The first time I saw these episodes was directly after the pilot, because for some reason the pilot and this two-parter were released on video in Germany before the actual first season was shown on tv! Which is why I got to meet Ivanova this way. Needless to say, she made an impression. :)

It has what is probably my favourite scene between Londo and Garibaldi, which works on several levels. On the one hand, it epitomizes their early friendship, that Londo genuinenly likes Garibaldi (and vice versa) and for all his flamboyance is able to spot Garibaldi's distress easily. On the other hand, if you know the overall show, especially The very long night of Londo Mollari in season 5, you know that Londo is also lying in his story about his first wife, the dancer. He gives the story a funny ending (the woman he fell for ends up the a harridan the next morning, he regrets the marriage, etc.), making it an anecdote to be smiled at and himself a comic character; it's not before we're in Londo's own head, when he's talking to "Sheridan", that we find out what actually happened was that he genuinenly loved her and that his family made him choose between them and divorce her as unsuitable for a Mollari; the first time Londo chooses status and ambition over what he felt was the right thing to do. "I died for the first time that day, as I looked in her eyes". Now you could argue he picks a different ending because the reason for the story is after all to cheer up Garibaldi, but in truth I think it's the story Londo has been telling himself ever since, and especially relatively soon after Adira (also a dancer, like the nameless woman of his past), he's clinging to it.

Londo being chosen along with Draal and Sinclair by the great machine as a possible candidate is fascinating, too. The foreshadowing works for Sinclair - he will end up doing something similar to Draal, in a way, by becoming Valen, giving up his human present and all his connections there, returning to the past to save the Minbari. At first glance Londo with his ambitions and the choices he's about to make (again) seems a less likely candidate... until you remember how it all ends (and that beyond personal ambition, Londo's primary motivation was love for his people). Because Londo accepting the Keeper and the remainder of his life in hell, with a parasite instead of a voluntary symbiosis a la Draal & the great machine, is again a living sacrifice, so save Centauri Prime and everyone on it from being destroyed by the Drakh.

The Mars riots: as has been said in other reviews this season, the first season really shows that long before Clark becomes President, the Earth Alliance has serious internal troubles.

Lise Hampton who gets introduced here was widely disliked during first broadcast as I recall. Personally, I have no opinion one way or the other (I found her neither objectionable nor very interesting), but Garibaldi's attachment to her gets quite firmly established here, and considering it will become important in overall continuity, that's good world building.