Farscape or Babylon 5?

[Reverend]

^That one is pretty crap. You can tell that at this stage the show was still trying to find it's footing. I think you'll like the next one though.

[Jeff O'Connor]

Rest assured, the Aeryn/Pilot dynamic has future, better installments!

[kirk55555]

PK Tech Girl - This was a pretty good episode. It was interesting to learn a bit more about Rygel's past, and to see Aeryn interact with another peacekeeper. The scavenger aliens were a little annoying, but it wasn't a big deal. The romance between Chricton and the woman seemed a bit rushed, and it really seemed to be there just to mess with Aeryn. Still, a solid episode.

I do plan to talk about B5 episodes, its just taking awhile for the DVD to come, thats why I'm trying to just watch one Farscape episode a day, so that I can talk about both.

[DWF]

PK Tech Girl was technically the first ep. shown on a preview night on USA for Sci-Fi's Friday night line up. Farscape's airing order at the start of the first season was different than it is on the DVDs, the first ep. after the pilot was Back And Back To The Future, iinstead of I.E.T.

[kirk55555]

I got my B5 season 1 DVD I've watched the next 2 episodes after the pilot

The Soul Hunter - This was a good episode. The idea of a race of aliens whose goal is to take souls is creepy enough, but when one of them goes crazy, its even creepier. I like how they dealt with him in the end.

Born to the Purple - This was an ok episode. I wasn't that interested in Londo's romance or the woman, but the episode had some good scenes, and the plot with Garibaldi and who was using the gold channel was interesting.

I also watched another farscape episode.

That Old Black Magic - This was a good episode, although I'm still a bit underwhelmed by Crais as a villain, or atleast his motivations. I also wonder why Chricton just snapped and attacked Crais near the end. It almost seemed like the writers realised that the reason that Crais was hunting John wasn't going to make him completely disobey orders and keep hunting John, so they wrote this episode and made John responsible for prolonging the chase. Still, I liked the episode and Maldis was interesting. I also liked seeing another side of Zhaan. I hope they go more into her backstory eventually.

[RoJoHen]

kirk55555 wrote:

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Born to the Purple - This was an ok episode. I wasn't that interested in Londo's romance or the woman

You may not have been interested in this particular plotline, but you will definitely want to remember it.

[tomalak301]

kirk55555 wrote:

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PK Tech Girl - This was a pretty good episode. It was interesting to learn a bit more about Rygel's past, and to see Aeryn interact with another peacekeeper. The scavenger aliens were a little annoying, but it wasn't a big deal. The romance between Chricton and the woman seemed a bit rushed, and it really seemed to be there just to mess with Aeryn. Still, a solid episode.

I do plan to talk about B5 episodes, its just taking awhile for the DVD to come, thats why I'm trying to just watch one Farscape episode a day, so that I can talk about both.

I love PK Tech Girl, but it does hold kind of a special place because it was the episode I watched the night of September 11th, 2001. It was Farscape providing a much needed distraction after getting home from school and turning on the news because of what happened in the morning.

[kirk55555]

DNA Mad Scientist (Farscape) - This episode really shocked me. It was an interesting episode, but it really changed some of the characters to me. Rygel and Ka D'Argo obviously had loose definitions of right and wrong, and Zhaan has some kind of dark past, but what they did to Pilot was downright evil. They held him down and removed an arm. I get why he didn't try to get revenge or anything, but it was bad. I never thought they were paragons of virtue, but to finally see that they'd sell anyone for just a chance to get home was eye opening. Its not like it effects my enjoyment of the series or anything, and honestly the fact that they totally shocked me could be good in that it makes the show more unpredictable (not that it was predictable before). Now, I honestly want them to get punished for what they did. I still like them as characters and find them interesting. I'm guessing the writers intended this episode to show the audience that these characters aren't misunderstood or wrongfully accused criminals. They may have their good sides, but they are vicious and really have no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Like I said before, its shocking, but it does add a new twist to the series. Either that, or the writers screwed up and they won't do something like this again, and this episode was just a mistake while trying to get a handle on the characters personalities. Either way, its changed my perceptions of them. I do like that Aeryn and John were consistant, and we see more development with Aeryn, who, like John, was shocked about what they did to pilot. I figured she would be, but compared to the average peacekeeper, or her self in the first few episodes, its a change. She's had consistant character growth, which I think has been done well. I did like how aeryne was shocked (along with John) by what they did to pilot. she's come a long way from being just an average peacekeeper, looking down her nose at aliens. She's had good, consistant character growth, and I'd say her and John are my favorite characters so far.

Infection (Babylon 5) - This was a good episode. I have to say that, while this shows special effects are lacking, they know how to do alien make up. This episode doesn't seem to have been too important to the overall series, but it was entertaining.

[ATimson]

kirk55555 wrote:

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Investation (Babylon 5) - This was a good episode. I have to say that, while this shows special effects are lacking, they know how to do alien make up. This episode doesn't seem to have been too important to the overall series, but it was entertaining.

You mean "Infection"? Wow. You're far kinder towards it than most viewers.

Thanks to a comment by JMS in the script books, I now know what he was trying to do with the episode (I can't get into details without major spoilers). But I still think it failed.

[kirk55555]

ATimson wrote:

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You mean "Infection"? Wow. You're far kinder towards it than most viewers.

