A Niner Watches Babylon 5 (NO spoilers, please)
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I actually find The Coming of Shadows to be a little bit overrated.
^
We-ell...
"The Long Twilight Struggle" also has some of the best moments in the second season, and would be a clear runner up for me, but I would still pick "The Coming of Shadows" as my favourite episode of the second season.
When people faff about for what seems about forever that this show is going to eventually probably get good, it's pretty much this episode that is the final tipping point, typically. People might say it gets good in the latter half of the first season, or the second season starter, but nobody ever says it gets good after "The Coming of Shadows."
That, and in my view Babylon 5 is really Londo's story; in that his arc is by far the most interesting thing in the show. This episode is a powerhouse example of why that is the case.
We-ell...
"The Long Twilight Struggle" also has some of the best moments in the second season, and would be a clear runner up for me, but I would still pick "The Coming of Shadows" as my favourite episode of the second season.
When people faff about for what seems about forever that this show is going to eventually probably get good, it's pretty much this episode that is the final tipping point, typically. People might say it gets good in the latter half of the first season, or the second season starter, but nobody ever says it gets good after "The Coming of Shadows."
That, and in my view Babylon 5 is really Londo's story; in that his arc is by far the most interesting thing in the show. This episode is a powerhouse example of why that is the case.
Y'all...TGB did what is traditionally called a "teaser". You did catch the "shifty" smilie, didn't you?
He was kidding. In fact, I'll wager, like most of us, he was blown away by it.
He was kidding. In fact, I'll wager, like most of us, he was blown away by it.
Early on, I always used to think it was Bruce Willis on the show, at least whenever I just happened to be casually flipping channels.I guess everyone knows the studio gate story? Jerry and Andrea pulled in to work one morning in the same car and the new guard didn't know who the hell they were. Jerry said "Are you blind? I'm Bruce Willis and she's Cybil Shepherd!" and the guard let them in.
Jerry Doyle was in an episode of "Moonlighting", wasn't he? Oddly, that's the only episode that I think I ever watched.
The Coming of Shadows (*)
Okay, it's not so bad as to be a zero, but it's not far from it. Who wrote this travesty, Mike Sussman? Absolutely nothing happened in this episode. There was some explosions and an old guy I don't know died, but other than that nothing of consequence occurred. I can't believe that some people actually like this episode, I mean, did you see those visual effects? They looked like primitive CGI from the mid ninties, or something. I'd expect rubbish looking effects like this from the Nintendo Entertainment System, but as a sophisticated viewer of modern entertainment shows this episode did not meet my high standards for things being blowed up real good.
Now I'm just going to type random stuff to make it seem like as if this is a real review for those that glance at it. You don't have to read this if you're only interested in my thoughts on Babylon 5, you can skip on to the next post. Actually, I need to pee, I'll be back in a minute.
Ah, that's better. I should probably shave, but I have no intention of going out today so there's not much point really. Say, have you guys seen Crystal Swing yet? I imagine they'll be bigger than Elvis some day. Yes, I am being sarcastic. I enjoy a good bit of sarcasm, but sometimes I feel like I rely on it a bit too much in the real world in order to hide the weirder side of my humour. I once wore a cowboy hat while while going through an airport just to look odd, and I was selected for a "random" bag search. The guy found my electric razor and asked me what it was. It's an electric razor, what did he think I was going to say it was? "Oh, that's just my detonator, now look some more and see if you can find the bomb." Imagine how embarrassing it must be to have to perform a random bag search and find it filled with sexy women's underwear. Now imagine how embarrassing it must be for the dude whose bag it is. Now imagine how embarrassing it must be for the dude's son who is standing next to him. No, I'm not speaking from personal experience.
