Babylon 5 was the perfect example of something that has only been done a few times before or since. A show where the arc is defined in the beginning. So many shows go off the rails because they don't know the pace to put out the overarching storyline. If they go too fast, the show peaks and they need to figure out what they hell they do next. If it goes too slow, they need to add cheap filler and often this crashes the show before they get to the good part.
It also hit the sweet spot - it got enough attention from the networks to get budget and airtime, but not so much that the executives took the reins. Sadly, the latter is what killed Crusade.
Zooty Zoot-zoot!
p.s. for new fans to the series there are three trilogies of novels that add amazing backstory to the show. Sadly, some of them are out of print and not available as E-books.
One is about the Rise and Fall of the Centauri - focusing on Londo and Vir.
The second is about Bester and the rise and fall of the Psi Corps. You'll see the character very differently after this.
The third is about the techno-mages. It reveals the true nature of who they are and what they do.
They handled the story arc well for the first four seasons, but they had to rush some things in the 4th season because they were not sure that there would be a 5th season. That left the 5th season to leave a distinct impression of "Now what?" You could have gone straight from the end of season 4 to the finale and not missed anything vital.
The other issue with the arc is that the build-up was rather slow by the standards of the time. I am sure I was not the only one who lost interest about halfway through the first season. Now imagine that the next episode I saw was from halfway through the third season -- and how my reaction was "What have I been missing here?"
It's a good example... It's not perfect because due to how the show was screwed up with so much by executive meddling. Straczynski ended the arc early at the end of the 4th season as he was sure the show would be canceled. Then it got another year which wound up being padding and the show that would have ended the fourth season and the series, was moved to end the fifth and last instead. Which is why Ivanaova appears in it despite the actress having quit the show a year earlier.Babylon 5 was the perfect example of something that has only been done a few times before or since. A show where the arc is defined in the beginning.
Well, as good an example as you ever see in American TV.
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It's a good example... It's not perfect because due to how the show was screwed up with so much by executive meddling. Straczynski ended the arc early at the end of the 4th season as he was sure the show would be canceled. Then it got another year which wound up being padding and the show that would have ended the fourth season and the series, was moved to end the fifth and last instead. Which is why Ivanaova appears in it despite the actress having quit the show a year earlier.Babylon 5 was the perfect example of something that has only been done a few times before or since. A show where the arc is defined in the beginning.
The first half of season 5 is meh (but still watchable) but the second half is solid.
It was more of a disappointment when it first aired after the nonstop awesome of Season 4 and then waiting week between so-so episodes. Really, it holds up better on binge watching. When you know what's coming and realize the small stuff is part of the larger end.
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JMS had the fifth season story arc mapped out, but he left it on notepaper in his hotel room while at a convention and a maid threw them away thinking they were trash. He only remembered about half of what he had written down.
In the final episode it is 20 years later Sheridan was visiting people and places from his time as commander of B5. I know it was filmed as the 4th season finale (an episode was shot at the beginning of the 5th season filming and used as the 4th season finale), but I wish JMS could have included Captain Lochley in some way - a 1 or 2 minute appearance would not have hurt.
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"Because with you, I will always know where I stand."
The main issue I have with the latter part of season 5 is that its writers seemingly did not look at the already written and filmed finale. When I saw the finale, I was disappointed at the relative lack of setup for it in the immediately preceding episodes.
Londo's "gift" to the Sheridans looked like it was a setup for the finale when I first saw it -- but in fact it was a setup for a series of events that took place in the intervening years and was never shown on TV.
Or transporters either, since I know those bother you as well.Do the mass to energy conversion of a single human body mass and it should bother you as well. Especially when it makes whole copies of humans from NOTHING.
While I do find B5 far superior to Star Trek, lets not kid ourselves that B5 is some sort of hard science mecca. Stuff like Hyperspace and telepaths are as far as we can tell just as magical as teleporters and warp drive. And B5 borrowed pretty heavily from things like Lord of the Rings for it's structure.
Their shows...meant to entertain...that's all.
I could have sworn Centauri fighters ignored momentum like that too.
* Shrug
Regardless, the Thunderbolt is a better ride than the Star Fury. And... the things... are better than the Mimbari fighters. Presumably Vorlons had better too, but I don't think they show off anything that small.
The idea of space combat for a Vorlon.
