Man, I can't believe this slipped past the censors! I'm talking, of course, about the *ahem* scene betwenn Ivanova and the Lumati ambassador. It has to be the hottest sex scene I've ever seen on TV. I mean, they showed EVERYTHING, completely uncut! :-)

Seriously, was I the only one who wondered if the Lumati was really trying to sucker Ivanova?

When asked about this on Usenet, JMS claimed that sex was used to seal a deal in ancient Egypt.

Whatever. It's funny either way!

I also loved the way that Taq - obviously realising that Ivanova had 'faked it' - kissed her hand and then walked away giggling.

Ruminations

- I love the lurker with a mohawk eating a lizard...

- The way the Narns fight looks silly.. I don't know the best way to describe it... catfight?

-T his episode marks the beginning of a change in G'kar; where being a diplomat over the vengeful warrior is better, where he begins to understsand the need for peace on the station.


Nits

- When G'kar gets slashed and he turns around, there isn't any ripped clothing to indicate that he was slashed.

Possible Nit

- Was the merchant who sold the knives to the Narn arrested as well?

Knives? More like swords!

And I found Lumati subplot interesting. I liked how he aggravated Frankling and Ivanova with his notions of "evolution" and treating other species with regard to medlab and the lurkers Down Below. I thought Ivanova's solution to the sex thing was cheesy, though. I woulda just punched the guy and sent him packing.

And that, Luigi, is why you're not a diplomat. :P

Well, neither is she. She's a Starfury pilot and a high-ranking officer in Earthforce.

Speaking of which, why is Sinclair/Sheridan the acting, or de facto representative of Earth. Shouldn't an Earth ambassador do this?

That was always a problem with the show. It depicted Sinclare/Sheridan as a military governor that you would have seen in the days of the old wooden sailing ships and covered horse drawn wagons. Given that they have real time visual communication with Earth and it's a 1 day or so jump I can't see any reason that Earth wouldn't have an ambassador stationed on B5; except for the fact that it would be another character and new level of authority to what the station does.

The Lumati subplot seemed like a parody of Star Trek's Prime Directive.