This was the episode that locked me in. This mix of epsiode plot plus backstory was nearly perfect.
I'm a huge fan of Michael Ansara, especially when a little over the top is what you need. He was great in DS9 and is still *the* voice of Mr. Freeze. Having him deliver that line to Londo was a perfect move. I waited nearly every episode for that payoff.
I agree about WIlliam Forward. His decision (assuming it was his) to take on that odd sort of eastern European accent that Jurasik used really sold him as another Centauri noble and even added a little menace. Stephen Furst would put it on every once in a while (notably when he answered Morden's question), but often slipped back to American English.
I took the Drazi storyline as an homage to "Let that Be Your Last Battlefield." I don't know if JMS ever confirmed that.
I had no idea that it a new director had joined, but in retrospect it makes sense.
This one convinced me that replacing the lead with a completely different character and *leaning* into the differences was the right move. I didn't know, of course, that it would require some serious hand waving when it came to a certain critical part of the arc (no spoilers) but to me, seeing how Sheridan deals with the Drazi and Garibaldi in very different ways than Sinclair would have, at least when it comes to his demeanor, told me that this was a new era, but still a good one.
For an "arc heavy" episode, not as much as you'd think.
But let's talk Technomages.
.
..
...
....
.....
....
...
..
.
It was hinted at in this episode when Elric says "we will not be used," and in Crusade which, if it hadn't been cancelled would have had the following revelation, but it took the Babylon 5 Technomage novels to make explicit.
Technomages are Shadow weapons. They are counters to telepaths. Thing is, if you hibernate for a millennium, your generations of short lived weapons might decide they don't wish to be harbingers of chaos anymore.
Which is, of course, why they won't tell anyone where they are going. Word might get back to Zha'ha'dum.
The Technomage trilogy recons B5's s3 finale. The novels state Galen is on Zha'ha'dum on an unrelated errand - trying to wipe data on Technomages from the Shadow's central systems. It is his interference which prevents a mass of Shadows from ripping Sheridan limb from limb, and allows a White Star to dive bomb directly into the Shadow capital. What, you don't think Zha'ha'dum has orbital defenses?
Total retcon, but it works.
SPOT THE RANGER:
Again, I can't be 100% certain, but, during the final Elric/Londo scene "...your victims..." There's an actor
behind Londo whose head is chopped off by Londo's hair, and I'm pretty sure it's a Ranger. Otherwise it's a bit of an awkward place to leave an extra standing in one place for the entire scene when the other background actors are moving... But the edge of Londo's hair framing the actor... Your eye subconsciously is drawn to him then slides away because he's blurred. But I'm 90% convinced it's a Ranger quietly eavesdropping the old fashioned way. Ears-only.
I wish Centauri did actually use their hair to chop people’s heads off, in a sort of formal jousting way of fighting.
Back to technomages (and I need to get hold of those books), I do wonder now whether they’ve been around for longer than I thought. Given the previous Shadow war was 1,000 years prior, is there a possibility that some myths of wizards and witches, and any kind of magic-wielding figures through history/legend (Merlin?) were in fact early/proto-technomages? Foundational developments for what would become technomages.
Well… Technomages visiting Earth long ago isn't out of the realm of possibility. In B5 s5, ep21 “Objects at Rest” Londo brings Sheridan and Delenn a “gift” (a Drakh Keeper, sealed in a jar of water), and Londo says the tradition is to pass on this water collected from “The First Palace” about “2000 years ago.”
Therefore the Technomages go back at least to our 3rd century.
Footnoted fan Wikis are wonderful things.
There were three novel trilogies released after the series went off the air: The Psi-Corp trilogy, the Technomage trilogy, and the Centauri trilogy.
I have listed the above in descending order of quality and collectability (of course, “IMHO”).
The Psi-Corp trilogy is excellent. Very well written, interesting, and covering multiple times periods from before the founding of the Psi-Corp (around 2115) to 2281. And Bester is protagonist in two of the novels. Being in his head is fascinating. A must have.
