Babylon 5 viewing order

[Distorted Humor]

Quick question on the food, the spoo or whatever the one guy ate...is 10 credits a ounce expensive or dirt cheep?

Cheap.

Remember spoo is sort of meat jell-o, which means it's extremely lightweight. Think of the difference between leaves of lettuce vs. meat. You get a whole lot more product with lettuce than with meat, as it doesn't weigh as much. That 10 credits could buy you a whole week's worth of food, if you could stomach it.

And I believe it was an early second season episode that had somebody renting a room, and it was 500 credits for a one-week rental.

I had that impression, but I wanted to make sure When they where eating it I was thinking "its Lutefisk!"

And I think it was "Mind War" where the room was rented.

I actually had the idea from a old SF book by P. Anderson where comet material is converted into cheap foodstuffs... B5 get rich idea no 34 is build a space factory, jump to a comet, use your waste heat from the fusion reactor and the material from the comet to grow tons of yeast, process the yeast, and then ship it to stations for sale.

 

[David cgc]

When somebody asked JMS exactly what Zack was selling his soul for when he joined Nightwatch to get 50 credits a week for "going to a couple meets and doing what he does anyway," he said a credit is about equal in buying power to a UK pound.

Remember, too, that Babylon 5 is a space station, so all the prices we hear are going to be way out of whack compared to what they'd be on a planet like Earth. Everything has to be imported or grown, space is at a premium (remember the episode on Mars where Garibaldi got a guest room that had a twin bed and enough floor space to turn around in, and genuinely said that it was far too spacious and opulent for him?), and freighter captains hate bringing in stuff like food, because the space can be used for stuff that's either denser, or just plain more expensive. It was a recurring element in the show (Mack and Bo "knowing a guy" who could get fresh meat, it being easier for Ivanova/Takashima to steal a plot in the hydroponic garden than to import a handful of coffee beans even once every few months, Marcus doing the impossible and getting a couple eggs and strips of bacon), but IIRC, they only explained the nuts and bolts of it on-screen in season 2 when Garibaldi was trying to get together the ingredients for his birthday dinner.

And given the way Mack and Bo reacted to it, I think 10 credits an ounce was massively overpriced, at least to our unsophisticated human palettes. On the other hand, a frozen steak from a real cow probably cost 30 credits an ounce on Babylon 5, so there you go. I'm guessing most people on the station just make do with locally-grown tofu-based "meats" when they want a burger or something.

 

[Jan]

Gotta disagree. 10 credits (160 credits per pound) for an *ounce* is expensive for any kind of food item. Especially since the amount charged for the week's hotel room was less than 75 credits per night. (And yes, it was Mind War, DH. Good memory)

Some other values: Security personnel are only allowed to gamble up to 50 credits per week. Roses cost 40 credits. Garibaldi's package usually would have cost about 33 credits until the B5 Post Office had to find alternate means (and a lock cost 20 more after Garibaldi shot it off). 500 credits for 'a loaf of bread, a jug of wine and some Antarean Flarn'.

Jan

 

[Reverend]

^To add to that list, I think from memory that the amount of rent Earthdome wanted to charge Sheridan and Ivanova for staying in their own quarters in 'A Race Through Dark Places' was something like 30 credits. So yeah, I'm inclined to agree with Jan on this one; a tenner for an ounce of sandwich filler is bloody expensive. Mack was clearly desperate for something new and was splurging on something exotic on the basis that it's popular with the Centauri.

As to why it's so expensive, I can see several factors: firstly the Centauri that live on or visit the station usually seem to be either nobles or rich merchants with expensive tastes and as any rich person knows, the more they're charged for something, the better it must be. Secondly, getting any fresh meat product on B5 is always going to be expensive just for the inherent expense of transporting it (apparently Centauri prefer their spoo aged so getting it there before it spoils is less of a factor.)

Assuming the spoo isn't farmed with Narn slave labour I'd imagine there'd also have to be an extra expense in paying spoo ranchers danger money as the collective sigh of a spoo heard has been known to induce unparalleled bouts of depression...

And given the way Mack and Bo reacted to it, I think 10 credits an ounce was massively overpriced, at least to our unsophisticated human palettes. On the other hand, a frozen steak from a real cow probably cost 30 credits an ounce on Babylon 5, so there you go. I'm guessing most people on the station just make do with locally-grown tofu-based "meats" when they want a burger or something.

Considering that even today, soy or mycoprotein based meat substitutes have gotten *relatively* convincing, it shouldn't be much of a stretch to think B5's hydroponic gardens have some kind of genetically engineered crop specifically for this purpose.

