Babylon 5 - Impressions
Jan. 1st, 2007 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodHappy new year to everyone!
I've been enthusiastically watching Babylon 5 and am now up to episode 3.8.
Some impressions...
- The quality of all episodes is very high. The plot is tight, even episodes that don't appear to be directly important contain clues to the main arc.
- The characters are all wonderfully drawn! Londo and G'Kar are my favorites, but Delenn, Vir, Sheridan, Ivanova, etc. are all so very engaging as well. And the character development is brilliantly done.
- What's totally fascinating to me is that Babylon 5 was aired before 11th September 2001, but many issues it addresses are very relevant nowadays. E.g. terrorism and what to do against it, the Ministry of Peace who gradually takes away citizens' rights - all for the greater good, of course.
- Love how the show deals with religion and the topic of forgiveness.
- "In the Shadows of Z'ha'dum" was totally fascinating.
Love the interaction between Vir and Morden. In moments like these Vir shows that he does have a lot of courage and inner strength. He's also foolish, but in a really likeable way. :-)
Loved the fact that Morden was on the same team as Sheridan's wife Anna. This means that Morden was once a normal human being that now (willingly or against his will?) works together with the Shadows. Beforehand, I had assumed that he was a Shadow in human form. But a human being that cooperates with the Shadows is much more interesting.
We also see that Sheridan's breaking point is Anna. As soon as there's the possibility that she might be still alive, he becomes extremely obsessed. So if Joss was responsible for the show, I'd *know* that Anna would a) still be alive and b) work together with the Shadows. Because that would have the greatest impact on Sheridan. Another option would be to have Sheridan and Delenn together and then to bring Anna back.
- The relationship between Londo and Vir is lovely. There is so much love between them - and for once I'm not talking of the slashy kind. :-) Vir loves Londo pretty much unconditionally: He sees Londo's flaws, he clearly realises that Londo makes the wrong calls and still he wants to stay with him to look out for him. And he still believes that there's good in Londo. (He should form a support group with "I know there's good in him." Padmé. :-))
Vir telling Londo that his family never thought he was good enough and Londo making sure that Vir could stay with him is one of those lovely TV moments I want to rewatch again and again. (After seeing "Dust to Dust", it's clear that Londo saw parallels between himself and definitely sympathised with him.)
I see Vir as Londo's conscience. So when Londo keeps Vir around that made me hopeful for Londo's redemption. And when he sent Vir away, I found it very worrying. Good to see that in "Dust to Dust", Londo clearly states that he misses Vir and wishes he could stay longer.
- Keffer is just a minor character, but his death nevertheless qualifies as a real tragedy. He's a very integer and courageous man and he dies in order to find out more about the Shadow ships. The tragedy is that Keffers death served no purpose: Many people already knew about the Shadow ships and none of them wanted the knowledge to be spread. Earth even uses the pictures of the ship in order to reinforce stricter security.
The other tragedy is that Sheridan could have brought Keffer into his conspiracy of Light; I think Keffer would have been a trustworthy ally.
- Talia's fate: Drat. I really liked Talia and loved watching her grow away from being a tool of the Psycorps.
I wish the relationship between her and Ivanova had been a tad less subtexty. The way their scenes are played, you never get definite confirmation that they are a couple. Yes, they are hints, but there are also contradictory notes. I'd have love to see them having a private breakfast in Ivanova's quarters or holding hands or at least kissing once.
(Oddly enough, whenever I see a canon same sex couple in a TV show, the couple is female. That rule goes for "Buffy" and "DS9" and apparently also for "Babylon 5". Why is that? Are female same sex couples conceived as less threatening by the general TV audience?)
I think that the real Talia was in love with Susan. If everything that happened was just orchestrated by Talia's alternate personality, it doesn't make sense that she didn't respond to Garibaldi's advances. He would also have had access to a lot of information and he would have been the easier target.
- Marcus is "Babylon 5"'s response to Aragorn. :-) He's a ranger, he has the hair, he has the beard, he has the outfit, he's sophisticated. Of course, Marcus most likely read "Lord of the Rings" and then decided to do the Aragorn look.
Marcus could be a dreadfully boring character, but thank heavens he talks too much and has a wacky sense of humour.
- Lyta is ... interesting. Definitely has a bite to her and can be quite ruthless when provoked.
I've been enthusiastically watching Babylon 5 and am now up to episode 3.8.
Some impressions...
