Category: Babylon 5

With Sinclair gone (in-show named to be the first permanent Earth ambassador to Minbar), the centerpiece starring role for the series goes to John Sheridan, played by Bruce Boxleitner. Where Sinclair is quiet, Sheridan is brash; where Sinclair is known as a peacemaker and mysteriously beloved of (some of) the Minbari, Sheridan is a war hero on Earth whose reputation among the Minbari is as an ignoble killer.

This ep throws Sheridan right into the middle of all of that, as a renegade Minbari war cruiser which fled into self-imposed exile after the war, resurfaces as a potential threat to the station. Sheridan establishes himself as heroic protagonist (not just EarthForce goon, as ever other visiting soldier to date has been), managing to resolve the crisis without increasing his warmongering soldier reputation — not that the Minbari seem impressed.

While the episode is very much about Sheridan’s settling in at the base, as almost a sidelight to all this we get Lennier playing the first major role he’s had to date (aside from B plots), as he reveals to Sheridan and Ivanova why the Minbari quit the war: they discovered that Minbari souls were transmigrating to Human bodies, and Minbari do not kill Minbari. That’s also the reason for the growing schism between the Minbari Priest and Warrior castes that drive’s this ep’s action, as the whole soul thing is a closely held secret that only the Grey Council know about. Minbari society, with a history of stability, is being shaken apart in a way similar to what’s happening with Earth — only we’re seeing the results sooner.

It all comes out a little exposition-heavy (though some new footage of the Battle of the Line breaks that up), and I suspect in a universe we still had O’Hare this would all have come a bit later (and from Delenn).  But Mumy does a decent job of it, and of monologging as he tends to Delenn’s cocoon.

This is still only Part 2 (originally literally named “Chrysalis Part 2”) of an episode trilogy; left immediately unresolved are what G’kar’s up to, Garibaldi still lying in a coma, and What Lurks Within the Chrysalis. That comes out (so to speak) in the appropriately-named “Revelations”. And, of course, there are other wheels within wheels, related to what’s happening back on Earth, and how that plays into why Sheridan was really sent to B5.

The episode has some clunky bits. Sheridan’s inordinately puppylike in his enthusiasm as he arrives (though that’s worn off by the end. Sheridan is also a mixed bag — one minute being concerned over the Minbari’s reaction to his selection, the next minute defensively yelling at them for dissing his appointment, and then after that wondering if he should have been assigned in the first place.  His pre-established relationship with Ivanova from an earlier command doesn’t quite gel, veering from explaining stuff to her like she’s a junior officer to their seeming to be near-equal confidants — “Yeah, they had something going,” quoth my daughter.  The technical bits in the plot are also a bit clunky — they make more sense and are better telegraphed than “Star Trek” deus ex technobabble, but rely on the idea that EarthForce tech hasn’t really changed since the war over a decade before (not just the same inabilities but the same sensor units), which makes no sense except to drive the plot forward.

There are two other significant cast changes in S.2 — Mary Kay Adams as a much less biting (or interesting) Na’toth, and the intro of Robert Rusler as pilot Warren Keffer — a character who will play an interesting role later in the season, but who has to be awkwardly shoe-horned in all the rest of the time (rumor has it because the studio wanted a “Top Gun” type romantic pilot).

It’s not nearly the WHAM episode of of “Chrysalis,” but it moves things along, it opens the doors for new viewers, it has some great Ivanova lines, and it establishes Sheridan as the new commander of the station.  A good start.

