By Any Means Necessary (Babylon 5)
| "By Any Means Necessary" | |
|---|---|
| Babylon 5 episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 12 |
| Directed by | Jim Johnston |
| Written by | Kathryn M. Drennan |
| Production code | 114 |
| Original air date | 11 May 1994 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Katy Boyer (Neeoma Connally) |
|
Katy Boyer (Neeoma Connally)
John Snyder (Orin Zento)
Aki Aleong (Senator Hidoshi)
"By Any Means Necessary" is an episode from the first season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5.
A computer glitch results in an accident aboard the station that kills one of the dock workers. In light of the accident and in protest for being overworked, the dock workers start an illegal labor strike. The accident also resulted in the destruction of cargo that included a G'Quan Eth, a hard-to-obtain flower which G'Kar needs for a religious ritual in a few days. It turns out that Londo Mollari has the only one left on the station, but is tauntingly refusing to sell it at a previously agreed high price to G'Kar in order to aggravate him in revenge for the Narn attack on Ragesh 3, during which his nephew was abused. In retaliation, G'Kar arranges for an important Centauri idol to be stolen to force the surrender of the plant while Sinclair is forced to endure this petty conflict as a neutral agent.
Orin Zento, the (ostensible) negotiator sent by the Earth Senate Labor Committee to settle the strike, offers nothing but empty promises and threats of retribution for the striking workers. The strike gives the Earth Senate the excuse that it was looking for to invoke the "Rush Act", a law that permits a commander to use any means necessary, including the use of force, to end a strike. The strikers end up rioting when Garibaldi's security force goes to arrest them; however, Commander Sinclair manages to end the situation before anyone gets seriously injured.
Instead of using security personnel to end the strike as the Senate intended, Sinclair finds a loophole in the orders that allows him to divert funds from the military budget (which had received extra funding when the dock workers did not) to hire new workers and upgrade the dock equipment, as well as to grant amnesty to the strikers. When the stunned Zento protests that this move is not in the spirit of the Rush Act, Sinclair dismisses it by noting that the phrase "any means necessary" in the law clearly allows him to fully acquiesce to the strikers' demands to resolve the situation. As for the workers, they are delighted at this unexpectedly swift victory and agree to immediately resume their duties.
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