Babylon 5

[Sprite Machine]

S02E11 - 'All Alone in the Night'

 

Sheridan is abducted by aliens and Delenn loses her place in the Grey Council, changing its makeup to a warrior caste majority. The main story revolves around a species called the Streibs, who kidnap individuals in order to learn about other species' weaknesses, but was Sheridan a random target or did they know he'd be where he was? Will we see these aliens again (who look suspiciously like the 'greys' from an earlier episode)?

 

I feel conflicted about episodes like this because they're often nothing special on their own terms, but if they have greater significance later on, they might improve on a rewatch. But as I'm not planning on rewatching the whole show, I have to take each episode as it comes, and this one was just OK. But then there's the reveal that Sheridan was put in his post by the former president to assess the B5 crew's loyalties and help uncover the coup within Earth government.

Meanwhile, Vorlon Ambassador Kosh seems to either know Sheridan's dreams, or is in them. Quite interesting.

[Eighthours]

On 18/01/2023 at 14:29, Sprite Machine said:

S02E09 - 'The Coming of Shadows'

Well now, things have suddenly picked up! The balance of power on Centauri Prime is shifting, G'Kar and Londo's relationship is forever changed, and the great war with the Shadows seems closer than ever. Moments of hope, moments of tragedy, and lots of thrilling drama and action, while teasing lots more for the future. Plus a totally unexpected guest appearance. Nice.

 

(EDIT: Most importantly of all: this episode finally confirms that Centauri hair, even women's, is just a fashion choice, not a genetic trait.)

 

Yeah, this one is a classic. So good!

[Sprite Machine]

S02E12 - 'Acts of Sacrifice'

The Narn/Centauri conflict escalates and B5 becomes a powder keg ready to go off.

 

So far, the characters of Londo and G'Kar have broadly revolved around mild antagonism for one another, veiled threats and almost comical squabbling. Now they are becoming nuanced and conflicted and the actors are doing a terrific job of portraying their anguish and torture. G'Kar putting on a strong face while he watches his support slip away. Londo learning that power without friendship is hollow and meaningless. Long may this continue and develop.

 

On the other hand, the subplot with Ivanova showing the alien around and pretending to have sex with him was pure cringe. Though, again, hats off to the actress for that performance!

[K]

I think that "sex" scene with Ivanova is one of my abiding memories of watching Babylon 5 when Channel 4 first screened it, in that it was so embarrassing I had to briefly turn the TV off.

[Benny]

That is hands down one of my most hated scenes I've ever watched on Television. And I've watched a lot of bad TV.

 

I always skip ahead a few seconds on every re-watch with that bit, and that bit only.

 

But congrats! You've officially seen the worst scene in the show so it's mostly all plain sailing from here until Season 5.

[Mogster]

20 minutes ago, K said:

I think that "sex" scene with Ivanova is one of my abiding memories of watching Babylon 5 when Channel 4 first screened it, in that it was so embarrassing I had to briefly turn the TV off.

Boom shakalakalaka! Boom shakalakalaka! Hey there! Hey there! Three bags full! 

 

Weirdly that's one of my strongest memories of the show. It's not a good scene, but it's certainly memorable.

[Sprite Machine]

S02E13 - 'Hunter, Prey'

Earth government hunts for a runaway doctor on B5 with sensitive information, but Sheridan learns he has the vital inside scoop about the Vice President's coup, and seeks the help of Ambassador Kosh.

 

I quite liked this one. Sheridan is becoming a more rounded character as we learn what his angle is, and he can have fun when he's being rebellious. The hunt through the 'Downbelow' with Garibaldi and Franklin, was good fun - those two play off each other well. The idea of the Downbelow seems much better than it's usually portrayed, since you can't easily recreate a virtual city-size slums on a TV budget, unfortunately.

No real information about the Vorlons other than Kosh continuing to act mysteriously and be interested in Sheridan. I know his spaceship is supposed to look weird and alien but the way it's rendered just makes it look like it's got a really low-res texture stretched over its surface! Cool idea, though, and I guess impressive for audiences in 1994/5.

[Vespa Alex]

Nice. I’m half a dozen eps ahead of you, and season 2 is consistently excellent. Looking forward to hearing how you find it. 

[Sprite Machine]

S02E14 - 'There All The Honor Lies'

Sheridan kills a Minbari in self defence, while Ivanova oversees a Babylon 5 merchandising project.

