Niners Unite...around Babylon 5! - The Lost Threads

Well, that pic is from Into the Blue - ya might wanna check it out, and keep an eye open for the Alba nip slip towards the end of the movie.

Eh...I gave up on it when it originally aired on FOX, and after watchin' the first seven episodes yesterday, I have officially watched it more on DVD than I did on network television. Jessica Alba definately looks good in it, and John Savage is good at playin' a villian.

To keep this on topic, I'll probably get back to Babylon 5 this weekend, I just needed a bit of a break after goin' insane the other night.

 

we are all londo

 

Watched three more episodes

"And the Sky Full of Stars"

I liked this episode a lot, mainly because it went into the background a lot more, which to me had been a bitch sketchy with only hints as to what had gone on. I'm not sure were they are going with the whole Minbari secret thing, but I'm looking forward to finding out more about it.

"Deathwalker"

I thought this one was ok, just had a really weak and predictable ending. It's still confusing to me why all the species on B5 have an ambassador, but Sinclair is a military man and acts as one? But I thought it was a decent episode, but the psychic part really annoyed me a bit. Like I said, the ending was horribly predictable (it was just a matter of how her ship was going to blow up)and a bit of a reset button.

"Believers"

Enjoyable episode I thought, it was a fairly standard episode about the question of ethics, as well as a clashing of beliefs but executed fairly well I thought. The ending was good, though I thought the Dr was a bit stupid if he didn't know what was going to happen to the kid, and it took him an hour or so to realise. The part with the raiders felt like random filler every 10 minutes, but it didn't detract from the overall quality.

Overall...

I don't really dig the whole psychic thing, it bores me and sort of confuses me, probably cause I'm wanting them to get back to the better stories. It seems like they might be building up to something bigger with them, since it was hinted in the episode with Psyhic Chekov and then an episode or two later with a shot of a newspaper article about the Psicorps in the government. I'm looking forward to finding more information out about the past, the war etc. Especially since it was revealed that they -let- the humans win, and now after Sinclair had been kidnapped? Weird.

 

Mimbari War mystery is suberp and has long term effects. And Psi-Corps element is first class in my opinion. It adds an unusual depth.

Waiting your comments for other episodes Phily B

 

I agree that Deathwalker was a weak episode (one of the weakest of season one, in my book). The Psi Corp and the telepaths become major players as the season go on (and Bester becomes a semi-regular by the end), but I think many will agree that problems in season five and the early cancellation of Crusade leave that story without *complete* resolution. Hopefully The Lost Tales will give us that.

And what is with this Mimbari - Minbari debate? It's clearly Minbari, I don't understand what all the back and forth I've seen over time is about. Some inside joke from back in the day when I wasn't watching the series?

 

^

Hey, I liked 'Deathwalker', if for no other reason than it had Sarah Douglas. She's cool.



Anyway, I'll be finished up with James Cameron's Dark Angel - The Complete First Season tonight, and I'll be gettin' back to Babylon 5 - The Complete Second Season tomorrow. I left off with 'Acts of Sacrifice' on the third disc, so I'll be watchin' 'Hunter, Prey' some time 'round lunch.

 

I haven't thought once that it was Mimbari, it's definately Minbari

Going to go watch the next two or three now before bed.

 

Telepaths. Not psychics, telepaths. They're never referred to as psychics, they're referred to as telepaths. That's telepaths. And they're here for the duration, so get used to them.

What this episode contributes to most is the image of the Vorlons. Kosh is screwing with Talia's head for his own nefarious purposes. This subplot was actually part of what was intended to be an ongoing issue for Talia, but which (for various reasons) never actually got where it's going. But it's still an interesting look at what Vorlons are willing to do, as is the "predictable" ending, which is important less for what happens than for the fact that it's the Vorlons that do it.

That's more setup for later stuff, specifically the episode "Signs and Portents."

 

^^
Was the stuff with raiders specifically added as setup, though? I thought that was the season one episode that came up short and so the material was added in. It's been a while, though, so I'm not sure.

 

Probably a bit of both. I imagine it was like, "hmm...we're running a bit short. What can I stick in here? Well I know we have this thing with raiders coming up soon, so maybe I can take this opportunity to set that up."

 

The Raiders were never anything more than generic bad guys to knock down when they didn't have anything bigger to aim at, anyway.

 

fwiw, Deathwalker is one of my S1 favorites:

ymmv

 

"Survivors"

I thought this one was a bit boring, for the most part anyway. Though I did like hearing about Garybaldi's past, and the security woman was hot. A nice twist, which I did see coming, but it was still a nice twist I thought. But the parts were he was just running around talking to the ambassadors were a bit boring, it was like it was supposed to be a tension filled chase, like the fugitive...but it had no tension. It still was good though.

"By Any Means Necessary"

I liked this one a lot, I enjoyed seeing that there was still a working class who worked in mines etc, and the same problems still persist into those days. I thought the solution to the problems was a little weak, surely such a blatant loophole wouldn't have been allowed? But it wasn't a total loss, because they made it pretty clear towards the end that Sinclair was in trouble. The ambassador plant/statue stuff was funny, between Londo and the other guy. I thought it was a solid episode overall.

"Signs and Portents"

I'm not sure what the hell was happening, but it was still a DAMN cool episode. First of, who the hell was that guy going round and asking the people what they wanted? I'm not sure if I they specified this, or if I just missde it completely. I assumed that he wasn't human, and that he was part of another Empire, perhaps smaller, left alone or unknown to Earth? That ship which took the raiders out in one shot, that was his ship right which is how he got? The battle scenes were awesome, finally got to see B5 in action and some good space battles. I also had my question about why Sinclair was in command at such a low rank, interesting. Some nice twists in there with the eye, and the prophecy that B5 would be destroyed was a good build up to a future arc. Though I assume it doesn't get destroyed cause there are 5 seasons

Random thoughts

- Garybaldi looks like a loyal puppy dog

- Ivanova has a weird voice

- Sinclair looks like Christian Bale sometimes

- I don't really like the sets, they look like cardboard a lot of the time, but I can live with it.

 

He's human. But as to who he's working for.....

Notice that he approached the ambassadors of every major government except Earth.

 

JMS's DVD commentary for "Signs and Portents" includes some hilarious lines about how the Raiders are just generic bad guys. There was a line along the lines of "The Raiders are just sitting around, having a beer, until I call them to serve as stock bad guys."

Also, on the psychic/telepath question....."psychic" has a pretty distinctive definition, separate from "telepath". The Psi Corps is made up of telepaths, not psychics.

 

Well, since I finished Dark Angel's first season last night, I'm back to Babylon 5 today. I finished the fourth disc ('Hunter, Prey', 'There all the Honor Lies', 'And Now for a Word' and 'In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum') already, and have 'Knives' playin' now.

'And Now for a Word' really reminded me of those old M*A*S*H episodes, where the reporter interviewed all the main cast members.

As for 'Knives', I already don't like it...in Babylon 5: The Gathering, Sinclair tells Delenn that there was an argument about the small space a Japanese stone garden would take up, but by 'Knives' the station has a whole freakin' baseball field?

 

^Hmm, good point. That hadn't occurred to me before, but you're right.

Oh well, not like its ever used all that much. Maybe it's a batting cage with a holographic illusion of a field?

 

If it were just a battin' cage, why the drone thing goin' back & forth collectin' balls?