One more paragraph should do it. Did anyone see that Hitler movie, Downfall? I watched it when Channel 4 aired it back in 07, but I received a call right at the point where all those parody videos take place and to this day I don't know what actually happened in that scene. I imagine it was probably a great scene when viewed in context, but I've only ever seen it with Hitler complaining about being banned from Xbox Live, or a rebuttal to some dumb crap Glenn Beck said. You know, I share a birthday with Glenn Beck. I'm not the same age, obviously, but we share the date. Do you ever suppose that Glenn Beck watched Babylon 5?
Right, I reckon that should do it. If you read this then... why?
Okay, it's not so bad as to be a zero, but it's not far from it. Who wrote this travesty, Mike Sussman? Absolutely nothing happened in this episode. There was some explosions and an old guy I don't know died, but other than that nothing of consequence occurred. I can't believe that some people actually like this episode, I mean, did you see those visual effects? They looked like primitive CGI from the mid ninties, or something. I'd expect rubbish looking effects like this from the Nintendo Entertainment System, but as a sophisticated viewer of modern entertainment shows this episode did not meet my high standards for things being blowed up real good.
Now I'm just going to type random stuff to make it seem like as if this is a real review for those that glance at it. You don't have to read this if you're only interested in my thoughts on Babylon 5, you can skip on to the next post. Actually, I need to pee, I'll be back in a minute.
Ah, that's better. I should probably shave, but I have no intention of going out today so there's not much point really. Say, have you guys seen Crystal Swing yet? I imagine they'll be bigger than Elvis some day. Yes, I am being sarcastic. I enjoy a good bit of sarcasm, but sometimes I feel like I rely on it a bit too much in the real world in order to hide the weirder side of my humour. I once wore a cowboy hat while while going through an airport just to look odd, and I was selected for a "random" bag search. The guy found my electric razor and asked me what it was. It's an electric razor, what did he think I was going to say it was? "Oh, that's just my detonator, now look some more and see if you can find the bomb." Imagine how embarrassing it must be to have to perform a random bag search and find it filled with sexy women's underwear. Now imagine how embarrassing it must be for the dude whose bag it is. Now imagine how embarrassing it must be for the dude's son who is standing next to him. No, I'm not speaking from personal experience.
One more paragraph should do it. Did anyone see that Hitler movie, Downfall? I watched it when Channel 4 aired it back in 07, but I received a call right at the point where all those parody videos take place and to this day I don't know what actually happened in that scene. I imagine it was probably a great scene when viewed in context, but I've only ever seen it with Hitler complaining about being banned from Xbox Live, or a rebuttal to some dumb crap Glenn Beck said. You know, I share a birthday with Glenn Beck. I'm not the same age, obviously, but we share the date. Do you ever suppose that Glenn Beck watched Babylon 5?
Right, I reckon that should do it. If you read this then... why?
The Coming of Shadows (*****)
Yes, this will do nicely. Frankly, all the foreshadowing stuff at the start of the season put me off the Shadows a little bit, but here they were utilised well because they stayed in the background and allowed the episode to focus on Narn and Centauri politics. But what put this episode over the top for me wasn't that it was an event episode, but that it was an event episode that focused on the characters of Londo and G'Kar. These two have the most interesting relationship in the show but too often it feels like it is being handled wrong. Not in this episode though, this episode got it right.
Londo is an interesting one. He seems to know that what he is doing is wrong and may lead to the death of everyone, but he doesn't seem to be able to stop himself. But does he really feel bad about what he is doing or is he just worried about his vision of the future where G'Kar kills him? I don't know. It's a tragedy that his character is so often used for comic relief, he's much better when treated seriously. The same is especially true of G'Kar, his anger in this episode may have seemed a little over the top, but given the circumstances I can buy it.
Another thing I liked about this episode was the inclusion of a message from Sinclair, that was a bit of a shock for me. And I must say that he looked noticeably older from the last time I saw him, which is interesting given the way his future self looked in Babylon Squared. I never really accepted him as a character, but as a plot device he is reasonably effective.
Towards the end of the episode I feared that the status quo would be maintained and that the Narn would accept the Centauri retaking Quadrant 14, so I was glad to see that that didn't happen and instead the Narn decided to go to war. I have the feeling after this episode that I should have had after Chrysalis: Everything is different now.
