Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an operation in West Virginia that led to the arrest of 650 illegal aliens. “From Jan. 5 to Jan. 19, ICE Philadelphia conducted a statewide surge with 14 of its 287(g) partners in West Virginia, arresting over 650 illegal aliens, including several with serious criminal histories and prior removals,” ICE announced. ICE arrests over 650 illegal aliens across West Virginia with state, local police backing https://t.co/rLA9hPRwen pic.twitter.com/aJ4CRjnR0j — New York Post (@nypost) February 2, 2026 “This operation demonstrates how strong partnerships between ICE and West Virginia law enforcement agencies enhance public safety and the integrity of our immigration system,” said ERO Philadelphia acting Field Office Director Michael Rose. “By training and supporting our 287(g) partners across the state, we’ve expanded local capacity to identify, arrest, and process illegal aliens while ensuring these authorities are exercised professionally and consistent with the law,” Rose added. ICE shared further: ICE also arrested a convicted child sex abuser, a criminal convicted of drug possession charges, and many others during the operation. These arrests highlight how 287(g) partnerships serve as a force multiplier for federal resources, enabling local officers — under ICE training and supervision — to identify and help remove individuals who may pose threats to public safety or have violated U.S. immigration laws. “The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has just completed a two-week operation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Tom Hansen. “The Sheriff’s Office was impressed with the professionalism and work ethic of the agents and how well they interacted with the citizens and local law enforcement officers. Working with such a high caliber group of agents who were assigned to Jefferson County made the decision to support the initiative worthwhile. We are also gratified that through this program, we have had the opportunity to remove numerous dangerous criminals from our community.” ICE Philadelphia and its West Virginia partners will continue working together to sustain and build on the gains made during this operation. “I want to thank the men and women of ICE for their outstanding partnership with various state entities, including the State Police, and their tireless work here in West Virginia,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said. “Through our collaboration under the 287(g) program, they have removed dangerous illegal immigrants from our communities and made our state safer for families and law-abiding citizens. After years of Biden’s reckless border policies putting the public at risk, it is encouraging to work with President Trump and ICE to secure our homeland and deliver real results for West Virginians,” he continued. BREAKING: ICE just confirmed the ARREST of 650 illegals in West Virginia as part of an operation with local law enforcement — NO RIOTS, NO VIOLENCE Imagine that. Red states do it right! pic.twitter.com/Iv55pjmk7i — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 1, 2026 Fox News noted: One individual arrested as part of Operation ICE Wall on Jan. 8 was Sagar Singh, a citizen of India. The operation targeted illegal aliens operating commercial vehicles, and Singh was pulled over for failing to stop at a mandatory brake check station. During the stop, Singh was cited for multiple vehicle infractions, including operating an unsafe commercial vehicle. According to ICE, Singh had previously been ordered removed from the U.S. Singh was one of more than 25 aliens arrested under Operation ICE Wall during the two-week enforcement surge. Another illegal alien arrested during the operation was Ling Yan, a citizen of China also known as Yang Ning, who was previously convicted of two counts of endangering the welfare of children in Ravenna, Ohio.

The World Health Organization conducted a simulation exercise to “test their readiness for the next pandemic.” 31 countries and areas from across the Western Pacific participated in Exercise Crystal. “Simulations offer a much-needed opportunity to evaluate, refine and iron out coordination challenges and practise teamwork before a real crisis hits,” the WHO stated. Getting ready for the next pandemic! 31 countries and areas from across the Western Pacific participated in Crystal, an annual simulation exercise to test their readiness for future #HealthEmergencies. Simulations offer a much-needed opportunity to evaluate, refine and… pic.twitter.com/kbU5uGOyDr — World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific (@WHOWPRO) December 4, 2025 More from the WHO: The latest iteration of IHR Exercise Crystal enabled them to assess their preparedness and practise procedures for cross-border and inter-agency responses to emerging health threats. Representatives from the participating countries and areas tested their communication capacities − as outlined in the International Health Regulations (IHR) − by responding in real time to incoming information about a fictitious novel respiratory illness. The simulation exercise offered an opportunity for focal points to practise verifying and sharing information with WHO, as well as assessing public health risks and coordinating with a range of sectors. “The Western Pacific is demonstrating, through actions, what regional solidarity looks like,” said Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. He commended Member States for their commitment to strengthening national IHR capacities, which will in turn enhance regional preparedness. “IHR Exercise Crystal, along with other efforts to enhance national IHR capacities, is reflective of the investment our countries and areas are making to ensure that our Region is prepared, better connected and better coordinated for health emergencies,” he said. Simulation exercises like IHR Exercise Crystal are a critical tool for building a culture of preparedness and reducing risk. They allow emergency responders to stress-test contingency plans, procedures and systems in a safe environment. This offers a much-needed opportunity to evaluate, refine and iron out coordination challenges and practise teamwork before a real crisis hits. “In late December, the WHO quietly ran a pandemic simulation with 31 governments. Now real lockdowns are happening, triggered by a strikingly similar virus in the same region,” Bannon’s War Room co-host Natalie Winters said. In late December, the WHO quietly ran a pandemic simulation with 31 governments. Now real lockdowns are happening, triggered by a strikingly similar virus in the same region. Full story below pic.twitter.com/LwAhP9FamI — Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) February 2, 2026 Winters wrote on Substack: CRYSTAL is not the first time global institutions have run pandemic simulations using realistic respiratory virus scenarios. In October 2019, just weeks before COVID-19 was publicly identified, Event 201 was held in New York. That exercise was organized by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Event 201 simulated a novel coronavirus pandemic, focusing on government coordination, public messaging, economic disruption, and supply-chain breakdowns. Like CRYSTAL, it was presented as fictional. Like CRYSTAL, it treated a global respiratory pandemic as an expected future event. The difference is scale and authority. Event 201 was a one-time tabletop exercise involving experts and institutions. CRYSTAL was run directly through WHO, involved dozens of governments, and was conducted as part of a recurring regional simulation program tied to international legal obligations under the IHR.