The Technomage trilogy runs from 2258-2261. Again, they are pretty well written, but do feel a little scatter-shot. Galen is the protagonist. A solid read.
The Centauri Prime trilogy… I know I've read it, and it does eventually cover the incident with David Sheridan alluded to in the series (“War Without End 2,” “In the Beginning”), yet of a trilogy about Centauri Prime from 2262-2282, all I remember is the two kids from “In the Beginning” are the grandchildren of Urza Jaddo (B5 “Knives”), and their nursemaid, Senna, is Vir's wife. Even the kids being related to Urza might be from the “In the Beginning” novelization. I suspect others were as underwhelmed as I was. On the fan wiki I just referenced the articles for the Psi-Corps and Techno-mage (I guess it's hyphenated) have detailed plot summaries and reference notes on world building, continuity, etc, while the Centauri Prime trilogy articles have the publisher's summary and lists of all Peter David's continuity errors. When the Wiki writers don't bother to summarize your plot, but take the time to note the author got the length of the Minbari year wrong, they can't be very good. For completeness sake only.
Points to William Forward. While the Centauri on the show rightly have different accents, Forward matching Londo really sells Refa as a contemporary of Londo - similar social level, from a similar part of the planet. It just makes them mesh. Forward and Jurasik have immediate chemistry together.
It's a good episode overall for Londo. We get to see him try to lie, cheat and manipulate (Boxlightner's change of expression at the end of the first Sheridan scene - moving from smiling "I love oranges" Sheridan to "I know more than you think" Sheridan is well done), before having to do something difficult. Apologize. Yet, the irrepresable Londo has to give it one more try - and gets a chilling prophecy.
Good episode for Vir, too. His clothes are... Well, better (I'm not doing a paragraph analyzing Vir's new costume - you're welcome). Makeup has reduced the size of his fangs, getting rid of the last traces of his lisp, and Stephen Furst is relishing the chance to expand Vir beyond comic relief. His subtle reactions during the Londo Refa scene at the top of the episode speak volumes. When Vir went to seek out the Technomages and dropped the line, "The people running that way told me you were here," I thought you myself, "Vir's first chance to be badass!" Then JMS gave him the payoff line, "Once you work for Londo Mollari long enough..."
Sheridan gets plenty of smilin' orange time in this episode - Orange Juice! With pulp! It's the best bit! I loved orange trees as a kid! Orange blossom! And he's still smilin' Sheridan when dealing with Ivanova. You're promoted! You've got this Drazi thing! Yet we get more hints of the steel underneath. His respectful attitude with Elric, while still pressuring for answers. And the first scene with Garibaldi...
As noted, it's nice that Garibaldi needed time to get back into things. Here, a production issue (discussed below) helps his arc. His moment of ultimate nadir is nicely underplayed by Doyle, and, of course, Boxlightner, who quietly holsters that PPG and turns smilin' Sheridan back on.
The Drazi... The day I type this is the day a small group of Democratic Party elites finally convinced Joe Biden to do the stupidest thing possible. Today, the Drazi method is superior. May as well just have everyone in the US grab a random hunk of fabric and beat the shit out of each other. It would be less destructive than the current system. Here we see a mix of season 1 and season 2 masks. The season 1 masks will slowly phase out. Jonathan Chapman gets a kudo for the episode for Green Leader. He really pushes his facial acting. I'd forgotten Drazi makeup could be so emotive. In this case it's absolutely due to the performer.
Chapman will remain in the "Alien Repertory Players" for the rest of the run, but we shan't be adding him to the drinking game. Only Mark Hendrickson gets that shout out. Again you're welcome, because there are about a dozen actors in the "ARP," and, not only does no one else care when Actor X plays their 10th role in the series, drinking for all of them will get you too drunk to blog.
