Woohoo! Susan Ivanova has arrived on Babylon 5! I’ve always loved her character for several reasons. In “Midnight on the Firing Line” its because she’s absolutely in control of the station, does it well and feels no need to be nice about it. Ivanova is curt, direct and professional, but never bitchy or nice. That was always one of the problems I had with the Star Trek gals: they’re all so nice.
The episode opens with an attack on Raglesh III, a Centauri agricultural colony (in true geek fashion, I immediately recognized the attacking ships as Narn fighters), which sparks a mini-war between G’Kar and Londo Mollari. G’Kar’s perspective is that Raglesh III had been a Narn colony before the Centauri enslaved their race, and now that the occupation was over, the Narn were taking back what was theirs. Sounds reasonable, until G’Kar presents Londo, the Council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds with a recording of Londo’s nephew – head researcher at Raglesh III – declaring that the colonists begged the Narn to bail them out of trouble.
Which, of course, is all coerced. But, G’Kar is just getting started with his shady goings-on. Another storyline in “Midnight on the Firing Line” is Garibaldi’s search for shipping lane raiders who are attacking transport ships, stealing the cargo and killing the passengers. As it turns out, the Narn are part time arms dealers and information brokers. We never learn who the raiders are, but we learn that the Narn Regime provided the weapons, the shipping lane routes and the flight schedules.
That doesn’t make G’Kar a very sympathetic character, so when Londo puts together a cool looking raygun from parts hidden in a teapot and goes looking for G’Kar, it’s almost disappointing that he’s stopped by Garibaldi and Talia Winters, the new telepath assigned to Babylon 5 by the Psi Corps. (Winters is much more subtle than Lyta Alexander; no flailing or melodramatic finger pointing from this telepath.)
And, finally, Earth’s presidential election is happening while all of this is going on. Ivanova says of one of the candidates, “I’ve always thought a good leader should have a strong chin. Santiago has no chin, and his vice president has several. This is not a good combination.” It’s totally forgettable at the time, but the election results eventually have serious ramifications.
My Thoughts
I forgot how much I disliked G’Kar and Londo in the beginning. G”Kar is an antagonistic putz and Londo is a reactionary drunk. It’s fitting that when Londo dreams of his death, he dreams of himself and G’Kar strangling each other.
Micheal O’Hare sounds like the movie trailer voice over guy. He’s so stone faced and doesn’t interact naturally with anyone. I get that it’s part of Commander Sinclair’s character, but I want Captain Sheridan to show up NOW!
My favorite moment in this entire episode is at the end, when Delenn and Garibaldi indulge in his second favorite thing in the universe: Duck Dodgers cartoons. It’s a cute scene, but it also shows how far Humans and Mimbari have come in their relations after such a brutal war. I believe that Duck Dodgers cartoons (and the music of U2) can serve as a uniting force between adversaries.
Best Line
G’Kar: “I admit that I look forward to cleansing the universe of the Centauri and carving their bones into little flutes for Narn children. It is a dream I have.”
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
