Babylon 5 - I'm finally going to do it

Yeah she does start out kind of tepid (Not a cold hearted bitch by any means, just not real warm.) and bland and some of CC's delivery comes off as forced and awkward, but from about Mid Season 3 to about Mid Season 4 she's utterly fantastic.

 

Not only that, but in the first few episodes, Claudia Christian appears to be trying a pseudo-Russian accent. Her "accent" was rather stilted and cold. It's kind of funny, but what really stood out for me was that she didn't use contractions in those first episodes. I can't remember the exact lines, but it's stuff like, "I do not like it", instead of a more natural "I don't like it".

It kind of reminds of Patrick Stewart's strange "accent" in season 1. Luckily both actors dropped it and went with a more natural way, for them, of speaking.

 

I hated Ivanova in Season One... but in Season Two she became one of my favorite characters

 

It also reminds me now of how Leonard Nimoy was very precise with his diction as Spock since, if Spock was an alien, English would be his second language. Initially, of course, that came out as SUDDEN SPONTANEOUS YELLING and occasional misplaced emphasis. "Deflec-tors say there's something there, sen-sors say there isn't," and the like.

 

Must be. I just watched Call to Arms and both chapters of The Lost Tales this morning over breakfast. Tomorrow morning I will be watching Sleeping in Light, bringing an end to two months of Babylon 5 at breakfast time.

 

Infection

So Babylon 5 does Terminator. Not too bad but of the 5 I've seen so far not jumping up and down either. It was a nice action episode, with some good development and forshadowing about human/alien relations and fanatics. I'm sure this is a theme that will be brought up again and again throughout the series. Still, it was quite cheesy for the most part.

Not much to say but I did notice one thing. How big is Babylon 5. A quarter million aliens and humans on that thing? Good lord that's a lot of people to try and keep the peace.

I don't think I've an episode like this yet, but it would be great to get an episode kind of focusing on the station, like where it is in relation to earth and Centauri Prime, and where the Jump Gate leads to.

 

Infection was the very first episode they filmed and it definitely did not come off well. The next one, Parliament of Dreams, is the first one they filmed after having seen footage and it's much better.

 

A quick primer on Jumpgates:

Hyperspace in Babylon 5 is an alternate dimension where everything is closer together. Unfortunately, there's nothing in there except for bizarre and unpredictable gravity currents. Each jumpgate is connected by a "beacon pair" to about a half-dozen other jumpgates (you can also have beacons that just mark locations without a jumpgate, so ships large enough to have their own jump engines can go there directly without going back to normal space at the jumpgate and then finishing the trip at slower-than-light speed). Anyway, ships follow along these beacons to get to their destinations. If they get off the trail marked by beacon, then they're generally going to be lost forever.

Also, sometimes, star systems will have more than one jumpgate in them (though usually at quite a distance to prevent interference) to increase the number of other systems you can get to in them. That's why you see ships in the middle of long journeys flying through normal space sometimes (like the freighters in "Midnight on the Firing Line."); they're traveling between the two gates in a system.

Since hyperspace is so hostile to navigation, the destruction of jumpgates is forbidden, even in war (since it messes up the entire network if one goes down), and all ships are always allowed to use a jumpgate to exit hyperspace (though the jumpgates can be locked to keep ships from going into hyperspace with them).

They start showing more crazy hyperspace stuff in season 2.

 

JMS was very deliberate in leaving relative speeds/travel distances somewhat vague, though over time (and I don't think this trivia really constitutes as spoilers) we do find out that Earth is about two days away via hyperspace and since B5 is in the Epsilon Eridani system that's about 10-12 light years IIRC.
However, given that hyperspace is a twisted, compressed and from a 4D POV a somewhat hellish dimension, a given distance between two points in hyperspace won't have an consistant ratio to the distance between the equivilant points in normal space.

So in a nutshell, if you go Earth from B5, you effectivly travel 10Lys in two days, but (if I remember this right) B5 to Centauri Prime is only a day, though in normal space it's about 75Lys away. Very convenient from a "speed of plot" POV.

