It Was the Dawn of the Third Age of B5-Watching...

KoshFan · September 18th 18, 03:16

Some years ago, my partner finished showing me Star Trek Voyager and we moved on to a show of my choice. Since we'd already finished Buffy, I picked B5. We got as far as "Gray 17 is Missing" before we broke up. But not all was lost, because my ex remains committed to watching the whole show! And when finding safe topics of conversation is tricky, what better than discussing a place of diplomacy...?

"Gray 17" was a particularly weird place to stop, so I was eager to move on. Over the course of the last year, we have: last night we watched "Into the Fire." However, due to fairly incompatible work schedules (no small factor in the break-up), we'll no longer be trying to watch simultaneously; we'll keep up a running conversation somehow but watch whenever we can.

It struck me, in a flippant sort of way, that it was the Third Age of B5-Watching: first, as a couple watching together, then as exes watching together trying to stay friends, and now charting our own courses... or at least our own schedules.

I find I'm in an unusual place, in relation to B5. For years I have been the expert, knowing exactly what was going to come next, with whole scenes and episode sequences memorized, doling out cryptic hints that would make Kosh proud. But it has been a very long time since I saw any episode after "Into the Fire." Indeed, I haven't even seen all of the episodes in Season 5! Let me put it this way: I've seen "Signs and Portents" more times than I can count and I have the Emperor's speech from "The Coming of Shadows" engraved on my heart -- but the last time I saw "Endgame" and "Wheel of Fire", I was watching on VHS tapes which had occasionally been taped over (hence not seeing every ep). While I recall most of what I've seen, I won't know exactly what's coming up. And in the case of some episodes, I will literally have never seen it before.

It's kind of exciting. Almost like seeing B5 again for the first time.

I'll keep you all posted.

Karajorma · September 18th 18, 06:58

Wow. You really live up to your name. No more Kosh after Into the Fire so screw watching the rest of the show!

KoshFan · September 19th 18, 00:31

Heh. Yes, that's totally it!

...In all seriousness, it's because I'm such a linear-story guy. When I introduce people to the show, I start at the beginning. Then half the fun is watching their reactions. Then they stop watching the show, and I stop too. I've never gotten a convert past "Into the Fire."

Looney · September 19th 18, 14:00

I am soooo sorry GREY 17 IS MISSING caused your breakup.

KoshFan · September 20th 18, 01:27

The breakup had more foreshadowing than Londo & G'Kar's death. "Gray 17" didn't even budge the needle. I think my ex actually liked it.

(Actually, I'm always a little surprised how not-terrible that episode is, due to the strength of the Neroon plotline.)

Lennier's Tears · September 20th 18, 03:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by KoshFan

It's kind of exciting. Almost like seeing B5 again for the first time.

I'll keep you all posted.

That IS very exciting, I'm a little envious!

Though I also experience season 5 somewhat similarly. I'm just really not as familiar with it as I am with all the other episodes.

I also agree on Grey 17. The Marcus/Neroon story is really good, and the actual Grey 17 bit is mostly just ... weird. I don't hate it. It just confuses me.

KoshFan · September 22nd 18, 03:10

The actual Gray 17 bit is an interesting idea with rushed/budget execution.

Looney · September 23rd 18, 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by KoshFan

The actual Gray 17 bit is an interesting idea with rushed/budget execution.

I definitely agree. I am one who things there could be an entire spin-off series about day-to-day life and mysteries on B5. With a structure so large there are so many places and aspects of the station we never saw.

KoshFan · September 27th 18, 03:36

We just watched our first ep separately: "The Illusion of Truth," which I've always hated. Not because it's bad, of course... because it's done so well... For all that we watched it on different days, we still had a good discussion afteward.

Anyway, my ex's first comment was "Mechanical failure in the cryo units MY ASS." Their theory is that Bester sabotaged the cryo units somehow. I took that idea and ran with it: I think the ISN crew went with full knowledge of the cryo units. The sabotage was to make it easier for them to get access/footage. After all, the "blending humans and aliens" story is tailor-made to hit Earther xenophobia; I think they invented the story in advance, got the footage "by chance", and then sprang their trap.

In this theory we must assume that they were doing cartwheels with joy that Sheridan and Delenn accidentally gave them such usefully compromising footage. But I think it makes sense: it's never shown how they got access to the cryo units (to hide their agent, since as the Lurker's Guide points out, somebody probably let them in), and either Bester told them about the teepsicles, were told about it by some other agent, or they figured it out on their own (not hard).

KoshFan · February 26th 19, 03:50

I forgot to keep you all posted here! And I don't have time tonight -- early morning tomorrow, and a long day ahead.

But having just watched "Endgame" while reading the Ex's written commentary, I was highly amused: they kept saying, "This is all too easy! When's the other shoe going to drop?" Which is of course a very wise attitude when watching this show. But this time, it all goes pretty smoothly -- because the plot does not have time for it to go badly, not when they were trying to wrap up the show in just a few episodes!

It's fun to imagine what might have been: Garibaldi would have had to work way harder to convince everybody, I'll bet Sheridan's rescue would have taken a full ep, and the fall of Clark would have been much more intense and required far more than a convenient voice-over monologue by a never-before-seen senator. The Non-Battle of Mars could have been waaaay longer, too.