History Recap / BabylonFiveS01E12ByAnyMeansNecessary

* ShutUpHannibal: Sinclair to Zento, who is raving about how Sinclair won't get away with what he's done, "I think. Ms. Connally said it best the other day: stuff it!"

** Connoly, who is genuinely working to ensure the rights and needs of the dockers.

* LoopholeAbuse: The Rush Act says that the local Earthforce commander can use "any means necessary" to break the strike, with the unwritten intent that the commander use force. Sinclair uses this authority to give the dockworkers what they want.

* LoopholeAbuse: The Rush Act says that the local Earthforce commander can use "any means necessary" to break the strike, with the unwritten intent that the commander use force. Sinclair uses this authority to give the dockers what they want.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Ms Connelly is visibly smaller in size than any of her male opponents (to a point where she is easily lifted out of harm´s way when the riots emerge). ''On the other hand'' - she is a skilled union leader who shows that she has a ''lot'' of popular support, and is truly a person you don´t want to mess with.

* GunboatDiplomacy: What the Rush Act is ''supposed'' to be, and what Zento wants. Sinclair manages to get away with what he did because it didn't had any ExactWords aiming towards this specific use -- and even then, Earth Gov only allows it (and lets him keep his job) because not doing so would be a ''bigger'' PR disaster.

* FantasticReligiousWeirdness: A subplot involves G'Kar trying to get a hallucinogenic flower for a ritual that has to take place *exactly* at a specific time-when the sun rises over a sacred mountain. The Narn's priests decreed that anyone not on Narn had to perform the ritual then. After he misses it (thanks to Londo being a dick), Sinclair points out that Babylon 5 is a little over 10 light years from Narn, so the sunlight from when the sun touched the mountain 10 years ago should arrive within 12 hours.

* FantasticReligiousWeirdness: A subplot involves G'kar trying to get a hallucinogenic flower for a ritual that has to take place *exactly* at a specific time-when the sun rises over a sacred mountain. The Narn's priests decreed that anyone not on Narn had to perform the ritual then. After he misses it (thanks to Londo being a dick), Sinclair points out that Babylon 5 is a little over 10 light years from Narn, so the sunlight from when the sun touched the mountain 10 years ago should arrive within 12 hours.

** A seemingly minor one: the Book of G'Quan is first seen in this episode. When G'kar goes on a minor rampage following Londo's refusal to sell the G'Quan Eth plant to him, he breaks everything in sight...but stops himself when he was about to hit the Book of G'Quan. The Book is instrumental in future episodes concerning the Shadows, the history of Narn telepaths....and how one is NOT supposed to thump the Book of G'Quan (as Garibaldi does in a future episode).

* BlatantLies: Following the accident on the docking area (and their general fatigue from being overworked from months on end), a lot of the dock workers started calling in sick. Garibaldi, Sinclair and Ivanova are acutely aware that they are NOT sick, they're just calling in sick. Later, when Garibaldi fetches Connally (who's in the middle of pacifying the dock workers who want to go on strike) so Sinclair can speak to her (and because she's been ignoring Sinclair's calls), Connally says that she's a little busy since a lot of his workers are sick. Cue the dock workers coughing (while laughing).

* BlatantLies: Following the accident on the docking area (and their general fatigue from being overworked from months on end), a lot of the dock workers started calling in sick. Garibaldi, Sinclair and Ivanova are acutely aware that they are NOT sick, they're just calling in sick. Later, when Garibaldi fetches Connoly (who's in the middle of pacifying the dock workers who want to go on Strike) so Sinclair can speak to her (and because she's been ignoring Sinclair's calls), Connoly says that she's a little busy since a lot of his workers are sick. Cue the dock workers coughing (while laughing).

* AssInAmbassador: Londo and G'Kar are at each others' throats (again) and both demonstrate this pretty well. It gets to the point that Sinclair, already stressed out from the labor dispute, threatens to throw both in the brig.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Hidoshi warns Sinclair that his actions have angered a lot of powerful figures back home, and that this action is likely to cause problems for him in the future.