Most Dramatic Moment: Plenty of drama, but none of it jawdropping. Maybe Sheridan and Ivanova reacting to the Trigati’s final decision. Maybe Ivanova talking about her impotence to stop Santiago’s assassination.
Most Amusing Moment: Ivanova, inadvertently late to meet her new CO, runs into the arrival lounge and yanks the security officer there forward to be an honor guard.
Most Arc-ish Moment: Lennier infodumps about the Battle of the Line.
Overall Rating:  3.9 / 5

Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/023.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Points_of_Departure
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517680/
AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/review/babylon-5-points-of-departurerevelations-93241 (spoilers for the next ep)
Noise2Signal: http://noise2sig.nl/2011/05/29/babylon-5-points-of-departure/

#babylon5 #b5

– Sinclair getting engaged to Sakai, which means plot disaster in the form of …
– Garibaldi gunned down and on the edge of death, the plot he was trying to stop carried out, leading to …
– A huge impact on EarthGov, with astropolitical implications that will rule the following seasons.
– Londo abruptly sucked into the web of the Shadows by …
– Mr. Morden, who has some what are those things?! companions, who help strike against …
– A Narn outpost which was the cause of some diplomatic brouhaha, now wiped out by huge, spider-like Shadow ships (see video below), causing …
– G’kar to go off on some mysterious mission (leaving beside the last we see, sadly, Julie Caitlin Brown’s Na’toth)
– Kosh, fergoshsakes, having had a very intriguing conversation with Delenn, then later visiting Sinclair in a bar, reminding him (http://youtu.be/auwSYKzQDdc) of …
– Delenn, who demonstrates what all the “Chrysalis” hinting was about, leaving …
– Lennier crying.

Crikey. Everything interesting of the past season comes to fruition with a vengeance.

In many ways, “Chrysalis” is the first of a three-part episode, with the first two eps of Season 2 needed to address most of the immediate plot points raised. But the avalanche started here will carry through the next three seasons (with loud rumblings in the plot-mangled Season 5).

Trivia note: this was actually the 12th episode shot, due to all the anticipated post-production work — meaning the actors got to spend half the season already knowing how it ended, but had to do perform this episode with references back to major events that hadn’t been acted or even scripted yet. That actually muddies some insight into the acting job done in this ep, which overall is some of the better in the season.

The episode is not perfect. The death of President Santiago lacks some impact that actually knowing the man would have helped with; it still works because of the conscious parallels JMS draws to JFK’s assassination and the reaction of the crew to it. And while Garibaldi’s attempted killer has been fit into the role over the season, it’s still just a relatively faceless bad guy, not nearly as cool as Laurel Takashima would have been if Tamlyn Tomita’d decided to stay on after the pilot episode. But even with those bobbles, it’s a killer ending (so to speak) to a shaky Season 1, and demonstrated that Joe Straczynski knew what he was doing. Very few people watching it weren’t going to make an effort to be there for the Season 2 opener.

Most Dramatic Moment: Freaking everything is dramatic, but in terms of moments … the destruction of Earthforce 1, its impact on the C&C crew watching it, followed by the consciously LBJesque inauguration of the VP.
Most Amusing Moment: A very sad “amusing,” but Londo’s panicky grilling of Morden as to WTF his folks did with the Narn base. Or, perhaps, the more trivial “nibbled to death by cats” scene (http://youtu.be/PZ66wHRhe2U).
Most Arc-ish Moment: One could argue the scene with Delenn visiting Kosh and seeing — something — to commit her to her course.  But I’ll go for Kosh’s intoning to Sinclair in the bar, “And so it begins” (http://youtu.be/3qYbVQu7YAQ). Season 1 had been the baseline of “normal” for B5. Now the real story would take over …
Overall Rating:  5.0 / 5 — This ep would mean nothing without everything (good and bad, important and trivial) that led up to it. But with all of that, JMS (writer as well as exec producer of the ep) is able to just start WHAMming the audience with a baseball bat from every angle. Triffic stuff.

Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/022.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Chrysalis
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517637/
AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/review/babylon-5-chrysalis-83930
Noise2Signal: http://noise2sig.nl/2011/05/15/babylon-5-chrysalis/

#babylon5 #b5

Babylon 5 gets its first two-part episode.  It's appropriately epic, even if occasional pacing problems keep it from being too fantastic.

