Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
Yes, but unfortunately, he isn't playing Zathras.
Yes, but unfortunately, he isn't playing Zathras.
Niners Unite...around Babylon 5! - The Continuing Arc
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Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
Hirogen Alpha, I hope you enjoy Crusade. I think if it lasted the full five years like B5 did, I would have liked it more than Babylon 5. The 13 episodes are all pretty good IMO.
Hirogen Alpha, I hope you enjoy Crusade. I think if it lasted the full five years like B5 did, I would have liked it more than Babylon 5. The 13 episodes are all pretty good IMO.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
"Racing the Night"
War Zone reminds me of Serenity, and this episode the Train Job, which is a bit ironic considering I've paired each series' network mandated second pilot with the original pilot. But that's how this episode feels. There's more of a story here than in War Zone, but there's plenty of exposition packed in, some of it excessive. I understand that this was unavoidable, since War Zone was made long after this episode, and at the last minute, but if only... (will that become this series' motto?) One additional point--Max's backstory here doesn't seem to quite match the one from War Zone, if I remember correctly. In this episode, Gideon says IPX assigned Max to the crew, but in War Zone I'm pretty sure it was Gideon's choice.
But enough about the continuity issues which will never be resolved (stupid TNT). What about the meat of this episode? It almost feels too early to be coming across a planet that was hit by the Shadow/Drakh plague. How rare is this thing supposed to be? I do like the ending, in which Gideon decides to stick with his principals, and the alien questions what he'd do three years from then. And the city CGI is pretty cool--probably the best I've seen in the three episodes I've seen so far--though Galen's hologram-esque thing looks fake (even given that it's supposed to look fake).
Finally, the reveal of Gideon's source is very interesting. What is that thing? Shadow tech? Vorlon tech? Perhaps something from a third party, such as the Thirdspace aliens or the Hand? For now, I'm calling it the idiot box.
Grade: B+
"The Memory of War"
The opening of this episode makes me wonder if I've got the order mixed up already. Has it really been four months since the events of A Call To Arms? And calling what happened in that movie the "Drakh War" disappoints me. I'd call that a large battle at best. Does this mean the "Telepath War" will be downgraded to a quick incident in one DVD movie now? I hope not. I see a Lennier, Lyta, Bester, and Zack segment out of that in the least.
Galen is pretty much Gandalf, isn't he--complete with magic staff. At least we know it's valuable, and irreplaceable. It was interesting to see another technomage (sort of), but there background is still pretty much a mystery, beyond what I've gleaned from the back of the novel and the Legion of Fire books.
The end with the idiot box was cool, though I wonder, considering Galen saves Gideon's ass every episode, will he actually listen?
Grade: B
---
I'm liking Crusade so far. It's better than Babylon 5 was at this point. It's far from great, though--and dangerously close to falling into a predictable formula. It's also very episodic, despite the thread of the plague linking episodes. I guess there really isn't time to start an arc with 13 episodes. I don't want to start this debate again, but if Babylon 5 was Deep Space Nine, Crusade feels like Voyager more so to me. Just the feeling of the show. And I'm not using Voyager as a synonym for shit in this case, just to be clear. I like most of Voyager.
"Racing the Night"
War Zone reminds me of Serenity, and this episode the Train Job, which is a bit ironic considering I've paired each series' network mandated second pilot with the original pilot. But that's how this episode feels. There's more of a story here than in War Zone, but there's plenty of exposition packed in, some of it excessive. I understand that this was unavoidable, since War Zone was made long after this episode, and at the last minute, but if only... (will that become this series' motto?) One additional point--Max's backstory here doesn't seem to quite match the one from War Zone, if I remember correctly. In this episode, Gideon says IPX assigned Max to the crew, but in War Zone I'm pretty sure it was Gideon's choice.
But enough about the continuity issues which will never be resolved (stupid TNT). What about the meat of this episode? It almost feels too early to be coming across a planet that was hit by the Shadow/Drakh plague. How rare is this thing supposed to be? I do like the ending, in which Gideon decides to stick with his principals, and the alien questions what he'd do three years from then. And the city CGI is pretty cool--probably the best I've seen in the three episodes I've seen so far--though Galen's hologram-esque thing looks fake (even given that it's supposed to look fake).
Finally, the reveal of Gideon's source is very interesting. What is that thing? Shadow tech? Vorlon tech? Perhaps something from a third party, such as the Thirdspace aliens or the Hand? For now, I'm calling it the idiot box.
Grade: B+
"The Memory of War"
The opening of this episode makes me wonder if I've got the order mixed up already. Has it really been four months since the events of A Call To Arms? And calling what happened in that movie the "Drakh War" disappoints me. I'd call that a large battle at best. Does this mean the "Telepath War" will be downgraded to a quick incident in one DVD movie now? I hope not. I see a Lennier, Lyta, Bester, and Zack segment out of that in the least.