G'Kar call Londo to say he has the money but Londo changes his mind, partly in retaliation for the Narn occupation of Raghesh III. After raging a few moments, G'Kar decides another course of action is called for.

When Zento arrives he is appraised of the situation and asks for support if the Rush Act is invoked.

-->'''Zento''': You can't do that!\\
'''Sinclair''': Correction: I couldn't...until you invoked the Rush Act. You should never hand someone a gun unless you're sure where they'll point it.

* EvilIsPetty:
** Londo buys the plant G'Kar needs and gets high with it strictly to be a dick to G'Kar. It backfires on him when Sinclair points out that, unless he has a specific religious license (like G'Kar has), that specific narcotic is highly illegal.
** Zento does everything in his power to try to escalate the strike to a bloodbath, in complete contradiction of what his role as a negotiator is supposed to be, simply because there is a law that would ([[ExactWords technically]]) allow him to (and, again, just to be a dick).

G'Kar is preparing for a ritual he must lead when he is informed that his cargo, a special plant, the G'Quan Eth important to the ritual has been destroyed.

The docker's union representative, Ms. Connally, is in a foul mood as the cause is found. A substandard part failed, installed by contractors cutting corners in the rush to get B5 online as quickly and cheaply as possible. Sinclair assures her that he's been trying to get the Senate to increase their budget, but she is not convinced.

Down in the docking bay the dockers are complaining about their working conditions when Garibaldi shows up to escort Ms. Connally to a meeting. The workers start getting a little heated, but Connally agrees to meet with the commander. At the meeting Sinclair pleads with her to get them back to work. If she forces the issue the labor committee will get involved and could invoke the Rush Act. She demands better pay and more workers, as well as upgrades before storming off. Then the Senator calls again.

He informs them that he now has the authority to use any means to end the strike and asks Zento if he has his full support. Once Zento affirms his support, Sinclair diverts the needed money to upgrade facilities and hire new workers from the increased military budget, and offer pardons for all the striking workers. Zento protests but there is nothing he can do. The dockers are satisfied with the arrangements and agree to go back to work.

'''Season 1, Episode 12''':
!By Any Means Necessary
-->'''Delvientos''':'' We have a right to defend ourselves.''
-->'''Sinclair''': ''But not with violence.''
-->'''Delvientos''':'' I beg your pardon, Commander, but if someone pushed you, wouldn't you push back?''

-->'''G'Kar''': [[BigWhat WHAT!!!]]
-->'''Londo''': (''From across the room'') Yoo-hoo! Ha-ha-ha!
-->'''G'Kar''': Oh, why does the Universe hate me so?

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The dockworkers' strike riffs on the 1981 strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers' Organization, which ended in failure and the firing and replacement of over eleven thousand workers by the Reagan Administration under a 1955 law that prohibits strikes by employees of the US government.

* TakeThat: The Rush Act is named after Rush Limbaugh, which JMS happily confirmed when several fans guessed it.

* ToWinWithoutFighting: Once the Rush Act has been invoked, Sinclair can end the strike any way he sees fit. Everyone assumes that means violence, but he uses it to divert a large sum of money (that would otherwise have been sitting around doing nothing) into raises for the workers and upgrades to the facilities.

* FantasticReligeousWeirdness: A subplot involves G'kar trying to get a hallucinogenic flower for a ritual that has to take place *exactly* at a specific time-when the sun rises over a sacred mountain. The Narn's priests decreed that anyone not on Narn had to perform the ritual then. After he misses it (thanks to Londo being a dick), Sinclair points out that Babylon 5 is a little over 10 light years from Narn, so the sunlight from when the sun touched the mountain 10 years ago should arrive within 12 hours.

* FantasticReligeousWierdness: A subplot involves G'kar trying to get a hallucinogenic flower for a ritual that has to take place *exactly* at a specific time-when the sun rises over a sacred mountain. The Narn's priests decreed that anyone not on Narn had to perform the ritual then. After he misses it (thanks to Londo being a dick), Sinclair points out that Babylon 5 is a little over 10 light years from Narn, so the sunlight from when the sun touched the mountain 10 years ago should arrive within 12 hours.