This was a weird one. Not bad, but weird. The main plot is quite serious, while there are touching moments with Londo and Vir, and Delenn and Lennier, and a strange encounter with Kosh... but then it frequently goes into 'Joke Mode' with a couple of moments even stepping over into silliness (the end scene with the teddy bear). Overall, it seems like a 'bottle episode' that threw a bunch of unrelated plots together.

[JohnC]

IIRC, the bear was behind the scenes revenge for Peter David giving JMS a bear knowing he hates cute things like that. 

[Sprite Machine]

S03E15 - 'And Now For A Word'

An ISN News special report looks at 36 hours aboard Babylon 5, during which the Narn/Centauri conflict escalates.

This was a really interesting idea and I liked seeing the events played out through the lens of a fictional news station. The satirical psi-corps commercial was nicely done, as was the way all the space scenes were viewed through camera footage.

It says something about media bias, propaganda and war rhetoric, yet it also gives a greater insight into the heart and truth of B5's characters than a whole season of regular episodes.

 

I would say "more like this, please", but it's the sort of surprising format flip that you can only get away with once.

[Eighthours]

On 30/01/2023 at 14:19, Sprite Machine said:

S03E15 - 'And Now For A Word'

An ISN News special report looks at 36 hours aboard Babylon 5, during which the Narn/Centauri conflict escalates.

This was a really interesting idea and I liked seeing the events played out through the lens of a fictional news station. The satirical psi-corps commercial was nicely done, as was the way all the space scenes were viewed through camera footage.

It says something about media bias, propaganda and war rhetoric, yet it also gives a greater insight into the heart and truth of B5's characters than a whole season of regular episodes.

 

I would say "more like this, please", but it's the sort of surprising format flip that you can only get away with once.

 

Yeah, I like that one a lot, particularly how they changed up the FX angles to make them more 'real'. Clever stuff.

[Darwock]

I’m pleasantly surprised by your reaction because B5 did it (I would say first, but I don’t know for certain), and then loads of other shows copied it. The modern Battlestar Galactica and The Expanse both did something similar. It’s become a bit of a cliche.

[Benny]

It may be more fair to assume Babylon 5 took possible inspiration from where they did exactly this in, say, a classic episode of M.A.S.H for example. (Which was probably not the first show to do it either though).

 

But obviously when something works really well in sci-fi shows all the other ones copy it because sci-fi writers are all hack frauds.

[Sprite Machine]

S02E16 - In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum

Great stuff! That slippery git Morden, the man who's been working with the Shadows, gets identified as someone who was on Sheridan's wife's ship when it was destroyed. I knew that expedition to the outer rim would be relevant!

This was a great piece of drama for Sheridan, who gets obsessed with finding the truth at any cost. It sparks Delenn and Kosh to finally reveal what they know to him, giving Sheridan his most important choice - squeeze a confession from Morden and doom humanity to an early strike from his shadowy masters, or let him go and maybe never see him again.

I guarantee we will see him again, though - that smug bastard is going to get what's coming to him.

The Vorlons are an ancient race who once fought the Shadows, and Kosh hides in his encounter suit because otherwise he'd be... 'recognised' (how, I'm not sure?!).

A subplot with a representative from the 'Ministry of Peace' signing up new recruits to his thought police with special black armbands was... not subtle. . Let's see where that goes; Earth gov is definitely showing its fascist side more and more.

[jonamok]

One of my fave episodes is that. You’ve got some top-drawer B5 eps to come.

[Pob]

14 minutes ago, Sprite Machine said:

S02E16 - In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum

 

That was the episode title that couldn't even be mentioned on uk.media.tv.sf.babylon5 prior to it airing as it was considered a massive spoiler!

[Eighthours]

11 minutes ago, Pob said:

 

That was the episode title that couldn't even be mentioned on uk.media.tv.sf.babylon5 prior to it airing as it was considered a massive spoiler!

 

Close but no - the episode title considered a spoiler was the one for the third season finale!

 

Spoiler

Remember that Z'ha'dum wasn't even known as a thing before the season 2 episode, so the name of the planet wasn't a spoiler at that point.

 

[Pob]

40 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

 

Close but no - the episode title considered a spoiler was the one for the third season finale!

 

  Hide contents

Remember that Z'ha'dum wasn't even known as a thing before the season 2 episode, so the name of the planet wasn't a spoiler at that point.

