Babylon 5

[LJones41]

Fair enough, you like them, I find them a bit stinky, but are they essential viewing? One could argue that "Grail" and "Infection" are more essential.

"Legacies" is more or less a foreshadow of Delenn's problems with the Minbari and especially Neroon. It lasts up to early-to-mid Season 4. "Eyes" was the result of Sinclair's encounter with Bester in "Mind War". You can decide whether or not they were essential to you. They were to me.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

^They are to me as well. However, the problem that I was addressing was that it seems that not everyone can tolerate watching all of B5 season one. Just like I can't tolerate watching all of DS9 season 1. There are some outstanding episodes and there are some stinky ones,.

 

[Emperor Norton]

So I've gotten passed the midway point of season 1, and I have started to at least have interest and enjoyment in the show. There are some problems, but they are acceptable. I don't like some of the acting. A lot of guest characters, and even the main human cast, says dialogue like the actor doesn't really believe in what they're saying and doesn't take it seriously. The most interesting and strongest characters and best acting have remained, since the first episode, the alien ambassadors. It gives one a new appreciation of William Shatner. Make fun of it all you want, but that dude did a totally new science fiction series and made that character believable and sound like what he was saying was real. I believe it when he's talking to a blue screen like it's impending doom.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

There are lists around of the essential episodes in season 1. I would suggest anyone struggling to complete the course should stick with those and ignore relative stinkers such as "Believers", "Grail", "Eyes", "Legacies", "Infection", and "TKO". Here is my list:

Episode 1 – Midnight on the Firing Line
Episode 6 – Mind War
Episode 8 – And the Sky Full of Stars
Episode 13 – Signs and Portents
Episodes 18 and 19 – A Voice in the Wilderness
Episode 20– Babylon Squared
Episode 21 – The Quality of Mercy
Episode 22 – Chrysalis

This is probably a wildly unpopular opinion, but I prefer the first two seasons to the rest of the series, more so the first year. I prefer Sinclair over Sheridan. I liked that the show had a variety of "other voices" writing for it, even if some episodes were clear stinkers.

Over the years, I've become less interested in the larger meta story of BABYLON 5, which is derivative.

 

[B.J.]

We've had season 3 for a few years, so I got my wife the other seasons for Christmas. We've been rewatching the series for the first time since the original broadcast and enjoying it immensely, especially when we notice the little things that don't mean much yet.

Did have one question though. While watching "Infection" (not one of the best, but it's okay), IPX was introduced for the first time, and the company was "unheard of". They had to dig to find any information on it. Was this retconned later on? The way I remember it, it seems like they were pretty well known later in the series. Plus, the timeframe here is after the Icarus mission.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Yeah, the IPX thing seemed like an inconsistency to me as well. The episode was written by JMS so there's no excuse really. Teething troubles of a new series.

 

[Emperor Norton]

So I've gotten to season 2, and after all the lamenting of season 1...I miss season 1 and Sinclair.

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[Sybok Was Wrong]

Shatner was just awesome in TOS! They all were. They performed with such enthusiasm and gusto.

The Original Battlestar Galactica had good, lively performances too. Actors "into it".

Babylon 5 is just about the best SF series ever, but your observations about performances is astute. Tho Boxlightner was to B5 What Shat was to TOS

 

[dahj]

The Original Battlestar Galactica had good, lively performances too. Actors "into it".
Babylon 5 is just about the best SF series ever, but your observations about performances is astute.

I don't think the issue was in the performances, as much as in that JMS' dialogue was at times very difficult to sell. Dialogue just isn't his strong suit. The principal cast was pretty decent and I'll challenge anyone who claims that Jurasik and Katsulas weren't "into it"

 

[tomalak301]

Jurasik and Katsulas had some of the best on screen chemistry I've seen on any show. I also liked Boxleitner but JMS really loved giving Sharidan these grandiose speeches.

 

[Solariabsg25]

Jurasik's "The War" monologue from In The Beginning I still believe is one of the finest TV performances ever.

 

[Kail]

So I've gotten to season 2, and after all the lamenting of season 1...I miss season 1 and Sinclair.

