Watching Babylon 5 for the first time... *Spoilers, duh*

[Quinton O'Connor]

Well, I watched it when it was on the air back when I was a kid but I didn't grasp it too thoroughly and I've since forgotten almost everything.

I'm up to "The Coming of Shadows" now so if you reply, please don't post any spoilers from beyond that. I really like Ivanova, Garibaldi, Delenn, Londo, G'Kar and Lennier. I'm still warming up to Sheridan since he so recently came aboard. There's no one I dislike, although it took me a long time to warm up to Talia.

Still, Talia's definitely an improvement over the first season where I was really lukewarm about her. Obviously not the fault of the actress but she's just got one of those faces where she looks like she was hired on her looks alone and no one gave her much to chew on until recently so I kept seeing her as such.

Speaking of stuff for Talia to chew on, Bester is great and I hope to see him more often.

I was pretty up-in-the-air on where the show was heading until TCoS tonight. I've been reading TheGodBen's reviews as well as checking out The Lurker's Guide. Both are highly recommended. Anyway, I agree with TGB on his deduction that they were really hitting us upside the head with the foreshadowing early in season two. I was also pretty iffy about Sinclair's sudden departure. Both issues were taken care of quite nicely in "The Coming of Shadows", weren't they? I'm left feeling super-excited.

Not entirely sure why I made this thread. Too late to start doing reviews even if I felt like it, and even if I did, it's like five in the morning so my writing is way too dry for it to be worth it. I'll post thoughts every several episodes, maybe.

Good show so far. I had some serious reservations for much of the first season but it's gotten a lot better. And damn if the theme song isn't catchy.

 

[label]

Awesome show. The first time I watched this show I would read through the entire Lurkers Guide entry for that episode and just absorb it. I think I liked the show best on the second time around to appreciate all the foreshadowing that's in place but it's an amazing ride the first time through for different reasons.

 

[OmahaStar]

Still, Talia's definitely an improvement over the first season where I was really lukewarm about her. Obviously not the fault of the actress but she's just got one of those faces where she looks like she was hired on her looks alone and no one gave her much to chew on until recently so I kept seeing her as such.

Speaking of stuff for Talia to chew on, Bester is great and I hope to see him more often.

Sorry, I don't agree with your assessment of Talia. It IS the fault of the actress. Put simply, she can't act. She seems to have been dragged off the stage of some junior high school production, where she was in the background, and suddenly finds herself a "star." She's trying to mask how pathetic her acting really is by overacting, to the point where in literally every single scene she's in, she's on the verge of crying.

Seriously, go back and re-watch an episode you've already watched (so you can pay attention to her, not the newness of the story). Other than the one scene where she's in the elevator with her future husband, then elbows him, she's always just about to cry. It gets annoying after awhile. Wait long enough and the drinking game will write itself.

I love almost everyone on the show, but Andrea Thompson was terrible, and - in my opinion - she never got any better.

 

[Harvey]

Andrea Thompson had a supporting role on the third season of 24. For some reason, she was much better there than on Babylon 5. Perhaps she improved as an actress over time?

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Awesome show. The first time I watched this show I would read through the entire Lurkers Guide entry for that episode and just absorb it. I think I liked the show best on the second time around to appreciate all the foreshadowing that's in place but it's an amazing ride the first time through for different reasons.

Yeah, I've already been surprised by the level of continuity in even the slightest things several times. I can definitely see why it would be really fun to watch a second time.

Sorry, I don't agree with your assessment of Talia. It IS the fault of the actress. Put simply, she can't act. She seems to have been dragged off the stage of some junior high school production, where she was in the background, and suddenly finds herself a "star." She's trying to mask how pathetic her acting really is by overacting, to the point where in literally every single scene she's in, she's on the verge of crying.

Seriously, go back and re-watch an episode you've already watched (so you can pay attention to her, not the newness of the story). Other than the one scene where she's in the elevator with her future husband, then elbows him, she's always just about to cry. It gets annoying after awhile. Wait long enough and the drinking game will write itself.

