The Memory Of War is an episode that reminds me of the classic sci-fi of the 50's. The design of the alien cities and the machinery reminded me of Forbidden Planet. Netter's CGI was actually quite good in this episode, better than their average. Of course, there was more to this episode than good production values.

This was yet another character-driven episode. Galen is indeed a fascinating character, and we now show that the Technomages aren't quite as austere as we had been led to expect. This would be a thread that would later appear in the series - a thread with great potential. Peter Woodward is an excellent actor - one can see the inner termoil in his eyes, the sense of knowing much and bearing the consequences of that knowledge.

This episode took a turn I didn't really expect, concentrating on the Galen story rather than the other angle - the crew forced to fight each other or die. However, the tack JMS took was executed so well that it doesn't bother me too much. Still, this episode could have easily filled a two-hour movie if it were to cover even some of the things that it raised.

All in all, this shows that Crusade in its pure and unchanged form would have been more than a match for its illustrious predecessor. This story, while not necessarily a masterwork is just plain good sci-fi. There's a kind of resonance to it, it makes you think - it just works. If only more TV would learn from that.