Babylon 5-best Sci-fi Ever?

[Ancient 1]

I actually caught this show when Sheridan went to Z'Ha'Dum (sp). I couldn't wait for the next ep! Then TNT started rerunning everything starting with the movies...I had blank tapes ready to go. I did miss a few along the way, but when they reran again I made another tape consisting of those I missed. I labeled it "The Lost Episodes."

[Kirath]

we should start a campaign to bring B5 back to Scifi Channel. Sky One etc... for all our international members. the rocked. Big space battles, great lines, the show had eveything a scifi fan could want. there was talk of a kmovie based in the B5 verse but it appear to have been dragged into the bowls of development hell. maybe a big shopw of suppport for its fans could breathe life back into the project.

[kmiller1610]

I'm in. Where do I sign?

[mckaychick]

that would be nice

[Ancient 1]

Should I change my "Location" to 'Cruising in My WhiteStar'?
See "Avatar"

[Commander Ivanova]

With you on that one.
Ivanova

[Ancient 1]

Hope this pic isn't too big. I'm tired of fitting them to the format.
Turns out it was pretty big, so I'm just going to post the link of my White Star
Don't forget to click at the bottom-right corner for the full size view.

[kmiller1610]

Okay. I've finally reached season 5.. Yes, I had never watched B5 until recently when a friend loaned me his complete set of DVDs. Based on what I'd read here, I was expecting season 5 to be a real departure or for it to have been written by morons or have REALLY bad acting. I'm on disk 3 and have already seen one of the best eps of the whole series, the Gallery, which is a bit like "The Other Guys" from Sg-1. These two maintenance guys float around the station fixing problems while the station is under heavy attack. These guys are funny. The ep has great action. It's a top 10 episode in my book. Otherwise, the episodes are OK to good. I haven't seen anything awful yet. Yes the new station captain is a marginal actor, but she's not terrible.

So, I'm figuring the problem has to be the Psi-community which has a sort of Jesus freak air to it. But I see it this way. This is a SciFi series that has a strongly positive view of religion and that aspect is in all 5 seasons. JMS has been exploring the supernatural through the Psi folks the whole 5 years, so I see it as a natural tributary of that journey. I was in some of those communities in the 70s, so I guess I can relate.

Otherwise, each episode advances the story and the characters. The flashbacks are consistent and so far, I don't see any clunkers. Maybe not as good as 2-3-4, but certainly as good as most of season 1. For a while in season 1, we had a completely standard, mysterious bad guy shows up, Sinclair gets him at the end of the ep story cycle without variation.

So I would like to hear from the critics what was so awful with season 5...

[walterIsTheMan]

Okay. I've finally reached season 5.. Yes, I had never watched B5 until recently when a friend loaned me his complete set of DVDs. Based on what I'd read here, I was expecting season 5 to be a real departure or for it to have been written by morons or have REALLY bad acting. I'm on disk 3 and have already seen one of the best eps of the whole series, the Gallery, which is a bit like "The Other Guys" from Sg-1. These two maintenance guys float around the station fixing problems while the station is under heavy attack. These guys are funny. The ep has great action. It's a top 10 episode in my book. Otherwise, the episodes are OK to good. I haven't seen anything awful yet. Yes the new station captain is a marginal actor, but she's not terrible.

So, I'm figuring the problem has to be the Psi-community which has a sort of Jesus freak air to it. But I see it this way. This is a SciFi series that has a strongly positive view of religion and that aspect is in all 5 seasons. JMS has been exploring the supernatural through the Psi folks the whole 5 years, so I see it as a natural tributary of that journey. I was in some of those communities in the 70s, so I guess I can relate.

Otherwise, each episode advances the story and the characters. The flashbacks are consistent and so far, I don't see any clunkers. Maybe not as good as 2-3-4, but certainly as good as most of season 1. For a while in season 1, we had a completely standard, mysterious bad guy shows up, Sheridan gets him at the end of the ep story cycle without variation.

So I would like to hear from the critics what was so awful with season 5...

It's not so much that it was awful as it was just not as good as previous seasons, especially 3 and 4 which were excellent. I think people were just dissapointed that it wasn't as unbelievably good as what came before it. Like imagine eating a good desert, then an even better one, then a sandwich. It just kills the momentum.