I love almost everyone on the show, but Andrea Thompson was terrible, and - in my opinion - she never got any better.

Hm, well it was really late when I wrote that first post last night but what I meant to say was it wasn't Thompson's fault she had that 'studio-friendly look', what with the hair color and (imo) overdone makeup. Not her fault as in, she was born into the looks studios go for when they want an increase in the male demographic, heh.

As for her actual acting ability, I'd definitely say she's in the lower tier out of all the regulars. Hell, the only ones who have really impressed me so far are Andreas Katsulas for his excellent tantrums, Claudia Christian for her exemplary dry wit and Peter Jurasik for... well, everything. Mira Furlan and Bill Mumy make damn fine Minbari, though.

Everyone else's acting has ranged from decent to, in a couple of cases, questionable. The only ones I'm not thrilled with are, indeed, Andrea Thompson as well as what little of Mary Kay Adams' take on Na'Toth I've seen so far. Oh, and it took me a long time to warm up to Michael O'Hare's Sinclair but that might have something to do with the fact that he shares several facial expressions with this really mean landlord I once had.

Wow, I had a lot more to say about that than I realized.

Andrea Thompson had a supporting role on the third season of 24. For some reason, she was much better there than on Babylon 5. Perhaps she improved as an actress over time?

Never saw the third season of 24. Now I kinda wish I had.

 

[Harvey]

Well, it's one of the lesser seasons of 24, so I wouldn't fill it with that much praise.

Claudia Christian never really impressed me until...well, you'll get there. She was good on Freaks and Geeks, but that was a much different role.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I'm just a sucker for sarcastic individuals. As an actress in general she hasn't blown me away or anything. I just love all her Russian-isms; she delivers them well.

 

[OmahaStar]

I'm just a sucker for sarcastic individuals.

Is that why we get along so well?

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I'm just a sucker for sarcastic individuals.

Is that why we get along so well?

Ah, what I wouldn't do for a sarcasm detector on the internet, though. I'll bite the bullet and say 'yes' and hope that was conveyed seriously.

 

[Jan]

Oh, you lucky thing, to be watching it for (mostly) the first time! I envy you.

Jan

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, these first watch threads are always fun to watch.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Oh, you lucky thing, to be watching it for (mostly) the first time! I envy you.

Jan

Thanks! Weird as this will sound, it's almost an honor to see you posting in my thread. (Yeah, that simply must sound weird.)

Allow me to explain; like I said before, I've been following TGB's review thread, episode by episode and from where I'm at now it seems like you really, really know your Babylon 5; probably more than anyone else in that topic. You posted all sorts of insight there and I'm enjoying it almost as much as Ben's antics.

So I watched "GROPOS" and "All Alone in the Night" earlier. I liked them both more than my predecessor, but yeah, the war cliches were abound in the former. The ending was what I expected and yet still managed to impress me quite a bit, though. I felt really bad for Garibaldi especially.

"All Alone in the Night"... not a fan of the alien abduction thing (especially with the way that one Streib we ended up seeing looked so typical for the part) but everything else, including that all-important dream I have no idea what to make of, was fantastic. I especially enjoyed all the Delenn stuff, mainly her talks with Lennier. I adore Lennier and hope nothing bad ever happens to him. I want to forge a Lennier shield or maybe ask one of Sinclair's Rangers to protect him.

Yep.

 

[The Lensman]

I envy you to be watching it all for the first time. Last week I decided to start my fourth run through...I cajoled my roomie, who's not particularly a sci-fi fan (tho he loves nuWho) into watching it. We watched eps five and six tonight and when it was done he said "yeah, I think I'm getting hooked".

I love season 1 more with every pass through. It has such a different, more grounded vibe. Sometimes I really wish the show had kept that kind of vibe...just being about the station and life aboard it. I'd have loved to have seen one shot of someone standing in one of the fields. You just can't beat that awesome interior!

