Babylon 5/Recap/S05/E05 Learning Curve

Being Anla-shok does not mean worrying about what others will think about us. It does not mean deciding what to do based upon whether or not it serves our sense of ego or destiny. It means living each moment as if it were your last one. It means doing each right thing because it is the right thing.

—Sech Turval

This episode contains examples of:

• The Bully: Trace.
• Cool Old Guy: Sech Turval and Sech Durhan.
• The Determinator: Garibaldi is hell bent on getting Lochley's files one way or the other. Zack calls him on it.
• Foreshadowing: A few about Lochley:
  • "I just never thought I'd meet a second man as strong-willed, stubborn, and annoying as I am."
  • Again when she expresses more familiarity with Sheridan's behavior than ought to be expected.
• Gilligan Cut: in the teaser -

Ranger Tannier: Babylon 5! The home of peace!
<cut to>
a man being savagely beaten by criminals on Babylon 5.

• Good Old Fisticuffs: Trace eventually resorts to this rather than the pike. It doesn't do him any good.
• Heroic Wannabe: Tannier and Rastenn. Both learn lessons about being a hero and being a Ranger from this experience.
• Hufflepuff House: After having been reduced to background characters after the first season, the Abbai and the Yolu are referenced here as having sent recruits to the rangers (along with the Drazi and the pak'ma'ra). Abbai and Yolu representatives can sometimes be seen in the Alliance council chamber from here on. They'll never get any lines though.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Trace's thugs put Tannier in Medlab when he interferes with their operation.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Sech Turval and Sech Durhan.
• What You Are in the Dark: The message of Sech Turval's words to Rastenn quoted above.
• You Shall Not Pass: The Rangers will allow Trace to leave only if he can get past Tannier.