Except the Scott Bakula joke, that is eternal.
Scott Bakula: 25
Yes, this will do nicely. Frankly, all the foreshadowing stuff at the start of the season put me off the Shadows a little bit, but here they were utilised well because they stayed in the background and allowed the episode to focus on Narn and Centauri politics. But what put this episode over the top for me wasn't that it was an event episode, but that it was an event episode that focused on the characters of Londo and G'Kar. These two have the most interesting relationship in the show but too often it feels like it is being handled wrong. Not in this episode though, this episode got it right.
Londo is an interesting one. He seems to know that what he is doing is wrong and may lead to the death of everyone, but he doesn't seem to be able to stop himself. But does he really feel bad about what he is doing or is he just worried about his vision of the future where G'Kar kills him? I don't know. It's a tragedy that his character is so often used for comic relief, he's much better when treated seriously. The same is especially true of G'Kar, his anger in this episode may have seemed a little over the top, but given the circumstances I can buy it.
Another thing I liked about this episode was the inclusion of a message from Sinclair, that was a bit of a shock for me. And I must say that he looked noticeably older from the last time I saw him, which is interesting given the way his future self looked in Babylon Squared. I never really accepted him as a character, but as a plot device he is reasonably effective.
Towards the end of the episode I feared that the status quo would be maintained and that the Narn would accept the Centauri retaking Quadrant 14, so I was glad to see that that didn't happen and instead the Narn decided to go to war. I have the feeling after this episode that I should have had after Chrysalis: Everything is different now.
Except the Scott Bakula joke, that is eternal.
Scott Bakula: 25
At last, it is coming to you. That is one of the things that made Babylon 5 special.
There is no status quo. Get used to that.
PS. Nice leg pulling with that first "review". But until I had read the second, the fake reaction to CoS had me thinking...dude, you ain't getting it. This show isn't for you and you probably should stop now.
There is no status quo. Get used to that.
PS. Nice leg pulling with that first "review". But until I had read the second, the fake reaction to CoS had me thinking...dude, you ain't getting it. This show isn't for you and you probably should stop now.
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You know, at least you seem to get some enjoyment out of writing the views, even if you don't always like the episodes you're writing about.
One thing I will say in response to your review: There really is no such thing as the status quo. From here on out, things change, and there are always consequences for everything that happens.
I figured it out when I read "primitive CGI from the mid-nineties or something." After that, I just sat back and waited for the real review to show up.
Trivia: In 1996, "The Coming of Shadows" won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, beating DS9's "The Visitor", among other nominees.
A year later, Babylon 5 won its second Hugo with the Season 3 episode "Severed Dreams".
That Kai has proven to be quite dastardly in that thread.
The thing that's brilliant about CoS - aside from all the classic scenes (Londo and G'Kar's drink, for instance) and the classic lines ("How will this end?" "In fire.") - is how the episode seems to be about one thing but flips on its head and becomes about something far more substantial. And it keeps doing this!
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Londo and G'Kar are the best characters on that show hands down.
Instead of Crusade they should have done a spinoff called the Londo and G'Kar Show, about the two of them, about the two of them going to Earth together and traveling around the world, getting into adventures whereever they went.
Instead of Crusade they should have done a spinoff called the Londo and G'Kar Show, about the two of them, about the two of them going to Earth together and traveling around the world, getting into adventures whereever they went.
Yep. Here is the original scene, though it benefits enormously from the context of the actual movie (well worth seeing, that.)
Something that had occurred to me when he made that comment in that review; at the time, I had just watched some pretty heady Londo/G'Kar stuff from later in the show.
The long dance of Londo and G'Kar is Babylon 5. Though he's right, it can also be handled pretty badly (and G'Kar gets just a little over-the-top here.)
