Babylon 5

[David cgc]

A wild fan-theory I heard recently is that Lennier was Delenn's illegitimate child from an affair in her youth (possibly with the dead guy from "Legacies"). It explains why he'd be raised in a temple from birth, her choosing him to be her protege sight-unseen despite him having essentially no life or work experience, and, in an unfortunately oedipal way, his peculiar crush he could never quite make sense of. And it wouldn't be the first time Delenn not telling someone the whole truth under any circumstances led to disaster.

 

[DonIago]

^Ehhh...it's an interesting idea, but it feels a bit too small-world to me...

Kind of like the way Sheridan just happens to have been married to someone who was on the Icarus, or that, as ItB would later show, he and Delenn actually briefly met during the war. Just imagine how different things might be if the series had proceeded with them being familiar with each other from...well...the beginning.

 

[Guy Gardener]

^Ehhh...it's an interesting idea, but it feels a bit too small-world to me...

Kind of like the way Sheridan just happens to have been married to someone who was on the Icarus, or that, as ItB would later show, he and Delenn actually briefly met during the war. Just imagine how different things might be if the series had proceeded with them being familiar with each other from...well...the beginning.

Clarke picked Sheridan.

The Shadows told Carlke who to pick.

Although Justin did say, they didn't know about Anna until Sheridan became a problem, but the Shadows do not Micro Manage... Oh? Morden was Clarke's handler? And Morden knew Anna. If he was sweet on Anna, picking Sheridan to lead B5 might have been a convoluted plan, by Morden (alone) to get his friend out of "her" shadow vessel.

"A Tragedy of Telepaths."

Oh dear.

It's a Collective Noun. I Doubt I knew what a collective noun was in 1998.

Jesus.

Flowers again?

I love it when Byron dies.

What a putz.

Bester was right.

 

[Ithekro]

Was it Clark's pick or was he the late Santiago's pick?

 

[David cgc]

Was it Clark's pick or was he the late Santiago's pick?

Sheridan said he was Santiago’s first choice if something happened to Sinclair, and Hague said Clark was okay with it because Sheridan’s record made him look like a jarhead moron who’d do whatever Clark said without complaint, while Hague could tell from Sheridan’s record that he was a straight-shooter who’d never go along with Clark’s shenanigans.

Apparently Sheridan’s record was a subtle and multifaceted document.

 

[Orac]

I haven't rewatched Crusade in over 20 years. I did buy the 6 VHS tapes but sold them shortly after before VHS tapes became worthless. Never bothered to buy it again on DVD like I did with Babylon 5. I remember that like season 5 of Babylon 5 (which I have rewatched several times this decade) Tracy Scoggins got second billing but only appeared in something like 2 episodes.

 

[Guy Gardener]

"The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father."

I always look up the little girl because she is so adorkable, so I just assume someone is going to let her be famous... But the little boy! He's Lee from a 120 episodes of Grimm!

The Rouge Teep they are chasing is "Jonathan Harris" as in Dr Smith from Lost in Space... So I checked in to see Jonathan's expiration date, because if it's not just a complete coincidence, then maybe it's a commemoration? Nope, Harris still had 4 years left.

 

[Kraig]

Was it Clark's pick or was he the late Santiago's pick?

Sheridan said he was Santiago’s first choice if something happened to Sinclair, and Hague said Clark was okay with it because Sheridan’s record made him look like a jarhead moron who’d do whatever Clark said without complaint, while Hague could tell from Sheridan’s record that he was a straight-shooter who’d never go along with Clark’s shenanigans.

Apparently Sheridan’s record was a subtle and multifaceted document.

It was discussed in the Backplot section of Lurkers guide for the Episode: All Alone in the Night.

Sheridan's appointment to Babylon 5 was more than a coincidence. He was picked by Santiago, who knew that his record made him look like a hard-nosed military man, just the sort Santiago suspected Clark would want to replace Sinclair with. But Santiago also knew that Sheridan was a patriot who would stand against the forces seeking to undermine the Earth government. In his first months on the station, Sheridan's real assignment was to evaluate the crew, find out who could be trusted.

It was also discussed in person between General Haig and Captain Sheridan in the episode.

 

[Tosk]

I always look up the little girl because she is so adorkable

I assume you mean Dana Barron, Audrey Griswold #1?

 

[Guy Gardener]

I assume you mean Dana Barron, Audrey Griswold #1?

Never liked that movie.