WASHINGTON—The partial government shutdown is in full swing after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House agreed to pass five funding bills separate from contentious Department of Homeland Security funding. The majority of the federal government shut down at midnight on February 1, after the Senate voted to carve Homeland Security funding out of its spending bill, which has yet to pass the House of Representatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on “Meet the Press” Sunday that he’s confident the shutdown will be brief, and he’s hoping to see it end by Tuesday. “Our intention is by Tuesday, all agencies of the federal government, except for that one, and then we’ll have two weeks of good faith negotiations, to figure it out,” Johnson said. “Republicans are going do the responsible thing and fund the government.” But it is unclear how many House Democrats will back the spending package, given that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was not part of the deal between the White House and Schumer, saying in a statement on Friday that the caucus “will evaluate the spending legislation passed by the Senate on its merits and then decide how to proceed legislatively.” The House Rules Committee is set to meet Monday afternoon in hopes to move the package forward. The new deal swaps DHS funding for a continuing resolution that covers money for the agency through Feb. 13, whereas the other bills covered funds through the end of the fiscal year in September. Homeland Security funding became a flashpoint for Democrats after the killing of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Democrats are calling for sweeping changes to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, with some going so far as to call for the total defunding of Homeland Security. Their defunding efforts may be fruitless, as the immigration agencies were largely funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Still, Democrats seem hopeful that they can leverage the entire department’s funding, which includes the budgets of FEMA and TSA, to push for reform. Schumer and other Democrats are asking for sweeping changes to ICE and Border Patrol, including the ending of masking for agents and the use of judicial warrants as opposed to administrative ones, which could make some arrests much more difficult, The Daily Wire reported. “There is currently not a structure in the federal government to add millions of judicial immigration warrants,” a federal official told The Daily Wire. “This effort is being pushed to roadblock the deportation agenda of the president.” Prior to Pretti’s death, the House had approved all of the government spending bills and sent them to the Senate. There are 12 appropriations bills in total, six of which President Donald Trump has already signed.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi on Monday announced the arrests of two additional individuals and issued a stern warning to activists following the expansion of a federal investigation into a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bondi named Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson and described the disruption as a “coordinated attack.” Her message was unequivocal: “If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you.” If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you. We have made two more arrests in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota: Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson. — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) February 2, 2026 The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the group conspired to “injure, intimidate, and interfere” with the religious freedom of parishioners during a January 18 service. The protest targeted the church because one of its pastors reportedly serves as an official for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem echoed Bondi’s hardline stance, asserting that there is no First Amendment right to obstruct religious practice. The investigation has unfolded in two distinct waves. The first, on January 22, focused on alleged organizers like civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong and St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen. The second wave followed a grand jury indictment on Friday, which included several activists and a high-profile media figure. Among the most notable arrests is former CNN anchor Don Lemon. While Lemon maintains he was acting as an independent journalist, an unsealed indictment reported by The Daily Wire paints a different picture. Prosecutors allege Lemon attended a “pre-op briefing” to maintain operational secrecy and later livestreamed the “resistance” operation. The indictment claims Lemon entered the church with the first wave of agitators, allegedly intimidating congregants and physically obstructing the pastor. Lemon reportedly acknowledged on his stream that the experience was “traumatic” for worshippers, stating that “the whole point… is to disrupt.” All defendants face federal charges under the FACE Act and 18 U.S.C. § 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights). As of Monday, the legal process is moving swiftly. Lemon, represented by attorney Abbe Lowell, is scheduled for an initial appearance in Minneapolis on February 9, along with Georgia Fort, Trahern Jeen Crews, and Jamael Lydell Lundy. Meanwhile, “Wave 1” defendants are currently contesting the seizure of personal property, citing Fourth Amendment violations. Attorney General Bondi’s latest announcement underscores the administration’s commitment to aggressive prosecution in what it calls a coordinated attack on religious liberty.