In the A Plot, we learn the planet below is not a barren rock as everyone (including the viewership) assumed, but actually has a Krell (well, not really, but it looks like it) installation from ages past, ready to defend itself, self-destruct, and/or slice-and-dice anything in the sector if it puts its (someone has to provide a) mind to it. This is tightly wrapped with Delenn's old mentor Draal coming by on his final tour of the galaxy before he dies, murmuring about sentience and self-sacrifice.

There's some very broad foreshadowing of how things are going to wrap up, and the first half suffers from pacing difficulties that make you realize you're seeing a two-parter that could afford to be padded (padded well, but padded nonetheless).

Much CGI budget was spent on this episode (both halves), and pretty well, too.

A side note to this is the arrival of the Earth heavy cruiser Hyperion, which allows for some turf-fighting and command conflict with Sinclair.  This, in turn, leads to some nice-looking (but tactically dubious) space war sequences (part of that CGI burn).  And, of course, more political stresses (and transgressions) for Sinclair.

(For all that B5 sometimes come across as early Military SF, its military commanders, more often than not, are doofuses. Except the ones on the sides of the angels, so to speak, of course.)

Sinclair once again plays the irritatable but still all-wise voice of reason, except when the prospect of a First Contact occurs, in which case he become positively giddy. (JMS has claimed foreshadowing that Earth First Contact Protocol requires multiple command-level staff be involved, but it still strikes me as gooftastic that he and Ivanova go flying down into a missile firing gallery on their own, leaving Garibaldi (?!) in charge.)  There's some nice bits around Sinclair, as to why Delenn didn't involve him in the follow-up trip to the planet, since he was one of the ones who received a vision — but that's watered down by his low-affect non-response to same.

Londo has some great scenes in here — in many ways, even though Delenn has a mentor as the guest star, the spotlight is on him, not her. Whether it's musing on the Centauri/Narn conflict, cheering up Garibaldi, delving in to the Mysteries of the Hokey-Pokey, or finding his adventuresome, agentful, even possibly self-sacrificial side again, it's a great episode for him — one of the last unabashedly cheerful ones he will have.  

The B Plot has to do with a revolt on Mars against EarthGov authority, and how that affects Our Heroes — especially Garibaldi, late of that planet (and, we learn, still carrying a flame for a woman back there).  It creates some really nice character bits for him, for Londo, for Talia, and even for Sinclair and Ivanova. It also lays some groundwork for stories way down the line — in many ways, more than the A Plot does …

Garibaldi's a mixed bag in this ep, which spends a lot of time on him in the B Plot.  He remains something of a loose cannon, whether it's stalking Talia in the elevators, pulling strings to get a channel back to Mars, or beating up a bar fly who bad-mouths Martians.  He's self-analytical to a fault, but seems to have no self-control to do anyting but bull his way straight through things.  The Lise storyline will come back to haunt him, in many ways, but he's going to be off his game for a while now.

Though there are arc-touching bits here, the episode functions pretty well stand-alone (as designed, as it stemmed from a request for a two-parter that could be put on video cassette), and would make a solid intro to the series for new viewers. It's a JMS episode — thus the leavening of many humorous lines and monologuing with some serious issues and portents.  It's definitely toward the top of the Season 1 list, and I'm glad we've worked our way through to it.

Most Dramatic Moment: Draal tells Delenn that he is "going down to the sea".
Most Amusing Moment: Too many, but I have to go with Ivanova's recitation of the Babylon 5 Mantra (see below). Followed, possibly, by Londo cheering Garibaldi up at the bar (Whatever it is, it can't be that bad!), or Ivanova passing on to Londo her "Boom" news. Or maybe the Mystery of the Hokey-Pokey (Babylon 5 Hocky Pocky Funny Scene). (Garibaldi's elevator stalking of Talia is mean to be humorous, but comes across more as creepy even in the mid-90s.)
Most Arc-ish Moment: Delenn's "Because if I had, I know in my heart that Commander Sinclair would be the one down there right now. He’s looking for a purpose. But his destiny lies elsewhere." Oh, yeah.
Overall Rating:  4.5 / 5 — Big and boomful. Not as arc-ridden as one might imagine, but powerfully done. 