Speaking of dietary requirements on B5, does anyone else worry exactly where the pak'ma'ra get their carrion from? I mean they can't be *exclusively* dining on stray vermin and inattentive lurkers...

 

[JoeD80]

Maybe that's what happened to n'grath.

 

[Reverend]

^Now there's a thought. I'd just assumed his wife ate him.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Speaking of dietary requirements on B5, does anyone else worry exactly where the pak'ma'ra get their carrion from? I mean they can't be *exclusively* dining on stray vermin and inattentive lurkers...

You know, I sometimes wonder if people are wary around the pak'ma'ra for reasons relating to this. It's not just that they're "stubbon, lazy, obnoxious, greedy" and smell unpleasant, there's the paranoia. I mean, it may not be five-days-dead-and-decayed yet, but it can always be made dead, right? Everyone probably has that in the back of their mind when walking past a group of pak'ma'ra in DownBelow, and are wondering if the pak'ma'ra have figured it out yet.

 

[Distorted Humor]

Speaking of dietary requirements on B5, does anyone else worry exactly where the pak'ma'ra get their carrion from? I mean they can't be *exclusively* dining on stray vermin and inattentive lurkers...

You know, I sometimes wonder if people are wary around the pak'ma'ra for reasons relating to this. It's not just that they're "stubbon, lazy, obnoxious, greedy" and smell unpleasant, there's the paranoia. I mean, it may not be five-days-dead-and-decayed yet, but it can always be made dead, right? Everyone probably has that in the back of their mind when walking past a group of pak'ma'ra in DownBelow, and are wondering if the pak'ma'ra have figured it out yet.

Also a dirty little secret, the pak'ma'ra bought up a bunch of funeral homes. every time someone orders a cremation, a pak'ma'ra smiles, as is whats for dinner.

 

[Reverend]

^On the other hand, maybe they lucked out and there's a race that commonly practices excarnation. Such a thing on a ship, a space station or a colony world without a suitable animal species would be difficult at best and they may welcome the pak'ma'ra's "services".

Speaking of dietary requirements on B5, does anyone else worry exactly where the pak'ma'ra get their carrion from? I mean they can't be *exclusively* dining on stray vermin and inattentive lurkers...

You know, I sometimes wonder if people are wary around the pak'ma'ra for reasons relating to this. It's not just that they're "stubbon, lazy, obnoxious, greedy" and smell unpleasant, there's the paranoia. I mean, it may not be five-days-dead-and-decayed yet, but it can always be made dead, right? Everyone probably has that in the back of their mind when walking past a group of pak'ma'ra in DownBelow, and are wondering if the pak'ma'ra have figured it out yet.

I know that's what I'd be thinking. And what if a pak'ma'ra did murder someone? How could you tell which one did it? A line-up isn't a lot of help and since they reproduce through parthenogenesis DNA testing probably won't narrow things down much.

 

[shivkala]

^
Well, they did pump the stomachs of the Pak'ma'ra in "Legacies" to see if they found Branmer's body.

Thanks to Distorted Humor I finally embarked upon my goal of rewatching the series. This has been my goal since my wife got me the Season 1 DVD set in 2002, though she finally got me the Season 5 set for Christmas 2009 (which, at that point, I had lent out my Season 1 set to a friend, which I finally picked up last month). I'm most of the way through Season 2 now. I am constantly amazed at how watchable even my least favorite episodes are (such as "Believers").

The slow reveal that Sheridan was put on B5 because Hague wanted someone the president would like, but also someone who would honor the truth over an obligation to the president, was great. I really enjoyed the building of the conspiracy from Sheridan calling together the command staff, to them involving the other races, straight through the reveal of the war room (I loved that moment in season 3). I also love the development of G'Kar and how season 2 and 3 gave him some of his best moments (not that 4 and 5 didn't have good moments, but at that point, they had become the standard for the character). One of my favorite moments in the series, and I'm eagerly anticipating seeing it again, is the convergence of these two plots, when they invite G'Kar into the War Room.

 

[Jan]

Hey, Distorted Humor, don't leave us hanging...

Jan

 

[Distorted Humor]

Hey, Distorted Humor, don't leave us hanging...

Jan

Work has been busy (Which in the economy is a GOOD thing.)

However I am going to try to get a episode in tonight, and saturday I should be able to get a good block of episodes. Season 5 has bled off so many of the characters that I am not like in season 2-4 where I was like "Must see what happens"

 

[shivkala]

Rewatching the show, I have to admit, Neroon is a bit of a badass. His scenes with Marcus truly save "Grey 17 is Missing" from being a total pile of crap.

