And was the episode about those aliens, or was it as much about Marcus? Not everything needs to be about world building. There is such a thing as "character development".
Babylon 5
- Thread starter Kail
- Start date
Are you following the Council of Geeks Jumpgate podcast? It's a Babylon 5 rewatch podcast hosted by Jessie Gender and Vera Wylde. They just did "Exogenesis" last week, so they're right about where you are in the show. Might be fun to give them a listen after you watch an episode.
There's also such a thing as, "I'm allowed to find an episode lackluster, whether or not you relate to my reasoning."
The episodes that people call 'filler' are generally the most character-centric episodes. Without those, would we have felt as much as we did at the final few episodes? I think not.
I think I might have; Marcus had plenty of other opportunities to shine throughout the series. (shrug) But the reality is I haven't watched the series or this particular episode in several years, and even when I did, I wouldn't necessarily be able to accurately recall how I felt the first time I watched it.
This seems a silly thing to be arguing about in any case. Whether or not it's a good character-centric episode, it still feels like filler to me...and I'd note that in the Discovery forums people are all-too-happy to bash character-centric episodes that they don't feel particularly advance the plot. I suppose there's room for a larger discussion as to when a filler episode that's intended as a character-builder becomes too much filler versus character building...but I don't know that it's a discussion I'd be interested in participating in, because that seems as though it might be difficult to qualify.
Arguing? I don't recall doing anything of the sort. I believe the word that's appropriate is "discussing". It's a simple exchange of viewpoints and reasons for same.
I dislike when someone dismisses an episode as "filler." The writer spent his time and talent writing it, the actors spent their time and talent working it, the crew spent their time and talent and sweat making it. The stories are often good, or at least entertaining. It may not advance the overall arc of the series, but may at least provide 40ish minutes of enjoyment or distraction or escapism. For decades, TV shows weren't even serialized, so I see nothing wrong with a standalone adventure in the middle of an arc. Dismissing it as "filler" suggests all those talented people were just wasting their time making it for an unappreciative audience.
Saying one didn't like an episode is a different matter - that's a fair review, and at least doesn't sound like a dismissal of the effort.
Saying one didn't like an episode is a different matter - that's a fair review, and at least doesn't sound like a dismissal of the effort.
The first 5 minutes were missing from my vhs recording of the episode.
Which pissed me off.
So I didn't rewatch this episode as much as everything around it.
Their story is similar to the Technomages.
Refugees to a war that hasn't happened yet.
Although it seems like these bugs could have answered a lot of Sheridan's questions, and helped out the Minbari engineers still building the White Star Fleet no end.
Hell.
They could have hitched a ride with the WhiteStar back to season one, or season one minus 10 years, and really got out ahead of all sorts of trouble.
I don't regard calling an episode "filler" as a comment on the writing of the episode. One could call plenty of Star Trek episodes "filler" that were still well-written. To me, "filler", particularly in the context of Babylon Five, and especially once things get highly serialized, is an indication of whether an episode could be removed from the series without significantly harming it overall.
As an example, season four of Discovery has episodes in the back half of the season that have been criticized for dragging out events that could have been handled more succinctly. I feel the episodes are well-written in and of themselves, and do add some worthwhile character beats...but I also agree that the show probably wouldn't have been harmed if it had sped things along a bit more.
In a more episodic series it's even easier to describe episodes, even good ones, as "filler", because they're intended to wrap up events within the course of the episode and not necessarily shed a lot of insight on the characters or the world they inhabit.
In any case, I'd refer you to my original wording, which specified that "Exogenesis", "feels a bit like filler". That's not me calling the episode filler. I think the episode would have worked better if it had occurred earlier in the series...but the echoes with the Technomage episode are also, for me, somewhat difficult to ignore (at least now that I'm thinking about it).
I'm reasonably sure JMS has never posted or said anything of the sort like " jms is consciously thinking 'This is a filler episode'." At all. Ever. Rather, he's *often* said that he wrote an episode because it had an idea he wanted to explory as a writer. Which is another reason why I despise the term 'filler episode'. Those episodes expanded characters and the B5 universe and the station itself in ways not possible in the 'ray guns and shoot-em-up' episodes that people call the 'main story'.
When I did a piece on it for SFX around 98, Believers seemed to be the only episode with no later relevance to the Valen/Shadow/Vorlon/Clark plots.
Even then, their beliefs about the soul are arguably relevant as an opposite to Minbari beliefs about souls being reborn, even in other species.
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The idea that a species can die out quickly is big.
Sheriden blows up the Markab jump gate to destroy a shadow ship and make it harder for assholes to loot the Markab homeworld.
Other shitty episodes stayed off that list for less.
That's a different episode, iirc.
Doh.
Believers is trash.
Believers is trash.
"INFECTION" was the first one to touch on the theme of racial purity in B5. Also IPX.
I can't really call it filler.
I can't really call it filler.
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