Niners Unite...around Babylon 5!

[The Habs Fan]

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Neroon, thanks for the list of who does the voices. Some of them, like Zack's for example, I couldn't figure out who's voice that was. I also didn't know Sheridan's only line in the intro was "Babylon 5". I never realized it was Garibaldi saying the "2261" portion.

Thanks for all your suggestions on what order to watch the episodes in. I've been following The Lurker's Guide chronological episode and movie list, so I'll keep following that for where the movies fall. They have Thirdspace falling between The Illusion Of Truth and Atonement, so that's where I'm planning to watch it. I like watching things in chronological order, rather than by release date, so that's the way I'll be doing it. That's how I'm doing Star Trek the whole way through right now with my brother who's watching it for the first time. Presently, we're in the middle of DS9 season 7 and Voyager season 5 and have just watched Insurrection.

In case you're wondering, the only thing in Babylon 5 I watched out of order was In The Beginning. The Lurker's Guide has it as the first thing chronologically, but I'm waiting for the end of season 4 to watch it. I'll be watching River Of Souls after Objects At Rest, and then Legend Of The Rangers after that, followed by Sleeping In Light. After that, I'll watch A Call To Arms followed by Crusade. I should be fully done the whole Babylon 5 saga before Voices In The Dark is released.

I'm enjoying Babylon 5 a lot, and can't wait for the coming episodes. Although I still enjoy Star Trek more, Babylon 5 is one of my favourite television shows of all time. A few years ago, I never even bothered to look at different sci fi shows because of my belief they were inferior to Star Trek. Now, my eyes have been opened that there is more sci fi out there worth watching. The only problem I'll have is, what to watch after Babylon 5 is finished? NuBSG? 4400? Dead Zone? Stargate SG-1? If any of you have recommendations on which one I should start with, let me know

 

[Neroon]

I can't stress enough how much fun it is to talk about the show with someone experiencing it for the first time.

 

[Orac Zen]

^
Agreed. I enjoy the heck out of watching people find this show and be as enthusiastic about it as I was when I first saw it.

Of course, I envy them a very great deal as well...but there's nothing to be done about that.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Whatever Happened To Mr. Garibaldi?
In this episode we get more clues as to what is happening to Garibaldi. From what I can tell, the helmeted figure who walked into Garibaldi's "cell" looked like a Psi Cop. Interesting if it is a Psi Cop. Possibly Bester? G'Kar looking for Garibaldi was done very well. G'Kar being friends with a non-Narn for the first time was very touching. G'Kar is then captured by the Cenaturi and given as a gift to Londo from Cartagia. I love the growth that both Londo and G'Kar have been through throughout this series. They both started out as completely different people than how they are right now. Londo is much more sympathetic and has compassion for "lesser" beings, even though he was the one who started this whole mess. G'Kar began the series very much like Londo at the start, very proud of his race and more violent (with lack of a better word). Now he is also more compassionate and is able to forgive for past wrongs. This brings us to Sheridan's dealings with the First One Lorien. It's all still a little confusing, but from what I gather from the very end, Sheridan will be alive. He still has something to live for: Delenn.

The Summoning
Ivanova and Marcus head out to find more god-like beings to help against the Shadows. Instead, what they find are thousands of Vorlon ships, along with a "planet killer" readying for an attack. The biggest question out of this plot is: Are the Vorlons good or bad? Are they actually worse than the Shadows? That really threw me for a loop. Over on Centauri Prime, Vir has joined Londo to help him assassinate the insane Cartagia. Cartagia is hilarious. I love this character. His aspirations for godhood are frighteningly real yet humourously crazy at the same time. G'Kar is now being tortured and killed slowly. The crown of spikes he wears while being taunted by the Royal Court is eerily similar to Jesus when he was wearing a crown of thorns before the Jewish High Court. The Jesus metaphors continue. The fact that G'Kar screamed, and therefore lost his honour because of it, was very moving. Londo was obviously very pained to see what was happening, something he wouldn't bat an eye about back in season 1. Meanwhile on the station, Zack has rescued Garibaldi from amysterious transport. There's obviously something different about Garibaldi, especially after the "Activate program" line before he's ejected in the life pod. This will probably be played out in future episodes. Sheirdan has also returned, and with him Lorien. However, the circumstances around his return are also very mysterious...

Falling Toward Apotheosis
Like the last episode, I'm left to wonder: Are the Vorlons good or bad? Are they in fact more evil than the Shadows? They are certainly causing much more destruction than the Shadows. The Kosh/Kosh 2 fight further blurs the issue. Is Kosh 1 good and all the other Vorlons, including Kosh 2, bad? I'm guessing I'll find out eventually. Sheridan was n fact carrying Kosh inside of him the whole time. So that solves that little mystery. Meanwhile, Garibaldi is still acting weird. He seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Why he is so suspicious and mistrusting (he's always been like that, just now it's a lot more). He doesn't seem to trust Sheridan or his companion Lorien. Meanwhile, on Centauri Prime, Cartagia is getting more and more crazy, proclaiming that Centauri Prime should be destroyed by the Vorlons as their sacrifice will enable him to transform into a god. He has obviously lost it. Especially when he brings Londo down into his diesembodied heads room and starts talking to them. Londo convinced Cartagia to take his time in killing G'Kar, eventually convincing him to try G'Kar on Narn. I'm guessing that this is all part of Londo's plan to free G'Kar and kill Cartagia. Unfortunately, there's one piece of business left: the way G'Kar is looking at Cartagia. Pluck out his eye! I don't care which one...

