Groanable reference aside, it's the rare occasion where using "shadow" in the title actually does indicate their presence on center stage. However, just as the last major war development took a back seat to Franklin's stim problem, today's development is subordinate to the overdue resolution of Franklin's stim withdrawal walkabout. With the command staff constantly discussing him, finding him, or demanding favors from him, you might think he never left his post -- indeed, he appears more now than he did when he was on staff. But no, to resolve the epochal subplot of "Dr. Franklin wanders around the station for five episodes" he has to be stabbed, nearly bled out, and have a therapeutic discussion with his alter-ego. And for all that, the scene is perfunctory; the attention of the writer is clearly elsewhere... 
In the B story, it's now Z-minus 7 days as Delenn prepares the League of Non-aligned Worlds to mass for a full battle with the Shadows. That battle depends on the allies' main fleet learning of a Shadow movement as quickly as possible. This gives the excuse of putting Susan and Marcus together to continue their small steps toward a romantic relationship and of leaving Sheridan and Delenn alone long enough to continue theirs...Delayed as long as possible, the first large engagement of the war is a good bit of CGI and a costly victory for the good guys. Having spent 3 years establishing the Shadows' utter invulnerability, it's quite exciting to see them thoroughly flummoxed by Sheridan's large-scale deployment of telepaths. While the Shadows are driven off, they inflict 2-1 casualties on the victors.
All this leaves a full act in the episode, and since nobody has ever asked "Sheridan, what about that odd Vorlon-influenced dream you had last season?" he, Delenn, and Susan laboriously recall plot points that could relate to the dream's ambiguities. Except for the Man in between, who is searching for Sheridan. And gosh, he's coming next week!
As Delenn watches Sheridan sleep, we have arrived at her WWE flash-forward: Anna walks in. Security knew she was aboard, but rather than disturb the person this concerns the most, Zack wakes up Ivanova, who reacts... well, in a way that isn't shown.
--
Pros: Things are finally moving!
Cons: One of the most awful "hit your mark, report your line, exit" scenes ever directed, televised.
Then: A-
Now: B-
Episode 22: Z'ha'dum
Continuing where we left off, Anna Sheridan, John's wife, has returned from the dead. Between her zealous admiration of the Shadows* and some anomalies on her medical tests, Sheridan smells enough of a rat that he plans a thuddingly obvious double-cross upon her offer for a sit-down with her dark overlords.
John hears the Shadows' side: they are the Eddorians to the Vorlons' Arisians. They believe in prodding evolution through chaos, instead of the Vorlons' orderly development plans. They helpfully confirm that the Psi-Corps is in their pocket. And so they offer him one last chance to join up: he refuses, throwing what they did to Anna back in their face. Regretfully, Justin agrees that once someone has been used as Shadow ship CPU, they're never the same. But they do what they're told!
Cue actual Shadow walking in, Sheridan grabbing for his backup PPG (rendered undetectable to tremendously advanced alien technology by virtue of an ankle holster; presumably Clemenza couldn't plant it in the bathroom)and shooting the translucent CGI beastie full of holes. Morden's behind him, and has Sheridan's sidearm, but he does nothing...
At B5, a group of Shadow ships appear and then also do nothing. The cruisers that have been protecting B5 since it left the EA (and are seen earlier..) are inexplicably absent so Garibaldi leads the station's fighters out while Ivanova attempts to call up Draal, never realizing his contract ended months ago. The ships then disappear, taking Garibaldi's fighter with them, when...
Then the White Star shatters the dome over the city, Anna shrieks, and Kosh's voice urges John to jump. He falls into an enormously deep pit as the two 500 megaton bombs annihilate the city. When in doubt, Sheridan plays dirty with nukes...
--
* In fact, she sounds like an infomercial narrator. But typical to B5, "Shadows" aren't the Z'ha'dum aliens' name. Rather than come up with one, Anna reports their real name is 10,000 letters long and she couldn't pronounce if it she tried. And she has, she notes slyly.
** For season-ending payoff, this is weak. The "leader" of the Shadows, who have bedeviled the galaxy for millennia, is a rambling old man? Who is this idiot? Was he on the Icarus? Anna mentions Dr. Chang, the leader of the expedition in her recap; since he was a bit of an EA spook, why not have him; it would efficiently explain their easy occupation of Earth's government...
Further, their plan is kind of stupid. They bring him there, describe fondly how necessary "the dream" of universal armageddon is (Ed Wasser, at least, is his usually reliable self; his breathless delivery of "atrocities beyond description!" indicates just how much he'd enjoy describing them) -- but darn that John Sheridan, he's been raining on their parade. Yet, they admit that evolution will be served whether he joins them or not. And they won't kill him because someone else would take his place. Instead they want to subvert him. But their linchpin was that this damaged version of his wife would be enough to convince him? Are these guys so far down the Shadow hole that they don't see the weakness of their argument that sits on what they claim is a false predicament, or is this very, very bad writing?
--
Pros: The Shadows aren't evil, per se.
Cons: They are, though, very dumb.
Then: A
Now: C+
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