Midnight on the Firing Line

Episode 1, Series 1, Midnight on the Firing Line. Now the pilot is over, this is where the excuses stop and you have to start putting up or shutting up. As before detailed synopses etc available elsewhere.

I thought that this was much better than the pilot, there was enough plot going on to keep me interested for the whole episode and the acting was more uniform and generally better (the replacement characters were a great improvement). I also liked the way that the problems on Ragesh 3 were mirrored in microcosm by the relationship between Londo and G'Kar. However for me this episode really came to life during the final scene between Winters and Ivanova where we find out why Ivanova has been rude. That was genuine, character driven tension and beautifully acted. Also quite enjoying the slightly anarchic nature of Babylon 5 where everyone pretty much ignores protocol and chains of command, even the ex-soldiers who you think would know better!

The main plots were mostly good although the episode was somewhat ruined for me by the Deus Ex Machina moment linking two independent story lines when, coincidentally Sinclair found a Narn on the Raiders' command and control ship, which then allowed him to blackmail G'Kar into withdrawing the Narn Forces on Ragesh 3. Put it this way, if the Raiders had started a couple of months earlier or later then this tool wouldn't have been available and the Ragesh 3 situation would not have been sorted out.

I'm also not sure that the Narn would have backed down so easily...in fact I had quite a lot of sympathy for their position. If Ragesh 3 was originally a Narn planet then why shouldn't they have it back? 100 years is no time at all (just look at various former colonies around the world today). Re-invasion/war may not be the right route to take but it doesn't mean that the principle isn't correct.