This episode was written by JMS, but the story itself was conceived by both JMS and the legendary Harlan Ellison (who is credited throughout the series as the conceptual consultant), which enticed me when I sat down to watch this. It was a very simple premise: an episode in which a wing of alien invader ships attacks and boards B5, but through the slice of life perspective of 2 maintenance workers. However, the writing in this episode delivers, making it a thoroughly entertaining bit of TV to watch.
This general premise reminds me very much of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Lower Decks," which is, as this episode is, the show but viewed by lower personnel as opposed to the senior staff. However, this episode for me works better than "Lower Decks" did, as the two maintenance workers, Mack and Bo, are pretty interesting to watch, and have a strong dynamic. There is definitely plenty of humor in this episode, but also some very good space battles. The aliens in this episode were also interesting, wearing crimson helmets and firing laser weapons. They felt like a classic science fiction alien, such as would be found in pulp fiction of the 30s and 40s. They also kind of reminded me of the Sontarans from Dr. Who.
Overall, this was an interesting episode, one which could have failed but, due to the collaborative genius of JMS and Ellison, pulled off a genuinely captivating episode.
This general premise reminds me very much of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Lower Decks," which is, as this episode is, the show but viewed by lower personnel as opposed to the senior staff. However, this episode for me works better than "Lower Decks" did, as the two maintenance workers, Mack and Bo, are pretty interesting to watch, and have a strong dynamic. There is definitely plenty of humor in this episode, but also some very good space battles. The aliens in this episode were also interesting, wearing crimson helmets and firing laser weapons. They felt like a classic science fiction alien, such as would be found in pulp fiction of the 30s and 40s. They also kind of reminded me of the Sontarans from Dr. Who.
Overall, this was an interesting episode, one which could have failed but, due to the collaborative genius of JMS and Ellison, pulled off a genuinely captivating episode.