@kiranerys asked me what’s fandom’s opinion on Lochley and honestly I don’t know???
I mean she was an Ivanova replacement (the same problem that DS9 in S7 of “it can’t just be Kira and the Boys”/”It can’t just be Delenn and the boys!”
What are your takes on Captain Elizabeth Lochley?
I like her, she brings a different energy than Ivanova, but that is not a bad thing. They definitely scrambled a bit for the first quarter of the season and it took a while for JMS to get his feet under himself with the new season. Most of my issues with Lockley are more an effect of that scramble then the actual character.
I like how she is a mirror to Sheridan in many ways. Same bullheadedness and self-sacrificing, but with a slightly different ethical foundation. Their history could have been better handled, but it did what it was supposed to do and led to some funny jokes in Season 5 and Crusade.
As much as it frustrates me and as much as I like Ivanova, I don’t think the telepath arc would have been as good as it was with her. Don’t get me wrong, it was not great with many frustrating parts. I just don’t see how Ivanova taking command would have been able to improve on it and could have made it worse. With the risk of her own telepathy coming to light and being far more deferential to Sheridan, they would have had to twist her character quite a bit to get to the standoff and eventual suicide. At least with Lochley, they had a blank slate to work with and could far more believably push back against John. Even the fall of Garibaldi would have been weaker with Ivanova. Without Lochley there isn’t that backstop for him to pile into The doc might have been able to do it, but his was a brush with addiction, not as much as a lifestyle that they were able to make Lochley’s.
That is not to say Claudia Christian wasn’t done dirty by TNT and JMS. She was, and overall the show was weaker for her not being able to at least recur in Season 5 and Crusade. But of the big stories, the telepaths, the Alliance, fall of the Centauri, and the loss of Garibaldi, I don’t see here playing more than a peripheral role. And those that would highlight her she wouldn’t play opposite of John and Garibaldi in the way Lochley was able to.
