Episode 4.15: No Surrender, No Retreat
After a long string of low-thrills episodes--some of them great, most of them bland--B5 has remembered how much more interesting it was when it was about a war, so it started another one. This episode crackles with an energy the show hasn't had in a very long time; even RUMORS, BARGAINS, AND LIES, which I loved, didn't have this kind of tight pacing and dynamic motion. Earth has started killing civilian targets in its ongoing plunge into fascism, and that's a crime Sheridan won't abide, so he we're off to the races. For the most part, it's awesome. We start with Sheridan and Ivanova reading the riot act to the League of Unimportant Aliens: they all have mutual defense treaties with Earth, but since Earth never honored those during the Shadow War and Babylon 5 has been protecting them non-stop, it's time for everyone to admit who their real friends are. I assumed the League had immediately thrown in with B5, but apparently not because Londo hatches a plan t