Alas, one of the mostly boring ones. I love D.C. Fontana's Star Trek episodes, but on B5 her work feels somewhat generic. It doesn't help that this is an almost exclusively (safe for Delenn) human characters episode, and well, my most beloved characters on this show are all aliens.
There is some valid Sheridan character exploration, but again, what it goes for - Sheridan, having commanded a starship for years, feels frustrated by the change to station commander - is valid but isn't that illuminating about Sheridan specifically but could be written for any starship captain. (One reason why Sheridan didn't really click with me until In the shadow of Z'ha'dum was that this was the first episode which really made him feel three dimensional to me, not least because it deliberately showcased his darker side.) And his friend isn't an interesting guest character, either. I'm playing favorites here; I'm not against one spot guest characters suddenly declared as very important people to Our Heroes... if they are,say, the Centauri Urza Jaddo. But even leaving aside my prejudices, this character is so bland I couldn't even remember Russ Tamblyn HAD guest starred on B5.
Speaking of bland: and then we get Warren Keefer in the enforced Top Gun scenes which JMS confessed to hating with a passion later. It shows.
The most interesting scene to me was the one with Delenn and the Minbari, because while here the process of alienation, no bad pun intended, between Delenn and her fellow Minbari starts, it's not presented as a simple "they're xenophobic and so mean to her!" matter. She is incredibly arrogant with her "understanding isn't required, only obedience!" In many ways, it parallels Neroon becoming Delenn's nemesis this season due to her treatment of him in Legacies last season.
The conversation between Delenn and Sheridan is one for the shippers, to which I don't belong, so no comment here.
I remember finding the "Franklin forces everyone to go on a diet" subplot amusing the first time I watched; alas, it didn't age well for me. This time, I just wished it to be over...
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There is some valid Sheridan character exploration, but again, what it goes for - Sheridan, having commanded a starship for years, feels frustrated by the change to station commander - is valid but isn't that illuminating about Sheridan specifically but could be written for any starship captain. (One reason why Sheridan didn't really click with me until In the shadow of Z'ha'dum was that this was the first episode which really made him feel three dimensional to me, not least because it deliberately showcased his darker side.) And his friend isn't an interesting guest character, either. I'm playing favorites here; I'm not against one spot guest characters suddenly declared as very important people to Our Heroes... if they are,say, the Centauri Urza Jaddo. But even leaving aside my prejudices, this character is so bland I couldn't even remember Russ Tamblyn HAD guest starred on B5.
Speaking of bland: and then we get Warren Keefer in the enforced Top Gun scenes which JMS confessed to hating with a passion later. It shows.
The most interesting scene to me was the one with Delenn and the Minbari, because while here the process of alienation, no bad pun intended, between Delenn and her fellow Minbari starts, it's not presented as a simple "they're xenophobic and so mean to her!" matter. She is incredibly arrogant with her "understanding isn't required, only obedience!" In many ways, it parallels Neroon becoming Delenn's nemesis this season due to her treatment of him in Legacies last season.
The conversation between Delenn and Sheridan is one for the shippers, to which I don't belong, so no comment here.
I remember finding the "Franklin forces everyone to go on a diet" subplot amusing the first time I watched; alas, it didn't age well for me. This time, I just wished it to be over...