Lurker's Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/018.html and http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/019.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/A_Voice_in_the_Wilderness,_Part_I and  http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/A_Voice_in_the_Wilderness,_Part_II
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517622/ and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517623/
AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/review/babylon-5-a-voice-in-the-wilderness-83314
Making Light: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012924.html

#babylon5 #b5 

The main antagonist, Neroon, is the chief acolyte / senior officer of the Minbari general, Branmer, the late hero of the Star Riders clan, part of the Minbari Warrior Caste. John Vickery plays the xenophobic, spoiling-for-a-fight hawk with occasional over-enthusiasm, but never drops into the Ben Zayn excesses of "Eyes".  He makes for a good recurring character (and, yes, oh my, we will see him again).

There's some great stuff going on here in learning more about the Minbari, the Warrior and Relgious Castes (and clans), their service mentality, and what went on before, during, and after the Earth-Minbari war.  It tends to come out all in a rush, though, providing mostly fodder for fans to mull over and other eps to be built around, but it creates a thematic feel for the race, already hinted at, which will become much more significant in the next season.  

Far more interesting is Delenn's role in the episode. She's gotten far less screen and character time in B5 than G'kar and Londo at this point, and "Legacies" gives her some clear spotlighting that will pay off very soon. Her part in dealing with Neroon and the crisis over Bramner's mysteriously missing body is interesting (and, given the original episide order, even more so, as she invokes authority as a member of the Grey Council when she maybe-sorta oughtn't). Overall, Delenn's character continues to develop as having wheels within wheels, all for what is doubtless a good cause — we hope. She's tricksy.

One element that, sadly, doesn't show up in the story is how any other humans on the station besides Sinclair and Garibaldi feel about Bramner's body being displayed here at B5. We get no reporters, no protestors, no snark or protests from EarthGov, nobody trying to get past security with a rotten tomato, none of the things we should have gotten from a broader context of the B5 universe. Frankly, I'd rather have seen some of that than the herky-jerky B Plot.

Ah, that B Plot, about a young girl (played by neophyte and apparently 20-year-old Grace Una) who suddenly comes into her telepathic powers.  The character is the least convincing Lurker ragamuffin one can imagine, and the actress' interactions with the rest of the cast are awkward in the extreme.  The story built around here — Ivanova and Winters squaring off over whether she should be shipped back to Earth to join the Psi Corps or, maybe, end up on a different world where her talents would be appreciated — is kind of goofy, too: a nice idea, but plotted improbably. Though from that comes some convenient accidental mind probes of a couple of characters, and an amusing interlude with Na'Toth.

The wrap-up — everyone's happy by the resolution, and Talia buys Susan a coffee — is also kind of goofy. Alas.

This episode's air order leads right into a big count-down for the season, the final five, only one of which is less-than-series-shaking. Looking forward to them.

Most Dramatic Moment: Delenn faces down Neroon.
Most Amusing Moment: Neroon's "You talk like a Minbari, Commander. Perhaps there was some small wisdom in letting your species survive." Possibly followed by Na'Toth attempting to sell the telepath girl on coming to Narn ("Good idea about the teeth" http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwfdmm30xW1qbtmv5o1_250.gif).
Most Arc-ish Moment: Sinclair asks the girl if she caught anything else in Delenn's head, and learns a single word: "Chrysalis".  Heh, heh, heh. It's a nice bit of unethical inquiry by Sinclair, as well as a nice way to get the fans in a froth.
Overall Rating:  3.5 / 5 — Should be a 4, but the B plot drags things down at least half a point. 

