Babylon 5 - I'm finally going to do it

[tomalak301]

Strange Relations

Now this episode had what the last episode lacked, life and energy. I really enjoyed this one, and I'm starting to like Lochley more and more. It sure didn't take long to reveal her "dirty" little secret. Loved her chat with Garibaldi in the brig, and it seems like there is starting to be a little direction to this season with the telepaths or something. I'm all for episodic TV, but like I said in my last review, B5 is not episodic and so far there really hasn't been anything that grabbed me (Other than Londo's apology) this season. Sure individual stuff have been nice, but nothing like the previous years. Anyway, back to this episode, nice seeing Bester again and still think Byron is annoying with the long winded answers when he was supposed to just answer the question about sleep and that "musical" thank you Jesus number at the end. This would have been a fantastic episode if it had ended with the Lochley realizing she needed to release Garibaldi scene.

 

[tomalak301]

Secrets of the Soul

Good lord that episode was boring, coupled with the fact that Lyta and Byron were having sex. Really? This is the stuff in the 5th season I have to look forward to? I hear the second half gets better so at least I was on episode 7 which means there are 4 episodes to go until we can put that to the test. I guess the revelation that the Vorlons created the telepaths were interesting, but when an episode only features Byron, Zack, Lyta, and Dr. Franklin not being as great as he has been, it's a cure for any insomniac.

 

[Harvey]

The telepath episodes are better when Bester is around. He's in some, but not all, of the first 12 of the season, and his absence can be felt in the episodes he misses. It does get better. I don't think it's ever as good as other posters will proclaim (except for the finale, but that was originally part of the fourth season anyway), but it definitely has its moments once it gets past the first half.

 

[Mal]

I hear the second half gets better so at least I was on episode 7 which means there are 4 episodes to go until we can put that to the test.

it is true. the telepath detour is over by the second half of the season, and the last half-dozen episodes of the show are a phenomenal tour-de-force.

I guess the revelation that the Vorlons created the telepaths were interesting

i highly recommend The Birth of the Psi Corps.

 

[Trubinator]

I hear the second half gets better so at least I was on episode 7 which means there are 4 episodes to go until we can put that to the test.

it is true. the telepath detour is over by the second half of the season, and the last half-dozen episodes of the show are a phenomenal tour-de-force.

I guess the revelation that the Vorlons created the telepaths were interesting

i highly recommend The Birth of the Psi Corps.

I'll second that. But I'd also like to qualify that by saying that the entirety of season 5 could have sucked and I still would have been amazed because of the series finale.

 

[tomalak301]

Day of the Dead

Appearently, this episode aired out of order, but it was episode 8. Interesting episode. Penn and Teller being cast as Rebo and Zooty seemed more stunt casting than anything else, and bringing back past characters (Morden, Adira, and Dodger) was nice. I'm curious to know what Kosh meant with his messege. The first thought I had was when the time comes Sheridan should return to Za'Ha'Dum, but the planet is destroyed. Hopefully that message comes up again later in the season. It was a decent episode, not memorable but decent.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

If you think about it, it's pretty obvious. Return to the end of the beginning. Where did the beginning of the story end?

 

[Hyperspace05]

I consider myself a B5 junkie... and that is far from obvious. It may make more sense in retrospect, but to claim that it is an obvious statement for a newbie is misleading.

 

[tomalak301]

I consider myself a B5 junkie... and that is far from obvious. It may make more sense in retrospect, but to claim that it is an obvious statement for a newbie is misleading.

Well, I'm confused but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I consider myself a B5 junkie... and that is far from obvious. It may make more sense in retrospect, but to claim that it is an obvious statement for a newbie is misleading.

Well, if you give it some thought, you can figure it out. I'm not saying I did, and perhaps it was a poor choice of words on my part. But still, if thought about a bit, it can be figured out and makes sense.

 

[The Evil Dead]

It's just one of those things in the series that when you watch a 2nd time you'll be like "Oh yeah!" There's tons of moments like that throughout the show, which makes revisiting it so much fun.

 

[Forbin]

I liked 'View" a lot but then, I usually like the off-format episodes. Even if I hadn't liked Mack and Bo, though, I'd've had to love it just for the way the episode poked fun at the show itself in the scene where Mack & Bo talk about the floor machine.

Jan

Oh that made me cringe. What worker doesn't know what his tools do and why he's using them? Those guys either needed training or firing!