 

Oh right, good memory! Yeah I guess that makes a bit more sense.

[Sprite Machine]

S02E17 - Knives

Londo gets into a ritualistic duel to the death with an old friend, while Sheridan gets infected with alien consciousness that he has to help return home.

A middling episode that was sort of boring for the first half, and got a little more interesting by the end. Londo is realising that his choices are hurting people he cares about, though I wonder if this will dent his enthusiasm for Centauri expansion. Probably not.

Nice callback to the spacetime rift where Babylon 4 vanished, and interesting that official records of the incident were classified. What else does Earth gov know about the whole thing?

 

(This episode was intended to be broadcast before 'In The Shadow of-...' but got pushed back due to VFX work taking longer. As previously promised, however, broadcast order is what I'm sticking to!)

[Vespa Alex]

S03E09 & 10 - Point Of No Return, and Severed Dreams. 
 

Two of the best episodes of any tv show, ever. 

[Sprite Machine]

S02E18 - Confessions and Lamentations

 

Or 'Outbreak In Space'. Not the most original idea but plays out differently from what I might have expected, with a decidedly bleak ending! An exploration of prejudice, compassion and what we learn from history.

Bishop Brennan was very good as the alien doctor.

 

Spoiler

No more Markabs. Sorry, prosthetics people!

 

[davidcotton]

3 hours ago, Sprite Machine said:

S02E18 - Confessions and Lamentations

 

Or 'Outbreak In Space'. Not the most original idea but plays out differently from what I might have expected, with a decidedly bleak ending! An exploration of prejudice, compassion and what we learn from history.

Bishop Brennan was very good as the alien doctor.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

No more Markabs. Sorry, prosthetics people!

 

Could really tell we’re not watching Star Trek with this episode in particular 😛

[Sprite Machine]

S02E19 - 'Divided Loyalties'.

Oh shit, I didn't see that coming! 

A damned good hour of TV, that. Really gripped me. All the build-up, the tension, the paranoia and red herrings, then to wind up revealing that

Spoiler

Talia has been an unwitting sleeper agent working for Psi-Corps

all this time! Nice!

 

I guess we're at the end point in the season where they can make big changes and shake things up for the next one. Not long to go now, looking forward to seeing what else happens in the final three episodes.

[Sprite Machine]

S02E20 - 'The Long, Twilight Struggle'

A VFX-heavy episode in which the Centauri/Narn war reaches a dark conclusion. Meanwhile, Sheridan is offered a sliver of hope from Epsilon III's new custodian, as well as the Babylon 5 'Ranger' sect, though this takes a back seat to the horrors of the the Centauri conquest of Narn.

 

I'm conflicted about Londo Mollari - every time he seems to show remorse at the things he's doing, he follows it up by doubling down with his cruelty. Is he overcompensating? Will he eventually come around and repent?

 

Special mention in this episode must go to the Centauri bar brawler who casually does the most insane flying kick. 

[Benny]

You're deep into the good stuff now.

 

Londo Mollari remains one of the most fascinating TV sci-fi characters.

 

Deep Space 9 did some interesting stuff with Gol Dukat, but he was ultimately a lot more obviously evil and arguably far less nuanced despite being a fun character to watch.

[Darwock]

Spoiler

Can anyone that watched B5 really consider Londo to be evil? I never could. He’s not a villain, he was manipulated by villains.

 

edit - I suppose that was your point. Don’t mind me.

 

[davidcotton]

1 hour ago, Darwock said:

[davidcotton]

1 hour ago, Benny said:

You're deep into the good stuff now.

 

Londo Mollari remains one of the most fascinating TV sci-fi characters.

 

Deep Space 9 did some interesting stuff with Gol Dukat, but he was ultimately a lot more obviously evil and arguably far less nuanced despite being a fun character to watch.

The only thing Dukat was missing is a moustache to twirl and a cape to flourish.  

[Wiper]

As someone only 2.5 seasons into DS9, my main problem with Dukat is that they can't seem to decide whether to make him the aforementioned moustache-twirling villain (see e.g. the self-destruct episode, Civil Defense); or whether to make him a nuanced patriot of a flawed regime (see e.g. the Tom Riker episode, Defiant). One or the other would be fine, but they flip-flop between the two to unsatisfying effect. Garak (so far) feels like a more effective attempt at that kind of character, as far as DS9 goes; albeit one with far less actual power.