This is a pivotal episode, and the one single episode I choose to show B5 newbies. It has tons of exposition which never becomes boring, tons of action that is truly tense, tons of character development both thought-provoking and touching, and tons of humor to remind us why we care about these characters. We are at the start of the main arc of Season 3; this episode and the next two form the basis of the season’s theme. Babylon 5, and our heroes, are about to reach the Point of No Return.


( Recap: )


What struck me this viewing was the juxtaposition of Sheridan’s choice to go up against Earth contrasted with Zack’s dilemma to either go along with or oppose Nightwatch. Hard choices. Life determining choices.

Also I paid more attention to Garibaldi’s reluctance; not just sniping but his actual reluctance to follow Sheridan along this path. If it had been Sinclair, I think Garibaldi would have been gung-ho as hell. Garibaldi runs on personal loyalty. There is some foreshadowing of his own search for meaning, in his burgeoning relationship with G’Kar.

Lennier has some good moments here--some where he seems to be accepting Sheridan’s leadership, although there is still a bit of recalcitrance in his admiration.

My favorite interplay is the switch in taking charge between Sheridan and Delenn during the battle. Each faces a hard thing; Delenn has to fight the Shadows which are mythically undefeatable in her mind. But she trusts Sheridan to come up with something, which he does. Then Sheridan faces firing on his old ship, and he just can’t, but Delenn steps up. First she tries to tell him they either fight or surrender, but then she determines a way for them to get away. They go back and forth taking charge, complementing each other’s weakness with strength. This is how they will fight, and how they will govern, as partners.



I don’t really have any questions or points of discussion. To my mind this is a pitch perfect episode, nicely balanced between exposition, action, character development, and humor. Well done, all.