 

[Forbin]

Day of the Dead

Appearently, this episode aired out of order, but it was episode 8. Interesting episode. Penn and Teller being cast as Rebo and Zooty seemed more stunt casting than anything else, and bringing back past characters (Morden, Adira, and Dodger) was nice. I'm curious to know what Kosh meant with his messege. The first thought I had was when the time comes Sheridan should return to Za'Ha'Dum, but the planet is destroyed. Hopefully that message comes up again later in the season. It was a decent episode, not memorable but decent.

This episode was written by Neil Gaiman, as evidenced my the suicidal adolescent girl featured.

 

[Jan]

Secrets of the Soul

Good lord that episode was boring, coupled with the fact that Lyta and Byron were having sex. Really? This is the stuff in the 5th season I have to look forward to? I hear the second half gets better so at least I was on episode 7 which means there are 4 episodes to go until we can put that to the test. I guess the revelation that the Vorlons created the telepaths were interesting, but when an episode only features Byron, Zack, Lyta, and Dr. Franklin not being as great as he has been, it's a cure for any insomniac.

I never cared for the Hyach b-story in this episode at all but there's a key to Byron in this episode that a lot of people miss (probably because of their dislike). For all of his talk about how the telepaths are superior, his first thought upon finding out that telepaths were created by the Vorlons is that, save for that interference, they'd all be normal. That his first thought was of being normal pretty much reveals that rather than feeling superior to the mundanes, he actually hated being a telepath. All of his peachy rationalizations about being better than the 'mundanes' went down the drain and he's left with the realization that his supposed specialness was a lie and that the Vorlons created telepaths to be disposable 'weapons' against the Shadows. That's the rage that fuels everything that follows.

Jan

 

[Forbin]

Anything that gets Pat Tallman's clothes off isn't all bad in my book.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

I loved Day of the Dead on the whole but hated the Rebo and Zooty subplot with a white hot passion. Egads, they were annoying.

Message from Kosh - cryptic - precisely what was expected.

I felt season 5 was uneven, and still declare that Byron was a poor man's Marcus.

 

[Jan]

I loved Day of the Dead on the whole but hated the Rebo and Zooty subplot with a white hot passion. Egads, they were annoying.

They were supposed to be. Just as last season's humor isn't funny anymore, it's just annoying.

I felt season 5 was uneven, and still declare that Byron was a poor man's Marcus.

True to an extent. There was supposed to be a superficial resemblance to Marcus because if Claudia had stayed she'd have been the one to be romantically involved with him and Lyta would only have been a dedicated follower who may have loved him from afar.

I was never a big fan of Ivanova but I think that if she'd been the one who had to call in Bester for help it would have been far more dramatic.

Even JMS admits that season 5 was wildly uneven but I am glad that we got some more of the experimental episodes that never would have happened if we hadn't gotten the final season. Plus, of course, the second half is great.

Jan

 

[Kosh Naranek]

I had read about how Ivanova was supposed to become involved with Byron. That may have made me hate him more, or it could have been shockingly good television.

However, I was not a fan of what transpired on screen.

The whole storyline made the telepaths seem so unsympathetic to me. Yes. They had been used, but they were becoming what they apparently disdained, users.

 

[Mr Light]

I really like Ivanova so the thought of her bonking Byron is horrible to me, but it does make sense in a messed up kind of way. Look at her love life. The racist leader of the anti-alien terrorists in "War Prayer". Talia, or should I say her evil PsiCorps implanted personality. Marcus, the vestal virgin who died before she could tell him she loved him. And now comes along a pretentious emo wank British telepath with long hippie hair. Sounds like just the kind of mistake she would make in her grief.

 

[tomalak301]

In the Kingdom of the Blind

Um, I'm probably going to ask a stupid question but why is Byron so despised? I mean I find him annoying, but I think it's just the whole story. I don't care about the whole telepath thing because they have done nothing to make me believe that they were persecuted. They're given a small colony on Babylon 5 at the request of the Intersteller alliance president. They were pretty much given a 60 day reprieve from the Psi-Corps. The only thing I have to hate Byron for his the look, the voice (Which sounds more like a cry baby still) and he's ruining Lyta's character. Other than that, I'm just not that interested in the whole thing and all the telepaths are coming off as just an annoyance than anything else.

There, now that I've admitted I don't hate Byron as much as everyone else in the fanbase, I found this episode pretty good, at least the Centauri part. Really interested in what is going on on Centauri prime with the parasites (Was the name "Keeper" actually mentioned in an episode and I missed it because that's what they are but I keep using Parasites because that's what they were) and the Regent. Also interested in the whole thing with the Centauri ships attacking the other ships. Overall, good episode.