GUEST STARS
Gregory Martin – Col. Ari Ben Zayn
Jeffrey Combs – Harriman Gray
Jeffrey Combs would go on to a much higher-profile SF role: five incarnations of the Vorta ambassador Weyoun in the later seasons of Deep Space Nine. He would also play the Ferengi enforcer Brunt and two other guest characters on that show.
WATCH OUT FOR
* Lennier’s chant. Actor Billy Mumy sneaks in an album title from his rock band Barnes & Barnes.
* How often Mr. Gray stands or sits between Ben Zayn and our heroes. He’s not the only "gray" character to stand between things on Babylon 5.
ANALYSIS
"Eyes" is a nice idea that never takes flight. Maybe that’s because it has less potential than its premise suggests.
On the surface, an episode in which the consequences of Sinclair’s actions catch up with him sounds like a long-overdue counterpoint to traditional space opera heroics. Starship captains and station commanders love to break the rules, and it’s high time one of them paid for it.
Unfortunately, Sinclair is right when he says that all his previous decisions have been justified and vindicated. He has made enemies, but there’s no legitimate way for them to harm him with this investigation.
That leaves the plot short on tension, so the episode falls back on an old space opera stand-by: the crazy superior officer. It’s not a big improvement.
Continuity mania!
The plot may creak, but at least there’s plenty of exposition. The
gets some foreshadowing, and the changes in military regulations are an early hint of the conspiracy developing within the government.
There are also some interesting scenes scattered through the talk. Susan’s dream is compelling, and Harriman Gray proves that the Psi Corps isn’t just jackboots and black leather sneers. And while Garibaldi lays the flattery on a little thick extolling the virtues of the Ninja ZX-9000, the once-childlike Lennier’s enthusiasm for this symbol of sexuality and masculine power is both charming and – considering later seasons – a little disturbing.
All this talk of past and future events makes "Eyes" a good review of "what’s been happening in the Earth Alliance" – but television is supposed to be entertainment, not test preparation. The premise may be a welcome change from ignoring the consequences of what the wacky commanding officer did last week, but Garibaldi’s short scene with Sinclair at the end of "
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