The A-Plot: With the Narn and the Centauri at war, and with Earth and the Minbari not taking sides, Sheridan can't do anything officially to help G'Kar when he says that the Centauri aren't limiting their attacks to military targets. Londo claims the Centauri are strategically putting military targets near civilian sites so they can say the Centauri are killing civilians. One side says one thing, the other said says another, and everyone else has their hands tied.
What's great about this is watching how everyone plays the system. G'Kar doesn't want the Narn to look bad so, when one of them goes too far, he has someone to pin the blame on. When the Narn don't want to listen to G'Kar, he reasserts his power and they fall in-line. Londo, already feeling conflicted about the situation he's in (thanks to Morden's "help") and not wanting people on Babylon 5 to think of him as a monster, is willing to not escalate things even further and accepts that this Scapegoat Narn is a ne'er-do-well and leaves it at that. Meanwhile, Sheridan and Delenn agree to help evacuate Narn civilians to safety through unofficial channels and on the quiet. G'Kar reluctantly agrees and is appreciative of Sheridan and Delenn taking a risk and going out on a limb.
With Sheridan in particular, his actions in this episode are an outgrowth of last episode where he wants to do the right thing even when his leaders, even when his superiors either can't or won't. And he's camouflaged by his fortune that the higher-ups think he's a "jarhead". As Hague said in the previous episode, "You're not, but your record makes it look like you are." That line in and of itself builds off of the episode before that, "GROPOS", where we get to see said actual jarheads.
So, I'm beginning to see how one episode builds into the next, even if it's not so obvious at first, and this feels like the series I was told about beforehand. Where everything's connected. I'm starting to see it now.
Finally, there's some subplot within the A-Plot where Londo tells Garibaldi about how people see him differently now, and how even Garbaldi approaches him from arms' length. At the end of the episode, after Londo chooses not to escalate things even further with that Narn, and shows that he also wants to maintain some sort of order, then Garibaldi has a drink with him. They can be friends. "At least for a little while," as Londo says.
The B-Plot: Frankly, this is the type of story that could only have been done in the '90s. Any later, and it would've been considered too inappropriate. Especially after Me Too! Any earlier, it would've either been considered too raunchy for daytime TV (the '70s and '80s) or outright taboo (the '50s and '60s).
Ivanova is to establish diplomatic relations with an alien species, the Lumati. There are two Lumati, one doesn't speak, the one who Ivanova has to impress, and the other Lumati who speaks for him. No matter what Ivanova shows him, he's still not impressed and still won't speak, until she shows them the disadvantaged. Then the main Lumati speaks and says he's impressed and thinks it's ingenious how Humans deal with the poor. Even though it's terrible. Then, to finalize diplomatic relations, he wants to have sex with Ivanova!
I'm going to tell you straight-out, I was NOT expecting that! Never saw it coming. And Ivanova already told Sheridan she had diplomatic relations sorted out. So, she has to come up with something. Then we get some crazy, sitcom level thing where she tells the Lumati that they'll have sex, but they'll do it the Human way. She's counting on him not knowing what the Human way is. Then she pulls it off by not having sex with him at all but by doing some crazy thing and screaming, "YES! YES!!! YESSSS!!!!!!"
Now, I have to stop right here for a moment and talk about my actual life. My father and his girlfriend are retired. They spend half the year living down in Georgia to avoid the cold weather up north during the winter and then half the year living with me in Massachusetts to avoid the hot weather down south during the summer. So, they just moved back in with me last week. So, when Ivanova started screaming, "YES! YES!!! YESSSS!!!!!!" Not only did I not see that coming, but I was dreading them overhearing that and asking me, "What are you watching?!!" I mean, I'm in my 40s, we're all adults but, still, you get what I'm trying to say...
Anyway, regardless, the B-Plot was still an amusing way to fill up the time.
Overall: It would've been higher if it were just the A-Plot, but I give it an 8. Should've been a 9.