 

[Neroon]

At this point, the question of just which is "more good" or "more evil" in regards to the Vorlons & Shadows..... becomes even more muddled. And more to the point of the entire story.

 

[Can]

Are Vorlons good or bad ? Well Lytia said : "Kosh was different. He actually cared about us ( younger races )"
Normally Vorlons would not care. They involved war actively with urging of Kosh and Sheridan in Season 3. With Kosh gone "Now I am not sure whether they care about what happens all of us at all" as Lytia said.

 

[DWF]

The only problem I'll have is, what to watch after Babylon 5 is finished? NuBSG? 4400? Dead Zone? Stargate SG-1? If any of you have recommendations on which one I should start with, let me know.

Stargate SG1 and Doctor Who. :thumbsup:

 

[Can]

The only problem I'll have is, what to watch after Babylon 5 is finished? NuBSG? 4400? Dead Zone? Stargate SG-1? If any of you have recommendations on which one I should start with, let me know.

After B5 and if you liked B5 , you should definetely watch Farscape ! It is one of the finest and most unusual sci-fi productions ever made.

 

[Orac Zen]

^
Seconded. It's an acquired taste, but if you manage to acquire it Farscape is absolutely brilliant. It's right up there with B5 for mine. :thumbsup:

 

[BigFoot]

Yeah, I absolutely love Farscape. I actually like it more then B5.

 

[Neroon]

Farscape and Firefly are very different, which is part of why I liked them so much. Both excellent choices for the next show to watch. But that "difference", that divergence from the main is what atracted me to B5 in the first place. It was a totally different look, sound and feel from Trek at the time. Different does not always equate with "better" or even "good", but often it DOES make it worthwhile to at least check things out.

Tom Riker... through what means are you watching Babylon 5? Do you own the DVDs or are you borrowing them? There are a few bloopers hidden as easter eggs on some of them I think.

 

[Lindley]

Stargate SG-1 is always worth a run-through, although you do have to have somewhat lower expectations coming off of B5....

 

[The Habs Fan]

Neroon said:
Tom Riker... through what means are you watching Babylon 5? Do you own the DVDs or are you borrowing them? There are a few bloopers hidden as easter eggs on some of them I think.

I'm buying the DVDs as I get to them. I still have to get Season 5, Legend Of The Rangers, and Crusade.

I'll have to find those easter eggs you speak of

 

[Can]

Tom if you see any Farscape DVDs or if you have any other means to get them don't miss. No matter how much does it cost. You won't regret. That series is crazy , it has everything. Along with Babylon 5 , Farscape is my favorite series of all time , Star Trek coming after them.

 

[Neroon]

Tom Riker said:
I'm buying the DVDs as I get to them. I still have to get Season 5, Legend Of The Rangers, and Crusade.

I'll have to find those easter eggs you speak of

If you have any trouble finding them, I can help you out.

 

[MyCylon]

Tom Riker said:
The only problem I'll have is, what to watch after Babylon 5 is finished? NuBSG? 4400? Dead Zone? Stargate SG-1? If any of you have recommendations on which one I should start with, let me know

NuBSG is definitely worthwhile. I think it's one of the best SciFi shows along with DS9 and B5. The 4400 is also very enjoyable, I think.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Justtoyourleft said:
NuBSG is definitely worthwhile. I think it's one of the best SciFi shows along with DS9 and B5. The 4400 is also very enjoyable, I think.

I think that I'm going to watch nuBSG and 4400 next because both those shows are still going on currently and I'd like to catch up to where they are so I can start watching them as they're released.

I'll probably start taking a look at Farscape after those two. I looked it up on wikipedia and it sounds very interesting. The only problem is that it costs 121 dollars per season. That's crossing into Star Trek prices . I'm almost finished completing my Star Trek collection, and I want a break between buying expensive DVD sets. But after I'm finished with nuBSG and 4400, I'll probably start watching Farscape. Thanks for all your suggestions!

By the way, I may not have new reviews up for a couple of days, as I just received Babylon 5 The Movie Collection and I want to watch the commentary for The Gathering first.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Actually, if you get the Farscape - Starburst Edition sets it's a lot cheaper. There's three sets per season and they cost about $20 each so that's $60 per season which isn't too bad. Not to mention the fact that the Starburst Edition sets have better extras.

 

[Jan]

Tom Riker said:
By the way, I may not have new reviews up for a couple of days, as I just received Babylon 5 The Movie Collection and I want to watch the commentary for The Gathering first.

Tom Riker, has anybody warned you about the commentaries? They tend to be very spoilerful, assuming that the watcher has seen the entire series.

Lucky, lucky first watcher...

 

[Lindley]

Don't buy into the Farscape hype. Yes, it's a good show, and worth seeing. But don't listen to those who talk about it like the second coming. That will only lead to disappointment.

Honestly, the way some people talk, you'd think the entire series was as good as Farscape season 3. That quality level is the peak, not the average.