A computer glitch results in a Narn vessel, docking to deliver cargo, crashing into another ship mistakenly cleared to leave Babylon 5.
In response, the dock workers engage in a version of the "blue flu" (a reference by Garibaldi to police union members pretending to be sick to get around anti-strike regulations).
The accident also results in the destruction of cargo that included a G'Quan Eth, a hard-to-obtain flower which the Narn ambassador G'Kar needs for a religious ritual in a few days.
When G'Kar later offers the funds, Mollari reneges, saying he will never provide the plant, in retribution for the Narn attack on Ragesh III, during which his nephew was abused.
Instead of using security personnel to end the strike as the Senate intended, Sinclair finds a loophole in the orders that allows him to divert excess funding from the military budget to hire additional workers and upgrade the dock equipment, as well as to grant amnesty to the strikers.
When the stunned Zento protests that this move is not in the spirit of the Rush Act, Sinclair dismisses it by noting that the phrase "any means necessary" in the law clearly allows him to fully acquiesce to the strikers' demands to resolve the situation.
Sinclair changes the subject and informs Mollari that the G'Quan Eth is a controlled substance only allowed for medical or religious purposes, and must be impounded.
[1] This episode was written by Kathryn M. Drennan, wife at the time of Babylon 5 creator and executive producer J. Michael Straczynski.
In order to avoid the appearance of favoritism, Straczynski had her submit (rather than be assigned) a full script, and required it to be approved by others in the production crew other than him.
"[5] Drennan later wrote the Babylon 5 novel, To Dream in the City of Sorrows, which follows Jeffery Sinclair's story after he leaves the station after season 1.
[7] According to Straczynski, a number of people involved in the production, including lead actor Michael O'Hare, regard the episode as their favorite so far.
[10]: 109–110 [11] Commander Sinclair's unshaven, run-down appearance in this episode actually began because actor Michael O'Hare had only just arrived in California from New York where he'd had to be for the weekend.
[10]: 109 Babylon 5 pioneered the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) scenes in a television series, with the visual effects for season 1 were created by Foundation Imaging using Commodore Amiga computers with LightWave 3D software.
[16] Reviewer Elias Rosner notes that In this episode, elements introduced in the first half of the season begin to become relevant to the unfolding of the characters, and to coming plot lines.
She writes that the episode underscores that the conflicts are "...not only life-or-death encounters with ancient forces, but also familiar struggles with Senate subcommittees and resource allocation.
He notes that it brought out the best in both Michael O'Hare and Jerry Doyle's characters, Commander Sinclair and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi, respectively, and highlighting a moment where, upon hearing Senator Hidoshi's report during a communication with Earth, Sinclair and Garibaldi share a small knowing glance at each other, knowing full well the ramifications they will have to suffer.
"[18] Kaiser highlights the tension between Sinclair and Garibaldi's sympathy for the dock workers' cause, with their role as representatives of EarthGov, where they will be forced against their will to be good soldiers.
"[18] Elias Rosner, writing in the entertainment magazine website Multiversity Comics in 2018, comments on the contemporary nature of the issues in the episode, observing that it "could have been written yesterday."
Whereas the Senate, with a primary concern for Babylon 5's military purposes, doesn't care about the welfare of the workers, sending Zento, who has no interest in negotiating in good faith.
[17] Rosner found the secondary plot line – concerning G'Kar's efforts to obtain the G'Quan Eth plant for his religious ceremony – compelling.
"[17] Rosner sums up by saying that both sub-plots are about finding peace in conflict, and both resolutions are achieved by exploiting loopholes: the first being against a harsh law, but the second being in a spirit of celebration.