Babylon 5
- Thread starter Kail
- Start date
Watching The Illusion of Truth.
Looks like Fox News survives to the future. That must be how they replaced ISN so quickly. They just gave ISN to Fox News.
Not sure I'm going to watch season 5 when I get there. It's not that any part of it is that bad, it just has no real resolution. Besides the finale, it ends by teasing a war against Psi Corps that we never see.
2018 - Foundation for Luna Colony Laid
Scifi writers are so optimistic about timelines.
Looks like Fox News survives to the future. That must be how they replaced ISN so quickly. They just gave ISN to Fox News.
Not sure I'm going to watch season 5 when I get there. It's not that any part of it is that bad, it just has no real resolution. Besides the finale, it ends by teasing a war against Psi Corps that we never see.
2018 - Foundation for Luna Colony Laid
Scifi writers are so optimistic about timelines.
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Regarding season 5...
I actually can forgive the lack of resolution because not only was the season a last minute production because JMS didn't think it would get picked up, but I think it mirrors real life well. So many major things happened on a galactic scale that it couldn't possibly be resolved in only a few years. Look at the history of our own tiny world... WWI and II and 9/11 as just more recent examples of thibgs that lingered for years after they were over.
I think it makes the B5 universe even more believable. In that way, season 5 is an absolutely essential piece of the story, because life still goes on.
I think it makes the B5 universe even more believable. In that way, season 5 is an absolutely essential piece of the story, because life still goes on.
An unproduced crusade script with Bester talks about the war a little.
Then there's the Psi Corps Novels.
Then there's the Psi Corps Novels.
They could at least have had some major throughline that was built up to and resolved at the end. Or ended with something that conclusively set off the Telepath War. Or even gone full episodic, or even anthologized the next 20 years. As it stood, they just left teasers for more interesting stuff we never got to see.
If I recall, the reason for that was that the Fourth Season was thought to have been the end so they rushed the Earth Civil War's conclusion that year instead of having that be the Fifth Year. When the series got a fifth year on TNT, continuing post-war plots had to be brought in. Some would have resolved by Crusade. Others would not, and would get their time in that series. Or as a film based on that series. But some things were not to be.
Well, a lot of that was suppose to be explored in Crusade...and then TNT horribly mismanaged the whole thing and was a disaster before it even aired.
What's "BCFMO"?
She's one of the few cast members I haven't met yet. I really want to... I always had a bit of a thing for her. Plus, I'd love to hear some of her stories on her stuntwork on the various STAR TREK shows and how they compare to B5.
She's one of the few cast members I haven't met yet. I really want to... I always had a bit of a thing for her. Plus, I'd love to hear some of her stories on her stuntwork on the various STAR TREK shows and how they compare to B5.
In one of the episodes Byron calls her a "Brightly Colored Fast-Moving Object."
She's one of the very few celebs I actually have met, and yes, she's an absolutely delightful person. I was wearing her fan club T-Shirt when I approached her table, and she got all excited. She called Bill Mumy over to see it. He glanced at it and said "Yeah yeah, Pat, what do want on your pizza?"
You did see the event that conclusively set off the Telepath War - Byron's death. While lots of people thought that Sheridan was correct in thinking that the Telepath War would be between mundanes and teeps, I appreciated that it turned out to be an internal rebellion. For me, the fulfillment of the Londo/G'Kar arc was intensely satisfying, too. Heck, that was set up through every season.
It's a tenuous idea, but a lot of things could be taken as hint that the war would be internal rebellion in the Corp. Powerful as Bester and his cadre were there were a lot of other telepaths that were very ethical in their attitudes, not just Talia and Lyta but the telepath from the EYES episode. There were no doubt many more kept from knowing any greater agendas of the high level planners like Bester.
The underground railway getting telepaths out never went away except as an overt plot but Franklin probably knows where a lot of the puzzle pieces are on that and it would fit for Ivanova's shadier side to help Franklin on the side just to keep things from embarrassing the captain or the station. Old ambassador Lincolni may have helped more than just Narn refugees.