Oh and travel to Earth may be 2 days in hyperspace, but the Sol System jumpgate is in orbit over Io, in the Jovian system, so ships that can't open their own jump points (which is most) have to cross the remaining distance to Mars or Earth in normal space, which can take another two days, depending on the relative orbital positions of the planets. Which is part of the reason why the gate is so far out, to protect against invasion, or at least not make it too easy.

 

this is widely considered Babylon 5's worst episode. if your verdict is "not too bad," i think you're gonna like the show

five miles long, a shining beacon in space, all alone in the night...

there are some maps of the 'verse online, but they have huge spoilers in them - so for your own good, you probably don't want to know. that said, it will be very clear through the show how far things are ("such and such is a 4 day jump from earth"). the jump gate goes into hyperspace. it's essentially an on-ramp to the b5 interstellar highway system.

 

I think I read in one of my B5 guide books that the stated distances between planets varied wildly between different episodes. I think it's save to assume the Narn and Centauri border each other. We know the Centauri are between Earth and the Minbari. And we know the League borders the Centauri. I believe Earth would border the League. I believe the Vorlons border the Minbari? And we know that B5 is placed in neutral territory at a roughly equal distance to all the major powers.

 

Thanks for the info on the Jump Gate. Comparing it to a freeway system does make sense, but I'm still a little fuzzy on where things are. It will probably be clearer as the seasons go on.

The Parliament of Dreams

This is my favorite episode of the series so far. It had it all, laughter, some nice development, and it was just one of those nice change of pace episodes to further introduce this series. Loved the relationship aspect from Sinclair and Cathrine and I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of her. Londo at the beginning when he was drunk was funny and the stuff with G'Kar and Tou'pree was great as well. Also loved how they ended it showing the diverse religions on earth. It was a nice touch.

 

"Parliament" is actually my favorite ep from the first half of the first season, though others would probably go with something else. It was just so fun... and refreshing to see the vast improvement in writing and acting and makeup.

 

The improvements in production values are certainly reassuring, but the writing of the episode doesn't make it my favorite of the year (I've aired my grievances elsewhere, so I won't be redundant here). My favorite would probably be Chrysalis or Babylon Squared, but those are probably the more conventional choices.

 

Something I noticed immediately was Ivonova seemed a lot more relaxed. They let her put down the hair and smile and it was actually great to see. I haven't mentioned Garibaldi that much lately, but I really like this guy. He seems like a fun security chief and his dealings with Londo so far (Such as in The Gathering and MOTFL) have been fun.

 

Mind War

BESTER

If there is one thing I remember about watching B5 the first time, it was Bester. This is the episode where he makes his debut, even though I have to admit I think he gets better in other episodes. This one wasn't the best, but it was pretty good. Liked the character development of Talia (Which after Midnight, seemed to disappear for a while) and Psi Corps. Also, G'Kar's speech at the end about ants was very insightful. Watching these episodes, I think G'Kar is becoming my favorite character so far, even though I like Garibaldi and Londo as well.

 

The War Prayer

Three episodes watched today and three really good ones. This one was absolutely fantastic. It was disturbing, gritty, and felt so real how racial hatred ran deep and how it was the humans who had the hatred. This in the 8 I've seen so far just took the top spot. Great performances all around especially from Susan and Londo. Loved Londo's line about shoes being too tight and not being able to dance and what he did for the kids. Also liked G'Kar's riot scene. There was just so much going on in this episode and it was just really well written how everything kinda tied together. I know it's early yet, but this is in contention of my favorite episode of the season.

 

You'll find that Londo has some of the best dialogue of any character of any TV show ever.

 

I said my favorite of the the first half of the first season, so anything before Signs and Portents

 

his speeches get better and better and better, all through to the very end!

G'Kar: There are things in the universe billions of years older than either of our races. They are vast, timely, and if they are aware of us at all, it is as little more than ants; and we have as much chance of communicating with them as ant an has with us. We know, we've tried. And we've learned that you can either stay out from under foot or be stepped on.

Catherine Saki: That's it? That's all you know?

G'Kar: Yes - they are a mystery. And I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the universe; that we have not yet explained everything. Whatever they are Ms. Saki, they walk near sigma 957. And they must walk there alone.​