Shortly after this episode opens a revered Minbari is attacked by a group of humans who are against involvement with aliens and particularly objected to her as she was due to recite her work on Earth. It emerges that she wasn't the first victim but she is the most high profile. An investigation is underway but discovering those responsible and who is behind them won't be easy. The situation isn't helped when G'Kar starts to whip up alien resentment. While all this is going on one of Ivanovo's old flames visits Babylon 5 as do two young Centauri who are in love and wish to avoid marriages that have been arranged for them.
Given the variety of alien species and the various tensions an episode which deals with racial tension was inevitable. The topic was handled well showing the unpleasantness of the bigoted attackers as well as the risks of things escalating. The episode introduces the 'Home Guard', humans who want Earth to have nothing to do with aliens; I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the last we hear of them. The secondary stories are interesting; most notably the one involving the two young Centauri; this tells us more about their culture and we learn that Londo has three wives who he is happy to be seventy five light years away from! Peter Jurasik is on great form in the role. While not a major part of the story this episode nicely explains why certain characters who appeared in the pilot movie don't appear in the series. Overall this was a fairly solid episode.
Given the variety of alien species and the various tensions an episode which deals with racial tension was inevitable. The topic was handled well showing the unpleasantness of the bigoted attackers as well as the risks of things escalating. The episode introduces the 'Home Guard', humans who want Earth to have nothing to do with aliens; I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the last we hear of them. The secondary stories are interesting; most notably the one involving the two young Centauri; this tells us more about their culture and we learn that Londo has three wives who he is happy to be seventy five light years away from! Peter Jurasik is on great form in the role. While not a major part of the story this episode nicely explains why certain characters who appeared in the pilot movie don't appear in the series. Overall this was a fairly solid episode.