Babylon 5: Midnight on the Firing Line

This may be the very first time in history that I've come to a television show (other than Doctor Who since 2008) with no idea what happens later on. (Okay, I know Sinclair doesn't stick around. But that's it.)

Now you might reasonably expect the first episode of a television show to set up all the characters, spend up to 20 minutes getting to know our cast before we start dropping anvils on their heads. And yeah you can do that if you've got a 2-part opening (as in every modern incarnation of Star Trek - not that either Voyager or Enterprise bothered with this approach) or a 3-hour miniseries (Battlesomething-or-other).

Babylon 5 doesn't have that luxury. Although it does share at least one thing in common with Battlestar: it starts with a space station blowing up. With effects that put a Nintendo 64 to shame, too.
(As someone who adores classic Doctor Who, that shall be the last "cheap-looking effects" joke I ever make in regards to this show. I would also like to point out that every single reference I make from this point on refers to things that came after this episode aired.)

So then we meet a guy who decided to grow out his hair in the shape of Napoleon's hat (this gets even better later in the episode, when he wears a cape and is shot from the back in mostly shadow... you get the idea). He's the Centauri ambassador. I think Centauri is both their homeworld and the name of their species, because of course all humans are called Earthers or Terrans. (Sorry, but since Mass Effect deliberately avoided this practice, I've started calling out the other science-fiction franchises on it. At least the Klingons come from Kronos.)

We also meet the security chief, who is also apparently a fighter pilot, but then so is the station's commander, so that's not quite as weird as it might sound. By the way, this role is perfectly cast. Even though he's given a bunch of obviously expository dialogue in his first scene, Jerry Doyle's appearance and mannerisms all scream "space cop," but not in the hokey way you're probably thinking of. (Actually, on re-watching this, he screams "Captain Jack Harkness.")

See, the Centauri (Centauris? I'm still getting used to this setting) and the Narns kinda hate each other, but the Centauri government isn't going to press the issue of the Narns attacking one of their colonies, um, because. Earth isn't either, because even though we're only one episode in, I can already tell we're taking the Honor Harrington approach to politicians: they're stupid, shortsighted, officious red-tape dispensers and nothing else. Of course, not doing anything will just entice the Narns to take another colony, so the Council is convened, but of course, this being a Council aboard a giant space station, anyone who's played Mass Effect will know that they're utterly useless.

By the way, a few paragraphs from now I'm going to lay into this episode for wrapping up too neatly, so I just want to pause and point out that I love the way G'Kar commandeers this scene and gets the council to not sanction his people when all he's got is obviously doctored evidence and one additional key fact.

I'm not really going to go into characterizations too much here, because the episode itself doesn't.  There are some broad strokes to be painted, of course: Sinclair doesn't have time for political nonsense, Ivanova is an ice queen (and resident Strong Female Character(tm)), Londo is a Sicilian, G'Kar is slimy but clever, and Vir is played by Flounder from Animal House.

There are three plotlines running simultaneously: there's a presidential election that's confined to the background, but it's used to show that Ivanova is completely apolitical and that Sinclair isn't a fan of the budget-cutting winner. There's the raid on Raghesh 3 and the political fallout. Then there's the pirate raiders who are, um, raiding.

Sinclair eventually hunts down the raiders - this involves Security Chief Garibaldi pissing Ivanova off (which he accomplishes by sitting in her chair - alas, her reaction isn't as funny as the Illusive Man's) and Sinclair doing the "whoops, I never told you I got orders to do the stupid thing" routine with Ivanova* - and discovers that the raiders got their weapons from the Narns.

*And at the risk of provoking the most inevitable flame war when discussing Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine did that routine to death. I hope B5 doesn't follow suit.

Not only does he find that evidence, but he conveniently finds evidence that the Narns did in fact make an unprovoked attack on the Centauri colony.

The conclusion bugs me for two reasons. Why the hell would a weapons merchant have incriminating evidence about an attack on a Centauri colony? And why is Sinclair so convinced the Narn government is involved in the raids? (I guess an individual acting independently from his government is just not possible, right, Commander "I never told you that we're not supposed to vote for sanctions" Sinclair?)

Questions: what are the implications of the presidential election? How will the feud between G'Kar and Londo unfold? Why the hell would a weapons merchant have incriminating evidence about an attack on a Centauri colony? How long before someone files a sexual harrassment suit against Garibaldi?