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Babylon 5 - I'm finally going to do it

The Quality of Mercy

Perhaps I'm just looking forward to the finale because I found this episode kind of dull. It had it's good moments, such as Lennier and Londo and the alien tech was kind of cool, but that was pretty much it. The plot with the murderer (Who overacted the part and reminded me of Sisko playing Joran in DS9's Facets) could have been a lot better and I had a feeling we'd get a cross of plots at the end. I was a bit surprised to see Lennier kicking a lot of ass though. For someone as religious as he was, his ability in the martial arts impressed me in a surprising kind of way.

It's not as bad as Believers but it's at the bottom of the season. It's a shame that the next episode is called Chrysalis and it was hinted at in a few episodes this season (Like Legacies, and probably Babylon Squared, but I haven't seen the episode yet so that's only a guess) because this episode could easly be forgotten.

Without giving too much away, the episode does have some importance, even though it feels like a filler.
 
^Well, hopefully it's better than that episode.

Chrysalis

That's how they ended 2258? Holy Freaking Crap. :eek:

This episode was about as depressing as any episode (Or more so) of Battlestar Galactica. So many revelations, so many changes and in Season 1, and it seemed like JMS just ended this season by turning what we know inside out, and going a whole lot deeper. Garibaldi on the death bed, the Shadows taking out Quadrent 37, Delenn going all butterfly on us in the Chrysalis, the President being assassinated and the introduction of Clark. Well, I've probably just summed up the entire episode, but wow what a way to end the season. Also, loved seen Morden again and finding out he is an associate of the Shadows. Man I can't wait to learn more about that race in Season 2.

There are still so many unanswered questions, such as the full extent of the 24 hour memory loss, but I'm not as upset about not finding out. We got hints all throughout the season, and the suspense is still there. What amazes me though is this was the end of Season 1 and they've introduced a leathal villian/alien race already. We've had all this development and it came to ahead in this episode only making me want more. Bring on 2259. :techman:

Just some thoughts on the overall season. Given I don't know what is to come, damn that was fun. I loved learning about these characters, and careing about these characters and what happens to them. All of them, except for Winters, seemed to improve significantly over the course of the year. I think the person with the most improvement was Inanova. Yeah she got repetitive, but once she got out of the Command Center the first time, she started getting better and being more human rather than the Yes-women she started out being. Sinclair, who I mentioned wasn't all that great at the beginning, got better too. Loved his scenes with Garibaldi and my question regarding him is I know O'Hare leaves the series. I wonder what the inseries explaination is for that. Hopefully we find out in season 2.

As for the episodes, these was good stuff for the most part. There were some clunkers, like Grail, Believers, and The Quality of Mercy, but there was some epic storytelling. Episodes like And the Sky Full of Stars and Signs and Portants gave the show a sense of awe and wonder. In fact, I would say that the only Scifi-oriented stories I really liked this year was A Voice in the Wilderness and Babylon Squared. The episodes where they expanded the universe and dealt with character, and political issues was when B5 was at it's best.

As for ranking the top 5 and bottom 3 episodes this season:

Top 5:


Chrysalis
Signs and Portants
And the Sky full of Stars
Babylon Squared
A Voice in the Wilderness

Bottom 3:

Believers
Grail
The Quality of Mercy
 
Yep it certainly is a heck of a way to end a season... :)

The first two episodes of season 2 (together with "Chrysalis") form a loose three-part episode of sorts. They continue a lot of the stuff that occurred in the finale. Then season 2 has a couple of stand-alone episodes after that before the big mythology episodes kick in again..

Your list of favorite/non-favorite episodes match well with fandom in general, although I would personally name "TKO" as the worst. A tie between "And the sky..." and "Chrysalis" as the best.

During the shows 1st run, a "P5" poll was made to rank every episode (from 1-10). That is the number you can see at the top of the www.midwinter.com episode summary pages. I would caution against looking at the rating before you watch an episode, though, so you don't set yourself up for a disappointment (or vice versa).
 
Well, I wrote all that, go so excited, and wanted to move on to Season 2, so:

Points of Departure

Nice Episode reintroducing what came before and introducing Sharidan as the new Captain of Babylon 5. The showdown with the Minbari warship was pretty well played, and I loved to see the strategy work it's way through the situation. Also, they pretty much revealed what I wanted to know. So the Minbari and Humans share a common soul, and since Minbari can't harm Minbari, that makes reasonable sense. I'm looking forward to the episodes in which Sinclair returns because a lot of this stuff, the relatiionship between the two worlds, is interesting. I did miss Londo in this episode though, and wonder what is going on on the Narn Homeworld. Only so much can be told in an episode and this was pretty much introducing Sharidan. I did like his "good luck" speech.

Minbari and Earth must be united to defeat the darkness. Man for an assistant Lennier has turned into a very interesting character.
 
