Babylon 5
- Thread starter Kail
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For those interested in the topic, some effort has recently been poured into the “Viewing Order” page on the Babylon 5 wikia: https://babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/Viewing_Order
It should now include more information than you could ever want to know on the different B5 viewing orders.
It should now include more information than you could ever want to know on the different B5 viewing orders.
If I ever get back to my rewatch, I'll keep on doing it in broadcast order, the way I watched it the first time.
Yup, same here. Keep it simple.
Exactly. And no matter what, the final three episodes of Season 5 should *never* be separated for any reason. It entirely dilutes the emotional resonance.
^ I disagree.
In a non-Chronolgical Viewing Order, SiL should, IMO, be watched in production order as the 22nd episode of Season 4 (which is how it was shot), followed by The Deconstruction of Falling Stars.
In a non-Chronolgical Viewing Order, SiL should, IMO, be watched in production order as the 22nd episode of Season 4 (which is how it was shot), followed by The Deconstruction of Falling Stars.
That's how I've always done my rewatches.
A few feelings:
Londo Mollari is one of the greatest, most tragic characters in all of sci-fi fantasy TV.
I prefer Sinclair over Sheridan. He had a warmth to him. Ditto for Talia Winters vs. Lyta Alexander.
I wanted more Catherine Sakai.
While it's a shame about Ivanova, I warmed to Lochley.
Day of the Dead is one of B5's sweetest episodes.
I think my favourite episode is still Intersections in Real Time. And tangential to that, I really liked paranoid Garibaldi.
Lastly, I'm continue to be shocked how many of the main and recurring cast have died since the series ended, and especially since I believe none of them made it to 70.
Londo Mollari is one of the greatest, most tragic characters in all of sci-fi fantasy TV.
I prefer Sinclair over Sheridan. He had a warmth to him. Ditto for Talia Winters vs. Lyta Alexander.
I wanted more Catherine Sakai.
While it's a shame about Ivanova, I warmed to Lochley.
Day of the Dead is one of B5's sweetest episodes.
I think my favourite episode is still Intersections in Real Time. And tangential to that, I really liked paranoid Garibaldi.
Lastly, I'm continue to be shocked how many of the main and recurring cast have died since the series ended, and especially since I believe none of them made it to 70.
If I rewatched the series in the order it was broadcast here I'd be watching TKO after Chrysalis!
Personally I like the Master List as it only makes one or two changes a season to fix some obvious continuity issues or make foreshadowing work correctly. It's a middle ground between doing the research for a complete season 1 reshuffle and just putting up with things happening out of order for the sake of simplicity/nostalgia.
One place I do put my foot down is the episode orderings that put "Signs and Portents" at the end of the season. For one thing, it feels like too modern a choice, where setups immediately have to have payoffs and nothing ever gets the chance to simmer anymore. But more importantly, there's that one recurring Starfury pilot in season one who appears in three episodes, including that one, and dies in Babylon Squared. I think it's a pretty big glitch if your personalized episode order for perfect continuity includes a character dying then showing up again four episodes later.
Why? SIL was always intended to be the final episode of the series no matter what. It was shown exactly as it was intended. You're putting them in chronological order.
Agreed. Also "Signs" was meant to be a midpoint twist in the season one arc, not a lead up to the finale.
SiL is completely disconnected from anything that precedes it when, in a non-Chronological Order, viewed anywhere other than in the order wherein it was originally shot, and it therefore doesn't feel like a satisfactory ending to the whole show.
I don't yet know how it'll play in a Chronological Viewing Order, but it doesn't work for me as the final episode of Season 5.
As the complier of one of those orderings with a late placement of Signs and Portents (https://b5season1order.wordpress.com/) I'll just note that - in my case at least - it makes no claim to being a "perfect" continuity ordering: I actually don't think there is a "perfect" ordering for Season One - it's just a question of which elements you choose to prioritise...
For example, does it jar for you that Delenn is building the second tier of the chrysalis device in Signs, but then seems to have deconstructed it down to the first tier in Legacies for some reason? Or do you mind that in Babylon Squared when Delenn is in front of the Grey Council, debating whether the fulfilment of Valen's prophecy is at hand, she apparently forgets she was recently visited by an agent of the Shadows in Signs?
Or instead is it important for you that the opening scene of Signs says it takes place on 3rd August (which would place it almost exactly in slot #13 if the episodes are evenly distributed)? Or that (as you point out) the same actor plays a Starfury pilot in Midnight on the Firing Line, Signs and Squared and he dies in Squared...
In the blog I call out the handful of cases like these where there's a choice to be made, and for this particular ordering I chose to prioritise the consistency of the main characters' character development - in this case to try and make the subtext of Delenn's story in the second half of the season make as much sense as possible.
As also discussed in the blog I don't disagree that the late placement of Signs is very jarring compared to the original broadcast order - honestly if I could have found a way to push it earlier I would have (believe me I did try...) but it's the logical consequence of the choices prioritising what I think is the more consistent character development...
In any event I'm not here to tell anyone what order to watch anything in - it's a very individual choice - the idea of the blog was more an experiment which turned out to be an opportunity to dive into my favourite show a bit deeper, and unearth some details I hadn't noticed before. If you have the time to read the whole blog the motivation behind the ordering will hopefully come through, and maybe it will at least confirm for you what factors you prefer to prioritise when viewing the show – who knows, you might even develop your own ordering (as if we needed more!)
No Delta/Alpha Seven. He’s Sinclair’s wingman in “Midnight on the Firing Line,” Ivanova’s in “Signs and Portents,” and then dies at the beginning of “Babylon Squared.”
He’s part of the trio of unnamed regular day-players in season one, including Eventually David Corwin and Woman With Distinctive Accent Who Was Taken Hostage Her First Day. Honorable mention to Lou Welch, who actually did get a name, and Garibaldi’s deputy who’s name may have been Jack, or might’ve just been addressed as “Jack” as a figure of speech.
The Triluminary is just the last piece of the Chrysalis Device. Delenn doesn’t add it to the assembly until she’s ready to turn it on in the season finale.
Oh shit, you're right. O.k., then maybe I'll slot Signs and Portents back where the Master List puts it, after By Any Means Necessary. This would also take care of that other issue you mentioned. Thanks, I'd forgotten.
The re-use of an actor isn't sufficient reason to disregard the chronology that was used internally at Babylonian Productions and that uses a later placement for Signs and Portents to facilitate narrative points that directly impact the character arc for Delenn, IMO.
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