Well for starters, as I'm sure you could tell, they tried so hard to make it look like Ivanova was the sleeper I knew it wouldn't be her.

I knew Garibaldi was faking his reaction to Lyta's password send. It was just too easy.

When Talia and Ivanova were talking and Talia steps up to her and says that whole "I trust you more than anyone" line (that wasn't a verbatim quote), did anyone else see Susan kind of lean in there? Or was I just the kind of guy who always looks for an Ellen moment?

Well, in retrospect, I'm kinda glad Talia's gone. Why? We wouldn't have Det. Kirkendal (NYPD Blue) if Andrea Thompson had stayed on B5. And that would be a horrible loss. Not that it matters now. Smits isspliting, and I'm not too optimistic about Ricky Shroeder.

Yes, that was definitely an "Elen moment" when Talia and Susan were talking. It was stated in "Ceremonies of Light and Dark" when Ivonova told Delenn that she thought that she loved Talia.

The implanted personality was originally meant for the first 1st officer of Babylon 5. You know, the woman that Ivonova took the place of between the pilot and the series. I'm not sure who it actually would have been if Andrea Thompson hadn't left the show ... probably Ivonova.

To Chris Franz: I'm not disputing your post, I just want to know where you got that information. I find it interesting the way things turned out. I've only seen the pilot once and I barely remember the officer you speak of.

Mike Chris is right. You ask the creator of the show himself. Also You can read the book "Creating Babylon 5" that this is true.

This was a very depressing episode, worse than "GROPOS" or "Confessions and Lamentations"(at least in my opinion). At the end I kept wanting to slap the "new" Talia and yell, "Give her back! Give back the real Talia!"

I take back what I said before. Schroeder has turned out to be pretty good.

Richie and Chris are correct. Laurel was to have had the implanted personality and shot Garabaldi. They would have exposed her and then replaced her with a recurring character, Ivonova, who would've had the same role as Corwin prior to this. Laurel being written out after the pilot forced the change. Talia would've (by all accounts) become what Lyta eventually became, but I think would've overcame the AP, probably with the help of that data crystal that Kosh had from that scan he did of her. When Andrea Thompson quit that put all of that in the garbage, and Lyta returned to fulfill her original purpose that was set up in the pilot.

It's a pity there wasn't even a one-off reappearance of Talia since there was a possible solution to the problem of her implanted personality in the shape of Kosh's data crystal from Season 1.

Origionaly she was going to come back and the vorlons were going to turn her into an ultimate weapon with enhanced abilitys (hence the reason they were involved with the stuff with the vcr) but Andrea Thompson took some time off while she was pregnant (with Jerry Doyle's kid) and JMS brought back Patricia Tallman to fill in Psychic duties. Than Andrea got the part on JAG, followed by one on NYPD Blue so JMS just let Tallman finish the part she started (since is she was in The Gathering and if she had been avalable during season 1 would have gotten all of Talia's arc)

I wonder if the station personnel thought that Sheridan had a few screws loose during the time when they were trying to find out who had the implanted personality.

whoa, wait a minute? Garibaldi turned Dodger down, why or when did he um with Talia? Am I missing something from some episode?

I wasn't aware he ever slept with Talia. He wanted to but she wasn't interested.

Andrea Thompson asked to leave the series as she felt she had nothing to do on the show. JMS noted that this was unfortunate, as the following seasons would have meant a lot more for Talia to do.

Thankfully JMS had always written things so that if one of the main actors had left someone else could be brought in (or in Patricia Tallman's case be brought back).

I wasn't aware he ever slept with Talia. He wanted to but she wasn't interested.

It was Ivoniva who slept with Talia, or at least that was what was implied on air and what JMS indicated what he had intended to have happened.
(Ivoniva's secret to Delen in season 3 is that she was in love with Talia)

I was referring to this: "but Andrea Thompson took some time off while she was pregnant (with Jerry Doyle's kid)"

Yes, but that was Andrea and Jerry, not Talia and Garibaldi!