Re: New To Babylon 5
 

On a first viewing??? Looney, what's the matter with you telling somebody to break up the emotional impact of the final three episodes???? NO NO NO NO!!! I forbid it! On subsequent viewings they can go to the trouble (I'm not really sure why) of doing the chronology route but certainly not the first! Sheesh!! :o:o:o:o:o

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

I guess if I were going to pinpoint what is the matter with me under these circumstances I would say it is that I am a GENIUS. :angel:


(Axionz don't read this spoiler. It is really only meant for Jan.)



OOOOOOO now Axionz is going to have to make a decision. Either way is win / win so it isn't much of a choice. The ONLY reason one might slightly lean Jan's direction is that it could take awhile to get access to and watch all the movies, CRUSADE, LEGEND OF THE RANGERS, and THE LOST TALES.

And OBTW Axionz, good luck choosing a viewing order for CRUSADE. :guffaw:

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

Yes this will now be a tough decision, my original plan was to watch through all of season 5 then check out the movies but now I'm stuck haha!

Btw I just noticed Crusade is an actual spin off series from Babylon 5!? from what I can see a completely different cast, I wonder why it only ran 1 season? Reviews for it are showing as very good as well.

I just watched Season 5 episode 4 A View From The Gallery, the point of view from 2 technicians that dart about the Babylon 5 station doing their job fixing stuff haha, that was actually a fantastic episode!

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

HA!!!!! SEE TOLDJA EVERYBODY!!!!! :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw:

A VIEW FROM THE GALLERY is a very .... ummmm how should I say this.... debated episode. I personally think it is a BRILLIANT concept that has some weakness in the execution. (And truth be told I think all of them are brilliant concepts. ;)) You will find others out there with a large dislike for A VIEW FROM THE GALLERY. Actually not many I can think of prowling around here, but those other internet places you might get some debate. My "TOLDJA" comment was more directed at the Universe than anyone in particular. :lol:

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

Trust me on this one. You'll be watching the show numerous times after this (well, most people do) and you can play with all sorts of orders then. But for this first time, go with the order it was shown in the first time. Because that's the order that JMS knew we'd see it in and so that's how he was writing for the effect he wanted us to have.

The short version is that TNT resucued the Babylon 5 show when it was cancelled after the network carrying it collapsed. That was an existing show so they left JMS alone to do as he pleased. So Season 5 ran and the reruns were running and, like any TV network, they kept an eye on viewership. Turns out that they found that the core TNT audience would click off when B5 came on and the B5 audience would click off when B5 went off. So no increase in viewership. BUT they'd already contracted for Crusade. After getting those results, they decided to get out of the contract 'by any means necessary' and gave JMS egregious notes for what they wanted him to do with the show (more later after you've seen it). Eventually JMS said NO and so the show was killed halfway into filming the first season, months before it ever aired.

I enjoyed that one a lot. But I usually like the off-format episodes a lot. As Looney says, opinions on this one are split very often. I loved the chemistry between Mac and Bo.

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

Yeah. I loved A View From The Gallery for the same reasons that I thought And Now For A Word or Intersections In Real Time were brilliant too.



The whole premise of B5 (a single, ongoing story told over the course of 5 years) was something completely new in its day. But the crew weren't going to stop there, "Let's do something different" was the way they approached a lot of things.

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

Actually I need some clarification here because I'm not sure how those three episodes relate to each other, so I'm not sure why you love them for similar reasons? Is it because you are getting an outsiders view? Just a bit confused on the reasoning here. Also I would throw THE ILLUSION OF TRUTH 4.8 into any conversation where AND NOW FOR A WORD 2.15 gets mentioned, but that is just a personal preference. :lol: ;)

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

Not that anyone does ask me, but if anyone did, I'd recommend And Now For A Word as a good introduction to the series, it gives the viewer a good overview of all the characters, the station, and the circumstances.

It may be sacrilege to say this, but I find Intersections in Real Time a bit dull. I rarely re-watch it.

The Illusion of Truth feels a bit forced to me. Stuff like "Nothing in the Universe can stop us" felt completely unnatural things to say. Though I did appreciate the concept of showing how things can be taken out of context. Nowadays they'd just deep-fake it.

A View From the Gallery... yeah, not my cup of tea, but I understand why people like it.

The other off-format episode I can think of is The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari, which I think is very underrated, but it's one of the best episodes of season 5.

By the way, just want to say how much I'm enjoying reading Axionz thoughts about viewing the show for the first time. There's also been a lot of first-timers posting on Twitter after watching on HBOMax, and it's a joy to read.

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

Those are episodes that did something different. Either we see things from the point of view of two minor characters, or as a news report rather than as an episode. Or as a single room drama.



Babylon 5 did a lot of things differently from other shows. They liked to play with the idea of what their show even is. Deconstruction of Falling Stars is again another example of something I don't think I've ever seen in any other show (Except for the totally ham-fisted way that Star Trek Enterprise handled it in their final episode).

Re: New To Babylon 5
 

I totally agree with Jan here. Watch S5 in the intended (airing) order. Don't worry about the films, spins offs, etc for now.

IMHO most of the TV Movies are pretty bad and only In the Beginning really stands up as excellent. They're like a fun little bonus if you find yourself craving more (and you will!)

Crusade is a bit of a curiosity. I've seen it from start to finish three times, and on my third viewing, I came down very heavily on the side that it shouldn't have been made. It just felt cheap and derivative to me, with rare moments of quality. BUT, that's just me. Check it out once you are done with B5 proper. Everything after the original show is diminishing returns, but it's cool there are extra things here and there to watch.

Enjoy the final stretch! Whilst S5 is a bit up and down in terms of quality, it has some superb moments and B5 has one of the best finales.