- The quality of all episodes is very high. The plot is tight, even episodes that don't appear to be directly important contain clues to the main arc.
- The characters are all wonderfully drawn! Londo and G'Kar are my favorites, but Delenn, Vir, Sheridan, Ivanova, etc. are all so very engaging as well. And the character development is brilliantly done.
- What's totally fascinating to me is that Babylon 5 was aired before 11th September 2001, but many issues it addresses are very relevant nowadays. E.g. terrorism and what to do against it, the Ministry of Peace who gradually takes away citizens' rights - all for the greater good, of course.
- Love how the show deals with religion and the topic of forgiveness.
- "In the Shadows of Z'ha'dum" was totally fascinating.
Love the interaction between Vir and Morden. In moments like these Vir shows that he does have a lot of courage and inner strength. He's also foolish, but in a really likeable way. :-)
Loved the fact that Morden was on the same team as Sheridan's wife Anna. This means that Morden was once a normal human being that now (willingly or against his will?) works together with the Shadows. Beforehand, I had assumed that he was a Shadow in human form. But a human being that cooperates with the Shadows is much more interesting.
We also see that Sheridan's breaking point is Anna. As soon as there's the possibility that she might be still alive, he becomes extremely obsessed. So if Joss was responsible for the show, I'd *know* that Anna would a) still be alive and b) work together with the Shadows. Because that would have the greatest impact on Sheridan. Another option would be to have Sheridan and Delenn together and then to bring Anna back.
- The relationship between Londo and Vir is lovely. There is so much love between them - and for once I'm not talking of the slashy kind. :-) Vir loves Londo pretty much unconditionally: He sees Londo's flaws, he clearly realises that Londo makes the wrong calls and still he wants to stay with him to look out for him. And he still believes that there's good in Londo. (He should form a support group with "I know there's good in him." Padmé. :-))
Vir telling Londo that his family never thought he was good enough and Londo making sure that Vir could stay with him is one of those lovely TV moments I want to rewatch again and again. (After seeing "Dust to Dust", it's clear that Londo saw parallels between himself and definitely sympathised with him.)
I see Vir as Londo's conscience. So when Londo keeps Vir around that made me hopeful for Londo's redemption. And when he sent Vir away, I found it very worrying. Good to see that in "Dust to Dust", Londo clearly states that he misses Vir and wishes he could stay longer.
- Keffer is just a minor character, but his death nevertheless qualifies as a real tragedy. He's a very integer and courageous man and he dies in order to find out more about the Shadow ships. The tragedy is that Keffers death served no purpose: Many people already knew about the Shadow ships and none of them wanted the knowledge to be spread. Earth even uses the pictures of the ship in order to reinforce stricter security.
The other tragedy is that Sheridan could have brought Keffer into his conspiracy of Light; I think Keffer would have been a trustworthy ally.
- Talia's fate: Drat. I really liked Talia and loved watching her grow away from being a tool of the Psycorps.
I wish the relationship between her and Ivanova had been a tad less subtexty. The way their scenes are played, you never get definite confirmation that they are a couple. Yes, they are hints, but there are also contradictory notes. I'd have love to see them having a private breakfast in Ivanova's quarters or holding hands or at least kissing once.
(Oddly enough, whenever I see a canon same sex couple in a TV show, the couple is female. That rule goes for "Buffy" and "DS9" and apparently also for "Babylon 5". Why is that? Are female same sex couples conceived as less threatening by the general TV audience?)
I think that the real Talia was in love with Susan. If everything that happened was just orchestrated by Talia's alternate personality, it doesn't make sense that she didn't respond to Garibaldi's advances. He would also have had access to a lot of information and he would have been the easier target.
- Marcus is "Babylon 5"'s response to Aragorn. :-) He's a ranger, he has the hair, he has the beard, he has the outfit, he's sophisticated. Of course, Marcus most likely read "Lord of the Rings" and then decided to do the Aragorn look.
Marcus could be a dreadfully boring character, but thank heavens he talks too much and has a wacky sense of humour.
- Lyta is ... interesting. Definitely has a bite to her and can be quite ruthless when provoked.
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 12:18 am (UTC)Glad you are enjoying season 3 of B5. Reading your review makes me want to go back and re-watch it also.
Even though they were aliens I always thought Londo and G'Kar were the most human in terms of how they reacted to what was happening. They were indeed the best.
