Some questions about Crusade (possible Babylon 5 spoilers)

[species5618]

So I've finished Babylon 5, the B5 movies and the Lost Tales, and I've been debating whether or not to watch the short-lived Crusade. I loved B5, liked two of the movies (In the Beginning and A Call to Arms), but The Lost Tales didn't exactly dazzle me.

I'm wondering if Crusade is even worth watching--I know that the story centres around a Drakh plague that threatens to kill humanity within 5 years. However, in B5 we've seen time periods depicted beyond this 5 year span where humanity is doing fine (more or less), which would stongly suggest the plague was cured--I'm guessing this robs Crusade of a good deal of its dramatic tension.

So my first question is if the series is worth watching at all.

My second question deals with the episode order--in anticipation of possibly watching the series, I've found that there are something like 4 different episode orders listed (original broadcast order, revised broadcast order, chronological order, JMS' new preferred order) so I'm wondering what order is the 'best' in which to view the series.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[Lindley]

Unfortunately I don't think there's any 100% correct order. However, I usually go
1) War Zone
2) Ruling from the Tomb 3) Appearances and other Deceits
4) All gray uniform episodes
5) Remaining episodes
since that order serves as the best compromise of visual and character continuity. You do have to pretend the existence of the "laundry accident" episode which destroyed all the gray uniforms, though.....

Is it worth it? Well, it tells some entertaining stories, but ultimately it doesn't really go anywhere. I wouldn't suggest avoiding it, certainly, but there's no compelling need to watch.

 

[Jan]

I liked Crusade for the characters. True, you know that the Drakh Plague gets cured because you've seen periods past the 'dead'line but that was only the beginning. Something else was being set up, parts of which had even started in B5. Sadly, we never got very far. Even so, like I said, the characters are engaging and I still re-watch it on occasion.

Jan

 

[happydave]

If you liked 'A Call To Arms' I don't see why you wouldn't continue with Crusade. It's only 13 episodes so it's not going to take that long to watch it all.

I believe JMS has stated on occasion that the Plague was going to be solved after a season or so (much like Sinclair's Hole in his mind) and the show would launch into something else.

 

[Harvey]

The series is worth it if you can find it for under 20 bucks, which I haven't seen it advertised for often. It's not that it is terribly bad (though 2-3 episodes really miss the mark), it's just that it doesn't have a chance to go anywhere before it's all over. You do get to see Franklin once more, and Lochley thrice more, if that interests you. It is much like A Call to Arms in tone (though Lochley, Galen, and the thief are the only characters who carry over) if you liked that.

I developed an episode order for when I watched the series, but to be honest, none of them are going to make total sense, so I'll let others tell you the best one here.

 

[Mr Light]

Let's put it this way. The first 13 episodes of Crusade were MUCH better than the first 13 episodes of B5. Unfortunately TNT interference really did water down the show. However it did introduce my all time favorite character from the franchise, Galen. (Nitpickers note: I'm not counting Call to Arms he's barely in it! )

 

[Harvey]

Honestly, Galen is barely in the series, when you get right down to it. According to IMDB, he's only in six episodes--and only five, if you write off War Zone along with most fans. Which only makes the series more disappointing to me. The best moments with Galen aren't even filmed, but found in the Technomage Trilogy. *sigh*

 

[ManOnTheWave]

The series wasn't really about the Drakh plague, it was about the leftover technology of godlike aliens and its consequences (the plague, the technomages, human cyborgs, the Apocolypse Box, the telepaths and their war, etc.). It ends prematurely, but it gives you an idea of what else was going on in the universe.

 

[Lindley]

I don't really get the hate for War Zone. I mean, I know JMS wrote it unwillingly, but it's not a bad episode by any stretch...

 

[Harvey]

I don't really get the hate for War Zone. I mean, I know JMS wrote it unwillingly, but it's not a bad episode by any stretch...

I actually kind of like it, but shh, don't let Neroon find out. I think most fans tend to side with JMS, and he says he doesn't like the episode, and didn't want to write it nor make it.

 

[Mr Light]

I don't mind War Zone. It's a nice little action episode. It's not my favorite episode but it's not terrible.

 

[Candlelight]

Watch them in DVD order. It really doesn't matter. It literally leaves the best for last.

The only episode I really didn't like was the X-Files parody.

The music is pretty bad and unengaging too.

 

[David cgc]

I don't really get the hate for War Zone. I mean, I know JMS wrote it unwillingly, but it's not a bad episode by any stretch...

I just thought it was horribly dull and stilted, and it's function is better served by the original pilot. I remember the first time I watched, I was so zoned out it was about halfway through the last act that I realized there'd been a space battle going on.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Let's put it this way. The first 13 episodes of Crusade were MUCH better than the first 13 episodes of B5.

No way. B5 was, at least, an actual television series produced to a professional level in all respects. Quite a few of the first year episodes are pretty good.

 

[Mr Light]

The writing and production values are better for CRU than for B5-13, I would say. It wasn't as rough a start. There were no unstoppable rubber suit monsters of doom

 

[Candlelight]

These are the first 13 episodes of Babylon that we would've only got had she been cancelled:

Infection
Soul Hunter
Midnight on the Firing Line
Born to the Purple
Believers
And the Sky Full of Stars
The War Prayer
The Parliament of Dreams
Grail
Mind War
Survivors
Chrysalis
Deathwalker

 

[Mr Light]

Chrystalis shouldn't count But yeah of those I see 1 good, 5 decent, 7 bad. Not a good ratio.

 

[Harvey]

Looking at that list, which includes "Grail," "Infection," "Survivors," and plenty of other first season stinkers, Crusade had a better start by far. Even if you include "Visitors from Down the Street," which plays like a bad parody of The X-Files from someone who has only read about the show, it still had a better start. It suffers from the jarring uniform change (that goes unexplained in the filmed episodes), and a continuity that is a jumble, but the individual episodes are superior.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I really loved B5 and was looking forward to it. The knowledge that it had been cancelled before I even got to see it didn't deter me from setting the video for its characteristically unhelpful Channel 4 time slot.

And - boy, was I disappointed. Apart from Gary Cole (always great) and the odd re-appearance by B5-ers, it really had little going for it. The cast were forgettable and bland, with the exception of Peter Woodward as Galen, who was memorably awful and proceeded to become one of my least favourite actors ever (and I really like his father, the great Edward Woodward. Okay, we got a guest appearance from him, that was something). The script was clunking and naff, like JMS at his worst during b5 - but worse still. The Peter David written episode was the only ep I actually enjoyed.

Sadly, I've come to think that JMS told all the B5 stories he had to tell during the show's run. Not one of the telemovies I've seen have come anywhere near the greatness of that show and I've thus avoided more recent ones like Legend of the Rangers. I'd like to think that the most recent project he was discussing will be a return to form but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[Candlelight]

I don't know why people bash 'Grail' so much. I really liked it. Same for 'Deathwalker'. It gave us incite into the first four Babylon stations in a different way. And in an athiest-high environment of sci-fi it was nice to see a man searching for the "Holy Grail".