Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio
Directed by Jim Johnston

After an episode that sent so many things in motion, it was time to take a few steps back and rest. There are a few throwaway things that happen here, but for the most part, Gropos is pure filler. Gropos is short for “ground pounder.” Those are the troops in a war at the front lines that do most of the fighting.

Commander Ivanova (Claudia Christian) is enjoying the quietness of the night shift when an Earthforce vessel comes through the jumpgate. General Franklin (Paul Winfield) arrives with 25,000 troops. He is Dr. Franklin’s father. Trying to find the space to billet 25,000 troops on short notice proves to be very difficult.

General Franklin is on a top-secret mission to Akdor to provide aid to the Shilassen government. They are to go in and provide a surgical strike against the rebels, with Babylon 5 as the staging area. Commander Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) questions arming Babylon 5, when it’s supposed to be devoted to peace.

Dr. Franklin (Richard Biggs) meets with his father, and it’s apparent his father has a bias against aliens. He resents that Stephen works with them and says he should be healing humans. There is still some conflict from Stephen’s childhood that hasn’t been resolved. Stephen shares a drink with Ivanova who counsels him to speak to his father while he still has the chance.

When one of the “ground pounders” starts threatening Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan), another comes to her defense and a fight breaks out. Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) smoothes things over with the sergeant. Dodger (Marie Marshall), the one who came to Delenn’s defense, is attracted to Garibaldi. They have dinner and retire to Garibaldi’s quarters.

There are a couple of things that happen here which will be important later on. One is the arming of Babylon 5. Sheridan is uncomfortable with it and Delenn protests the military presence as well, worried that the mission as a sort of galactic United Nations devoted to peace will be lost. Of course, with the way things go, it will be a good thing later on that Babylon 5 is armed. I don’t think at this point of the story anyone anticipated the weapons would have to be used against Earthforce.

There’s some good character development for Stephen Franklin as his father visits. It’s a typical father/son relationship with a lot of friction due to Stephen’s life choices. However, Stephen heeds Ivanova’s advice and talks to him before it’s too late. They’re never going to see eye-to-eye on things, but they do love each other.

Jerry Doyle gets some attention here from Dodger, which is nice. She’s just looking for a hookup to feel alive for a while, but he’s reading more into it. However, eventually, he gets it and the two enjoy some time together. Warren Keffler (Robert Rusler) gets something to do here. That’s been sorely missing since he was added as a series regular. Two of the gropos get billeted in his quarters, and he ends up bonding with them despite the intrusion.

The acting here is mostly good. Has Paul Winfield ever given a bad performance? I think not. He’s really good here as Stephen’s father as well as a military general. However, his Sgt. Major (Ryan Cutrona) is lacking. He’s really a caricature of an army sergeant and it makes it hard to take any scene he’s in seriously.

The ending to the story is a tragic one; at what price is victory? This is when we view some good special effects as the people on Babylon 5 are watching a broadcast about the fighting on Akdor. The effects might not be impressive now, but at the time they really were. With the remastering of the show, the blurry lines are gone, especially where there is weapons fire that would often blur out most of the scene. Everything is toned nicely and it’s easy to pick out the action as the gropos are attacking their target.

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