GROPOS (**)
This is just hwat I as hopping for, an episod gfollowing on from the outbreal of war bettween the Narn nad Centauri that as altmos nothing to do with it and which doe not featrue G'kar or Londo. I'm so gald that the writingers instead decifned to have an episofn which focusing on a bunchd of charactrs I dfon#t know nor care about nor event like. Yes, it's ntice toknow tht Eargt Force is perparing for a widfer conflit, but to bare;y addtess thw actuial contflict ir issitatting.
Genrral Franklin: As soon as he shower up I anf mentrioned that he was Dr Frajlinn's dad I hreahd the band ftrom that repisode of Family Guy that Peyter had folloeing hinm in case he had a touvching momrent wit his dad. You know, "De da daaaa". I was noth disappointeed.
PFC Dodger: I liked seeing het in a tnak-top, but othert thar that I had not interest in hter. When sher died all i feltwas sad dfor Graibaldi becausre he mised hisa charce to get lad. Poir Galibali.
PFC Large: THe tall balck militaty tough guy who latghs at evrey thing. He's a copy anf paste job from a thousghand other TV shows and movies.
Sergent Plug: Yhr whiute skinnhead guy that staets fihgts caused he's in the armty and army guhys are dumb and aggrreside. ANother capy ang paste jobs.
The scared guy: Your typical rookig. Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V.
Thry a;l died now, but I isn#t saad. Didn't much care for this eppitoad.
Scone Bagula: 26
This is just hwat I as hopping for, an episod gfollowing on from the outbreal of war bettween the Narn nad Centauri that as altmos nothing to do with it and which doe not featrue G'kar or Londo. I'm so gald that the writingers instead decifned to have an episofn which focusing on a bunchd of charactrs I dfon#t know nor care about nor event like. Yes, it's ntice toknow tht Eargt Force is perparing for a widfer conflit, but to bare;y addtess thw actuial contflict ir issitatting.
Genrral Franklin: As soon as he shower up I anf mentrioned that he was Dr Frajlinn's dad I hreahd the band ftrom that repisode of Family Guy that Peyter had folloeing hinm in case he had a touvching momrent wit his dad. You know, "De da daaaa". I was noth disappointeed.
PFC Dodger: I liked seeing het in a tnak-top, but othert thar that I had not interest in hter. When sher died all i feltwas sad dfor Graibaldi becausre he mised hisa charce to get lad. Poir Galibali.
PFC Large: THe tall balck militaty tough guy who latghs at evrey thing. He's a copy anf paste job from a thousghand other TV shows and movies.
Sergent Plug: Yhr whiute skinnhead guy that staets fihgts caused he's in the armty and army guhys are dumb and aggrreside. ANother capy ang paste jobs.
The scared guy: Your typical rookig. Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V.
Thry a;l died now, but I isn#t saad. Didn't much care for this eppitoad.
Scone Bagula: 26
Contrasting this with the previous episode pretty much sums up the problems of DiTillio's scripts, which isn't entirely his fault: "The Coming of Shadows" works because it's the culmination of lots of stuff from earlier in the show, a slow burn working in events from "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis", but it's even "Midnight on the Firing Line" in reverse! And, in the last, it leaves an impact; it shatters the status quo and leads us on wherever we're going.
"GROPOS" involves an alien species and conflict we've never heard of before and a character who has never been mentioned either; and the cliche of trumping out a relative to tie in your story is probably older than the big bang. It all shows up out of nowhere and then resolves very quickly. Even if it were followed up at any point later in the series, there's no sense that it should be, and some lines about the Narn-Centuari conflict almost seem like after-the-fact touches - remove them and this could have aired the week before.
"GROPOS" involves an alien species and conflict we've never heard of before and a character who has never been mentioned either; and the cliche of trumping out a relative to tie in your story is probably older than the big bang. It all shows up out of nowhere and then resolves very quickly. Even if it were followed up at any point later in the series, there's no sense that it should be, and some lines about the Narn-Centuari conflict almost seem like after-the-fact touches - remove them and this could have aired the week before.
I think somebody has been celebrating St. Patrick's Day.
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