Ivanova... Claudia Christian really had broken her foot and this script was rewritten to accommodate the injury. Originally she was to extricate herself from Drazi captivity unassisted. But, in this case, needing Garibaldi's help works better. It gives Garibaldi the boost he needed to return to his job, and it doesn't denigrate Ivanova in any way. She's injured and outnumbered, and there was no way she was leaving that room when the Drazi chose to detain her. Yet she's still snarky and sarcastic, and when she gets her chance she decks the Drazi holding the knife on her hard enough to get halfway across the room. Garibaldi may finish the Drazi off, but he wasn't exactly springing to his feet. He was still down and gasping. Ivanova knows how to make an elbow hurt, because Ivanova is badass.
Know who else is badass? Claudia Christian. We talked about foot really being broken... So, all the scenes at the top of the episode where Ivanova is walking around WITHOUT the crutches is Claudia sucking down the pain and getting the shot in the can. The only place in the episode where it becomes a bit obvious is in Medlab, when Franklin says he can cut her healing time down, but he'll have to put a cast on her - which she's already wearing.
Elric... I disagree that Michael Ansara is over the top. Technomages use technology to emulate magic. You don't need to have a Technomage drawing flaming symbols in the air - just give the password. You don't need to have a computer virus drawing flaming lines across the screen and eating the interface - just take all Londo's money and be done with it. No... Technomages are all big show-offs. It's part of their mystique. Michael Ansara is underplaying if anything. Imagine Brian Blessed in the role. Blessed would be a fantastic Technomage and could indulge his shoutiest shouty voice, and it would work. Ansara is quiet, restrained and using much subtlety (Wizards ARE subtle!). When scenes are with Elric and Sheridan (only) Elric is relaxed, casual, and emotive, while still holding his dignity. With Londo and Vir he is stiff, speaking through clenched teeth with quiet menace. Yet he rattles off the heightened language JMS wrote for him with quiet confidence.
The CG... Ok, the big scary monster is a lame design. Yet, in the days when the CG teams only had diffuse and specular maps, with a mighty 2MB of memory to hold the OS, Lightwave, the model, textures, and animation data, the OTS shot down at Vir with its arm filling frame is well detailed. There's an effective illusion of pebbled skin one smooth, low res geometry and well painted texture maps. It's not the best CG creature in Babylon 5 (that's probably the Na'ka'leen feeder), and it's far from the worst. IIn Babylon 5 proper it's Londo's digi-double back in Voice in the Wilderness part 2, where the tech wasn't up to hair and cloth sims, but the WORST is Galen's homonculus in Crusade's "Racing the Night." Technically that's a spoiler, but I don't think this newsletter is going to extend into Crusade, unless we get lucky and TNT agrees with WB to remaster. The imps on Londo in this episode - those are amazing. As Simon noted, and I can confirm from the having to do a corner pin back in 1999 before easy motion tracking was a thing, locking those creatures to Londo's back was insanely difficult.
Mike Vejar... Yay! Mike Vejar! Janet Greek, Jim Johnston, David Eagle - they're all good directors. But Vejar is something special. When I've seen his name come up on B5 or any other show (Jeremiah and Star Treks TNG, DS9, and Enterprise come to mind), I know I'm about to watch an episode which wrings every bit of style out of the sets and budget. His first go on the B5 stages and he's working with DP John Flynn to get some real style in his shots from Vir confronting Londo with Londo's portrait scowling away in the BG, to shooting Sheridan and Elric in the Zocalo through crowds and stalls, the use of fore, mid and background elements with the dead Drazi in the conference chamber, the tracking shot following Ivanova into the Drazi lair in Brown 2, and a whole bunch of ballsy, arcing tracking shots on moving characters already in extreme close-up, head filling frame. I worked as a broadcast, film, and event camera op for two decades, and trust me when I say Vejar really knows how to frame up a shot and move his camera with style. There's a reason Michael Vejar will be the most prolific director on B5. Only Goran Gajic comes close to beating Mike Vejar at his own game with his lone season 5 episode (I thought Gajic's episode was a Vejar one until Gajic's credit came up). Janet Greek, B5's 2nd most prolific director, pulled off a few excellent episodes in season 1 ("And the Sky Full of Stars" is an excellent example of a visually stylish episode), but even she can't match Vejar. And this is his first episode... Wait until you see what he can do once he's familiar with the sets!