 

[Gov Kodos]

I envy you to be watching it all for the first time. Last week I decided to start my fourth run through...I cajoled my roomie, who's not particularly a sci-fi fan (tho he loves nuWho) into watching it. We watched eps five and six tonight and when it was done he said "yeah, I think I'm getting hooked".

I love season 1 more with every pass through. It has such a different, more grounded vibe. Sometimes I really wish the show had kept that kind of vibe...just being about the station and life aboard it. I'd have loved to have seen one shot of someone standing in one of the fields. You just can't beat that awesome interior!

The first season was one that I didn't really appreciate until I'd gone back after watching the series. Since then, it has become my favorite for the way it grounds and starts to build all that comes later in the series.

 

[Jan]

Thanks! Weird as this will sound, it's almost an honor to see you posting in my thread. (Yeah, that simply must sound weird.)

Allow me to explain; like I said before, I've been following TGB's review thread, episode by episode and from where I'm at now it seems like you really, really know your Babylon 5; probably more than anyone else in that topic. You posted all sorts of insight there and I'm enjoying it almost as much as Ben's antics.

That's very nice of you to say, thanks! I think I'm going to be self-conscious about repeating myself now. There are bunches of folks here who really know B5 though, and we sometimes like different aspects which adds to the fun.

So I watched "GROPOS" and "All Alone in the Night" earlier. I liked them both more than my predecessor, but yeah, the war cliches were abound in the former.

Larry DiTillio wrote much of the father/son Franklin side story based on things that Rick Biggs told him about his experiences waiting for news about his father who was a colonel during the Vietnam war.

I'd have loved to have seen one shot of someone standing in one of the fields. You just can't beat that awesome interior!

Wouldn't that have been fun, if they'd managed to have a picnic or outdoor sporting events? Sadly, the furthest B5 ever went on location was out to the parking lot.

The first season was one that I didn't really appreciate until I'd gone back after watching the series. Since then, it has become my favorite for the way it grounds and starts to build all that comes later in the series.

Agreed. It sets up the universe so that we know some of the things that motivate the regular characters like the Minbari culture of wanting to be of service, the Centauri emphasis on politics and family status and the combativeness of the Narn. As big a fan as I am of JMS, some of that focus was lost when he took over the writing duties for all of the episodes.

Jan

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Larry DiTillio wrote much of the father/son Franklin side story based on things that Rick Biggs told him about his experiences waiting for news about his father who was a colonel during the Vietnam war.

Lots of stuff I could comment on, but this one piece is definitely something that deserves a response. That's really cool. I'm almost tempted to go back and rewatch it now. Too bad I want dearly to see what happens next!

 

[Jan]

I'm almost tempted to go back and rewatch it now. Too bad I want dearly to see what happens next!

Then you're in luck because B5 is one of the very few shows ever made that rewards repeated viewings. Many people appreciate the show more the *second* time because there's stuff that meant things that they missed the first time around.

Have fun and keep posting with your impressions.

Jan

 

[Hyperspace05]

FYI - for those who have Netflix and are considering rewatching the show (or watch it for the first time), the entire show is available through Netflix instant streaming. (except for the 2hr movies/telefilms, you have to get those on DVD)

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Watched a couple more tonight. "There All The Honor Lies" was splendid for all the stuff it had on Sheridan and Minbari society (big fan of them, especially Lennier, so I was delighted to see real development with him) but the real winner was "And Now For A Word"; what a terrific episode.

Going against TGB's grain as I noted from his review thread, I'm actually a big fan of the documentary episodes that have cropped up in works of fiction. I still think Stargate SG-1's two-parter that did this is the best attempt I've ever seen, but this one is still grand. So much nifty information on our characters (the return of the dock worker!) while some fan-hitting takes place just outside.

And that Psi Corps ad... oh, man. Good times.

 

[Angel4576]

Watching it for the first time? You lucky SOB - I'd give (almost) anything to be able to go back and watch afresh.

Always cracks me up when people rave about The Wire's slowburn and how it's the pinnacle of great storytelling - Yeah? Try 2,3,4 and in some places 5 year payoffs and then we'll talk.....