Colin Glassey <104224.2227@compuserve.com> asks:
> 1) Why did "The White Star" have to hang around in normal space?
> I realize there are good dramatic reasons for putting Ivanova and
> Marcus in harm's way, but are there good logical reasons? Couldn't
> this have been pushed into a different episode? And what do we
> see? I know you are pressed for time in this epsidoe, but really,
> relationship building? romance?

Okay, a couple of responses....

"Seems to me the strategy is: wait in hyperspace "near" the
flock of refugee ships, and when they signal for help (as they will
when the Shadow fleet appears), pop out of hyperspace and engage the
Shadow fleet. The point is, the Shadow fleet is going after a known
target (or so Sheridan guesses), if you hang around near the target,
they will tell you when the attackers appear. No need to for your
ships, even a scout, to sit in normal space, the refugee ships are all
"scout ships" in a sense."

Massive logic problem. If you wait until they're right on top
of the refugee ships, or very near, they'll just dive into the midst of
the refugee ships and there's no way you can have a clean battle
without resulting in *MASSIVE* amounts of civilian casualties. What
you suggest would all but insure that the refugee ships would be
destroyed (defeating the purpose of the mission) and the piles of
civilian ships running for cover in every direction would hinder our
side, but not the other side, and we'd lose even MORE of our own ships.

"2) Delenn and Sheridan spend the night together and we get to
watch... comercials. Talk about giving "short shrift" to a rather
interesting event. Couldn't this have been pushed into a different
episode? I mean, here they are, alone together, in a "ostensibly"
romantic situation, lots for them to talk about I should think. Well,
I'd like to know what was said... And what do we see? Sheridan is
already asleep!"

It's not a matter of being pressed for time. The whole point of
the ritual was to watch him sleeping. We had that nice moment right
before they took off with the fleet, and bunches of others, including
the big kiss, right in the previous episode and throughout the whole
thing.

"3) I think the battle could have been done with a bit more of
an "umph" to it. Perhaps the use of intercutting between the two plots
was distracting in this case. It was a good battle, just not quite as
effective as "Severed Dreams" or "Long Twilight Struggle" (which did
have effective intercutting)."

That's because there was more emotional content to the other two
battles you mention; the bombing of the Narn homeworld, and EA fighting
EA in SD. Not all battles are created equal, it's a matter of context.
You can't expect to get exactly the same reaction to all of them.

jms