Does Babylon 5 still stand up?
September 10th, 2008
About a year ago I started a journey, one that for the most part finished this morning as I watched the final episode of Babylon 5.
I had bought the entire series about a year and a half ago and when we had to move all of our stuff into storage I hung on to them promising that it would be one of those shows that I watched completely through. Filling in the blanks of my on again off again watching of it like I did with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Friends. There’s nothing like experiencing an entire series of a show in a short period of time (this made several seasons of Friends a lot better than I initially thought, heck even Ross was more likable).
I had watched but barely remembered season one of B5, I had seen most of season two and probably all of season three. I only managed to catch a couple of episodes of season four which confused me and negatively shaped my overall impressions of the show. I didn’t see any of season five.
It took me a year to watch the full series, unlike my marathon viewing of Farscape I was unable to entice Tracey to watch the series, a little too much scifi. So I could only watch it on my own and it’s not really a show you can watch in the background. So it took a while.
To answer the question posed in the title, I think yes, Babylon 5 does stand the scrutiny of time. The effects are a little dated, the film quality is pure 90s television but they certainly couldn’t be considered bad. Obviously they used complete computer effects for the ships and station but none of this really detracts from the story.
You see, I finally get what the B5 fanatics have gotten all along (I don’t know if Babylon 5 fans have a stupid nickname). The show is all about the story. The massive five year story arc that begins laying its groundwork in the first episode and plays itself out right up till the end.
The show is probably unique in that it knew exactly what the storyline was going to be all along, probably a sign of the times when today I don’t know if any show could do that. Simply because the shows today have one episode in which to hook viewers before they are moved to weird timeslots, shown out of order or have six to twelve month mid season breaks.
I’m sure that B5 had to fight off its own cancellation threats but when you watch the five seasons in a row you see that real planning went into its story. Something that also struck me was that the show hits the ground running, it didn’t require one or two seasons to warm up.
The characters themselves also share in the effectiveness of the series, everyone grew and changed, did good things, did bad things, lived and died. It was great watching almost background characters develop into key figures of the show. Even the way that the different races evolved throughout the series was amazing when you look back at the full run.
So my original impressions of the show were way off. I always seemed to think that the Shadow war was a tiny part of the overall picture, which of course it wasn’t. I didn’t like what happened to Garibaldi originally but then I didn’t really know what had actually happened to the character.
If you like science fiction television and are concerned about the potential dry spell that is coming for new shows then you might want to consider visiting some of the older series that you may not have encountered or given a go. If you have’nt watched it or given it a chance I highly recommend going out and getting a cheap copy of B5 season one, pick one night a week to watch one or two episodes and I’m fairly confident you’ll be picking up season two.
For me though I’m going to take a break from the B5 universe, maybe putting in a little time in Alias land before venturing back and watching the ill-fated Crusade and some of the movies.
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Categories: DVD, Science Fiction, Television | Tags: b5, Babylon 5, television science fiction, What I'm watching
Babylon 5 ??
Haven’t thought/seen that one in ages.
Just finished watching Firefly series. **sigh** stopped all too soon IMO.
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By Lee on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
Yeah it’s an amazing series but it just doesn’t seem to garner the same attention shows like Deep Space Nine did (obviously having the branding of Trek doesn’t hurt it lol). It’s well worth the second look.
Ahhhh Firefly, thankfully at least they did a movie for that show - it is a perfect example of series that never even had a chance.
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By Dan on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
Someone must be kicking themselves over canceling Firefly. It had the potential to be huge.
Dans last blog post..It’s the end of the world as we know it
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By Lee on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
It does make me wonder if it would have been as much a sensation had it been allowed to continue on its natural course.
I suspect so because it was just plain good, but I wonder if people would have rallied so much.
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Congrats on sticking with it. I don’t think I’d have the patients.
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By Lee on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
Yeah it wasn’t so bad, just had to fit the time in to watch it.
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I loved bab 5, although only watched to season 3. I bought season 1 on DVD a while ago though and am very slowly making my way through it.
It left a big legacy. Before then the idea of a plot arc was almost unknown of in a sci fi show. Now they are everywhere.
Dans last blog post..It’s the end of the world as we know it
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By Lee on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
Seasons four and five are well worth the effort, it’s like season five is all about tying up loose ends.
I don’t know if anyone has matched it to be honest, even Battlestar Galactica didn’t really know what direction they were going in when they first started, same with Lost.
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I watched a bunch of episodes, but I think I never saw a complete season. I’ve got to go to my brother, he’s got every season from Larry..
But first..I’ll be finishing Oz (6th season will be out here at the end of next week).
