The Acheron arrives at Babylon Five to transport Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) to take over command of the station. She is met by only one person, David Corwin (Joshua Cox) as everyone else is dealing with one crisis or another. She’s not impressed with Babylon Five. Elsewhere, a Ranger is being killed. We live for the One, we die for the One. New ISA President Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) is making breakfast as Delenn (Mira Furlan) rises. She is dressed to meet the Gaim Ambassador. The repair drones have found the dead Ranger, drifting outside.
Lochley meets Sheridan in her office. She wonders why he asked her to take this job. His answer: she has diplomatic experience but knows how to fight. Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) accompanies Zack Allan (Jeff Conaway) through the station. Lochley learns that the Ranger did not die in space. Sheridan gets a threatening message. Lochley is eating in a restaurant and notices a strange man. Suddenly, she can’t hear. The man sits down, introducing himself as Byron (Robin Atkin Downes) and wants to meet her in Brown 3. He says his people are coming, and suddenly he’s not there anymore. Sheridan enters G’Kar’s (Andreas Katsulas) quarters as he is writing. He asks G’Kar to write an oath and a set of parameters for his new job. Lochley meets Doctor Franklin (Richard Biggs). The Ranger was clearly killed elsewhere and dumped outside. Lochley goes to a corridor to meet Byron, and other strangers enter. They are rogue telepaths, pro-Resistance and anti-Psi Corps. They want to stay on Babylon Five.
The killer of the Ranger follows the Gaim Ambassador after he leaves Delenn. Sheridan gets another threatening message. Byron escorts Simon (Timothy Eyster) to Medlab to be examined. Simon never speaks, but Franklin receives mental images. Sheridan is with the ambassadors, who don’t want the inauguration ceremony postponed. Garibaldi tries to convince Lochley to save Sheridan from himself. Simon comes across the killer in the air-ducts and foresees Sheridan’s death. The killer shoots and injures Simon.
G’Kar reads the speech. Sheridan notices that there are more people present than there are supposed to be. Garibaldi figures out the killer’s name and informs Allan. The killer comes to the ceremony dressed as a Gaim. Simon enters, wounded, and broadcasts the killer’s identity to all. He is seized by Security but escapes to a Starfury and shows up outside the window. Garibaldi appears behind him in another Starfury, and the killer is destroyed by the station guns. G’Kar quickly completes the ceremony. Byron meets Sheridan, who allows the telepaths to stay, over Lochley’s objections. Garibaldi meets Lochley in her office and mentions he is head of the ISA’s Covert Intelligence Division. When asked what side she was on in the war, she says, “On Earth’s side. Weren’t we all?”
This was the first episode produced by the TNT Network, with a reduced budget and a shorter work week. It begins the Fifth Season—The Wheel of Fire. Byron seems a bit untrustworthy, but most people don’t trust telepaths anyway. Lochley seems a bit uptight, but competent and tough. Her freakishly large eyes are both unsettling and attractive. It’s too soon to see if she’s a poor man’s Ivanova. I don’t see how Ivanova can be replaced in my heart, frankly, and certainly don’t expect her to be as funny. We notice that she has just started, and President Sheridan has already overruled her.