Babylon 5/Recap/S02/E22 The Fall of Night

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< Babylon 5‎ | Recap‎ | S02


The Fall of Night

Lennier: Sometimes, I get so close and ... it seems I am shut off from the important things.

Vir: The useless feeling. The ambassador is definitely going through some changes, he even looks different.

Lennier: Indeed. And now with the military starting a stampede over everyone and everything ...

Vir: ... people coming and going, and secret meetings ...

Lennier: ... you never know what it's all about, until later, when its too late.

Vir: And they never listen to us.

Both: It makes me nervous.

(exchanged glance)

Vir: Same time tomorrow?

Lennier: Sure.

This episode contains examples of:

  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: After one of the cargo loading pylons gets blown off, Sheridan orders, "Hit 'em with everything we've got!" They do, and the Centauri find themselves short one capital ship.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: One of the Nightwatch informs Welles that the station is sheltering a Narn warship. Shortly thereafter, the Centauri are also informed, sparking a confrontation. At the close of the episode, we see a shop owner being taken from his store, which is being closed pending allegations of sedition.
  • Call Back: Lt. Keffer finds out he's not the only one who's seen the Shadow ships. One of the other witnesses gives him a means to detect if one is nearby. Now he's able to track one and film it, at the cost of his life.
    • Sheridan refers to Kosh's claim that "everyone" would recognise him if he left his encounter suit - after he does and they do. Sort of.
  • The Empire: The Centauri are now definitely this; after conquering the Narn Regime, they've now expanded their reach further by invading the Drazi Freehold and pak'ma'ra space.
  • Foreshadowing: Keffer's film.
  • Head-in-The-Sand Management: Frederick Lantz (quite obviously so).
  • Incredibly Obvious Bomb: A very obvious example. A Centauri assassin plants one on the carriage that Sheridan is travelling in, hiding it behind his body until he gets off - and deliberately making eye contact with Sheridan to distract him until it's too late to escape. He doesn't reckon with Sheridan's split-second calculation that almost certain death trumps certain death... and no one expects Kosh to rescue the falling Captain.
  • Oh Crap: Londo suddenly appears on Sheridan's com screen demanding to know why a Narn heavy cruiser is in the local space. Sheridan immediately cuts him off and scrambles to get them out of there before the Centauri send their forces.
    • He gets another one when he sees the bomb on the center tram.
  • Ordered Apology: Sheridan is forced to apologize to the Centauri for destroying their ship. He comes up with a creative one:

"I apologize. I'm .. sorry. I'm sorry we had to defend ourselves against an unwarranted attack. I'm sorry that your crew was stupid enough to fire on a station filled with a quarter million civilians, including your own people. And I'm sorry I waited as long as I did before I blew them all straight to hell. .. As with everything else, it's the thought that counts."

  • Realpolitik: Though expressing reservations toward his government in private, Londo zealously defends the actions of the Centauri Republic when they begin to aggressively raid neighboring worlds, claiming they require a "buffer zone".
  • Smug Snake: Mr Welles, of Nightwatch.
  • Those Two Guys: Vir and Lennier have their moment in the conversation at the top of the page.
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