In the early hours of a cold February Sunday morning, a full moon hung low behind NASA’s towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at Kennedy Space Center as the agency began a critical two-day practice countdown for Artemis II.  The rehearsal simulates every step of launch day short of engine ignition, including loading the rocket with more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant. The “wet dress rehearsal” marks one of the final major tests before NASA attempts its first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years. If the test proceeds smoothly, it could clear the way for a launch attempt as early as February 8, within a narrow window dictated by orbital mechanics and weather. While rocket teams work in Florida, the Artemis II crew is already in quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen entered the agency’s health stabilization program in late January, a standard precaution to prevent illness from disrupting the mission.  The astronauts will monitor the countdown rehearsal remotely before traveling to Kennedy Space Center if the rocket is cleared for flight. Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Over roughly 10 days, the Orion capsule, named Integrity by the crew, will carry the astronauts on a free-return trajectory around the Moon, passing about 6,400 miles beyond the lunar far side before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.  The crew has trained together since 2023, logging countless hours in Orion simulators, flying T-38 training jets, and participating in mission control tests at Kennedy Space Center. Wiseman is flying his second space mission, Glover his first, Koch returns to space after setting a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, and Hansen will become the first Canadian to fly on a lunar mission. For the astronauts, the flight represents both a technical and generational milestone. Wiseman has described Artemis as the moment when space exploration moves from memory back into lived experience. “In our lifetime, we’ve looked at the Moon knowing that people had been there,” he said in a NASA interview. “And now in the Artemis generation, kids will walk out and look at the Moon going, we are there. We are there now, and we are going further into our solar system.” The launch timeline has not been without challenges. The recent deep freeze has delayed the fueling demonstration by two days, forcing teams to adapt by adding heaters to the Orion capsule and adjusting rocket purge systems. The 322-foot-tall SLS rolled out to the launch pad two weeks ago and remains there as engineers work through final checks. Mission managers have said the lunar flight must launch by February 11 or wait until the next available window later in the year. The Artemis II crew has framed the mission as something deeper, more connected to human nature. Speaking on NASA’s Curious Universe podcast, Glover described exploration as a defining human impulse. “Pushing ourselves to explore is just core to who we are,” he said. “We want to know what’s out there just beyond the horizon, and so the Artemis program is our opportunity.” Koch echoed that sense of inevitability, framing the program not as a revival but as a continuation. “From the time humans started exploring, this was always in our future and in our fate,” she said. “We were always going to the Moon.” As NASA works toward a sustained human presence on and around the Moon, and eventually Mars, Artemis II marks the moment humanity takes one small step back to the heavens.