Lurker's Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/017.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Legacies
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517664/
AV Club: (along with "Eyes"): http://www.avclub.com/review/babylon-5-eyeslegacies-83171
Making Light: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012906.html

#babylon5 #b5

A mediocre episode with the potential for more, but ruined by grievous A Plot overacting and some Larry DiTillio writing that never quite rises above it. Sinclair’s various impolitic moves over the course of the season come home to roost as various factions back on Earth send an internal investigator to check out B5.

Unfortunately, almost anything interesting, dramatic, or even conspiratorial about this is defused by Gregory Martin’s scenery-chewing as Col. Ari Ben Zayn. The actions — and acting — around the lead antagonist are so over-the-top that any suspense or even question of whether Sinclair might be unduly influenced by the Minbari or acting incorrectly or against Earth’s best interest never gets taken seriously. Indeed, not only is he an antagonist because of the (understandable) politics of the situation, but he (secretly) has a personal score to settle with Sinclair. (All you need to know about the character can be summed up right here: http://i.onionstatic.com/avclub/4108/78/original/640.jpg .)

Jeffrey Combs as Psi Corps investigator Harriman Gray is better at continuing to show that Psi talents, or even the Psi Corps, are a unilaterally black hat group, but he’s so relentlessly likable and wanting to be liked and sympathetic that he almost suffers from the same problem as Ben Zayn, only reversed — Ivanova’s allergy to the Psi Corps comes across almost as churlish, not emotionally principled.

The three command team members all work closely together and individually this episode, which is nice to see.  Sinclair’s under the microscope, Garibaldi is being forced to work as Ben Zayn’s flunky, but it’s Ivanova and her paranoid reluctance to be mind scanned that are a centerpiece here, as she interacts with telepath Gray who clearly is crushing on her and instead just threatens him. Her aversion to mind scanning here not only hampers the command team’s opposition to Ben Zayn, but paints her as irrational; there are reasons for it (hinted at in a nice little nightmare sequence), but it just doesn’t come out clearly enough.

The B Plot here is about Garibaldi’s motorbike building hobby (sadly never mentioned again), and the “help” that Lennier provides.  It’s a nice set of moments for the two of them, especally for Lennier, who’s been sadly underused this season, but will be increasingly concerned with his “sexual prowess and rebellion” in the future.

Most Dramatic Moment: Ivanova turns in her resignation to Sinclair, rather than be mind scanned.
Most Amusing Moment: Lennier researching human motorcycle culture (which appears to be American motorcycle culture, but never mind). (The video below, cued to that moment, includes the full B Plot, so, “Spoilers, sweetie.”)
Most Arc-ish Moment: The whole thing is driven by arc, but the unveiling that (off screen) Bester is at least in part behind the scenes in the attempt to take down Sinclair not only sets him up as a recurring opponent (which the show is sorely lacking to this point), but says even more about the Psi Corps’ involvement in Earth politics.
Overall Rating:  2.5 / 5 — Lots of nice fodder and continuity, but too much bad acting.

Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/016.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Eyes_(episode)
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517650/
AV Club: (along with “Legacies”): http://www.avclub.com/review/babylon-5-eyeslegacies-83171
Making Light: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012892.html

#babylon5 #b5

We learn a lot more about the Minbari here, both in terms of their reverence for "true seekers" (at least among their priestly caste) (and how Delenn sees Sinclair), and in terms of how they (or again at least Delenn) is perfectly happy keeping secrets from others if it will make the universe click along the direction she wants it to.  We also learn that Ambassador Kosh is monosyllabically pleased that the air of mystery about the Vorlons is intimidating.  And we get more indications that the Centauri Republic is bureacracy-ridden and not terribly effective.

Plus we get the first all-CG creature on B5 (and one of the earliest I can recall seeing on any TV), and it's pretty impressive for the era.

David Warner, as Aldous, lends passionate gravitas to the role, and his origin tale as a corporate accountant is very nice. The other major players (Tom Booker as Jinxo, William Sanderson as Deuce) aren't quite as convincing, but they avoid tripping over the furniture in an adequate fashion.

