Babylon 5 first time watching - specific viewing order?

[DigificWriter]

^ Most of what The Gathering sets up was either abandoned or repurposed later on.

Also, without going into Spoilers, Takashima's role would have been nothing like Ivanova's.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I just watched the Gathering, and I'm glad they replaced Takashima with Ivonova as that actress had no stage presence.

I thought the in universe explanation for the other two leaving had to do with something they both saw in the pilot.

 

[Marc]

I thought the in universe explanation for the other two leaving had to do with something they both saw in the pilot.

yeah pretty much - I was just speculating more on the real world reason the actor departures as I'd never looked in to before.

I just watched the Gathering, and I'm glad they replaced Takashima with Ivonova as that actress had no stage presence.

just had an idea and checked Wikipedia. Seems Warner Bros felt the same way about Tamlyn Tomita as you do

 

[bigdaddy]

I just watched the Gathering, and I'm glad they replaced Takashima with Ivonova as that actress had no stage presence.
.

That's putting it nicely, Tasashima was very wooden and not in a military way.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

That sucks. I've had it on my list here in the US and yesterday I noticed the PRIME banner so I'm ready to jump on it.

It doesn't really suck for me as I have all the DVDs but it would be nice if others in the UK were able to watch the series for free on Prime. The seasons are more expensive to buy for streaming than the DVDs are, which makes little sense.

 

[Riverside2233]

Starting "The Gathering"....and away we go...

 

[tomalak301]

I liked the music in the original version of The Gathering. It was kinda techno-ish.

As for the episode, I'm glad they changed the appearance of London and Delenn after. That wasn't all that great in this episode.

 

[Marsden]

Was that a zoo or was it meant to be exotic intelligent alien species in their quarters?

It was meant, more or less, as people sitting on their front porch. And by people I mean aliens, it is in the "Alien Sector" which was not dropped, but the inhabitants were a lot less "puppet" and more "people in suits" for the series proper.

 

[Riverside2233]

Random semi-morbid thought as I start "Soul Hunter"

I was looking through the B5 wiki and IMDB, and damn, a lot of these actors died fairly young (44, 60, 60, 59, 63). Out of all of the shows I've watched thus far, this is somewhat an oddity for major casts of the 90s.

Just weird I suppose.

 

[JD]

I just watched the Gathering, and I'm glad they replaced Takashima with Ivonova as that actress had no stage presence.

I can't help but wonder what was going on with Tamlyn Tomita, the actress who played Takashima, in The Gathering. I've seen her in a lot of stuff since then, including Eureka and Teen Wolf, and she was a lot better in all of it.

 

[Marc]

I can't help but wonder what was going on with Tamlyn Tomita, the actress who played Takashima, in The Gathering. I've seen her in a lot of stuff since then, including Eureka and Teen Wolf, and she was a lot better in all of it.

could be the director or the material she was working with for The Gathering.

 

[Riverside2233]

could be the director or the material she was working with for The Gathering.

Agreed. She seemed like she just was not invested,, which is unusual for a pilot when most actors have to go all-out to sell the narrative. Could be a director issue or just that she didn't rehearse or mesh well with the other cast members.

 

[Riverside2233]

Man, seeing Julia Nickson in "The Parliament of Dreams" took me back to the movie Sidekicks with Jonathan Brandis and Chuck Norris. Only in the 90s can you get away with movies like that...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm noticing a lot of lines that you hear a very different way knowing what happens later and understanding the characters' motivations more.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm noticing a lot of lines that you hear a very different way knowing what happens later and understanding the characters' motivations more.

I think Babylon 5 is the perfect rewatch arc show. Once you know how the arc ends on most shows it's hard to go back to the beginning. With B5, JMS throws in nuggets here and there that are paid off later. Knowing how it ends and going back, you start really identifying those nuggets and you start realizing how this arc was planned.

 

[bigdaddy]

Random semi-morbid thought as I start "Soul Hunter"

I was looking through the B5 wiki and IMDB, and damn, a lot of these actors died fairly young (44, 60, 60, 59, 63). Out of all of the shows I've watched thus far, this is somewhat an oddity for major casts of the 90s.

Just weird I suppose.

My sister is a fan of the show so even though I have never seen it I knew about the Babylon 5 curse.

 

[Riverside2233]

My sister is a fan of the show so even though I have never seen it I knew about the Babylon 5 curse.

I think I read something about that a few years back when I really started getting into the genre, but I guess I had forgotten.

 

[Butters]

I'm noticing a lot of lines that you hear a very different way knowing what happens later and understanding the characters' motivations more.

My favourite one is Kosh at the end of Chrysalis.

 

[bigdaddy]

The Soul Hunter being the same actor as the hologram from Seaquest bothers me.

 

[ATimson]

I'm actually considering saving DOFS and watching it after I see Sleeping in Light. DOFS is such a weird season finale. It almost feels more like an epilogue to the entire show rather than an episode that ends season 4. Yeah I get that they weren't sure if they would get a season 5, (If they hadn't would Sleeping in Light have aired after?) but it still feels like a weird episode.

DOFS only exists because they got a season 5. If it had ended with season 4, "Sleeping in Light" would have aired as the finale, and DOFS would not have been written/shot.