[Easter Lily]

So I would like to hear from the critics what was so awful with season 5...

One word... Byron... yeech... or should I say Blandron...
That man killed it for me... I didn't like his philosophy or his personality and I didn't find his character convincing or appealing.
Didn't like what they did to Lyta either...

Still there were lots of good bits in S5 and I love the last couple of episodes... they were comparable to some of best episodes in the entire series.

[Commander Ivanova]

One word... Byron... yeech... or should I say Blandron...
That man killed it for me... I didn't like his philosophy or his personality and I didn't find his character convincing or appealing.

I'll second that. He was awful.

[AGateFan]

One word... Byron... yeech... or should I say Blandron...
That man killed it for me... I didn't like his philosophy or his personality and I didn't find his character convincing or appealing.
Didn't like what they did to Lyta either...

Still there were lots of good bits in S5 and I love the last couple of episodes... they were comparable to some of best episodes in the entire series.

Yeah once we got past this part of the storyline I really enjoyed S5. The ending eps of the season are great and the last ep was just an awesome way to end the series (and I normally dont like emotional type stuff)

Lyta was much better once you got her away from Byron but I still thought that Sheridan and the others were a bit 'cold' to her considering all she had done.

[lazerbrain]

The problems with season 5 of B5 basically revolve around one character: Bryon. I hated that guy, his voice, and his lousy character. And he defied my beautiful Lyta. I had a massive crash on Patricia Tallman, and to see her with that a**hat. Anyway, once he was dead there were some alright episodes. The series did end on a high note when they started the episodes that dealt with the ramifications of the Shadow War: Objects in Motion and Objects at Rest.

As for best Sci-fi ever, no. As much as I loved B5, it had a lot of problems, and most of them resulting from lack of consistent funding. This was the same thing that killed my beloved Farscape, too. If JMS had Lucas money to play with, we might have something special. Then again he had to be more creative and more passionate because he didn't have money. Ronald D. Moore has a chance to create something truly epic with Battlestar Gallactica because he has the passion, the talent, the experience, and most importantly, the money. Hopefully, he'll continue to take the ball and run with it before the suits catch him.

Yes, I love Stargate, too.

[kmiller1610]

I have a slightly different take on Byron and I'm sure it's because I lived through the Jesus Freak era. A lot of nice folks with a lot of love in their hearts and a lot of control freaks and users. Byron interested me from the start because I was trying to figure out if the folks he led would end up dead or if he was a good guy. He seemed to fit the whole question of telepaths in the same way. Are they good? Are they evil? This is also quite consistent with the whole series, Lando for example. So although I never really liked Byron, I liked the story line and what it was exploring.

I spent two days with a group called "The Children of God" back in the early 70s and it was the same deal, a charismatic leader, flocks of women who liked to touch him and that nagging feeling that something was wrong with the whole scene. Turns out the leader was bedding half the women in his flock. But there was a lot of warmth and caring among the folks.

[Easter Lily]

I have a slightly different take on Byron and I'm sure it's because I lived through the Jesus Freak era. A lot of nice folks with a lot of love in their hearts and a lot of control freaks and users. Byron interested me from the start because I was trying to figure out if the folks he led would end up dead or if he was a good guy. He seemed to fit the whole question of telepaths in the same way. Are they good? Are they evil? This is also quite consistent with the whole series, Lando for example. So although I never really liked Byron, I liked the story line and what it was exploring.

I spent two days with a group called "The Children of God" back in the early 70s and it was the same deal, a charismatic leader, flocks of women who liked to touch him and that nagging feeling that something was wrong with the whole scene. Turns out the leader was bedding half the women in his flock. But there was a lot of warmth and caring among the folks.

In the first instance, Byron was obviously a replacement for Marcus, who was such a popular and dynamic character. I think you're right in your analysis about the kind of person he was supposed to be. However, I was never very convinced by him, especially considering the fact that he was supposed to be quite a charismatic cult figure.
Perhaps the actor didn't have the chops to play such a complex creature... I don't know. I think a character like Byron needs to be somewhat larger than life.