Side note on Mike Vejar - he actually got blacklisted from the Trek universe for awhile. The Engineering Room set on Enterprise-D had an elevator/lift. Two characters needed to start their conversation on the top level, ride the lift down and walk out. Producers wanted him to have conversation stop on the lift, use a cut to speed things up, then have conversation continue as the characters exited... Because the lift made a lot of noise and the producers didn't want to pay for a dubbing session. Well, since I said "blacklisted," you can guess he did the shot in one take and had the actors speak on the lift. But his work was just so good they relented and brought him back for DS9, VOY, and, ENT.
Vejar probably isn't as noticeable on Trek as some other shows. He's noted in interviews the Trek franchise under Rick Berman was tightly run. Directors had to follow a style guide and deviation was frowned on. This is in contrast to Babylon 5 where, in s4 "The Face of the Enemy" Vejar spent 3/4 of a day shooting a half page of script - the bar fight where Sheridan is captured - and, when JMS went down to the set to see why a half-page of a 48 page script was taking up over 10% of the production schedule Vejar just told JMS "trust me," and JMS did.
And that fight scene is an absolute standout sequence for the entire run of the show. The fog, slow motion, the way it's edited with the music, and use of still photos make that sequence almost completely visually unique across all of Babylon 5. I can only say "almost" because Vejar directed the end sequence - cleaning up the bodies of Edgar and Wade - with similar techniques. It's Vejar's absolute crowning achievement (of anything I've seen him direct) for fusion of style and storytelling, and it all happened because, by then, his producers trusted him to get the job done, even if he'd fallen behind schedule on a day.
This was the episode that locked me in. This mix of epsiode plot plus backstory was nearly perfect.
I'm a huge fan of Michael Ansara, especially when a little over the top is what you need. He was great in DS9 and is still *the* voice of Mr. Freeze. Having him deliver that line to Londo was a perfect move. I waited nearly every episode for that payoff.
I agree about WIlliam Forward. His decision (assuming it was his) to take on that odd sort of eastern European accent that Jurasik used really sold him as another Centauri noble and even added a little menace. Stephen Furst would put it on every once in a while (notably when he answered Morden's question), but often slipped back to American English.
I took the Drazi storyline as an homage to "Let that Be Your Last Battlefield." I don't know if JMS ever confirmed that.
I had no idea that it a new director had joined, but in retrospect it makes sense.
This one convinced me that replacing the lead with a completely different character and *leaning* into the differences was the right move. I didn't know, of course, that it would require some serious hand waving when it came to a certain critical part of the arc (no spoilers) but to me, seeing how Sheridan deals with the Drazi and Garibaldi in very different ways than Sinclair would have, at least when it comes to his demeanor, told me that this was a new era, but still a good one.
I didn't know Ansara was in DS9! I gotta watch that again. I agree: he *IS* Mr. Freeze. Iconic performance there.
He reprised Kang, the Klingon he played in TOS.
SPOILERS
For an "arc heavy" episode, not as much as you'd think.
But let's talk Technomages.
.
..
...
....
.....
....
...
..
.
It was hinted at in this episode when Elric says "we will not be used," and in Crusade which, if it hadn't been cancelled would have had the following revelation, but it took the Babylon 5 Technomage novels to make explicit.
Technomages are Shadow weapons. They are counters to telepaths. Thing is, if you hibernate for a millennium, your generations of short lived weapons might decide they don't wish to be harbingers of chaos anymore.
Which is, of course, why they won't tell anyone where they are going. Word might get back to Zha'ha'dum.
The Technomage trilogy recons B5's s3 finale. The novels state Galen is on Zha'ha'dum on an unrelated errand - trying to wipe data on Technomages from the Shadow's central systems. It is his interference which prevents a mass of Shadows from ripping Sheridan limb from limb, and allows a White Star to dive bomb directly into the Shadow capital. What, you don't think Zha'ha'dum has orbital defenses?