The ep is not without a raft of low-level flaws that drag it down.  Deuce feels like a fairly low-level thug, but is treated as a serious crime threat in Downbelow.  There's a fair amount of humor in the episode, but it's utterly defused by overly-cutesy comedy music (which JMS was apparently quite unhappy about). The blocking in the final confrontation Downbelow (especially the Fateful Shot) is awkward. And Londo's cowardly buffoonery is cranked up just a notch over what plays realistically.

The discussion about "seekers" — and what makes a man look for something that even he acknowledges may not exist — doesn't quite rise to where it feels like it should be, driven out by the Deuce conflict, and where it does come up it usually feels a bit mawkish. A shame, because it should be a significant element for Sinclair and his place in the B5 world (if not in discussion about B5 itself).

I do still like the whole idea of Downbelow, and of the folks who come to B5 and simply cannot make a go of it ending up as "Lurkers" in the equivalent of crime-ridden shanty-towns.  It never fully gels in the series, but it's a useful story construct that's used to reasonable effect, and gives B5 a grittiness that a lot of similar shows before then lacked.

Most Dramatic Moment: Aldus last testament.
Most Amusing Moment: Though this could be "Most Arc-ish" I'll put it here: Ivanova's "Boom" speech at the end.  
Most Arc-ish Moment:  Jinxo relates the fates of the first four Babylon stations, and his relationship to them. We'll come back to that soon enough …
Overall Rating:  3.5 / 5 — nothing wildly impressive, but a pleasant thing to view, esp. after "TKO".

Lurker's Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/015.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Grail

#babylon5 #b5

A-plot has an old boxing buddy of Garibaldi, framed out of the official leagues when he refused to take a fall, comes to B5 to fight in the Mutai, a mystical alien mixed martial arts fight club that's supposedly super-brutal.  Ho-hum. Cue the "Rocky" music and some really mixed-quality martial arts.

The B-plot is slightly more interesting, as Ivanova is forced to confront the emotional reality of her father's death. There's some nice character bits here, not just for Ivanova but for her relationship with Sinclair. But it's definitely secondary to the main story, which is just so darned pedestrian where not just plain silly that it's the one B5 episode I'll skip sharing with my daughter. 

Most Dramatic Moment: Ivanova breaks down at the end of sitting shiva.
Most Amusing Moment: Small beer here, but probably when Ivanova and her Uncle, Rabbi Koslov, whether some Centauri food is kosher.
Most Arc-ish Moment: Garibaldi's friend Walker tells him repeatedly to watch his back. Heh. 
Overall Rating: 2.0 / 5 – Your life will not be poorer for missing it, but the Ivanova bits make it just tolerable. Make it 1.5 for the A-plot, 2.5 for the B-plot.

Midwinter Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/014.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/TKO

#babylon5   #b5  

There are at least three plotlines going on here.  More, depending on how you slice them, but …

The A-plot involves the Raiders upping their presence and activities in the area around B5.  While this leads to some big-time action scenes / space battles, it’s mostly misdirection to allow for the B-plot to go on — though the fate of the Raider ship provides one of the biggest Bangs of the ep, carved into pixels by a first-time-seen Shadow vessel.

Closely tied to that story line is Centauri shenanigans — including political unrest on the home world, a disengaged emperor, a disgruntled Senate, and a power vacuum waiting for someone to move in — which is the path that Centauri nobleman Kiro pursues, arranging to seize a Centauri heirloom to bring home and claim the throne.  Things don’t end well for him …

… but they end okay for his companion, a Centauri Seer who keeps seeing foreboding images of B5 being attacked and exploding.

That all ties into the B-plot, the real action, where a newly-arrived human named Morden is interviewing the major ambassadors “What do you want?”  G’kar seeks the Centauris destroyed but his own people simply safe after that. Delenn kicks the bum out as his presence make her Grey Council tattoo itch.  Londo, frustrated by the whole Lord Kiro thing, opines he wants to see Centauri back on top of the heap, the center of the galaxy, lords of all they survey — a jingoistic but heartfelt wish that will haunt him the rest of the series.

