Well, to be fair, we're talking about one single episode versus an entire arc here. But yes, what happens later strikes one as more realistic.

It also says something about the way tv has changed, not least thanks to B5, that when I watched this the first time I didn't expect Garibaldi's alcoholism to be touched on again, whereas now when someone gets introduced as an alcoholic, no matter whether one who drinks or one who is abstinent, I expect it to be followed up upon.