Total retcon, but it works.
SPOT THE RANGER:
Again, I can't be 100% certain, but, during the final Elric/Londo scene "...your victims..." There's an actor
behind Londo whose head is chopped off by Londo's hair, and I'm pretty sure it's a Ranger. Otherwise it's a bit of an awkward place to leave an extra standing in one place for the entire scene when the other background actors are moving... But the edge of Londo's hair framing the actor... Your eye subconsciously is drawn to him then slides away because he's blurred. But I'm 90% convinced it's a Ranger quietly eavesdropping the old fashioned way. Ears-only.
I wish Centauri did actually use their hair to chop people’s heads off, in a sort of formal jousting way of fighting.
Back to technomages (and I need to get hold of those books), I do wonder now whether they’ve been around for longer than I thought. Given the previous Shadow war was 1,000 years prior, is there a possibility that some myths of wizards and witches, and any kind of magic-wielding figures through history/legend (Merlin?) were in fact early/proto-technomages? Foundational developments for what would become technomages.
Well… Technomages visiting Earth long ago isn't out of the realm of possibility. In B5 s5, ep21 “Objects at Rest” Londo brings Sheridan and Delenn a “gift” (a Drakh Keeper, sealed in a jar of water), and Londo says the tradition is to pass on this water collected from “The First Palace” about “2000 years ago.”
Therefore the Technomages go back at least to our 3rd century.
Footnoted fan Wikis are wonderful things.
There were three novel trilogies released after the series went off the air: The Psi-Corp trilogy, the Technomage trilogy, and the Centauri trilogy.
I have listed the above in descending order of quality and collectability (of course, “IMHO”).
The Psi-Corp trilogy is excellent. Very well written, interesting, and covering multiple times periods from before the founding of the Psi-Corp (around 2115) to 2281. And Bester is protagonist in two of the novels. Being in his head is fascinating. A must have.
The Technomage trilogy runs from 2258-2261. Again, they are pretty well written, but do feel a little scatter-shot. Galen is the protagonist. A solid read.
The Centauri Prime trilogy… I know I've read it, and it does eventually cover the incident with David Sheridan alluded to in the series (“War Without End 2,” “In the Beginning”), yet of a trilogy about Centauri Prime from 2262-2282, all I remember is the two kids from “In the Beginning” are the grandchildren of Urza Jaddo (B5 “Knives”), and their nursemaid, Senna, is Vir's wife. Even the kids being related to Urza might be from the “In the Beginning” novelization. I suspect others were as underwhelmed as I was. On the fan wiki I just referenced the articles for the Psi-Corps and Techno-mage (I guess it's hyphenated) have detailed plot summaries and reference notes on world building, continuity, etc, while the Centauri Prime trilogy articles have the publisher's summary and lists of all Peter David's continuity errors. When the Wiki writers don't bother to summarize your plot, but take the time to note the author got the length of the Minbari year wrong, they can't be very good. For completeness sake only.
Ok, catching up!
Non Spoiler:
Points to William Forward. While the Centauri on the show rightly have different accents, Forward matching Londo really sells Refa as a contemporary of Londo - similar social level, from a similar part of the planet. It just makes them mesh. Forward and Jurasik have immediate chemistry together.
It's a good episode overall for Londo. We get to see him try to lie, cheat and manipulate (Boxlightner's change of expression at the end of the first Sheridan scene - moving from smiling "I love oranges" Sheridan to "I know more than you think" Sheridan is well done), before having to do something difficult. Apologize. Yet, the irrepresable Londo has to give it one more try - and gets a chilling prophecy.
Good episode for Vir, too. His clothes are... Well, better (I'm not doing a paragraph analyzing Vir's new costume - you're welcome). Makeup has reduced the size of his fangs, getting rid of the last traces of his lisp, and Stephen Furst is relishing the chance to expand Vir beyond comic relief. His subtle reactions during the Londo Refa scene at the top of the episode speak volumes. When Vir went to seek out the Technomages and dropped the line, "The people running that way told me you were here," I thought you myself, "Vir's first chance to be badass!" Then JMS gave him the payoff line, "Once you work for Londo Mollari long enough..."