As for Kosh … he and Morden have words.

The C-plot (yes, there’s a C-plot jammed in here) has Sinclair taking Garibaldi into his confidence about what he’s remembered about his missing 24 hours after the Battle of the Line — which ends up revealing that the only reason Sinclair is in charge of B5 is because the Minbari vetoed all the other candidates. Hmmmmmm.

It’s just a hell of an episode that had fans buzzing for weeks (and, in fact, had reverberations through the rest of the series).  Triffic stuff, enough to get even my daughter enthused about what was going on (she wanted to see the Kosh/Morden encounter … heh heh heh).

Most Dramatic Moment: Now that the bad guys have gotten away — and the Raider agent has turned on Lord Kiro — their deep-laid plans come to naught as the Shadows decide recovering the Eye is worth the effort of wiping them all out. Surprise!
Most Amusing Moment: Hmmm. Ivanova complaining about being unable to sleep when it’s dark out? Or Londo and G’kar having an argument in front of the elevator? Hard to decide.
Most Arc-ish Moment: Too, too, too many. I have to give it to the four encounters between Morden and the main ambassadors, and what each one reveals about them.
Overall Rating: 5.0 / 5 — No, really. These kind of episodes were what made B5 followers into B5 FANS. This was really the first big WHAM ep, even more than “Midnight on the Firing Line,” and it still has me squeeing, 19-1/2 years later.

Midwinter Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/013.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Signs_and_Portents

#babylon5   #b5

The B plot is more G'kar / Londo bickering, in this case Londo being the bigger jerk by stealing a key plant used in a Narn religious ceremony. Kind of ho-hum, except it gives G'kar a new chance to show himself as a more nuanced character than the foppish terrorist he comes across as the beginning.

One bit of trivia: the Rush Act, the law that allows the the government to break the strike, was named after Rush Limbaugh.

Most Dramatic Moment: Lots of sound and fury, but the drama's all pretty shallow. Maybe Londo noting to G'kar that his pettiness here is vengeance for Ragesh 3, back in the very first episode.  Vengeance and what it will drive both characters to is a key part of the series.
Most Amusing Moment: Meh. Again, not much. 
Most Arc-ish Moment: Not much, except for reinforcing the Londo/G'kar conflict and blurring who's the good guy here.
Overall Rating: 2.0 / 5 – Not bad, but not all that good; pretty skippable if you're doing your own rewatch.

Midwinter Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/012.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/By_Any_Means_Necessary

#babylon5   #b5  

Sinclair gets to bellow and Garibaldi to mutter under his breath and Ivanova to be all bitter, but the bad guys (well, guy at the end) are (is) stymied and all’s well with the world. Right. “Be seeing you.”

Oh, and Talia is in there being all hoarse-voiced and tragic, but somehow not very admirable or sympathetic.

The B-Plot involves Sinclair’s main squeeze, Catherine Sakai, going off to Sigma 957 to scope out a possible Q-40 find — against the advice of G’kar, who warns her of strange doings there.

Which there are, gobsmacking ones which almost kill her, until G’kar’s precautions save her butt.

And, yes, we get some nice ground-laying for later Big Mojo Elder Race bits in the series — but, more importantly, it’s the first time we see G’kar as something other than a buffoon or a black hat — “Nobody is what they seem,” he tells Sakai, and the viewers.  And he’s right.

All in all, great stuff.

Most dramatic bit: Talia describes what telepath lovemaking is like. (Runner up: Catherine shudders after G’kar’s ant metaphor.)
Most amusing bit: Talia describes to someone in an elevator about how telepaths find it hard to shut out loud thoughts and emotions, then elbows the leering Garibaldi behind her.
Most arc-ish bit: The revelations about the Psi Corps just out-arc the revelations about Sigma 957 and G’kar.
Overall rating:  4.5 of 5

Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/006.html
Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Mind_War