I'm sure Lyta with Garibaldi's help and perhaps G'Kar's likely came back and got help from these assorted forces who could see Clark's poison and the rot in Psicorp were part and parcel of a problem needing rooting out. I wouldn't be surprised if Mars Gov and Number One halped if only to get Psicorp off Mars since they'd be a fifth column in Mars's desire for independence from Earth Gov.
"Convictions"
Or - Attack of the Mad Bomber
Lennier is a hero; Londo is a joker once again; G'Kar gets (what feels like) a long-awaited reunion with his tormentor.
Nothing too complicated this time around; it's a procedural show-of-the-week with some excellent character moments. The villain came off as a little too spittle-strewingly deranged for my liking with not quite enough there to make his character particularly interesting - but it was a fun showing nonetheless. The main point - as far as I was concerned - was to get Londo and G'Kar in an enclosed space together, and that sequence didn't disappoint. Evidently, Londo isn't too worried about the potential significance of his dream at an aged G'Kar's hands - not if he thought he was going to die in that elevator.
It was great watching G'Kar throw back the sentence of a Centauri's death at the hands of a Narn - 500 dead Narn in return, including the perpetrator's entire family - in observing that he doesn't have to do anything but watch Londo die, and he would be equally satisfied.
The scenario threatened to veer towards the comedic at times, especially Londo yelling "shut UP!" during their rescue - but then, this entire episode was a welcome return to Londo as a more humorous fellow. His gratitude towards Lennier for saving his life allowed us to see another side of this complex character.
Rating: ****
-"How many Centauri does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Just one. But in the great old days of the Republic, hundreds of servants would change a thousand lightbulbs at our slightest whim!" You had to be there.
-No sign of new guy Marcus Cole this week, unless I missed him.
-I didn't even mention the newly arrived monks - I assume they'll be sticking around?
Or - Attack of the Mad Bomber
Lennier is a hero; Londo is a joker once again; G'Kar gets (what feels like) a long-awaited reunion with his tormentor.
Nothing too complicated this time around; it's a procedural show-of-the-week with some excellent character moments. The villain came off as a little too spittle-strewingly deranged for my liking with not quite enough there to make his character particularly interesting - but it was a fun showing nonetheless. The main point - as far as I was concerned - was to get Londo and G'Kar in an enclosed space together, and that sequence didn't disappoint. Evidently, Londo isn't too worried about the potential significance of his dream at an aged G'Kar's hands - not if he thought he was going to die in that elevator.
It was great watching G'Kar throw back the sentence of a Centauri's death at the hands of a Narn - 500 dead Narn in return, including the perpetrator's entire family - in observing that he doesn't have to do anything but watch Londo die, and he would be equally satisfied.
The scenario threatened to veer towards the comedic at times, especially Londo yelling "shut UP!" during their rescue - but then, this entire episode was a welcome return to Londo as a more humorous fellow. His gratitude towards Lennier for saving his life allowed us to see another side of this complex character.
Rating: ****
-"How many Centauri does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Just one. But in the great old days of the Republic, hundreds of servants would change a thousand lightbulbs at our slightest whim!" You had to be there.
-No sign of new guy Marcus Cole this week, unless I missed him.
-I didn't even mention the newly arrived monks - I assume they'll be sticking around?
The monks get a fairly weighty philosophical episode.
The elevator sequence for Londo and G'Kar was intended far more dramatic and suspenseful by JMS, and usually when actors don't follow his intentions, he got quite cross. But when he visited the set when they were shooting the scene and saw the way Jurasik and Katsulas were playing the scene in a comedic way, he liked their version better than what he had planned.
Convictions is the second B5 episode where the Director of Photography John C. Flinn makes an appearance in front of the camera. His first was in the episode Grail where he sues an alien over the abduction of an ancestor. Now he is annoying Mr. Lennier in customs while he waits for Ambassador Delenn's return.
Grail:
Convictions:
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