The Rules of the Game

General Information

Episode Number: 107
Written By: J. MIchael Straczynski
Directed By: Jesus Trevino

Starring:
Gary Cole as Captain Matthew Gideon
Daniel Dae Kim as Lieutenant John Matheson (not seen in this episode)
Carrie Dobro as Dureena Nafeel 
Peter Woodward as Galen (not seen in this episode)
David Allen Brooks  as  Maximilian Eilerson 
Marjean Holden as Dr Sarah Chambers 
Tracy Scoggins as Captain Elizabeth Lochley

Guest Starring:
Tim Choate as Polix
Timothy Landfield as Lorkan #3
Sal Landi as Rolf Mueller
Jamie Rose as Cynthia Allen
Joel Swetow as Rys


Also Starring:
Jonathan Chapman as Brakiri Ambassador
Carl Peggiardo as Drazi Vendor
Kathe Weeks as Diane

Plot

Summary: The Excaliber arrives at Babylon 5 to negotiate rights to land on the Brakiri controlled Lorkan homeworld, Lorka 7, but are refused by the zealous Lorkans while Eilerson helps his former wife.

Detailed Summary: Coming soon.

Observations

Facts

• The Brakiri have several defense arrangements in which they take ten percent of a world's income in exchange for defence.
• The Drakh plague has seriously hurt the Earth Alliance economy and financial institutions.
• Lorka 7 was recolonized 500 years ago by the Lorkans.
• The Lorkans believe themselves morally superior to all other species, which is why they refuse to allow impure races to land on Lorka 7. Their deity is called The Most Holy.
• Rangers are passing on leads to the Excaliber
• Some alien weapons, such as the Lorkan, build up ozone before they discharge, making them detectable.
• Drazi have no equivalent word for discretion
• The Lorkan representatives tried to kill Gideon and Lochley to cover up their smuggling on Lorkan technology to aliens for personal profit..

Characters

Captain Gideon

• Prefers to deal with people in everyday situations

Captain Lochley

• Likes to head to an abandon area to be alone for an hour.

Max Eilerson

• Max's ex-wife: Cynthia Allan
• A child prodigy
• Loves three things: his work, his cat (Mr. Kitty), and his ex-wife.
• Has an extensive collection of alien artifacts that he has kept for himself, among them the 1,000 years old alien prisoners control device he uses on Mueller.

Sarah Chambers

• Trained in martial arts skill

Quotables

• "Then your people will just have to die, wont they?."--Brakiri Ambassador
• "Somewhere in the universe there exists and absolute and complete idiot. And he left here an hour ago."-- Cpt. Gideon
• "How's the cat?"--Eilerson
• "Somedays it's like nailing smoke to the wall.""--Cpt. Gideon
• "The bigger the job the more of a target you become."--Cpt Lochley
• "It's always bad to make assumptions about people you just met."--Cpt. Lochley
• "What they lack in accuracy they are making up for in enthusiasm.""--Cpt Lochley
• "Manners maketh a man after all."--Eilerson
• "Can I smack him? Just once?"--Cpt Gideon

Questions

• Why did Gideon have to check his gun at customs if he's on Babylon 5 on Earth Force and Interstellar Alliance business?
• If the Brakiri made a treaty with Earth over the Drakh plague then why wasn't Gideon initially informed of the provisions by the Lorkans by Earth Force and Earth Alliance? Why didn't Earth Ambassadors handle the situation before hand?

Ratings

Story: 7.00
Acting: 7.40
Special F/X: 7.60

Notes: A light, seemingly non-arc epsiode I did enjoy discovering more about what was going on after the Drakh attack regarding Earth and the other races. As expected the Earth Alliance economy is shaky and it appears many former League of Non Aligned Worlds (such as the Brakiri) could care less what happens to humanity so long as it benefits them in some fashion. It was also good to get a little more back story on Lochley and Eilerson.
    It was also good to see Tim Choate (previously seen on Babylon 5 as Zathras) again.

Best Actor/Actress: David Allen Brooks.