"Rocks Fall, Planet Dies"
Some of the big fleet battle scenes in later seasons did show Vorlon (and for that matter Shadow) fighter class vessels. We just didn't get a whole lot of scenes of their ships in action compared to the races.
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"The Parliament of Dreams"
Planet-buster weapons shown that just made the viewer go... "Aw ****, did that just do what I THINK it did?"
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Or transporters either, since I know those bother you as well.Do the mass to energy conversion of a single human body mass and it should bother you as well. Especially when it makes whole copies of humans from NOTHING.While I do find B5 far superior to Star Trek, lets not kid ourselves that B5 is some sort of hard science mecca. Stuff like Hyperspace and telepaths are as far as we can tell just as magical as teleporters and warp drive. And B5 borrowed pretty heavily from things like Lord of the Rings for it's structure.
Their shows...meant to entertain...that's all.
While I'm not disagreeing with your overall point, I wouldn't call telepaths magical. We're just discovering what can be done with the brain - read an article yesterday that researchers were able to allow brain to brain signals across rooms. Sure it used equipment to do it, but if that's possible, it's certainly not magical sounding that at some point we figure out science that allows more telepath type abilities.
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Seriously people. Spoilers. Have some respect.
Babylon 5 is one of my favorite Sci-fi series of all time though, probably even ahead of the Rebooted BSG.
My biggest disappointment was that Crusade only got a season. I love Gary Cole, try to watch him in anything he is in.
+1 to the call for Spoilers (although you can be sure I'm going to open every one that I find . . .).
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I liked the variability of the races and technology on the show.
On Star Trek (which I also love and am not dissing at all), it seems like just about anyone the Federation runs into (Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Cardassians, Breen, Jem Hadar, etc.) has the same sort of shields, warp drive, transporters, tractor beams, etc. as the Federation. On Babylon 5, the Humans and Narn ships we see don't even have artificial gravity (the Human ships rotate, and the one Narn ship I remember, everyone was strapped in). The Centauri and Minbari (and presumably Vorlons) do have artificial gravity technology, in one instance to the degree of having a hand held gravity manipulating device!
And yet, as to the 'hard' science, I'm not sure any sci-fi show really fits the harsher definitions. Most of them have aliens, or genetically enhanced people, or faster than light travel, or telepathy, or hand held directed energy weapons, or 'sensors' that can read 'life signs' from space (*my* body doesn't emit anything detectable through the vacuum of space, not even when I've eaten chili!), or lightsabers, or whatever, and I tend not to worry about that sort of thing.
As sci-fi goes, it's maybe a bit 'harder' than one that includes a 'Q Continuum' (and about the same as the one based around 'The Force'), but hardly reality-based.
Upside, it's got characters like Bester. Oh, he's fun.
I was never sure that the First Ones are even biological. I think they're just living energy.
Also, I remember seeing what the Vorlons really look like to be a huge "Oh S#&~" moment.
Also, keep in mind that the little Vorlon personal ships could make warp gates and kill the main Shadow battleships. I think the warp gate is something the Vorlons invented, and they passed a crappier version of it to the Minbari, who in turn passed it on to other races.
G'kar is my favorite alien from any scifi series or movie. I liked him when he sang to his supper and rescued Sinclair's errant ladyfriend. I loved him when he was explaining to that same woman why he rescued her. And I am still in awe about how Andreas Katsulas could express himself under that makeup. Na'toth was funny. I may have a soft spot for narns in general.
I thought there was a pecking order among the first ones based on how large their population was.
Lorien was at the top, the unnamed five who came to help the alliance at Corianna VI were next, with Shadows and Vorlons being less powerful than them.
ZOG.
Zog?! Zog yes? zog no?
There is one thing that slightly bothered me upon rewatching seasons 3 and 4 years later. With JMS writing all the stories, dialogue got a bit theatrical in some spots. I don't know how to express it better.
Still, B5 remains on shared top ranking (with Farscape, which is a totally different show) in my books.
You are not ready for immortality.
You are probably right. I have to rewatch the entire series to confirm this, of course. Woe is me!
Note to self, skip "Gray 17 is missing" this time.
Once I mentioned liking B5 and all the Trekkies and Jedi/Siths in the room gave me a nasty look.
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Right now I am "watching" Star Trek: The Next Generation for the first time (i.e. it is playing on netflix while I do research-related work at home).
I was pretty happy to hear a familiar voice last night and releasing that the actor who played G'kar also had a reoccurring role as a Romulan commander.