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

[Harvey]

^^
You included Byron!

 

[Neroon]

Why ... however did that happen?

 

[Phily B]

Season 1 is a lot better after watching the other seasons.

I liked Sinclair a lot too.

 

[Neroon]

Sinclair does tend to grow on people, as does the season overall. Everyone has their preference on acting style, but it's still cool that some find O'Hare and Sinclair worthy of notice.

 

[Hoshi_Mayweather]

I'm catching this show with the boyfriend...(It's okay, I guess. A lot of alien faces, which aren't my cup of tea).

Note: The aliens and weirdness kind of turned me off to Farscape...

I do like that they have a strong female character in--what's her name--Ivanova...

 

[Jan]

Hoshi_Mayweather said:
I'm catching this show with the boyfriend...(It's okay, I guess. A lot of alien faces, which aren't my cup of tea).

Where are you in your viewing, Hoshi? My sister had a bit of a hard time with the alien makeup when she first started watching but eventually ended up completely forgetting about the makeup because the characterizations were so strong.

I had somewhat the same reaction to Farscape but I'm hoping to start watching it soon.

Jan

Jan

 

[Kegek]

Damn. First time I watched Farscape, the aliens and weird, evocative atmosphere was basically all I liked. It was Ben Browder I hated, and the really puerile humour.

I'm still not fond of Ben Browder or the humour. But the aliens are pretty neat. Makeup and puppet-wise, it's lightyears ahead of B5.

 

[Neroon]

Hoshi.... has your boyfriend seen B5 before? If so, what was it that he liked about it, which got you to agree to watch it with him?

As to taking some time to get into it, I can understand. Heretical as it may seem to others, I had a hard time getting into the show at first. There was a great deal of set-up, of getting to know the characters, etc. But once that all came together at the end of Season One, I dove into it enthusiastically.

I advise you to check in with The Lurker's Guide To Babylon 5. It's an excellent reference which can help you nail down characters and plot points, while keeping you from being spoiled on future story points.

 

[Phily B]

Yeah, I hated the amount of aliens in it as well at first. You get used to it though.

 

[Neroon]

To be honest... that never bothered me. So much of the story was about how the humans helped to make a community out of the various groups of aliens. Plus, so many of those aliens were quite compelling characters.

 

[Kegek]

I'm surprised that aliens bother Star Trek fans, and DS9 fans in particular. I mean, we all accept Leonard Nimoy as Spock, right? And I'm sure Niners have no problem in principal with Odo and Quark. So where's the leap required from those to G'Kar and Londo?

 

[Harvey]

Quark and Odo had outstanding make-up from the outset. It took Londo and G'Kar quite a while before their make-up was perfected, in my opinion. And when it comes to Londo's wig--it took them years to make that look right. Of course, Star Trek is replete with cheesy looking make-up jobs, so maybe I'm not making much of a point. But I can see the general obstacle in believability.

 

[Kegek]

Leonard Nimoy is probably my better example then. His makeup, while certainly laudable for its time and budget, isn't better than G'Kars or Londo's in execution. Sure, the makeup evolved, but the same is true of Trek: Witness Worf's forehead ridges, which didn't get a constant style until S4 or S5 of TNG.

True, it isn't as severe as theirs either, as it's just ears as opposed to a full face change... but the principle is the same, Star Trek fans all too often accept less than ideal makeup designs as aliens anyway.

 

[Harvey]

^^
All true points. Mine was just an explanation why somebody might be put off by the make-up of Babylon 5, not why somebody would go with the make-up of Star Trek, but still be put off by the make-up of Babylon 5. Human beings are just illogical that way I guess.

 

[Neroon]

It would be interesting to create a smoothly transitioning GIF of the principal B5 aliens who experienced changes in their appearance. G'Kar went from a more pointed facial structure to a softer, more rounded one, for example. Londo experienced a more polished look, but that can be explained by his ascension in Centauri power structures, bringing all of the money with it.

 

[Lindley]

I could provide the morph if you had source frames to work from.

 

[Neroon]

Cool! I'll get back to you ASAP

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

NoRoon AtThe Inn said:
Sinclair does tend to grow on people, as does the season overall. Everyone has their preference on acting style, but it's still cool that some find O'Hare and Sinclair worthy of notice.

Even though I wasn't all too impressed with the original edit of "The Gathering," though in later years I would come to appreciate it, I was impressed by O'Hare and his take on the science-fiction commander/captain trope. Some may have seen it as being stiff, but I always felt that O'Hare played Sinclair as the character was written, a man deeply haunted and troubled by a recent war. He really was suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder.

I also liked how his character was introspective and not really balls-to-the-wall military type.

 

[Kegek]

^
Agreed. Sinclair was an interesting and compelling, if dry, protagonist for B5 in the first season. I've always found him more interesting than Sheridan.

 

[Phily B]

I had the feeling while rewatching season 1 that he was a guy just getting through it all, which is why he was so stiff for the most part.

I think he is more of a theater actor though, and from what Jerry Doyle said about him and why he quit the show, he sounded a bit nuts too.