Niners Unite...around Babylon 5! - The Lost Threads

[Phily B]

Another thing, I didn't really see the supposed massive similarities DS9 and B5. Yes, they're both space stations and....er...I suppose the white stars were sort of like the Defiant, but that's pushing it a bit since the white stars seemed to be mass produced.

Of course, they're both fantastically written shows in their own right, but I'm not sure that's what people are talking about when DS9 ripped off B5 or vice versa.

 

[Neroon]

There is quite a bit more than just those two examples, enough to make it understandable why some folks feel so suspicious - regardless of which "side" of the issue they're on. Thing is that in the end it doesn't matter all that much. We have two highly acclaimed and incredibly marvelous shows to enjoy, which are light years ahead of most anything else.

So why worry about how they got started? Just enjoy the ride!

 

[Phily B]

I think I'll just give season 5 a miss. Honestly, I think season 4 was great and probably my favourite season. I didn't really like the shadow war since it seemed to have a lot of build up and a quick end, but loved the earth war.

 

[Jan]

I think the Centauri conflict and Londo's arc in Season 5 is a don't-miss. It takes some time to ramp up but some of Londo's moments are wonderful.

If you feel that you really have to skip season 5, please don't skip "Sleeping in Light". To me it's the best series finale ever.

Jan

 

[chrisspringob]

Season 4 was your favorite season, and this has prompted you to stop watching the show???

 

[Harvey]

^^
Considering it tied off his favorite plot thread (Earth Civil War), it makes sense to me. Season one and three end on cliffhangers, not concluding moments. Season two didn't have as big a cliffhanger, but it also declared "The Babylon project was our last, best hope for peace. By the end of the year 2259 we knew that it had failed." Season four, in contrast, concludes with a bang, but it concludes. Though I think season five is a good addition to the series, the end of season four is really the first logical place where leaving the series makes sense.

So, in conclusion, you should watch season five. (Wow, I am illogical today!)

 

[Phily B]

Yes. Seemed like a perfect ending, and a season 5 seems pretty pointless. I'll watch it eventually, I'm just not in a rush to.

 

[Katrine]

Love the new avatar, 0do! That scene always makes me laugh, with G'Kar looking so goofy & un-G'Kar-like in Michael's hat. Also asking if Daffy Duck was one of their gods? LOL!

 

[Neroon]

Phily B said:
I think I'll just give season 5 a miss. Honestly, I think season 4 was great and probably my favourite season. I didn't really like the shadow war since it seemed to have a lot of build up and a quick end, but loved the earth war.

That would be a mistake. Not that you need to watch it immediately... but be sure you do eventually see it and soon. That's important in order to keep it in context with the rest of the series. S5 is somewhat separated in identity and execution - unfortunately so - from the other 4 seasons, but it's still inexorably linked. The analogy of the series as a book is a good one, in which case leaving out S5 would be akin to skipping a chapter or two. While I will admit that it is my least favorite of all 5 seasons, but even I don't look at it as disposable.

 

[Lindley]

The reason the end of season 4 seemed like such a good ending was because the series was canceled, and JMS had to squeeze the story back to the point where it would have an ending.

Not the ending. It was always meant to be a bit longer. But an ending that would work.

When season 5 was picked up by a different network at the last minute, then, there was still story to tell. But there wasn't as much of it as there was intended to be, and it didn't tie into the rest as well as it would have, because of the quick story-wrap-up at the end of season 4. The results are unfortunate, but year 5 actually gets pretty decent after the first third or so is over----once it's back on track with more or less where it was intended to be.

 

[DWF]

Well truthfully Object At Rest applies to Neroon at about 1AM on the last day of Marcon, there's a picture but I thihk ths comes close. :thumbsup:

 

[Jan]

Neroon said:
S5 is somewhat separated in identity and execution - unfortunately so - from the other 4 seasons, but it's still inexorably linked.

JMS had some interesting things to say about Season 5 in this latest script book, among them that:

After the loss of Ivanova, my fifth season notes and the consequent loss of momentum I was struggling to get that sense of forward motion going again.

and:

Put more bluntly...I stumbled. I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't have stumbled, given the circumstances of that season, but that excuses nothing. I should have fought harder to get up to speed more quickly.

Because exhaustion is temporary. Film is forever.

And yet it still has some of my favorite episodes, mainly the off-format, stand-alones that so many people dislike.

Jan

 

[Phily B]

That's interesting, I did think that the Earth War was very very fast paced while the rest of the series arcs seemed to drag out a bit (not a complaint) compared to it, while the Earth War was just non-stop. Probably why I enjoyed it so much.

Also, I was thinking that if any Star Trek was going to rip off B5, it should've been Enterprise, not using a station of course.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

Yeah, that part of Season 4 was amazing. The Shadow War / Earth Civil War just never let go. (I also don't completely draw a line between the two, as they are so intertwined.)

 

[Neroon]

Elwin Ransom said:
I also don't completely draw a line between the two, as they are so intertwined.

I'm sort of like that myself. Dramatically, the two can be considered as separate, but since the events of one were subtly influenced by events in the other the connection makes sense.

BTW... I received vol 12 of the scriptbooks yesterday!

 

[Elwin Ransom]

^Nice! Are the first 11 still in print? I've been looking for them to no avail.

 

[Jan]

^^ Absolutely. Go to http://www.babylon5scripts.com/ or you can even go to http://www.cafepress.com/thejoestore.165242718 and order all twelve at once (scroll down till you see the button to add all 12 to your cart).

Any and all of them will be available for 90 days after the release of Volume 14. After that, they're gone for good.

Jan

 

[Phily B]

I know that there is a connection between the two, but I wouldn't call them interwined. It was like "Well, we won the shadow war. On snap, forgot about Earth under a guy who makes Hitler look like Ghandi.", I did find the Shadow War came and went very quickly though after all the build up. They spent years building up the support to fight them, then the Vorlons are just like "Frag it, let's just destroy everything and hope we win.".

 

[Neroon]

I think that's oversimplifying. The Vorlons would not have taken to such measures, had Sheridan not given them the opportunity to do so by attacking Z'ha'dum itself.

 

[Phily B]

It is an oversimplication of it, but it's still valid. I did feel the shadow war went by very quickly, and I didn't like the ending with them just making up and running off somewhere. I also guess the lack of a real central figure leading the bad guys was a bit of a downer too, they didn't really have a face they were just a bunch of faceless black ships a lot of the time. While with Earth, you knew who the enemy was. I didn't hate the Shadow War, just loved the Earth War and thought it was the best part of the series.