There's not much to dissect. It is, easily, the first-season episode that feels the most like a reheated leftover script from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the preaching in it is so heavy-handed to the point of being nauseating.
Babylon 5
- Thread starter Kail
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There's not much to dissect. It is, easily, the first-season episode that feels the most like a reheated leftover script from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the preaching in it is so heavy-handed to the point of being nauseating.
Which is ironic, because at the time, much hay was made over the fact that Star Trek never would've ended an episode that way. The years have sort of erased how much B5 was in the shadow of TNG.
"A Voice in the Wilderness: Part Two"
The conclusion struck me as a little weaker than the setup given that much of it was fairly predictable. Yes, Delenn's buddy indeed heads to the planet where he'll remain on a permanent basis. Yes, Garibaldi's ex indeed shows up and it's a bit of an anticlimax for him. And yes, Londo continued to be great. This two-parter was a real showcase for him, wasn't it?
What's still not totally clear is just what the Machine is, exactly, and what purpose it serves. All we really know is that another race wanted it, and other races would certainly seek it too because it will give them an "advantage". For now, though, the time isn't right; it belongs to "the future" - which I obviously take to mean "it's only season one, so check back again later in the story."
Based on the late point in the season, though, I have to assume that whichever role the planet and the Machine will end up playing, it might be significant. I'm still curious as to what the Narn and Vorlons will make of this; G'Kar and Kosh were conspicuously absent from the proceedings and I'm eager to see their takes on the situation down below - since, surely, they'll know before long?
As for Mars, I have to assume this was merely early days before a long plotline unfolds. For now, I'm most into the show when the various races are dabbled in intrigue and I hope that the story finds a way to integrate the Ambassadors in conflict and unison on a grander scale, rather than using them now and then as individual viewpoints into their race's perspective.
Rating: ***
-"My god! Whoever's piloting that shuttle's a madman!" *cut to a cackling Londo*
-Captain Pierce was a teeth-grinder; I liked his utter incredulity regarding Sinclair's gall. You have to imagine he's not used to being spoken to like that. And I have a feeling this won't be the first time Earth's military powers will come along to flex their muscles uninvited.
-The effects are definitely getting better. Nice space battle in this one.
-It's a little odd how those barflies didn't recognise Garibaldi and thought it a good idea to upset him. Come to think of it, a similar scene happened a few episodes ago with Ivanova. These civilians need to learn more about the station brass.
The conclusion struck me as a little weaker than the setup given that much of it was fairly predictable. Yes, Delenn's buddy indeed heads to the planet where he'll remain on a permanent basis. Yes, Garibaldi's ex indeed shows up and it's a bit of an anticlimax for him. And yes, Londo continued to be great. This two-parter was a real showcase for him, wasn't it?
What's still not totally clear is just what the Machine is, exactly, and what purpose it serves. All we really know is that another race wanted it, and other races would certainly seek it too because it will give them an "advantage". For now, though, the time isn't right; it belongs to "the future" - which I obviously take to mean "it's only season one, so check back again later in the story."
Based on the late point in the season, though, I have to assume that whichever role the planet and the Machine will end up playing, it might be significant. I'm still curious as to what the Narn and Vorlons will make of this; G'Kar and Kosh were conspicuously absent from the proceedings and I'm eager to see their takes on the situation down below - since, surely, they'll know before long?
As for Mars, I have to assume this was merely early days before a long plotline unfolds. For now, I'm most into the show when the various races are dabbled in intrigue and I hope that the story finds a way to integrate the Ambassadors in conflict and unison on a grander scale, rather than using them now and then as individual viewpoints into their race's perspective.
Rating: ***
-"My god! Whoever's piloting that shuttle's a madman!" *cut to a cackling Londo*
-Captain Pierce was a teeth-grinder; I liked his utter incredulity regarding Sinclair's gall. You have to imagine he's not used to being spoken to like that. And I have a feeling this won't be the first time Earth's military powers will come along to flex their muscles uninvited.
-The effects are definitely getting better. Nice space battle in this one.
-It's a little odd how those barflies didn't recognise Garibaldi and thought it a good idea to upset him. Come to think of it, a similar scene happened a few episodes ago with Ivanova. These civilians need to learn more about the station brass.
It's more a case of broadening our view of the Earth Alliance. So far all you've really be shown is the military and the Psi Corps. Now you'll get more of a sense that it's not this monolithic thing but an Alliance of sovereign nations...and very much not sovereign colonies that are perhaps a little dissatisfied with that state of affairs.
All I'll say at this point is that the purpose of the first season overall is to introduce the audience to the world of Babylon 5, establish the players and begin to set the board before the real story begins.
By a subordinate officer no less. Sinclair is still in the right of course; his authority as military governor comes directly from the EA President and as such Pierce is not in the local chain of command, even if he outranks every EA officer on that station.
Mate, I couldn't pick my local MP out of a crowd if my life depended on it, much less whoever the hell the local Chief Inspector of police is!
Also, B5's populous is mostly in transit and not residential. Most probably don't care who the local big-wigs are beyond the dock supervisor and the customs inspector...especially not when they're in a bar trying to get their buzz on in their downtime.
Just remember with the effects, if your watching the show on DVD or streaming, they were cropping the CGI effects from NTSC SD 480i 4x3 videotape, so they were only grabbing the Center of the image. So they may look better but there are still episodes where they look terrible.
The ultimate way to watch the DVD’s would be to set your player to output a 4x3 letterbox. That way the CGI is at its original resolution or as close as possible.
Really, B5’s best presentation to date are it’s VHS or Laserdisc releases.
Twas in sfx in early 99.
No, because then, you're double-cropping the image and just getting a square cut out of the middle rather than the full width of the top and sides of the VFX. The DVDs look their best on a 4x3 SD TV, since the cropped effects are (more or less) displayed at the same resolution they were created for, just with black bars, and the screen being below anamorphic DVD resolution makes the higher-resolution non-VFX shots a little less obvious in comparison.
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I love anything that makes fun of ridiculous religious dogma, so it's on my list of favorites.
Display in C&C. The top display shows Space Craft THX1138 (Circled) in the docking bay just before Captain Pierce is pictured, in a nod to George Lucas. The bottom display shows the aliens scanning the language banks in the station computer. The top word was supposed to be ORAC. They did get FORBIN, NOMAD and SKYNET correct. Acknowledging SCI FI computer systems that have gone rogue.
The symbols in the lower right panel look a lot like the classic "rear view, nose pointed slightly down" Star Destroyer, too....
Maybe it all has to do with the Universal Dictionary being upgraded to the Forty-Second Edition. The answer to everything in the universe is 42. I'll get my towel.
Over egging the pudding.
Too many chefs in the kitchen.
JMS then has to either say "No, that wasn't me. It was a nameless drone I paid minimum wage." Or he lies, trying to take credit for joke he may not completely get.
Either way, it's really awkward.
Cut it out. I don’t remember many after season one, and the last straw was the ID code in “Babylon Squared” being Elvis’s date of birth and date of death.
And they were definitely done without his knowledge.
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