GUEST STARS
Gerrit Graham - Lord Kiro
Fredi Olster - Lady Ladira
Ed Wasser - Morden
The title of this episode also serves as the overall title of the show's first season.
WATCH OUT FOR
* Repetition. The word "Shadows" appears six times in this episode. With some minor variations, the Big Question appears fifteen times.
* Re-use of stock footage as audacious as anything seen on Battlestar Galactica. After Sinclair tells Garibaldi, "We can take care of ourselves. Now go," there are two sequences showing the station firing at Raiders. The second shows a gun turret firing three shots as the Raider moves upward and to the left, finally hit on the last shot. Countless Cylons died this way.
ANALYSIS
What most of us remember from "Signs and Portents" is the Question. You know, "
" But more went on in the episode than just Mr. Morden lurking around dispensing foreshadowing. We also get some good old-fashioned space combat, dashes of humor and signs of the Centauri's growing pride.
Lord Kiro represents the reactionary Old Guard of the Centauri. Longing for the days when his people were in power, he hopes to use the Eye to make himself emperor.
In this, we see the future role that Lord Refa, the oh-so-smarmy government minister who becomes Londo's co-conspirator, will play to perfection. Like Refa, Kiro is an opportunist, taking advantage of whatever openings he sees, accept assistance without hesitation, and without asking what the cost may be.
Both men will pay with their lives. In fact, over the next few years of Babylon 5, more Centauri characters die this way than any other.
No love by an elevator
Despite the dark overtones of the episode, "Signs and Portents" also contains plenty of humor. Ivanova begins the episode showing how little she likes waking up in the morning. At C & C, she comments to Sinclair about how difficult it is to wake up in the darkness of space.
Also of note is the scene between Londo, G'Kar and a random human (played by Garry Kluger). Londo and the human are waiting for a transport tube. G'Kar sees Londo and almost thinks better of waiting alongside his rival, but instead walks over and pushes the button again.
As the hapless human stands between them, Londo and G'Kar move from edgy banter into sharp accusations. When the tube arrives, the man dashes into it, allowing the two ambassadors to continue their argument as he quietly goes about his way in the lift. The two curse each other when they see that their tube has come and gone without them.
On the surface, this scene is comic, but it echoes the bitter blood between their two races -- and the fact that their fixation on past grievances will keep them from moving into the future. If the Narns and Centauri can't tear themselves away from bickering long enough to catch a lift, how can they survive as leaders in the galaxy?
Season three episode "Convictions" will later echo this sequence, trapping Londo and G'kar in a transport tube together while their peoples are at war.
COMING UP NEXT
"TKO"
Lowly human wants
to kick some alien butt.
Can he be a champ?
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