNowForAWord
"We're everywhere … for your convenience."
"… in schools, children's hospitals …"
Yeah. Creepy Psi Cop is creepy.
That said, one of the things I love about B5 and the Psi Corp arc is that yes, they are creepy, yes, they are dangerous, and yes, they are tragically sympathetic once you scratch the surface, because yes, they are what the Norms have made them.