Last episode of the Night:

Revelations

This episode lived up to it's name, and it's how to do a great conclusion of a story. Just let it flow and it takes care of itself. It's almost like saying goodbye to the loose ends of season 1 and really putting Season 2 into motion, with the revelations of Za'Ha'Dum, Garibaldi finding out his aid shot him, and President Clark being a corrupt mo'fo. Nice to see the premiere episode for the Ambassadors, and when Delenn revealed herself in all that beauty, that was just really cool. Man they made her look attractive now. And it will probably lead to a much more interesting character. Could have done without the Sharidan sister and Ishara Yar, but it's good back story.

So far this season, nothing has wowed me, but it's been great still. Like I said, it's closing the book on the previous season and putting the current one in motion. It's a lot of good set up now and it's been necessary, and it's been great.
 
Also, they pretty much revealed what I wanted to know. So the Minbari and Humans share a common soul, and since Minbari can't harm Minbari, that makes reasonable sense.

Yes, but always keep in mind that the Minbari never tell anyone the WHOLE truth.
 
So the Minbari and Humans share a common soul, and since Minbari can't harm Minbari, that makes reasonable sense.
One teensy point. It's not that Minbari 'can't' harm other Minbari, it's just been their tradition for the last thousand years, ever since Valen formed the Grey Council, that they 'don't' harm other Minbari.

Jan
 
Also, loved seen Morden again and finding out he is an associate of the Shadows.
That wasn't clear in "Signs and Portents"? Didn't Morden produce the Eye which was in the ship the Shadows destroyed? What was the counter explanation you thought for this? I don't say this to be mean I'm just wondering. :)
 
So the Minbari and Humans share a common soul, and since Minbari can't harm Minbari, that makes reasonable sense.
One teensy point. It's not that Minbari 'can't' harm other Minbari, it's just been their tradition for the last thousand years, ever since Valen formed the Grey Council, that they 'don't' harm other Minbari.

Jan
And that is a point you should remember .......
 
Kosh: "and so it begins."

Sinclair: "nothing is the same anymore."

You know what they say about truer words...
 
^Well, hopefully it's better than that episode.

Chrysalis

That's how they ended 2258? Holy Freaking Crap. :eek:

This episode was about as depressing as any episode (Or more so) of Battlestar Galactica.

Now, now, let's not compare Babylon 5 to shit.......
 
Also, loved seen Morden again and finding out he is an associate of the Shadows.
That wasn't clear in "Signs and Portents"? Didn't Morden produce the Eye which was in the ship the Shadows destroyed? What was the counter explanation you thought for this? I don't say this to be mean I'm just wondering. :)

It pretty much was, but actually seeing the Shadows provided good confirmation.
 
So the Minbari and Humans share a common soul, and since Minbari can't harm Minbari, that makes reasonable sense.
One teensy point. It's not that Minbari 'can't' harm other Minbari, it's just been their tradition for the last thousand years, ever since Valen formed the Grey Council, that they 'don't' harm other Minbari.

Jan
And that is a point you should remember .......

Thanks for the clarification. I know they don't share the whole truth, but Lennier was quite open in expressing at least some of it.
 
The Geometry of Shadows

Well, that episode was...interesting. Probably the weakest episode I've seen in Season 2 so far but that's three episodes in. I knew Garibaldi was going to be back so that was a bit predictable, but how Ivanova ended up handling the situation with the Drozzi was kind of funny. The whole conflict was stupid though. As for the Technomages, other than some foreshadowing such as the darkness coming or Londo holding out his hands towards his victims, I could take or leave.

I was a little disappointed in the title. Here I thought we were going to get a Shadow episode, getting more about them and thier history, and they weren't even involved at all. Oh well. Have plenty of Season for that I guess.
 
As for the Technomages, other than some foreshadowing such as the darkness coming or Londo holding out his hands towards his victims, I could take or leave.


FWIW, i typically disdain tie-in novels as drivel written by english-major-flunkies; a waste of time (for the writer and reader) that almost never rise to the level of a truly great scifi novel.

that said, The Technomage Trilogy is, IMNSHO, just a great set of novels!
 
A Distant Star

It didn't do much to advance the story, but so what. This episode was great. Loved the quietness of it with just enough action to keep one awake but still not lose touch of what it was trying to be. This felt like an episode of Transitions. Sharidan getting used to the new job, Keffer (Who I haven't talked much about but is part of the main cast for some reason) getting a promotion, and the stuff with Delenn is just really interesting. Loved that talk about how the universe and the people in it have a bond and it's just that wisdom that I remember from her when I was watching the series before. As for the Cortez plot, it was pretty good. I'm liking all these hints of "darkness coming" and it's really matching the theme of the season, "The Coming of the Shadows."
 
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