“Game of Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage recited an extremely cringeworthy poem dedicated to Renee Good, the anti-ICE activist killed by an ICE agent during an altercation in Minneapolis. The poem, entitled “For Renee Good,” was written by Amanda Gorman, best known for reciting a spoken-word poem at President Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021.  “They say she is no more,/ That there her absence roars,/ Blood-blown like a rose./ Iced wheels flinched & froze./ Now, bare riot of candles,/ Dark fury of flowers,/Pure howling of hymns,” Dinklage recited in the clip that’s been circulating online. “If for us she arose,/ Somewhere, in the pitched deep of our grief,/ Crouches our power,/ The howl where we begin,/ Straining upon the edge of the crooked crater/ Of the worst of what we’ve been,” the poem continues. “Change is only possible,/ & all the greater,/ When the labour/ & bitter anger of our neighbors/ Is moved by the love/ & better angels of our nature./ What they call death & void,/ We know is breath & voice; / In the end, gorgeously,/ Endures our enormity.” It concludes: “You could believe departed to be the dawn/ When the blank night has so long stood./ But our bright-fled angels will never be fully gone,/ When they forever are so fiercely Good.” The poem was posted by Gorman last month. She’s the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017 and was also dubbed “the worst poet in America” by The Daily Wire’s own Ben Shapiro. “She’s like if Shel Silverstein were clobbered by a two-by-four and after being run over by a truck,” Shapiro said of her poetry skills. “Trite, stupid, awful trash.” Gorman has recited poetry about liberals, including failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris. She also came under fire for rewriting the words to The Star Spangled Banner in 2022.  Celebrities, in particular, have latched onto Renee Good as being a martyr for their anti-ICE cause. Several A-listers have been spotted wearing “ICE OUT” and “BE GOOD” pins at various Hollywood events and have spoken publicly on the topic.

Column Babylon 5 Rewatch Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Endgame” The only obstacle remaining between Sheridan and Earth is a fleet near Mars… By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on February 2, 2026 Credit: Warner Bros. Television Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Television “Endgame”Written by J. Michael StraczynskiDirected by John CopelandSeason 4, Episode 20Production episode 420Original air date: October 13, 1997 It was the dawn of the third age… The Army of Light fleet—which now includes most of the White Star fleet, a mess of EarthForce ships that have defected, and a bunch of support form the Minbari, the Narn, the Centauri, and various League of Non-Aligned Worlds nations—is in hyperspace, getting ready to jump to Mars. Delenn convinces Cole to leave Ivanova’s bedside and assume his post in command of one of the White Stars and allow Ivanova to be sent back to B5 where she can be better cared for in her final days than she can be aboard a Minbari warship. Cole is reluctant—he insists she’d want to be part of the battle, even passively—but eventually gives in. With the help of a supply officer who is sympathetic to their cause, the Mars Resistance has worked out getting the various altered telepaths onto the EarthForce ships in orbit of Mars, who are waiting for Sheridan’s fleet to show up. Said supply officer is taken aback by smuggling people—she thought it was weapons being smuggled on. Franklin allows as how they are weapons… On the surface of Mars, Garibaldi coordinates attacks on various ground bases, aided by sympathetic EarthForce personnel on the inside. They take over the ground bases after the supply ships with the telepaths have already taken off. Franklin then puts a headset on Alexander. Credit: Warner Bros. Television On the Agamemnon, Sheridan gives an inspirational speech to the fleet before they start their attack. The plan is to neutralize Mars, then head for Earth. The attacks will be carried out by the White Stars, which all have human captains, and the EarthForce defectors. The non-human ships are to hang back and provide support and rescue—and also to defend themselves if necessary. On the Apollo, General Lefcourt explains to Captain Mitchell why he’s been given command of the fleet over Mitchell himself: he knows Sheridan, having trained him. Lefcourt is also old-school, believing in the chain of command, regardless of who’s in command. On Mars, Garibaldi sends exact coordinates of everything on the surface to Cole, who then jumps his White Star inside Mars’ atmosphere and starts attacking targets on Mars. Lefcourt, however, refuses to take the bait, not letting anyone break formation to defend Mars—the general knows that this is a feint. At Sheridan’s signal, Alexander goes out onto the surface of Mars and awakens the telepaths. They awaken and immediately start taking over the ships’ computers. This disables twenty of the thirty ships—including the Apollo—and five more are badly messed up. Of the five remaining, the fleet is able to make short work, with Sheridan ordering his people to minimize the damage done. Sheridan has Delenn and the other non-human ships stay behind to render aid to the now-devastated Earth fleet. The White Stars and EarthForce vessels move on to Earth. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Cole takes the opportunity of the transit time from Mars to Earth to investigate ways to save Ivanova, because he apparently knows that he’s a character in a TV show, which means that deus ex machinae are just right around the corner… He comes across Franklin’s log entries about the Great Hit Point Rearranger that was being used in the clinic in downbelow, and which Franklin and Sheridan used to save Garibaldi after the latter was shot in the back. He then sends Lennier off to Delenn’s ship to distract him while he buggers back to B5. Lennier not being stupid, he figures out what Cole’s up to pretty quickly. Delenn shares this with Sheridan, but there’s no way to go after him without jeopardizing the mission. The fleet arrives at Earth. Sheridan sends out a communiqué saying that they’re there to arrest Clark, disband Nightwatch, and return EarthGov to the people. Even as he delivers those terms, Senator Crosby, joined by a bunch of EarthForce Marines, goes to Clark’s office. However, by the time they arrive, Clark—having written a suicide note—has shot himself in the head. His last act before taking his own life was to turn Earth’s planetary defenses onto the planet itself, causing incalculable damage and loss of life. The fleet does its best to stop the orbital platforms from doing what Clark has programmed them to do—aided by the Apollo, which shows up at the last minute, having monitored the situation. Lefcourt is apparently now okay with helping Sheridan, with Clark (a) dead and (b) having pointed some very large guns at Earth itself. Sheridan’s presence has been requested on Earth. Meanwhile, Franklin is taking a White Star back to B5 in the hopes of stopping Cole. On B5, Cole has hooked himself and Ivanova up to the Great Hit Point Rearranger and declares his love for her. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan is remarkably fit and confident and commanding even though he was tortured and drugged for several days. Impressive! Ivanova is God. Ivanova spends the entire episode comatose. Exciting stuff. The household god of frustration. Garibaldi has gone from persona non grata and people wanting him shot on sight to being trusted with running an important war op in just one episode! Impressive! If you value your lives, be somewhere else. Delenn is pretty much pointless in the episode, as she spends it as a glorified background extra. The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. Alexander is able to work her magic controlling the Shadow-altered telepaths. The Marine at the ground base castigates our heroes for using the telepaths this way, but Franklin and Garibaldi are able to justify it. And it’s fitting that they’re used against Clark’s forces, since they were given to the Shadows by the Clark Administration in the first place. We live for the one, we die for the one. Apparently Cole’s Ranger-osity is powerful enough to convince an entire ship full of Minbari to take him back to B5 in the middle of a war. Impressive! No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Cole’s dying words are declaring his love for Ivanova. It’s almost sweet. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Welcome aboard. J. Patrick McCormack makes the first of two appearances as Lefcourt; he’ll be back in an earlier timeframe in In the Beginning. The great Carolyn Seymour plays Crosby, Julian Stone plays Mitchell, and Ungela Brockman plays the never-named Marine who helps secure the ground station. And we have a mess of recurring regulars: Marjorie Monaghan and David Purdham are back from “Between the Darkness and the Light” as, respectively, Number One and James, Gary McGurk is back from “Voices of Authority” as Clark, and Maggie Egan makes a triumphant return from “Severed Dreams” as Jane the ISN anchor. Monaghan will return in “Objects in Motion” while Egan will return in the very next episode, “Rising Star.” Trivial matters. The Shadow-altered telepaths were first seen trying to take over B5’s computer systems in “Ship of Tears.” Alexander showed that she could activate and, to a degree, control those telepaths in “The Exercise of Vital Powers.” The Great Hit Point Rearranger was first seen in “The Quality of Mercy,” and Sheridan and Franklin used it to heal Garibaldi in “Revelations.” Amusingly, this is the only time Clark appears directly in a scene and not over a viewscreen or in footage. One of the log entries Cole watches is Franklin declaring the death of Cailyn James, the singer he met in “Walkabout,” which is the first on-screen confirmation that she finally succumbed to her illness. Finally, for something really trivial, this is the third thing I’ve rewatched for this site that has the title “Endgame,” the other two being the Avengers movie and the Star Trek: Voyager series finale. I guess my next thing would be to rewatch the Highlander movies? The echoes of all of our conversations. “We know that many in the government have wanted to act but have been intimidated by threats of retaliation against your families, your friends. You are not alone anymore. We call upon you to rise up and do what’s right. We have drawn their forces away from Earth and disabled them. The time to act is now! This is not the voice of treason. These are your sons, your daughters, whose loyalties have never wavered, whose beliefs in this alliance has forced us to take extraordinary means. For justice, for peace, for the future.” Sheridan being all inspirational and stuff. