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. Â Filling in the blanks of my on again off again watching of it like I did with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Friends. Â 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. Â I only managed to catch a couple of episodes of season four which confused me and negatively shaped my overall impressions of the show. Â 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. Â So I could only watch it on my own and it’s not really a show you can watch in the background. Â So it took a while.
To answer the question posed in the title, I think yes, Babylon 5 does stand the scrutiny of time. Â The effects are a little dated, the film quality is pure 90s television but they certainly couldn’t be considered bad. Â 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). Â The show is all about the story. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â It was great watching almost background characters develop into key figures of the show. Â 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. Â 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.
Well with the news that SGA is abandoning me at the end of the season I figured I might branch out into some other scifi series that I’m aware of.
First one was Charlie Jade that whilst I know only goes 20 episodes has just been released here in Australia on DVD.
I decided after visiting cousin Larry to check out the first episode and also thought why not clog up twitter with my random thoughts throughout… everyone at Twitter was very appreciative I’m sure. Â Here is the transcript for the non-twitterers to enjoy also:
about to settle in and watch Charlie Jade - I kind of hope that it isn’t very good because I’ll have to track down the rest of the series
damn vexcorp corporation hiding parallel universes from us
I love whatever place they filmed the opening sequences
They just got a watermelon, from an alternate universe I suspect… cool, imagine the impact on your local fruit market
I’ve got to say that the production quality is quite good, bit of an explanation of the universe we’re in - some south african accents too
hey! the ghost train from GB2 just showed up
I like the soundtrack over the opening credits.
Mmmmmm bit of a Blade Runner’ish feel to it.
$32.50 for a bloody coffee?!?! Starbucks has gone nuts in the Charlie Jade universe.
No one wants to go to Brock Harbour…
Dude works for himself rather than working for the man - sweet. He is however being stared at by a ladybeetle with a camera in its back..?
Damn, nice big gun, plus he has different jackets for each occasion, hope he got a bulk discount from Myer
Righto he just found a cupboard full of severed arms, and then the cupboard fell on him and a one armed man ran off - connected??
Charlie has an attractive girlfriend and shares in Microsoft.. I mean Vexcorp… I’m betting everything is going to go to shit for him
Someone left a girl on Charlie’s front door step, kittens are easier to feed and find new homes for
Apparently in the Charlie Jade universe the police don’t deal with date rape cases they palm them off to PI’s like Charlie
Ah hah the girl is from our universe and has crossed over into theirs somehow
Break for chocolate ice cream - in case I’ve confused everyone I’m twittering my first viewing of Charlie Jade..
also breaking because my cforms2 update didn’t work properly and now I’m fixing it
oh wow Charlie and his girlfriend are really really happy and have sushi - I’m giving it ten minutes or so
somehow they are sending water through the dimensional portal without pipes and stuff?
the gammaverse is concerned about the environment - they have a pretty beach and don’t want it wreaked
Charlie’s girlfriend doesn’t want to go on holidays? Weird.
The girl who was on his doorstep has shown up dead and the police are giving him a guilt trip - also the cop has a funny name
I’m not really sure why the police didn’t help the girl in the first place - all very mysterious no ID chip in her…
@kristarella no it never auto updates for me either - what’s Wufoo?
OK now Charlie is tracking down the pretty boy son of Vexcorp boss - this is going to end in tears
Weird scene in the gammaverse (?) where the environmentally concerned couple hold some container over the top of their brand new car..?
Charlie is now in some weird fluorescent lit bar where beer is expensive and warm and I think he’s going to get into a fight
and we have another jacket!!!
OK just to clarify Charlie lives in Alphaverse
Apparently in Alphaverse you can park your car in the middle of the road while chasing helicoptors
helicopters
oooooooohhh enviro couple in g-uni are terrorists/patriots
Now I’ve got three alternate universes converging
Ok kid stop poking the dude with a stick - Charlie has woken up in the desert after the eco couple blew up the place
Well ok he hasn’t woken up - he’s getting poked with a stick
yup ok I could watch more of this show - 19 episodes to track down
Some of that makes more sense if you happen to be watching the first episode too. Â Random parts however will never make sense so don’t even bother. Â I’m assuming I should lose about five followers out of this.
Check out the teaser to get idea of the show I’m talking about:
I woke up this morning to some really unexpected news, unexpected, unwelcome and generally confusing (actually more than one piece of news but the other piece is unrelated). Â Apparently they are cancelling Stargate:Atlantis in favour of making tv movies.
It was just hitting its stride!? Â It feels like Enterprise all over again. Â Show finally starts showing a little more promise and then they pull the plug.
SGA and I had our differences, there were a lot of filler episodes, but all the pieces were there. Â Great cast, pretty good special effects (great for TV) and a premise that I thought interesting. Â They just had to write more compelling stuff on a regular basis, because when an episode was good it was bloody good!
It’s OK though, the studio tells us, because they’re going to make ‘movies’ and tell SGA stories in a larger canvas. Â If the SG1 ‘movies’ are anything to go off I look forward to one or two long episodes in the coming year.
Wasn’t it SciFi who cancelled Farscape?
With BSG folding too I’m not sure where this leaves television science fiction at this time. Â I guess Fringe and Dollhouse are coming but it’s not really the same as a space show. Â Maybe I’ll go watch some Eureka.
To answer the question posed in the title, I think yes, Babylon 5 does stand the scrutiny of time. Â The effects are a little dated, the film quality is pure 90s television but they certainly couldn’t be considered bad. Â Obviously they used complete computer effects for the ships and station but none of this really detracts from the story.
The characters themselves also share in the effectiveness of the series, everyone grew and changed, did good things, did bad things, lived and died. Â It was great watching almost background characters develop into key figures of the show. Â Even the way that the different races evolved throughout the series was amazing when you look back at the full run.
