I really liked the alien-character-centric stories... well, with a few exceptions. I didn't hate Zhaan's episodes, but they never involved me much, because they always felt kind of superficial to me. "Oh, here's this character who's practically perfect in every way, so, uh, sprinkle some angst on top?" I think if there'd been more emphasis on her revolutionary firebrand past day to day, or on her day to day struggle to maintain the practically perfect facade, it wouldn't have seemed so detached when it did come up.