I'm up to "The Long Night." The thing that's amazing me right now is how the gaps between the episodes made the show seem longer when I watched it during its first run. What I mean is that watching the episodes back to back makes things seem so much quicker. The week(s) in between episodes spent wondering, waiting, anticipating really added to my enjoyment of the show (though the maddening wait was torture at the time!).

 

[Distorted Humor]

Learning Curve - Ok, at first I was thinking this was going to be a bad episode. However it started to pull itself out and became a decent episode. The goon was almost silly, screamed like a 2 bit hood, and not a leader of hoods. Though I did enjoy seeing him get his butt kicked.

Sharidan had a serious relationship with Lochley? (Barf) why did they think that a good plot line. Barf barf...

The thing that I like most about the episode is you get a real sense of the Minbari mindset. The good bad and the ugly.

 

[JoeD80]

Season 5 has bled off so many of the characters that I am not like in season 2-4 where I was like "Must see what happens"

Londo & G'Kar still around, 'nuff said.

 

[Distorted Humor]

Season 5 has bled off so many of the characters that I am not like in season 2-4 where I was like "Must see what happens"

Londo & G'Kar still around, 'nuff said.

They have not shown up in the last two episodes .

For example

Must watch for

Londo
G'Kar
Garibaldi
Marcus
bad-ass Sheridan
Neroon
Bester
Talia
Susan
Lennier
Franklin

Delenn and Lyta are very nice, but not "Must watch"

Londo and G'Kar - still around thank god.
Garibaldi - still around
Marcus - dead
Bad-ass Sheridan - right now he a politician, not a bad-ass (Which makes sense...but still )
Neroon - died in his moment of awesome
Bester - Only a guest star
Talia - gone
Susan - gone
Lennier - written out
Franklin - showed up for 5 mins total last few episodes.

Don't get me wrong, its still DARN good, I was starting to like lochley, then they pull the "previous relationship" and to me they just opened the seacock and sunk her character. Heck, I wouldn't of minded if it was that lochley was the former commanding officer of Sheridan, and their is friction for that...

it is still quite enjoyable, season 1 was a lot of fun, and seasons 2-4 where just some of the greatest SF made. (might be the best). Season 5 has not caught my eye yet. I watching for Londo, G'Kar, and Garibaldi right now...though on the bright side, i see from the guest stars Bester shows up in the next episode.

 

[JoeD80]

Londo and G'Kar - still around thank god.
Garibaldi - still around

Plenty of these guys in season five.

Bad-ass Sheridan - right now he a politician, not a bad-ass (Which makes sense...but still )

Some very good stuff coming for him. My favorite Sheridan moment comes from season five, but I can't spoil that one yet.

Bester - Only a guest star

Still shows up as much in season five as he did in season four.

Lennier - written out

Incorrect. He's got plenty of stuff coming up in the latter part of the season.

Franklin - showed up for 5 mins total last few episodes.

IIRC, he shows up a lot more in the next few.

Don't get me wrong, its still DARN good, I was starting to like lochley, then they pull the "previous relationship" and to me they just opened the seacock and sunk her character.

Not that much time is spent on this aspect. Lochley's got some good scenes right around the corner.

 

[Reverend]

Spoiler: Sheridan & Lochley

I think it's on record that the reactions of both Scoggins and Boxleitner when they found out their respective characters were ex-spouses was about the same as most fans. Why JMS chose to do it is a little beyond me and I'm not sure if I've ever read him explain the reasoning behind it. Personally I thought it was a little bit unnecessary if all that was needed was to establish a previous connection and trust with someone who was on Clark's side (or at least, not directly opposed to Clark. It's still a little ambiguous.) Still, it did give us an amusing little scene in Crusade which I shan't spoil here.

As for Lennier. Honestly (without getting into details) I think he has more to do in season 5 than any other season, so just wait and see. Remember that (with the understandable exception of season 4) B5 seasons tend to start slow and gradually build up momentum. JMS tends to pace things out so the audience doesn't burn out or become desensitised and the big moments of drama usually require a bit of a run-up. Indeed, you could argue that most of the show from seasons 1 through 4 have been a run up to the entire second half of season 5. Seriously, there's things coming that have been foreshadowed since *day one*.

 

[Sindatur]

Reverend, spoiler your first paragraph, Distorted Humor hasn't gotten that far yet, and doesn't know the exact nature of it.

 

[Snatcher42]

I watching for Londo, G'Kar, and Garibaldi right now...

As for Lennier. Honestly (without getting into details) I think he has more to do in season 5 than any other season

Indeed, in fact sometimes I think it's a bit too Lennier heavy. But the good news is that once the telepath stuff is out of the way, Londo, G'Kar, and Garibaldi also form the core of this season's action.

And DH, Marcus got to "must watch" status for you? I remember you didn't much like him at first!