Ahead of his visit, the station is set to receive a new wing of fighters to be permanently based there, which will be used for escort upon the President's arrival.
In Medlab, Dr. Franklin tends an injured man, Nolan, telling Sinclair and Garibaldi that any attempt to rouse the patient would kill him.
In response to being asked who caused the bombing, Nolan wakes up just long enough to mutter Garibaldi's name before he dies.
Sinclair and Ivanova remain convinced that Garibaldi has been set up, and do their best to slow down Kemmer's investigation, such as blocking all communications to Earth under the guise of maintenance.
Garibaldi discretely speaks with Ambassadors Mollari and G'Kar to try to track the source of the ducats, learning they were likely purchased on the station with standard credits.
[2] The title "Survivors" comes from a dialogue at the end of the episode between Garibaldi and Major Lianna Kemmer as she leaves Babylon 5.
Garibaldi refers to the death of Lianna's father Frank, saying, "Seventeen years ago we both died inside.
[1] The Babylon 5 makeup department involved in this episode – consisting of Everett Burrell, Greg Funk, Mary Kay Morse, Ron Pipes and John Vulich – won the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series for episode 5 of the season, "The Parliament of Dreams".
Earthforce One was also inspired by a ship with a saucer-shaped section, travelling flat end first, in a comic series called The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, which Thornton had admired when he was young.
The positioning of the four engine pods at the extremities of the craft was inspired by Ron Cobb’s design for the Gunstar fighter from The Last Starfighter.
[17] The episode was written by science fiction novelist and screenwriter Marc Scott Zicree, who has written for many science fiction series, including the Star Trek franchise, Space Command (2020) and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Garibaldi's troubled past, first hinted at in "Infection", where he refuses to answer a news reporter's questions, comes back to haunt him.
Being the only honest cop amidst widespread corruption on Europa led to the death of his only friend there, Frank Kemmer, as Garibaldi became blacklisted and fell into alcoholism.
[19] The Earth anti-alien group, the Home Guard, first appearing in "The War Prayer", returns, where Malcolm's promise – that they have friends everywhere – is outworked here.
This seeds another plot thread: the antagonism between Home Guard and not just the Babylon 5 officers, but also President Santiago.
"[20] Elias Rosner, writing in the entertainment magazine website Multiversity Comics, notes that this episode begins to bring together small elements from earlier in the season to make them important for the larger storylines and character arcs.
[21] In addition to providing insight into Garibaldi's character and his past, and the looming situation with the Home Guard, Rosner appreciates seeing the interactions of the ambassadors, Londo and G'Kar, with a fleeing Garibaldi – who no longer has his usual position and power – providing insight into the way their minds work.