"In the Shadow of Za'Ha'Dum" - Vir was pure gold replying to Morden and Morden flips him off! (See which finger he uses to pull out and hold the data crystal in front of Vir!)
In regards to Morden's background (and what happened to Anna) you might want to see if your library has a copy of "The Shadow Within" by Jeanne Cavelos. Some twists in that story.
Also hear ya on the Talia x Susan relationship. It was way too underhanded I think.
Keffer - shakes head. So much potential as you say.
I think Season 3 is probably the best and around the time where we were wondering if there would be a 4th or 5th season. Enjoy!
no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 09:44 pm (UTC)Thanks for the book rec!
no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 06:31 am (UTC)Tell me about it. JMS has some comments about that on the audio commentaries, but unfortunately, I wouldn't advise you to listen to those just yet because they're spoilery for the rest of the show.
In the Shadow of Z'Ha'dum is one of the all time best hours not just of B5 but of tv. Adore it to bits. It deservedly won a Hugo. And of course it's crucial for the overall story. I'll try to find the post I wrote about it upon rewatching, though I might have to give you an edited version, due to spoilers for later eps.
Vir: is Sam. He so is.
The relationship between Londo and Vir is lovely. There is so much love between them - and for once I'm not talking of the slashy kind. :-)
Nope, the slashy kind is what we have Londo and G'Kar for.*g* Vir-Londo is really more son-father, and yes, a beautiful thing to observe.
He should form a support group with "I know there's good in him." Padmé. :-))
LOL. Yes, he should.
I see Vir as Londo's conscience. So when Londo keeps Vir around that made me hopeful for Londo's redemption. And when he sent Vir away, I found it very worrying. Good to see that in "Dust to Dust", Londo clearly states that he misses Vir and wishes he could stay longer.
Vir believing in Londo when no one else did was a big part of what kept me believing as a first time watcher, too. More on this subject once you're in early s4.
Morden: is a normal human being, yes. However, I have issues with the novel your other commentator recommended and tend to go for tv only canon.
We also see that Sheridan's breaking point is Anna. As soon as there's the possibility that she might be still alive, he becomes extremely obsessed.
This was when I accepted Sheridan as a character.*g*
JMS and Joss: are currently both writing comics for Marvel, and last year there was a conference where they reportedly hugged each other (Joss: But we did not spoon) and called each other brother. Is all I'm saying.
Are female same sex couples conceived as less threatening by the general TV audience?
Probably. Re: Talia/Susan, I remember some people missed the implication altogether, so were stunned when Susan in a later episode said "I loved Talia". Regarding Talia's departure from the show, the actress left, pure and simple. So her arc was transferred to Lyta. The irony is that Lyta was actually the first telepath, she's in the pilot, but the network didn't like Pat Tallman, so JMS wrote Talia into the first season. When Andrea Thompson wanted out, he brought back Tallman as Lyta.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 10:02 pm (UTC)Reg. Morden: Will we learn if he's willing servant of the Shadows or if his personality was assimilated? (I suspect the first, but confirmation would be nice.)
Reg. Talia/Susan:
What bothered me was that their were discrepancies in the build up of their relationship, e.g. Talia goes to Susan after she's disillusioned with the Psy Corps. So I thought: This is were they get together.
Next we see them having breakfast and I felt my thoughts confirmed. Only during the course of breakfast all of a sudden it seems as if they are not a couple yet and "only" close friends.
Then Talia stays at Susan's place and obviously ends up in the same bed. (She reaches over during the night to see if Susan is beside her.) But there's no clear build up to this scene and no real resolution.
To me the pairing ultimately felt like sub-subtext. I know that I have seen non-canon pairings that had clearer subtext than those two. (E.g. a naked Picard waking up in bed next to Q and having a relaxed morning after talk. :-))
JMS does a great job in integrating actors' departures. I'm totally impressed by his ability to improvise and make any changes appear as if they were intended.
A show written by both Joss and JMS would be a thing of beauty. (It might be cool to be a millionar in order to sponsor them. :-))
no subject
Date: 2007-01-03 03:29 am (UTC)I know that I have seen non-canon pairings that had clearer subtext than those two.
You have to consider when this was made, though. Admittedly after Ron Moore made us all happy with that Q/Picard scene in the episode "Tapestry", but before any same sex couple was text. So they were very discreet pioneers. But I agree that it should have been more explicit, even then.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 04:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 10:05 pm (UTC)