And so it begins...
Mr. b and I have been on a major Babylon 5 kick lately. It started with him buying me season 5 for Christmas. We hadn't watched the season 4 box set yet so decided to start there and then keep going. Having TV on strike made it that much easier to just delve into it most nights after the boy went to bed. The funny thing is that when we finally got the end, we needed to go back! We needed to close the circle and return to the beginning and so watched season 1's Fasten-Zip part 1 and season 3's Fasten-Zip part 2. We needed more Molari and so watched "In the Beginning". And that made me want to go back and watch the "there's a hole in your mind" episodes!!
It's just astounding to me how much I get out of that show each time I watch it. There's always something new to find. There's always the anticipation of what's to come. It's so intricately plotted. It's so grand and vast. In the Farscape vs Babylon 5 debate it always gets called out as being short in the character moment department. But I disagree. I am in tears about Delenn and Sheridan at the end. I am in tears about Sinclair. There's not a single character that I haven't felt passionately sorry for, whether their fate was thrust upon them or the result of their own poor choices. "Poor Londo." "Poor Garibaldi." "Poor Susan." Poor every frickin' one of them! This show really proves why the Tragedy was such a high art form for the Greeks.
And lest we forget, there are the countless Lord of the Rings allusions! OK sure, JMS has repeatedly said that he didn't intentionally parallel that story one bit. But c'mon. Light versus Dark? The dawn of the Third Age? Lorien? Rangers? Sheridan and Delenn are Aragorn and Arwen. Molari and G'Kar are Legolas and Gimli. Garibaldi and Franklin are Merry and Pippin. But it all overlaps more than that. You can't simplify it because Sheridan is also Gandalf and Frodo. The Scouring of the Shire takes place on both Centauri Prime and on Earth. It's endless really. I strongly believe that any fan of LotR should watch the show and any fan of the show should read the book.
But there's that first season to get past. It's so hard for new people to do. So when I first started buying the box sets back when I was preggers, I kept track of exactly which episodes were crucial to the series arc. That cuts the season nearly in half. I think the must-see episodes are 2 "Soul Hunter", 3 "Born to the Purple", 6 "Mind War", 7 "The War Prayer", 8 "And the Sky Full of Stars", 11 "Survivors", 13 "Signs and Portents" (the title of the season itself), 15 "Grail", 17 "Legacies", 18 "A Voice in the Wilderness Part I", 19 "A Voice in the Wilderness Part II", 20 "Babylon Squared", and 22 "Chrysalis". Some of the set-up is small and some is big. Very big. But I have a feeling that even that reduced amount will be too much. The special effects are dated. Sinclair really rubs some people the wrong way. Everything is very theatrical. There are too many stand-alones. But going back and viewing it all after making it to the end? It's amazing how it all weaves together. So the bare minimum that must be viewed before starting season 2 are 18, 19, 20, and 22. If only a single episode is to be chosen from the entire season? "Babylon Squared". And it will seem like an odd choice. Without the context of everything that comes after it will seem like a standalone with an unexplained bit of weirdness at the very end. Oh but it's a keystone. Without it the entire thing would collapse.
It's just astounding to me how much I get out of that show each time I watch it. There's always something new to find. There's always the anticipation of what's to come. It's so intricately plotted. It's so grand and vast. In the Farscape vs Babylon 5 debate it always gets called out as being short in the character moment department. But I disagree. I am in tears about Delenn and Sheridan at the end. I am in tears about Sinclair. There's not a single character that I haven't felt passionately sorry for, whether their fate was thrust upon them or the result of their own poor choices. "Poor Londo." "Poor Garibaldi." "Poor Susan." Poor every frickin' one of them! This show really proves why the Tragedy was such a high art form for the Greeks.
And lest we forget, there are the countless Lord of the Rings allusions! OK sure, JMS has repeatedly said that he didn't intentionally parallel that story one bit. But c'mon. Light versus Dark? The dawn of the Third Age? Lorien? Rangers? Sheridan and Delenn are Aragorn and Arwen. Molari and G'Kar are Legolas and Gimli. Garibaldi and Franklin are Merry and Pippin. But it all overlaps more than that. You can't simplify it because Sheridan is also Gandalf and Frodo. The Scouring of the Shire takes place on both Centauri Prime and on Earth. It's endless really. I strongly believe that any fan of LotR should watch the show and any fan of the show should read the book.
But there's that first season to get past. It's so hard for new people to do. So when I first started buying the box sets back when I was preggers, I kept track of exactly which episodes were crucial to the series arc. That cuts the season nearly in half. I think the must-see episodes are 2 "Soul Hunter", 3 "Born to the Purple", 6 "Mind War", 7 "The War Prayer", 8 "And the Sky Full of Stars", 11 "Survivors", 13 "Signs and Portents" (the title of the season itself), 15 "Grail", 17 "Legacies", 18 "A Voice in the Wilderness Part I", 19 "A Voice in the Wilderness Part II", 20 "Babylon Squared", and 22 "Chrysalis". Some of the set-up is small and some is big. Very big. But I have a feeling that even that reduced amount will be too much. The special effects are dated. Sinclair really rubs some people the wrong way. Everything is very theatrical. There are too many stand-alones. But going back and viewing it all after making it to the end? It's amazing how it all weaves together. So the bare minimum that must be viewed before starting season 2 are 18, 19, 20, and 22. If only a single episode is to be chosen from the entire season? "Babylon Squared". And it will seem like an odd choice. Without the context of everything that comes after it will seem like a standalone with an unexplained bit of weirdness at the very end. Oh but it's a keystone. Without it the entire thing would collapse.