Just finished Season 5 of Babylon 5

[Danoz]

What a great show ..

I enjoyed season 3 three the most, but definitely consistently entertained the entire way. Babylon five took an interest approach of several miniarchs within a larger, 5-season story arch (for instance, I was convinced the Shadow War would last the entire time). The finale was a great tribute to its viewers, its fans, and the legacy of the show.

Favorite characters? Garibaldi and G'Kar. And I particularly liked Sheridan. Londo also. Really, there were a lot of good characters, incredibly well-written/acted character development (believable) and just all around good interaction between them.

I don't quite understand comparisons to Ds9. Granted, they were on about the same time, but Babylon 5 and DS9 are ultimately very different once you break down the surface similarities (religious undertones, space station, strange superpower alien forces meddling in our lives, etc).

What a great show .

Moving on to Firefly .

 

[Sakrysta]

Glad you enjoyed it. I didn't watch the show when it first aired - I thought it looked cheap & hokey. But I remember catching bits and pieces in reruns on Sci-Fi and being intrigued. When DVD box sets finally started being available and reasonable, I finally watched the whole series. Quite a ride, but it's the characters that really kept me involved.

Man, now I have this urge to start a B5 marathon. (NO! Must finish DS9 marathon first!!! )

 

[Mistral]

You and I are on similar wavelengths. That was my reaction to the show. Do try In the Beginning if you haven't already-its about the best of the movies and fills in a bit of background.

 

[foxmulder710]

I loved how In The Beginning ended up tying in with World Without End and that ep from season one with Babylon 4.

Have either of you read JMS's book trilogy fitting the events of ITB into the larger context of the future, after Sheridan's been President of the Alliance for quite a while?

Fine books, if you ask me.

 

[Jan]

Have either of you read JMS's book trilogy fitting the events of ITB into the larger context of the future, after Sheridan's been President of the Alliance for quite a while?

I think you mean the Centauri trilogy by Peter David? JMS wrote outlines for the three trilogies (Psi Corps, Techno-mage and Centauri) but didn't write any of the novels himself.

Jan

 

[Forbin]

Glad ya liked it!
How did you feel about the telepath arc in the first half of season 5? A lot of people (me included) felt it was annoying as hell and a huge waste of time.

 

[crouteru]

Babylon 5 is a unique and fascinating sci-fi story that every fan of the genre should see. It's a little rough around the edges, but is up there with the best of them.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Glad ya liked it!
How did you feel about the telepath arc in the first half of season 5? A lot of people (me included) felt it was annoying as hell and a huge waste of time.

The whole thing is a complete waste of time.

It would have been nice of them to package "Sleeping..." with the season four DVDs, then I wouldn't have had to even buy it.

 

[foxmulder710]

Have either of you read JMS's book trilogy fitting the events of ITB into the larger context of the future, after Sheridan's been President of the Alliance for quite a while?

I think you mean the Centauri trilogy by Peter David? JMS wrote outlines for the three trilogies (Psi Corps, Techno-mage and Centauri) but didn't write any of the novels himself.

Jan

Ah, my mistake. You're right, it was Peter David. And I only read the Centauri and Psi-Corps.

Still waiting on that Telepath War!

The newest direct-to-DVD TOTALLY sucked monkey balls.

 

[foxmulder710]

Glad ya liked it!
How did you feel about the telepath arc in the first half of season 5? A lot of people (me included) felt it was annoying as hell and a huge waste of time.

It was a waste of time because it was building to the Telepath War, which never happened...Alas, Crusade was cancelled before JMS could go into that a little more (supposedly, the very next ep after it was cancelled was going to have Bester on the run as a fugitive)...

 

[Neroon]

The season 5 telepath arc seemed to me to be but one impetus building up to that telepath war. While I could have done without it, it was not a complete waste of time. That coming teep war could have been brought to fruition by other means, by Bester himself for example. And yes, "Value Judgments" would have been the very next episode of "Crusade" to be produced. Sad that it never came out, because the script is very sharp and enjoyable. Fiona Avery did a good job of capturing the characters jms designed.


As for "The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark", well... to each their own. I personally enjoyed it for a variety of reasons and miss what could have been.

 

[JoeD80]

It wasn't just a buildup to the telepath war -- it was also a buildup to events in the second half of the season involving Lyta and Garibaldi. Personally, I don't understand what's wrong with seeing little pieces and clues of something that will happen, but something that we don't ever see. Gives you a good sense that wars never end. In "The Face of the Enemy" in season 4 we never find out exactly what the telepath virus is used for either once Bester likely gets his hands on it, but it seems like a good bet it will be used in that war. I like to let my imagination take over with the Telepath War (some small bits are filled in by the last book of the Psi Corps trilogy, but the actual war is still never seen).

 

[bigdaddy]

Isn't there a TV movie that was about the Telepath War or at least mentioned it or it's conclusion?

 

[Harvey]

A Call To Arms (and Crusade) both make reference to the recently resolved telepath war, and its conclusion is sort of understood. The last book in the Psi Corp trilogy adds further details. But none of these, outside of a short flashback on Crusade, show any of the war at all.

 

[Neroon]

Isn't there a TV movie that was about the Telepath War or at least mentioned it or it's conclusion?

I think Harvey is right, in what you may be thinking of. There is also the S4 episode "Rising Star" makes brief mention of the Telepath War in its epilogue, but does nothing more than that.

 

[Jan]

Isn't there a TV movie that was about the Telepath War or at least mentioned it or it's conclusion?

In the unproduced Crusade script, "Value Judgments" which featured Bester, we hear some voice overs of part of Al Bester's trial after the Telepath Crisis that recounts the charges against him. I think that's the closest we come to actually seeing any part of the 'crisis' itself.

Jan

 

[Reverend]

Though I haven't gotten to reading them yet (still sat on my reading shelf) I was under the impression one or more of the novel trilogies touch on the telepath crisis. No?

 

[ATimson]

Though I haven't gotten to reading them yet (still sat on my reading shelf) I was under the impression one or more of the novel trilogies touch on the telepath crisis. No?

The third Bester book touches on it lightly, but doesn't really go into details.

 

[Neroon]

Though I haven't gotten to reading them yet (still sat on my reading shelf) I was under the impression one or more of the novel trilogies touch on the telepath crisis. No?

Only J. Gregory Keyes' Psi Corps trilogy touches on the subject. Neither of the other two, Jeanne Cavelos' Technomage trilogy or Peter David's Centauri trilogy use the subject to any degree.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Though I haven't gotten to reading them yet (still sat on my reading shelf) I was under the impression one or more of the novel trilogies touch on the telepath crisis. No?

The third Bester book touches on it lightly, but doesn't really go into details.

It also touches lightly on Crusade as well, giving a quick mention to the Excalibur's "success" in finding a cure to the Drakh Plague; however, the book doesn't, iirc, mention how it was found or what happened to the crew.