Thanks to a comment by JMS in the script books, I now know what he was trying to do with the episode (I can't get into details without major spoilers). But I still think it failed.

I meant Infection. I really don't get what was the problem with it. It wasn't mindblowing or anything, but I didn't notice any glaring problems. Its only the fourth B5 episode I've seen, but everyone seemed to be in character, and the plot, while probably pointless to the series as a whole, was standard sci-Fi stuff. It had flaws (I think it would have been better if the machine thing hadn't started talking, the commander talking it to death was kind of stupid, and the racism part was overdone), and it was forgettable. All shows have episodes like that, especially in the first season.

[Reverend]

Actually, there are elements of this episode that are tangentially important to some of the central arcs, but it's the kind of thing that only becomes apparent in hindsight. Season one has a lot of that. Episodes tick by, things are said and done that don't necessarily register, then you re-watch the whole series over and will probably be shocked at how early some of the big twists were put right out there for all to see and few to notice.

Still, 'Infection' is definitely one of the weaker episodes of the whole five year run, so if you liked that, the good episodes should blow your socks off.

[kirk55555]

Well, I wasn't amazed by it, but I didn't dislike it, it was just kind of there. Not great, but not terrible. A kind of episode that most first seasons have (like TNG's Angel One and The Big Goodbye) that aren't terrible, but that you probably won't think about after watching.

[JD]

kirk55555 wrote:

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DNA Mad Scientist (Farscape) - This episode really shocked me. It was an interesting episode, but it really changed some of the characters to me. Rygel and Ka D'Argo obviously had loose definitions of right and wrong, and Zhaan has some kind of dark past, but what they did to Pilot was downright evil. They held him down and removed an arm. I get why he didn't try to get revenge or anything, but it was bad. I never thought they were paragons of virtue, but to finally see that they'd sell anyone for just a chance to get home was eye opening. Its not like it effects my enjoyment of the series or anything, and honestly the fact that they totally shocked me could be good in that it makes the show more unpredictable (not that it was predictable before). Now, I honestly want them to get punished for what they did. I still like them as characters and find them interesting. I'm guessing the writers intended this episode to show the audience that these characters aren't misunderstood or wrongfully accused criminals. They may have their good sides, but they are vicious and really have no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Like I said before, its shocking, but it does add a new twist to the series. Either that, or the writers screwed up and they won't do something like this again, and this episode was just a mistake while trying to get a handle on the characters personalities. Either way, its changed my perceptions of them. I do like that Aeryn and John were consistant, and we see more development with Aeryn, who, like John, was shocked about what they did to pilot. I figured she would be, but compared to the average peacekeeper, or her self in the first few episodes, its a change. She's had consistant character growth, which I think has been done well. I did like how aeryne was shocked (along with John) by what they did to pilot. she's come a long way from being just an average peacekeeper, looking down her nose at aliens. She's had good, consistant character growth, and I'd say her and John are my favorite characters so far.

It's been a while since I watched, but I believe the next few episodes did actually deal quite a bit with what they did to Pilot here. Which is was kind of nice since a lot of shows would have had something like this occur and then have everyone getting along perfect fine in the next episode.

[RandyS]

ATimson wrote:

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You mean "Infection"? Wow. You're far kinder towards it than most viewers.

Thanks to a comment by JMS in the script books, I now know what he was trying to do with the episode (I can't get into details without major spoilers). But I still think it failed.

So do I. Along with Soul Hunter, Infection was one of my least favorites.

Of course, season one's absolute worst episode is still to come, but I'll let Kirk5555 decide that for himself.

[kirk55555]

RandyS wrote:

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Of course, season one's absolute worst episode is still to come, but I'll let Kirk5555 decide that for himself.

That doesn't sound good

Now, for the episodes I watched over the weekend.

The Parliament of Dreams (Babylon 5) - I liked this episode. There was some entertaining goofiness. Overall I enjoyed the episode. The assassain parts were my favorite. I'm not too interested in the commander's love interest, but I guess they thought he really needed one.

Mind War (Babylon 5) - This was a very entertaining episode. It was interesting to learn more about the psi-corps. Walter Koenig played a great role, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a star Trek fan I'm pretty sure he makes more appearances, which is cool. Bester is an interesting character.

They've Got a Secret (Farscape) - i really enjoyed this episode, and it actually kind of made me change my opinion on DNA Mad Scientist a bit. I still think that episode went a bit dark and I'm still not sure what Zhaan's motivation was to help them remove pilots arm (I get she misses home, but enough to maim pilot?) but, learning about D'argo's past helps make his motivation more clear beyond him doing it because he's just vicious. I think that, while the actions in DNA MS were shocking, I was probably a bit hard on the characters. It still seemed a bit too much, but I think this episode helped put it in persepective. As for the plot overall, it was good, although Moya's baby is a weird idea and I think its going to become a way for writers to make excuses as to why the ship can't do things it should be able to, I don't think it will really go anywhere, but I could be wrong.

Till the blood Runs Clear - This was an ok episode, but thats it. The plot was not amazing, although it had some good parts. It just seemed like another way to screw over John. Also, the thing with Zhaan was funny the first time, but they kind of over did it.

At this point in my watching of the series, I'm enjoying both of them, but I'd say I'm enjoying farscape more. B5 isn't bad by any stretch, I like it, but if I had to choose only one at this point, it would be Farscape. I'm still excited to watch more episodes of both shows.