Netflix streaming brings me back to my childhood...
Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales
Part 1 - Ok... if this had been Ivanova, I might have really loved it. As it was, I felt that the religiosity was a little overdone. But then, there were heavily religios episodes in the series, and as one of those, it really wasn't bad. An interesting perspective... just... a little too absolute in the existence of the supernatural. Anyway. Yeah. Ok, but not great.
Part 2 - Oh, Babylon 5 costume designers.... did you always shop at Jo-Ann? Prince Vintari's jacket and sash are absolutely our brocades. Sheriden's shirt is casa satin. Looking back, the piping on Lockley's uniform is almost certainly the standard issue wrights stuff. Maybe I never noticed these things before because I've never seen the show in HD before. Maybe I'm just that much of a geek now. Who knows.
The plot of the second part was much better for me than the first bit. Partially because I don't hate Sheriden as much as I hate Lochley. It was actually really painful to hear them discuss everyone else who couldn't be there... especially knowing that Andreas Katsulas died the year before. The overall message and events of this story worked for me, they felt very much like Babylon 5. I'm not sure about taking a Centauri prince to Minbar (and yes, even without physically seeing her I have Russeau/Delenn visualization issues now, damn you Lost), but it is an idea... and I guess if John has the whole damn planet that wrapped around his finger then maybe it will work out.
In any case. It was the first new B5 I've seen since the end of the series in .... 1998. Wow. Twelve Years. I think I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.
(Ok, it's not really that bad... though I will admit to tearing up when I realized that The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 is still up and functional. The internet was a much smaller place back in 1996, and the Lurker's Guide was one of the places that I always visited when I had time or ability to access the 'net. It's a piece of nostalgia I hope I'll never lose.)
I actually visited a couple of other stories today that I hadn't touched in over a decade:
Highlander TV Series
So, the sword fighting is a bit cheezy, the explanation for a Scotsman fighting with a katana is... thin at best, though at least they covered it.
But Duncan? Every bit as gorgeous as I remember. Also, my penchant for long hair and accents? I can see how this fed right into it. Also, I happened to skip ahead to where Methos was introduced, and he amused me.
Xena
If there was a show that taught me that I was attracted to women, this was probably it. The immediate subtext between her and Gabrielle is pretty entertaining. Even if it is massively overshadowed by her making eyes at her warlord boyfriend. And back then it never occurred to me to notice the underhanded feminism or underlying lesbian subtext. Hell, I didn't even know the words for it. I was busy being into the action and the goofy pseudo-mythology and how gorgeous Ares was. Though I suppose I always enjoyed the sassy abuse of idiot (usually male) warlords and things too. Anyway. I'm looking forward to streaming more of this as I sew through the next month.
Part 1 - Ok... if this had been Ivanova, I might have really loved it. As it was, I felt that the religiosity was a little overdone. But then, there were heavily religios episodes in the series, and as one of those, it really wasn't bad. An interesting perspective... just... a little too absolute in the existence of the supernatural. Anyway. Yeah. Ok, but not great.
Part 2 - Oh, Babylon 5 costume designers.... did you always shop at Jo-Ann? Prince Vintari's jacket and sash are absolutely our brocades. Sheriden's shirt is casa satin. Looking back, the piping on Lockley's uniform is almost certainly the standard issue wrights stuff. Maybe I never noticed these things before because I've never seen the show in HD before. Maybe I'm just that much of a geek now. Who knows.
The plot of the second part was much better for me than the first bit. Partially because I don't hate Sheriden as much as I hate Lochley. It was actually really painful to hear them discuss everyone else who couldn't be there... especially knowing that Andreas Katsulas died the year before. The overall message and events of this story worked for me, they felt very much like Babylon 5. I'm not sure about taking a Centauri prince to Minbar (and yes, even without physically seeing her I have Russeau/Delenn visualization issues now, damn you Lost), but it is an idea... and I guess if John has the whole damn planet that wrapped around his finger then maybe it will work out.
In any case. It was the first new B5 I've seen since the end of the series in .... 1998. Wow. Twelve Years. I think I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.
(Ok, it's not really that bad... though I will admit to tearing up when I realized that The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 is still up and functional. The internet was a much smaller place back in 1996, and the Lurker's Guide was one of the places that I always visited when I had time or ability to access the 'net. It's a piece of nostalgia I hope I'll never lose.)
I actually visited a couple of other stories today that I hadn't touched in over a decade:
Highlander TV Series
So, the sword fighting is a bit cheezy, the explanation for a Scotsman fighting with a katana is... thin at best, though at least they covered it.
But Duncan? Every bit as gorgeous as I remember. Also, my penchant for long hair and accents? I can see how this fed right into it. Also, I happened to skip ahead to where Methos was introduced, and he amused me.
Xena
If there was a show that taught me that I was attracted to women, this was probably it. The immediate subtext between her and Gabrielle is pretty entertaining. Even if it is massively overshadowed by her making eyes at her warlord boyfriend. And back then it never occurred to me to notice the underhanded feminism or underlying lesbian subtext. Hell, I didn't even know the words for it. I was busy being into the action and the goofy pseudo-mythology and how gorgeous Ares was. Though I suppose I always enjoyed the sassy abuse of idiot (usually male) warlords and things too. Anyway. I'm looking forward to streaming more of this as I sew through the next month.