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The name of the place is Babylon 5. “Welcome home, John.” You know, I was really looking forward to rewatching this episode, and when I actually sat down and watched it, I found myself overwhelmed by how incredibly unimpressed I was with it. There’s the problem I expected to have with the episode, which is how completely unmoved I was by Clark’s death. The biggest flaw in the entire Earth-goes-fascist storyline is that we saw very little of Clark and what we did see was a nondescript bald white guy. Here’s the thing: while the acts of fascism are carried out by ordinary people, the leaders of fascism usually have someone with significant charisma at the top. While there is very good reason for us to think of Adolf Hitler as a near-caricature of the evil dictator, that makes it easy to forget that he was one of the greatest public speakers of the twentieth century. That’s how he rose to power, his spectacular ability to work a crowd. Gary McGurk is basically nowhere as an actor and it makes Clark nowhere as a character, which takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of the plotline. Most of the time, it isn’t an issue, but when we first see Clark in his office writing his suicide note, I wasn’t even sure who it was. But even if we grant that Clark isn’t nearly the point so much as the results of his efforts, the episode itself just doesn’t work for me. We start with Sheridan, who spent most of the last three episodes being beaten, tortured, and drugged. Yet here he is on the bridge of the Agamemnon, showing absolutely no signs of any of that, proudly leading his fleet into battle. No physical injuries, no psychological injuries, just right back in the forefront. Now, B5 was a forerunner of the current trend toward serialization and stronger inter-episode continuity, something that made it stand out from most of the TV that was aired around it at the time. That means, however, that viewers in 1997 were used to people suffering injuries of all kinds and being all better by the next episode. But B5 was predicated on being better than that—and yet we have this. On top of that, there’s Garibaldi. Just three episodes ago, Ivanova was refusing communications from Garibaldi and ordering him to be shot on sight. Just one episode ago, he almost got a PPG to his head, and only didn’t due to a telepathic magic trick. And yet, here he is at the forefront of ground operations on Mars, and what the hell? Yes, fine, they know that Bester fucked with his head, and that’s why he betrayed Sheridan, and that can, possibly be forgiven, but also, Bester fucked with his head!!!!! There is no way you ever trust this guy with anything important after this because you don’t know what else Bester might have done. We only have Bester’s word for it that he’s done with Garibaldi and that he has no more use for him, and that’s not exactly a trustworthy source. And even if you believe Bester, he also said that he didn’t change the essence of who Garibaldi is, just made some small adjustments, but kept his distrust of authority and general personality intact. Which means you don’t trust this guy with your lunch order, much less running your super-important rebel ground operations. Even if you buy that Sheridan and Franklin and Alexander have forgiven and forgotten, why is the Mars Resistance just going along with everything? Sure, Sheridan promised them independence, but why would they trust Garibaldi? Why would they trust Alexander, given what the Psi Corps has done to them? And then we have the character assassination of Marcus Cole. He’s a dedicated enough Ranger that he’s willing to let Neroon beat the living shit out of him to save Delenn, but not so dedicated that he won’t leave his post in the middle of a critical battle, taking a very powerful ship with him, in search of a deus ex machina to save the woman he loves. Some may find that romantic. I find it ridiculous, and, again, out of character. Cole’s attitude at the top of the episode—when he doesn’t want her sent back to B5 because she should be present for the final battle that she was primarily responsible for getting that far—made much more sense. Ivanova deserved to be there for Earth’s liberation. (More on this particular plotline next week.) And then we have Lefcourt, played by the aggressively dull J. Patrick McCormack. We’re introduced to him when he awkwardly explains why he’s in command of the fleet to Mitchell, a bit of dialogue that manages to be incredibly clumsy exposition and incredibly clumsy foreshadowing, all at the same time. Because he’s self-described “old school” who believes in the chain of command—as opposed to a Clark toady like Captain Hall—we’re set up for him riding to Earth’s rescue at the end. It’s supposed to be a heroic moment, but it just shows up Lefcourt as a borderline sociopath. “I’ll obey these incredibly illegal and morally repugnant orders as long as the president’s alive, but now that he’s dead, I can ignore his orders,” which isn’t really how that works…. The episode does end on a high note. After getting the vapid propaganda from ISN ever since it went back on the air in “Ship of Tears,” seeing Maggie Egan back in the anchor chair for the first time since troops attacked ISN’s studio in “Severed Dreams” is a joyous and wonderful sight. Egan plays it beautifully too, as you get the impression she went straight from her jail cell to the studio to go on the air. More than anything else in the episode, it’s a moment of hope and optimism. Next week: “Rising Star.”[end-mark] The post <i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “Endgame” appeared first on Reactor.