I liked "Deconstruction of Falling Stars." It's basically an SF anthology set in the B5 universe. It gives us a few peeks beyond what the regular storyline can show. And if you're not careful, you just might learn something. 
Babylon 5
- Thread starter Kail
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Oh yes, you would miss a lot. Sure, the beginning is slower than season four because there is no momentum in the story, but it serves as a denouement and it really picks up speed towards the end. It has flaws, yes, but it's still good.
JMS pointed this out in the commentary (IIRC) that some people say "Hey, doesn't Deconstruction kind of make all of B5 pointless because bad things happen in the future!" but the sad fact is that end of one huge conflict doesn't end all wars and keep peace for all eternity. And hey, even though we *beeb* up many times, we got back up with the help of the Rangers and the Alliance, we managed to survive and we got vorlonized! Let's just hope that we (and the also very much evolved Minbari) learned the hard lesson from the First Ones that we should only gently guide the new younger races to find their own ways.
"If you're going off my prescribed episode order, you have to expect some confusion."
I'm going with the aired order for now. On the re-watch I may follow your suggestion and save this one for the very end.
"Other than Deconstruction, what were your thoughts on the end of season 4? The wrap up of the civil war and forming of the interstellar alliance."
I was very happy with the wrap up of the civil war and the forming of the alliance.
G'Kar and Londo are two of my favorite characters, so I look forward to season 5 for that reason. I'm going to miss Susan though, and Marcus, who grew on me as time went on.
One concept I really liked about the last episode of season 4 was that after "the great burn", the Rangers were still there working under cover to help rebuild Earth, and the fact that humans evolved into Vorlon type creatures. Fascinating.
Onto season 5.
I'm going with the aired order for now. On the re-watch I may follow your suggestion and save this one for the very end.
"Other than Deconstruction, what were your thoughts on the end of season 4? The wrap up of the civil war and forming of the interstellar alliance."
I was very happy with the wrap up of the civil war and the forming of the alliance.
G'Kar and Londo are two of my favorite characters, so I look forward to season 5 for that reason. I'm going to miss Susan though, and Marcus, who grew on me as time went on.
One concept I really liked about the last episode of season 4 was that after "the great burn", the Rangers were still there working under cover to help rebuild Earth, and the fact that humans evolved into Vorlon type creatures. Fascinating.
Onto season 5.
I know B5 gets a lot of flack for its acting but that scene where Ivanova breaks down over Marcus's death was one of the most powerful and well acted scenes of the series for me. Claudia did a great job with that scene, and so did Biggs. It was one of those tender moments between two characters not named Sharidan, Delenn, G'Kar, or Lando. It was also quite a tearjerker.
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Agreed. It's heartbreaking but has tender moments of humor. "Did you just say 'boffed'?"
I usually watch a story at face value and try to not get too deep; allegory and metaphor annoy me when the writer just does it to be clever. But I especially enjoy your analysis here. I do enjoy the overt or blatant cautionary aspects of the story, perhaps just because the script is speaking out loud and is not trying to be coyly clever. I like "on the nose" in these cases when it is done with style and intellect.
[Kosh] Good [/Kosh]
While I have done the chronological order viewing, I personally would never recommend that on the first watch through. Sleeping In Light, beyond it's story, is a fitting and final end to the story and television show Babylon 5. Watch the end credits, there's a couple of neat things in them, but image wise and music wise, everything about it says "The End". Like you've reached the last page of a very long and epic book, and now the story is over.
Without that bit at the very end of the B5 viewing experience, it just doesn't feel like the end. When I did the chronological viewing order, ending with Deconstruction, I still had to watch the end credits of Sleeping In Light to get that sense of having reached the last page of the book. You'll understand when you get there.
As for Deconstruction Of Falling Stars......I love the hell out that episode. There's almost a Asimov / Foundation feel to it with the vignettes that jump further and further, giving us the grand sweep of future history.
I've often called B5 the anti-Trek because it seemed to do things I would never see on Trek, sometimes on purpose. Like the bathroom scene in Season 1. Or giving us a set future instead of a never ending stream of "possible" futures. And in Deconstruction, showing that Earth took a huge step backward and had to be guided back by it's friends over the course of centuries.
There are so many stories to be told in this epic universe and I will never understand how it didn't take off in other media.
Kail, I've enjoyed your animated Trek comics, would you ever consider doing a Babylon 5 universe tale using that same style? For myself, I would love to see it!
I love how that line was inserted. It was already a sad moment but that one bit of humor made it an even more powerful moment. It was a perfect scene, punctuated by "all love is unrequited Stephen, all of it".
I think there were a couple of factors at play. The first is that it probably took the actors to get used to the style of the dialogue--but also the show was on such a short budget that I imagine shooting was tight and they didn't have the money or time to shoot the number of takes of each scene that a lot of other shows get.
These might have gone unnoticed upon first broadcast, but they're painfully noticeable on DVD, due to the decision to remaster the show in widescreen (which means every shot with a visual effect, including shots with live action are cropped from 4:3 to 16:9 and look terrible).
I wish they'd either re-do the effects (a pipe dream) or just release the original 4:3 versions on home video (probably a pipe dream at this point, too, although these versions are available online for purchase).
Understood. You could always start with a short story, maybe just a couple of pages. I would suggest using Deconstruction as a guide......short stories, minimal sets and characters.
Think small
JMS actually tried this out in the "Lost Tales", but he was unhappy with the end result, though I wasn't.
Heck, I would be happy just to see you do some B5 images in the Trek animated style. That would be crazy awesome.
I've watched the first episode of the 5th season. The opening credits are... bazaar. Best line of the episode goes to G'Kar "Do you want to be President? Good, let's eat." It will take a bit of getting use to the new Captain, but she's not hard on the eyes. While researching the actress on IMDB, I saw she starred in Crusade, never heard of that one. Was it any good?
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Some might also remember her fro Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman S1. As for Crusade it had potential but suffered heavily from network interferrence so was a bit disjointed from memory. Still better than "Legend of the Rangers" which only managed to get a pilot out
I think we are all eagerly awaiting your opinion on a certain story arc this season.
Crusade is listed prominently in the episode order list I posted and to which I often refer you.
I remember her from Dynasty as Monica Colby. At the time of her hiring, (some) fans thought she was too sexy for the role. Their fantasies actually came true in one episode. But I think overall, she allayed those concerns.
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Told ya!
As for Crusade...it's not exactly a sequel to B5, more of a separate story within the same universe. The character of Lochley was in the main credits but not seen too often in the shortened season that we got.
I promise you, my next time through I will get the movies, maybe the other supplementary material, and watch in that order. I promise.Crusade is listed prominently in the episode order list I posted and to which I often refer you.
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