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My advise is stay with it! I was like you, I thought season one was... underwhelming. Bad acting, bad writing, but as the show went on I found it to be one of the best Sci-Fi shows ever! The over all story, over the entire run of the show, is BRILLIANT! I had to go back and re-watch it all again. SO MANY things that are tossed off as an aside in the early seasons turn out to be VERY important later. Just an amazing ride!

 

[B.J.]

Finally finished rewatching the first season! Ooh, what I wouldn't give to have fresh eyes seeing *that ship* appear at the end of Signs and Portents! Pretty sure my reaction the first time was something along the lines of "WTF was that?!?"

But this time around, I also happened to notice the mural in the casino. (Better view of parts of it in this short video.) It had been bugging me because I knew I'd seen it somewhere else, but couldn't track it down at first. It's a modification of an illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost depicting "science on the march", appearing in Popular Mechanics' 50th anniversary issue in 1952. I couldn't find a good picture of the B5 version (yet), but apparently B5 itself is in the mural at top right. They also changed the barn into pyramids, and replaced all the cars with copies of the one art deco car. Not sure what else was changed. This of course has really no impact on the B5 story, but I thought it was an interesting bit of trivia.

 

[LJones41]

Jurasik and Katsulas had some of the best on screen chemistry I've seen on any show. I also liked Boxleitner but JMS really loved giving Sharidan these grandiose speeches.

That's because Sheridan was a bit of a drama queen. God, I've been aware of this since his first appearance in Season Two.

I don't like some of the acting. A lot of guest characters, and even the main human cast, says dialogue like the actor doesn't really believe in what they're saying and doesn't take it seriously. The most interesting and strongest characters and best acting have remained, since the first episode, the alien ambassadors. It gives one a new appreciation of William Shatner.

I didn't like some of the acting by minor supporting characters in the series. But if I must be brutally honest, I can say the same about all of the TREK shows, along with a good number of other television series, as well.

 

[Forbin]

Oh, the background and walk-on characters are terrible. I think especially of that woman and her family (the little girl with the ball) during Franklin's walkabout Down Below. The woman sounded like she was reading her lines cold for the very first time, in a high school play, loud enough for the drama coach to hear her from the back row. But eventually I started thinking of it as a dramatic device, and just let it flow.

 

[Steve Roby]

I don't think the issue was in the performances, as much as in that JMS' dialogue was at times very difficult to sell. Dialogue just isn't his strong suit. The principal cast was pretty decent and I'll challenge anyone who claims that Jurasik and Katsulas weren't "into it"

IMHO, Jurasik and Katsulas were the only B5 regulars I'd rate as more than competent; they elevated every scene they were in. (Though why was Londo practically the only Centauri with an accent?) Claudia Christian and Jerry Doyle weren't on their level as actors but they were often enjoyable. The rest, well...

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

What?! Boxlghtner elevated every scene he was in as well. Absolutely! He's B5's Kirk!

Claudia Christian and Jerry Doyle were at the Jonathan Frakes-level of acting. Likeable, but Limited.

And yes, MJS gave dialog even Sir Patrick would find hard to sell at times.

Babylon 5 was a great show. I really rooted for it when it was on, during the DS9 Era. There was "something there"- they were REALLY trying.

The only station that was airing B5/giving it a chance... was a small-town Cable Station nearby, which only added to its "underdog feel".

 

[Forbin]

I liked Jerry Doyle a lot. He always seemed like he was just there to have fun. He had a sort of laid-back, every-man style. Claudia? well, she may never have been more than a B-actress, but I've always loved her.

I'd put Mira Furlan on a level with Katsulas and Jurasic.

And I'll always love Pat Tallman. So she was mainly a stuntwoman who got into acting. She got stuck with some lame lines now and then, but she occasionally moved me.

 

[LJones41]

IMHO, Jurasik and Katsulas were the only B5 regulars I'd rate as more than competent; they elevated every scene they were in. (Though why was Londo practically the only Centauri with an accent?) Claudia Christian and Jerry Doyle weren't on their level as actors but they were often enjoyable. The rest, well...

I don't agree with you. I thought the entire cast was first-rate. Each had one or several episodes that allowed them to showcase their skills as actors. But I do believe that Jurasik and Katsulas were the best of the bunch.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Well I just purchased the books. The roughly $150 price tag was a bit of a "yikes" moment but I could not resist.