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By Lee on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
I’m pretty certain I’ve seen all of Oz, I don’t remember if I liked the last season of that, there are so many story lines to keep check of in that show!
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By Jeff on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
That is the hardest part of this show… if you’re gonna watch it, you pretty much gotta commit to watching 5 seasons in order, skipping almost no episodes. It’s a lot to ask, but IMO worth it.
Jeffs last blog post..Quick overview for new visitors
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Fenris at poster at the Unaboard raved about Babylon 5 so much that I decided to borrow the DVDs from our local library (Preston Library DVD collection does rock muchly).
I reviewed the shows as I watched them but I’m not going to dig up the threads over at the Unaboard because I can tell you now.
My opinion of Babylon 5, it was as boring as batshit, the writers could not do dialogue to save themselves. I thought maybe it was just me, I do prefer stuff that goes BOOM. But hubby hated it even more than I did and he likes the boring talking stuff like Shakespeare, Citizen Kane, Mulholland Drive etc.
That is the only Sci-Fi show I’ve ever watched that has left me stone cold.
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By Lee on September 10th, 2008 | Reply
Wow I expected a couple of people to be fairly indifferent to the show but I wasn’t expecting anyone to hate it!
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By Marita on September 12th, 2008 | Reply
I wonder if all the B5 love I heard prior to watching the show set me up to expect something better?
I love good dialogue in a TV show and will watch something that otherwise is god awful just for the snappy dialogue. So B5s weak dialogue really disappointed me.
If JMS and Joss Whedon got together I’d be a happy camper, Whedon does dialogue I love but story arc and character growth are IMHO his weak points. Those two could make some stellar television.
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Ah, B5! I’m one of those fans you were talking about who don’t have a group nickname.
Actually I think a few were floated around, but I steadfastly refuse to use any of them.
Anyway…. I think you’re right that no one has quite pulled off a novel for television the way Joe Straczynski (JMS) did. The show was handled very poorly by the network (PTEN), who moved it all over the place, including 1am, with no notice, and it was constantly being preempted (especially on its final season on TNT). Every single season ended under the threat of cancellation, too. In fact, the finale episode (Sleeping in Light) was filmed at the end of Season 4 just in case they had to air it there. They even switched networks to TNT for the 5th season at the last minute to keep going. As a result of that scare, though, they had to rush a few episodes meant for season 5 into season 4 in order to pull the plot together in case they had to close it out. I think that left Season 5 as the weakest (though it was still good).
This show was only pulled off by sheer force of will.
JMS wrote every episode of both seasons 3 and 4, if I’m not mistaken, in addition to running the show, and the majority of the remainder of the episodes.
As far as the quality… obviously I’m a fan, so you know I like it. The effects at the time were ground-breaking, though their age is showing a bit now. They were one of the few shows to use realistic 3-D space battle tactics and ship movements (the Starfury’s primarily… apparently NASA even liked the design enough to consider using them as space Tug Boats in reality).
The movies weren’t as good, for the most part. The one exception is “In the Beginning” which I actually consider part of the series itself because it ties in to the main plot so completely. “Call to Arms” is also good (that was the Crusade lead-in).
And if you want more story in book form, I highly recommend the Centauri trilogy and the Technomage trilogy. Most fans recommend the Psi-Corps trilogy as well, but I haven’t been able to get ahold of all three books yet, so I can’t comment on it.
If you want to know where the story has gone since the initial run (and there is more story, though it’s kind of scattered and incomplete) there have been a follow-up series (Crusade), another failed pilot movie (Legend of the Rangers - which would be better if it hadn’t been made), a 2-episode DVD follow-up (The Lost Tales - part of a planned series), and an aborted theatrical movie. Recently, JMS has essentially said he’s not pursuing any more stories in the B5 universe.
I’ve blathered enough… I could go on for quite a while on this one.
Jeffs last blog post..Quick overview for new visitors
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By Lee on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
Yeah I managed to pick up the complete novel set whilst I was in Melbourne late last year so eventually I’ll give them a read but not for a while. I’ll have another look at the universe in a bit, I’ve got the movie collection floating around here as well as the Lost Tales which I understand isn’t going to get its follow up now.
Just a quick question, in any of the movies or spin offs does it ever establish what happens to Londo? It’s a story line I would like to get some closure on.
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By Jeff on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
If you haven’t seen “In the Beginning” that’s the one that gets you more Londo, but otherwise, you’ve seen everything you’re getting on him on film.
But that Centauri book trilogy is all about Londo (and to a point, Vir and G’Kar). Great set, IMO. The Technomage trilogy is about Galen (from Crusade) and is much larger than it seems in terms of the effect on the overall universe - it also gives you a lot of what Crusade would have eventually gotten to. The Psi-Corps trilogy is about Bester.
