I really love "Born To The Purple." It's a full-on character story; we get hit twice by Londo and by Ivanova.
I love seeing Londo's depth in this ep. With his hair for some reason easily able to get viewers to dismiss him, and his drunken bafoonery potentially limiting his character, this episode helps being so early in the viewing order to boldy announce that Londo is a character of depth.
Seeing his love for Adira is wistful and tragic in a way. "Appearances be damned!" he tells her. If only over the course of the show he could have adhered to that personal philosophy more. We see more of Londo's opinion of himself: that he's washed-up, that he is worrisome of the state his society is in, and that he wishes for things to be different. It is all this that makes him the prey of others later in the series.
And then we have Ivanova secretly getting in contact with her father back on Earth, and eventually watching him die in their final conversation. Her last remaining immediate family member is gone. Claudia does great and brings tremendous vulnerability to the character in this episode. And Garibaldi's reaction once he cracks the blocks during Ivanova's final conversation as he watches the conversation as well as his reaction of telling Ivanova he knows without actually saying it strengthen his character as well.
Adira's character was great, I thought, for being a guest character. A character that's a slave can easily turn into nothing but a huge stereotype, but Adira is kept from being such. I get the feeling when I watch this episode that while Adira is a slave and an erotic dancer, she has a considerable amount of dignity for herself yet simultaneously feels the scorn and contempt toward her from so much of the rest of her society. That she is able to gain her freedom in the end is heartwarming and doesn't feel cliche for a slave character.
Oh, and we get to meet the short-lived Miss Ko'Dath.