Sheridan gets plenty of smilin' orange time in this episode - Orange Juice! With pulp! It's the best bit! I loved orange trees as a kid! Orange blossom! And he's still smilin' Sheridan when dealing with Ivanova. You're promoted! You've got this Drazi thing! Yet we get more hints of the steel underneath. His respectful attitude with Elric, while still pressuring for answers. And the first scene with Garibaldi...
As noted, it's nice that Garibaldi needed time to get back into things. Here, a production issue (discussed below) helps his arc. His moment of ultimate nadir is nicely underplayed by Doyle, and, of course, Boxlightner, who quietly holsters that PPG and turns smilin' Sheridan back on.
The Drazi... The day I type this is the day a small group of Democratic Party elites finally convinced Joe Biden to do the stupidest thing possible. Today, the Drazi method is superior. May as well just have everyone in the US grab a random hunk of fabric and beat the shit out of each other. It would be less destructive than the current system. Here we see a mix of season 1 and season 2 masks. The season 1 masks will slowly phase out. Jonathan Chapman gets a kudo for the episode for Green Leader. He really pushes his facial acting. I'd forgotten Drazi makeup could be so emotive. In this case it's absolutely due to the performer.
Chapman will remain in the "Alien Repertory Players" for the rest of the run, but we shan't be adding him to the drinking game. Only Mark Hendrickson gets that shout out. Again you're welcome, because there are about a dozen actors in the "ARP," and, not only does no one else care when Actor X plays their 10th role in the series, drinking for all of them will get you too drunk to blog.
Ivanova... Claudia Christian really had broken her foot and this script was rewritten to accommodate the injury. Originally she was to extricate herself from Drazi captivity unassisted. But, in this case, needing Garibaldi's help works better. It gives Garibaldi the boost he needed to return to his job, and it doesn't denigrate Ivanova in any way. She's injured and outnumbered, and there was no way she was leaving that room when the Drazi chose to detain her. Yet she's still snarky and sarcastic, and when she gets her chance she decks the Drazi holding the knife on her hard enough to get halfway across the room. Garibaldi may finish the Drazi off, but he wasn't exactly springing to his feet. He was still down and gasping. Ivanova knows how to make an elbow hurt, because Ivanova is badass.
Know who else is badass? Claudia Christian. We talked about foot really being broken... So, all the scenes at the top of the episode where Ivanova is walking around WITHOUT the crutches is Claudia sucking down the pain and getting the shot in the can. The only place in the episode where it becomes a bit obvious is in Medlab, when Franklin says he can cut her healing time down, but he'll have to put a cast on her - which she's already wearing.
Elric... I disagree that Michael Ansara is over the top. Technomages use technology to emulate magic. You don't need to have a Technomage drawing flaming symbols in the air - just give the password. You don't need to have a computer virus drawing flaming lines across the screen and eating the interface - just take all Londo's money and be done with it. No... Technomages are all big show-offs. It's part of their mystique. Michael Ansara is underplaying if anything. Imagine Brian Blessed in the role. Blessed would be a fantastic Technomage and could indulge his shoutiest shouty voice, and it would work. Ansara is quiet, restrained and using much subtlety (Wizards ARE subtle!). When scenes are with Elric and Sheridan (only) Elric is relaxed, casual, and emotive, while still holding his dignity. With Londo and Vir he is stiff, speaking through clenched teeth with quiet menace. Yet he rattles off the heightened language JMS wrote for him with quiet confidence.