 

[Steve Roby]

I'm finally well into a B5 rewatch, keeping up with Keith RA DeCandido's B5 rewatch reviews on Reactor. I watched Chrysalis, so I'm an episode ahead of KRAD now. It took a while, but this is where it really starts to feel like something big is going to come of this B5 show. I haven't watched the show since it originally aired (I was there from the start, catching "The Gathering" on TV after reading JMS talking about it on Compuserve), so a lot of the rewatch has felt almost new. I'm enjoying it. My one concern is that when things really pick up I may not feel like pacing myself with KRAD. I remember times during the first run when that week between episodes just couldn't pass quickly enough.

I'll watch the TV movies -- well, at least a couple -- later on, and I'll go through Crusade, too. I remember even less about Crusade because that aired right around the time I started dating the woman I ended up marrying, and most of my attention was on her. We did watch Crusade, though, as we'd both already watched B5, but neither of us was too impressed by it at the time.

 

[DonIago]

I haven't seen "Crusade" since it originally aired, and don't even have it available for viewing (unless there's a legal free streaming option out there...), but if KRAD covers it I may finally get my hands on a copy, though I have doubts as to whether I'll especially enjoy revisiting it.

I know what you mean (I suspect everyone reading this thread does), about how when B5 was at its peak having to wait a week for the next episode could feel torturous.

 

[David cgc]

Is KRAD using the same schedule as the Tumblr rewatch (original airdate plus thirty years)? We’ve just hit the dumb period where, for some reason, season finales are held until just before the next season premiere.

 

[DonIago]

Is KRAD using the same schedule as the Tumblr rewatch (original airdate plus thirty years)? We’ve just hit the dumb period where, for some reason, season finales are held until just before the next season premiere.

If he is, I don't know that it's a conscious choice. His next review, probably coming out on Monday I think, should be for "Chrysalis". Generally they're every Monday, but this Monday was obviously a holiday, and I doubt he's going to take breaks between seasons.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Rouge Teep they are chasing is "Jonathan Harris" as in Dr Smith from Lost in Space... So I checked in to see Jonathan's expiration date, because if it's not just a complete coincidence, then maybe it's a commemoration? Nope, Harris still had 4 years left.

It IS a complete coincidence. It's not the same Jonathan Harris.

 

[David cgc]

It IS a complete coincidence. It's not the same Jonathan Harris.

To clarify, the character Jonathan Harris (played by Dex Elliot Sanders) was named after a real person, but not after Jonathan Harris the actor from Lost in Space. Another guy named Jonathan Harris won a raffle at WorldCon '97 whose prize was getting a Babylon 5 character named after him.

I should've thought to check the Lurker's Guide before.

 

[Forbin]

The Rouge Teep ...

He was red? Or he wore a lot of makeup?

 

[Anwar]

^Ehhh...it's an interesting idea, but it feels a bit too small-world to me...

Kind of like the way Sheridan just happens to have been married to someone who was on the Icarus, or that, as ItB would later show, he and Delenn actually briefly met during the war. Just imagine how different things might be if the series had proceeded with them being familiar with each other from...well...the beginning.

One of the more contrived connections was Garibaldi to Edgars. The reason why Edgars chose to work with Garibaldi was because his wife, who was Garibaldi's Ex-GF told him about him.

His Ex-GF who, last time Garibaldi spoke with, was married and expecting a baby. Totally off-screen and with no build up we find out she got divorced from the guy and the guy took their baby and she somehow got married to Edgars so Garibaldi can be linked to Edgars!

 

[Guy Gardener]

One of the more contrived connections was Garibaldi to Edgars. The reason why Edgars chose to work with Garibaldi was because his wife, who was Garibaldi's Ex-GF told him about him.

His Ex-GF who, last time Garibaldi spoke with, was married and expecting a baby. Totally off-screen and with no build up we find out she got divorced from the guy and the guy took their baby and she somehow got married to Edgars so Garibaldi can be linked to Edgars!

Super contrived, however, how many "sleeper agents" did Bester have out there roaming around looking for trouble? 100s? Thousands? It's weird that Garibaldi earned his freedom so quickly by uncovering a really dangerous conspiracy, when Bester may have been planning on keeping Michael on the hook for decades, looking for any and every unspecified problem that may annoy the telepaths.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

the character Jonathan Harris (played by Dex Elliot Sanders) was named after a real person, but not after Jonathan Harris the actor from Lost in Space. Another guy named Jonathan Harris won a raffle at WorldCon '97 whose prize was getting a Babylon 5 character named after him.