First thing to note. I always loved the way the Centauri were portrayed, at least as a race, even if I don't approve of it. They are like any other self-important society full of imperial houses and royal bloodlines and pomp and ceremony. The Hapsburg Monarchy, or the Romans. And part of the reason I love Londo so much is that as much as his choices are his own, he's still in many ways confined to the trappings of tradition because he lets himself be, and yet when you see the pull that those traditions have, you could almost see why that is. You have to wonder if he'd been perhaps a bit more open to breaking tradition like Vir was, that maybe things would have been different for him. I mean, take the arranged marriages. It's really rather twisted. There's no love here, just political power to barter, and prestige, evidenced by how the Centauri conduct solemn weddings and celebrate with funerals. Hell, remember Season 1's "The War Prayer," where it was shown that to marry for love just was NOT done. And as a romantic and an individualist, I think people should be free to choose who they love, period. And yet, seems they find that "love" elsewhere through very public affairs, which is really... I mean, it's kind of refreshing to have them be honest that way, but only in the vein of admitting "I am a horrible person." It kind of reminds me of the Red Army, where there was so much systematic rapes on the grunt level, and yet the higher-ups had no problems taking mistresses that had been abused to exploit them for personal gain, and in the end, many didn't even wanna leave because they had such willing slaves they saw as good occupation wives. That kind of an inherent rotten contradiction, and I mean, "not in a good way," obviously. Again, I'm a romantic. I really emphasize to the disgust people feel with not wanting somebody to touch you or vice versa and rest assured, if I felt such, tradition be damned, I am NOT doing it. Think what Chuck said in "Up the Long Ladder," that if the future of the human race depends on me screwing Clint Howard, YOU'RE ALL DEAD, and there you go.
No, I just can't swallow that, same as Timor.
Speaking of that, I will say I do like the complexity and nuance of Timor and Londo. Those two were never meant to be together, and while they are not friends, there is a grudging respect there. Wish Timor had showed up again. She was honest and independent. Wonder what she'd have thought of what he later did?
I guess Garibaldi's "cop sense" failed him with Jack.
I feel like there is an in joke to Stoner being born April 20th, but it has escaped me.
Gotta point out something. If B5 had been made today under a different writer (impossible, but let's just roll with it) you would never see stuff like Delenn still acclimating to her new hybrid human body this way. Perhaps you'd get stuff like at the end discussing the... "down there" situation in the stinger which yes, did make me laugh,
but past that? No. Something is missing from sci-fi, which I have said repeatedly. And Delenn's hair is totally Goku. He never "bathed" until he met Bulma. 
I always feel so sad seeing Talia in these early seasons, and it paints a nightmare of what the corps is probably doing, it seems, once she returned to them, with endless forced breeding.
Poor girl. I get it, she was going to do what Lyta eventually did via the gift Ironheart left her, and that trap-door was sprung, but even so... it's sad. She's gone, and might as well be dead, for what those bastards did to her, and probably still are. In my eight-way crossover, Luke is going to restore her via the brain scan Kosh had done in Season 1. Anyway... really fucking hate the Psi Corps. It's really terrifying how many parallels I see between them and the Centauri in terms of genetics and enforced breeding. I suppose you could make the argument it's a parallel to Fascist views on genetic purity, but even so, I... really don't care about that when it comes to coupling and as I said above I am a romantic and individualist. I really have to wonder how much freedom Talia had to marry this guy? We know they are assigned to who will best provide the "strongest" telepaths, and I'm having a sense that Ironheart might have been like Londo's various mistresses to her (been a while since I saw Season 1 - sorry if I misremembered). Same way Bester was married but had his own mistress. That's just all shades of a holocaust of wrong. Anyway, I wanna say this, if he was her husband, then... why the hell would they use him to try and bring her back? Seems like a continuity plot hole. I wanna posit one more thing. What, fundamentally, on an emotional level, is the difference between horrific enforced breeding for perpetuation through expansion like the Psi Corps, or shallow prestige and empty reputation like the Centauri? I see none.Think I discovered another plot hole, and again, been a while since I saw Seaosn 1. If Ironheart convinced her the corps was wrong, then... why did she still want to recruit mind-burst girl from "Legacies?" It still seems like she was looking on the bright side of the corps... I dunno, maybe that was the sleeper influence? The reason she could sometimes look on the bright side of the corps, even after "Mind War." I do wanna say that I think Talia should be Exhibit A to the hypocrisy of people like Bester, who cite how mundanes do far worse, then treat teep women like fucking cattle, as breeding stock and machines to rewrite on a whim. Although it is true, like with the Red Army example I cited above, that human nature is such people often don't see this within themselves due to rationalization. Gotta love good old-fashioned human bullshit, eh? I guess the Centauri prove it is not limited to humans.
And you know, some people may claim Garibaldi is being skeevy with Talia, and while I could sympathize to that argument, I'm also starting to think... like, just how is some good old-fashioned chivalry wrong? Or even being dogged in pursuit of trying to woo a lady, assuming it doesn't cross the line, which he doesn't? Seems especially weird given Chuck has gone on record saying he gave women hell in the past for assuming in his absence of words that it was confirmation he was uncomfortable working with women, when that is a real world workplace issue. I mean, shit! I get it. I understand. Since it is a male-dominated world, we should not underestimate women. It is just another label we put on things that hold people back. But while we've changed traditional ideas to show women can be strong, when will we acknowledge the softer side to men? The heart and feelings which drive us too? I dunno, I like how Garibaldi saved Talia this episode, even if he failed to ultimately in the end. While gender roles are bullshit, imo, that's only as enforced via societal perceptions, and if somebody likes them, and puts them to use in a productive and healthy fashion, that's fine. It is merely when that is abused by people and at large I have an issue. I know that "where are the values we used to have?" is a myth we tell ourselves to cope with the present, but even so, I think in some ways, I miss some of the values we had from the 1950s. Not all of them. But some. To tie into what I said above, that would be why, "Why is commitment so hard for some people?" I know there were affairs and casual trysts even in the 1950s, but... regardless, I still dream of that kind of committed partnership, which the Centauri and Psi Corps obviously do NOT have and don't care about. I think love will save us and in the end, we should have the freedom we need to dance!
A more self-involved sneer? Isn't that how Trump does it?
And Garibaldi is totally Batman, the detective's cunning plans are just hitting people.
I see no reason why G'Kar should have helped out Londo, or revealed the truth to him even ignoring what we know is coming with the bombing of Narn Prime. Not that I postulate Chuck was arguing that position, of course, but... even by this point, Londo has been unapologetic with his view on the Narn occupation and that the Narn's hatred over them is unreasonable. Like the Cardassians on DS9. I still think to see Londo and the Centauri as "the enemy" is perfectly logical even if the Narn take it too far, which is the problem.
In conclusion, I like this story, though I think Chuck's stamp of "unimportant" was a wee too harsh. Not everything has to be ground-breaking or massive in its continuity to be important. And he even admitted it was enjoyable. I feel the same. Solid episode. Can't wait for more! Love B5!
