And so we begin with Season 5:



Recap and discussion of 5 x 01 – No Compromises

The season that almost wasn’t – and some of the most hated characters in the B5 universe!

We meet the new station commander – Captain Elizabeth Lochley, a by the books military officer who shakes up things quite a bit on Babylon 5. We know little about her except that John Sheridan had requested her as B5 new leader when Ivanova left. We will find out more, much, much more.


This episode is FULL of compromises but JMS was sending a signal to the networks and such, so he says.

Anyhow, Corwin is the only person to meet Captain Elizabeth Lochley when she shows up to take command of Babylon 5. When she says you don’t find trouble if you don’t look for it, Corwin explains that on the station, trouble finds you.

And we’re on Mars where a man with a music box ballerina shoots a Ranger and hangs a sign around his neck that says "Special Delivery For Babylon 5". This can’t be good.

John and Delenn are sort of sharing both quarters since Delenn feels she needs to keep her quarters in the Ambassadorial section as part of Minbar on B5. They decide to leave things as they are until they move into the Alliance headquarters on Minbar. She does ask him about wet socks – he explains that he had a DI who told them that men who have nothing to do get killed so he always washed his socks every night so there would always be something to do. John had begun to do it continued to this day.

There’s a ship outside with a dead body inside.

Sheridan and Lochley meet in his office. He tells her he asked for her because she could solve conflicts without violence. They agree that the station, still independent from Earth, is her concern and Sheridan will handle anything involving Alliance politics. Lochley is called away by Corwin. Byron is watching.

Zack and Garibaldi are trying to get ready for Sheridan’s inauguration and both are quite vocal.

Corwin shows Lochley the body from outside. It’s the Ranger from Mars.

While Lochley is eating, Byron makes everything go quiet and talks to her, asking for a home for himself and his group of telepaths. He tells her to meet them all in Brown 3 in 2 hours.


Sheridan stops by and asks G’kar to write the inaugural address and a declaration of principles for the Alliance. G’kar is honored and gets right on it.

A text message shows up on Sheridan’s screen it’s a death threat.

Franklin confirms to Lochley that the Ranger has been shot.

Lochley meets the telepaths, including a skinny kid named Simon. Simon is a mute and looks sickly to her. She has B5 security with her as well. Byron tells her they want a home and are willing to work for their keep.

The Gaim ambassador is talking to Delenn and then goes to his quarters.

Sheridan finds the text and a voice message as well, comparing him to Lincoln, Roosevelt and a future leader who got many people killed and died with blood on their hands. Another death threat. While Sheridan is listening, we see the killer follows the Gaim ambassador and kill him in order to get into his encounter suit.

Franklin finds nothing wrong with Simon’s vocal cords, says he need some vitamins and such but the teeps disappear, thought Simon is watching Franklin from the ductwork.

Everyone is arguing about not having the inauguration but Sheridan and Lochley vote to go ahead.

Simon sees the killer from the ventilation shaft and sees him killing Sheridan in his mind. The boy jumps at the thought and makes a sound. The killer shoots into the ceiling and wounds the boy.

Garibaldi investigates and finds the killer is an EF soldier who has gone rogue.

Meanwhile, the killer shows up as the Gaim ambassador. Simon lurches in and projects the killing image into everyone’s mind. Sheridan is saved but the killer gets away. Simon is mortally wounded. They decide to finish the ceremony. The killer steals a Starfury and Garibaldi takes one out as wlel. They catch the killer with a grappler and shoot his ship with the station guns.

G’kar says this: You want to be president?
Captain John Sheridan: Yes.
Citizen G'Kar: Put your hand on the book and say "I do".
Captain John Sheridan: I do.
Citizen G'Kar: Fine. Done. Let's eat.

Sheridan agrees to allow Byron and his group to live in Brown sector. His reasoning seems to be they may be a handy ally when the Telepath War comes.

Garibaldi goes to Lochley’s office and tells her he’s going to be the new head of Alliance covert ops. He asks her which side she was on in the war. She answers, Earth, weren’t we all?

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My take:
On this rewatch, I find Lochley to be rather unpleasant in this first episode. She is stubborn and unbending. I was not devastated by Ivanova being gone though so I soon grew more accustomed to her and actually found her to be rather funny in her own way.

Byron was pretty. You have to give him that much and I was hoping for someone that I’d like as much as Marcus but alas, Byron was not to be that person. He got worse, though it was his storyline, not him.

I wondered what the new season could bring us and hoped for something great. Season 5 is better than could have been but then again, it’s worse than it could have been.

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Quote:
This one from Sheridan is always true: If more of our so-called leaders would walk the same streets as the people who voted them in, live in the same buildings, eat the same food instead of hiding behind glass and steel and bodyguards maybe we would get better leadership and a little more concern for the future.

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Questions:
1. So how did you like Lochley?
2. Was it nice to see all the old faces again in this episode?
3. Why warn Sheridan that he was going to kill him? The assassin had a much better chance if he’d simply done it without all the announcing, wouldn’t he?
4. Many people don’t like this season. Do you? Why or why not?

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Sources:
The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/089.html
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517673/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu
The Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/No_Compromises
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Compromises