The CG... Ok, the big scary monster is a lame design. Yet, in the days when the CG teams only had diffuse and specular maps, with a mighty 2MB of memory to hold the OS, Lightwave, the model, textures, and animation data, the OTS shot down at Vir with its arm filling frame is well detailed. There's an effective illusion of pebbled skin one smooth, low res geometry and well painted texture maps. It's not the best CG creature in Babylon 5 (that's probably the Na'ka'leen feeder), and it's far from the worst. IIn Babylon 5 proper it's Londo's digi-double back in Voice in the Wilderness part 2, where the tech wasn't up to hair and cloth sims, but the WORST is Galen's homonculus in Crusade's "Racing the Night." Technically that's a spoiler, but I don't think this newsletter is going to extend into Crusade, unless we get lucky and TNT agrees with WB to remaster. The imps on Londo in this episode - those are amazing. As Simon noted, and I can confirm from the having to do a corner pin back in 1999 before easy motion tracking was a thing, locking those creatures to Londo's back was insanely difficult.
Mike Vejar... Yay! Mike Vejar! Janet Greek, Jim Johnston, David Eagle - they're all good directors. But Vejar is something special. When I've seen his name come up on B5 or any other show (Jeremiah and Star Treks TNG, DS9, and Enterprise come to mind), I know I'm about to watch an episode which wrings every bit of style out of the sets and budget. His first go on the B5 stages and he's working with DP John Flynn to get some real style in his shots from Vir confronting Londo with Londo's portrait scowling away in the BG, to shooting Sheridan and Elric in the Zocalo through crowds and stalls, the use of fore, mid and background elements with the dead Drazi in the conference chamber, the tracking shot following Ivanova into the Drazi lair in Brown 2, and a whole bunch of ballsy, arcing tracking shots on moving characters already in extreme close-up, head filling frame. I worked as a broadcast, film, and event camera op for two decades, and trust me when I say Vejar really knows how to frame up a shot and move his camera with style. There's a reason Michael Vejar will be the most prolific director on B5. Only Goran Gajic comes close to beating Mike Vejar at his own game with his lone season 5 episode (I thought Gajic's episode was a Vejar one until Gajic's credit came up). Janet Greek, B5's 2nd most prolific director, pulled off a few excellent episodes in season 1 ("And the Sky Full of Stars" is an excellent example of a visually stylish episode), but even she can't match Vejar. And this is his first episode... Wait until you see what he can do once he's familiar with the sets!
Side note on Mike Vejar - he actually got blacklisted from the Trek universe for awhile. The Engineering Room set on Enterprise-D had an elevator/lift. Two characters needed to start their conversation on the top level, ride the lift down and walk out. Producers wanted him to have conversation stop on the lift, use a cut to speed things up, then have conversation continue as the characters exited... Because the lift made a lot of noise and the producers didn't want to pay for a dubbing session. Well, since I said "blacklisted," you can guess he did the shot in one take and had the actors speak on the lift. But his work was just so good they relented and brought him back for DS9, VOY, and, ENT.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed directors on Trek, the way I did in B5. I should dig out some Vejar DS9.
The exception to that is in modern Trek, when Jonathan Frakes shows up to direct - that usually means you’re in for a good time.
Vejar probably isn't as noticeable on Trek as some other shows. He's noted in interviews the Trek franchise under Rick Berman was tightly run. Directors had to follow a style guide and deviation was frowned on. This is in contrast to Babylon 5 where, in s4 "The Face of the Enemy" Vejar spent 3/4 of a day shooting a half page of script - the bar fight where Sheridan is captured - and, when JMS went down to the set to see why a half-page of a 48 page script was taking up over 10% of the production schedule Vejar just told JMS "trust me," and JMS did.
And that fight scene is an absolute standout sequence for the entire run of the show. The fog, slow motion, the way it's edited with the music, and use of still photos make that sequence almost completely visually unique across all of Babylon 5. I can only say "almost" because Vejar directed the end sequence - cleaning up the bodies of Edgar and Wade - with similar techniques. It's Vejar's absolute crowning achievement (of anything I've seen him direct) for fusion of style and storytelling, and it all happened because, by then, his producers trusted him to get the job done, even if he'd fallen behind schedule on a day.