Jeffs last blog post..Quick overview for new visitors
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By Lee on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
I’ve seen ‘in the beginning’ but I was more interested in his fate to be honest, I wanted to know if perhaps the future that Sheriden saw came to pass in a fashion, even if it wasn’t exactly how we saw it with G’Kar and Londo ‘ending it’.
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By Jeff on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
That’s in the books. What you saw is exactly what happens, though, as usual with B5, the events leading up to it provide a bit of a different context - and perhaps even greater meaning. As one reviewer put it:
“This is the book that Babylon 5 fans have been waiting for. It finally fills in the gaps left between season 5 and “War Without End” from the third season. As with the series itself, even though we know the final outcome, getting there is half the journey. The pace never lags, and there are several surprises along the way. Once again, Mr. David has captured the characters and series perfectly. The scenes between Londo and G’Kar are some of the best anywhere, and Londo’s struggle to redeem himself has never been more touching.”
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By Lee on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
Oh that’s awesome to hear, I’m tempted to rush ahead and read that straight away! (I’m taking a break from B5, I’m taking a break…)
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I wouldn’t recommend starting with Season 1. Season 1 is pretty boring. Start with Season 2 and then backtrack if you feel interested. Things really start to go boom in Season 3 and there’s lots of boom in Season 4.
I would also stop at Season 4. Everything else that came after (Season 5, Rangers, Crusade) were pretty much terrible. It felt superfluous.
What makes B5 good is something that Star Trek never had and that was was unfortunately lacking from the otherwise beautiful Farscape: a cohesive story arc where the characters grow and change in relation to the movement of the story and a cohesive ending. New BSG had it going on for a while, but jumped the shark for me at the insipidness that was New Caprica.
arkonbeys last blog post..comic stuff
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By Jeff on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
I’d disagree with starting at season 2, though I understand where you’re coming from with that. Season 1 is arguably a weaker season. The trouble with doing that is that you would miss a LOT of plot and character setup. Sinclair in his entirety, which then gets a payoff in Season 3, Delenn’s transformation and its connection to Sinclair, lots about Garibaldi, the buildup of Narn and Centauri storylines. It may seem boring in relation to the rest of the series, but it lays the groundwork for everything that comes after. And especially the last 5 episodes (approx) of Season 1 really get things moving.
I’d agree that if you’re okay with a few hanging threads here or there, you could skip Season 5.
Jeffs last blog post..Quick overview for new visitors
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By Lee on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
I was pretty happy with the conclusion of Farscape, I want more but I wouldn’t feel robbed if they left it where it is. I found the character development in that show to be brilliant, I think they started to get their act together in the second half of the series regarding a story arc, some of their episodes where quite high level.
BSG has always left me feeling that they don’t really know what they are pointing at, a general idea I’m sure but nothing concrete, the same with what I’ve seen of Lost.
I wouldn’t trade out any of the seasons of B5 though as it is a complete story arc, even though season five is a little slower than the previous ones there are still a lot of pay off and closure.
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By Arkonbey on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
I thought Farscape was a brilliant idea and the most gorgeous show on television, but I found the character development was lacking.
I got really fed up in Season 2 when every other episode the crew would suddenly ‘remember’ that Aeryn was once a Peacekeeper and get all worked up about her past crimes (completely ignoring a season of living with them, helping them and, more than once, saving their lives). It bugged me because the actors inhabited their roles so darn well.
Arkonbeys last blog post..comic stuff
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I liked what I was able to catch of B5
At the moment though it is Stargate that has my young fella all abuzz with the release of the ‘collecter series’ dvd’s through the newsagents thing that they are advertising at the moment.
I’m going to have to get some box sets soon methinks.
Bettinas last blog post..Ahhhh Spring!
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By Lee on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
With those collector magazines though Bettina, they are only worth it if you want the mags that go with it, otherwise you’re better off getting the box sets in the long run - I would be pretty certain it would work out cheaper and not take up as much room.
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By Bettina on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
That’s what I’ve told TJ - I know it will work out much cheaper to get the box sets and I won’t have the mags cluttering up his bedroom. I’ve actually put it on the christmas wish list. (Cos I loves me some Star gate myself
)
Bettinas last blog post..Ahhhh Spring!
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By Lee on September 11th, 2008 | Reply
When I get home (I’m out and about as I read this) I’ll email you some places where you might be able to pick them up cheaper. I got the ‘gate edition’ myself at some sale and have yet to crack it open. Just need to invest in those 32 hour days.
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