Galen is pretty much Gandalf, isn't he--complete with magic staff. At least we know it's valuable, and irreplaceable. It was interesting to see another technomage (sort of), but there background is still pretty much a mystery, beyond what I've gleaned from the back of the novel and the Legion of Fire books.
The end with the idiot box was cool, though I wonder, considering Galen saves Gideon's ass every episode, will he actually listen?
Grade: B
---
I'm liking Crusade so far. It's better than Babylon 5 was at this point. It's far from great, though--and dangerously close to falling into a predictable formula. It's also very episodic, despite the thread of the plague linking episodes. I guess there really isn't time to start an arc with 13 episodes. I don't want to start this debate again, but if Babylon 5 was Deep Space Nine, Crusade feels like Voyager more so to me. Just the feeling of the show. And I'm not using Voyager as a synonym for shit in this case, just to be clear. I like most of Voyager.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
I think the original intention was that it took some time to put the crew together and get the ship ready, and so there would be a bit of a gap between ACtA and the start of Crusade. Also, "Racing the Night" was supposed to take place after they'd already been on the mission for a while, so it's not like the second or third episode couldn't take place four months after ACtA. However, War Zone seems to revise that idea, by giving the implication (I think; it's been a while) that the mission starts *right* after ACtA.
I think the original intention was that it took some time to put the crew together and get the ship ready, and so there would be a bit of a gap between ACtA and the start of Crusade. Also, "Racing the Night" was supposed to take place after they'd already been on the mission for a while, so it's not like the second or third episode couldn't take place four months after ACtA. However, War Zone seems to revise that idea, by giving the implication (I think; it's been a while) that the mission starts *right* after ACtA.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
^^
War Zone does give the implication that things are starting right after A Call To Arms (Captain Gideon was rushing back to Earth for the battle at the end of the movie, but arrived late). However, I don't think that means that the rest of things couldn't have happened later. It's just a little weird having your third episode make such a large time jump, especially when Babylon 5 followed the one season = one year formula so closely.
Another thing I should note is that the music worked a lot better in these two episodes than in the movie or the "first" episode (though I still think the main title is weak). Maybe I'm just getting used to Chen's musical style.
^^
War Zone does give the implication that things are starting right after A Call To Arms (Captain Gideon was rushing back to Earth for the battle at the end of the movie, but arrived late). However, I don't think that means that the rest of things couldn't have happened later. It's just a little weird having your third episode make such a large time jump, especially when Babylon 5 followed the one season = one year formula so closely.
Another thing I should note is that the music worked a lot better in these two episodes than in the movie or the "first" episode (though I still think the main title is weak). Maybe I'm just getting used to Chen's musical style.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
With "The Lost Tales" being released on July 31, how does everyone feel about a live commentary for it (like we did for Sleeping In Light way back when)? Let me know what you think.
With "The Lost Tales" being released on July 31, how does everyone feel about a live commentary for it (like we did for Sleeping In Light way back when)? Let me know what you think.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
Haven't posted in the DS9 forum before, but . . . I'll be getting TLT as soon as it comes out. If yall do a live commentary thread, I'll join in if the regulars don't mind.
Haven't posted in the DS9 forum before, but . . . I'll be getting TLT as soon as it comes out. If yall do a live commentary thread, I'll join in if the regulars don't mind.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
^Having seen the clip of Sheridan and Galen at the Comic Con, I am even more excited to see this.
^Having seen the clip of Sheridan and Galen at the Comic Con, I am even more excited to see this.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
Cool; I actually got into B5 b/c of this board. Back in '02, I wasn't a user, but I would occasionally browse through interesting threads after checking TrekToday, and there were quite a few people over in Gen Sci-FI talking about how great B5 was, so I picked up the first season back in '03. Finished the series as soon as the movies were released on DVD, and have since gotten my friends hooked on it.
If yall do the commentary thread, will it be here in DS9 or over in General Sci-Fi? And when will it be?
Cool; I actually got into B5 b/c of this board. Back in '02, I wasn't a user, but I would occasionally browse through interesting threads after checking TrekToday, and there were quite a few people over in Gen Sci-FI talking about how great B5 was, so I picked up the first season back in '03. Finished the series as soon as the movies were released on DVD, and have since gotten my friends hooked on it.
If yall do the commentary thread, will it be here in DS9 or over in General Sci-Fi? And when will it be?
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
Here's hoping my copy from Amazon greets me when I come home from work on Tuesday.
Here's hoping my copy from Amazon greets me when I come home from work on Tuesday.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
The actual mod for this forum PKTrekGirl will probably be the better person to coordinate when it will be, in part because I will be on vacation from 08/11 through 08/18. Whether it will be in the thread or not may depend on just how close we are to 1000 posts when we settles on a date & time.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
I can do it pretty much any night except Tuesday. Weekend or weeknight.
I can do it pretty much any night except Tuesday. Weekend or weeknight.
Re: First time impressions from the Babylon 5 virgin
No Thursday nights for myself. And I'll only be able to do it sometime after August 4.
No Thursday nights for myself. And I'll only be able to do it sometime after August 4.
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