Babylon 5: 20 years later

[tomswift2002]

Recently I've been rewatching Babylon 5 on DVD. I started with the Prequel movie, "In The Beginning", then went to "The Gathering" and "Midnight On The Firing Line" and so on. I'm currently on what could be called a really pivotal episode, "Point Of No Return" in Season 3 (the episode with Majel Barret-Roddenberry; it's funny, Captain Sheridan mentions the episode takes place on April 9, 2260, 243 years from now in April 2017).

No then I'm not going to rehash WB's poor choices when it comes to B5 and its DVD quality (although I would like to see B5 upgraded to HD, or at the very least a proper 480p 16:9 upgrade), aside from the quality looking as soft as if it were on a VideoCD (I've got an official VHS of Midnight and the Soul Hunters episode and it looks a lot sharper than the DVD, or other videos that I have seen on VideoCD). But it's amazing how well the story has held up over the last 2 decades.

Sure there have been a few episodes, but nothing like a lot of more recent series that I've watched where they put the major story episodes in the first four or five episodes of the season and then give you a string of about 8 or 10 filler episodes, followed by another 4 or 5 episodes to wrap up the earlier 4 or 5 episodes and setup the next season.

But B5 I have found, even with Season 1 where the stories tended to be stand-alone, have been pretty crucial to the story, but there have been a few questionable episodes (like the one with Franklin and the religious couple that wouldn't let him operate on their child for fear of the child's soul escaping through any opening, even though the child was going to die without the operation). Otherwise with B5 every episode provides story and is not filler.

 

[CorporalClegg]

They may have relative plot bits, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're any good. And, in a lot of cases, the important stuff was B or even C-story fodder.

The show certainly could have benefited from a significant truncation.

 

[tomswift2002]

The show was already truncated. Yeah, Season 5 was mostly filler, but that was because everyone thought that the series would be cancelled with PTEN's closure. But originally Season 4 was going to contain more of the Shadow War, and a few story lines that appeared in Season 5, while it was suppose to end with Intersections In Real Time, and then Season 5 would've dealt with the Earth Civil War and setting up the Telepath War and Crusade.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I dunno, I think it's pretty much perfect.

 

[RandyS]

I dunno, I think it's pretty much perfect.

Agreed.

Except for Byron of course.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

OF COURSE

ew

 

[Mudd]

If the story had not been monotonous and repetitive...

 

[RomulanCommander]

They may have relative plot bits, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're any good. And, in a lot of cases, the important stuff was B or even C-story fodder.

The show certainly could have benefited from a significant truncation.

I dunno, I think it's pretty much perfect.

I agree with Teacake in that Babylon 5 is pretty much perfect, but I think it did have significant truncation. With Michael O'Hare's departure, that radically altered the reveal about who he becomes, which was supposed to happen at the end of the series. Also, Season 4 was heavily truncated, since they didn't know if it would return for season 5 and wanted to tie up the series, in case it was cancelled.

Fortunately, JMS and created writing really saved the show. It could have easily ended in disaster, but I think it did just fine.

 

[DigificWriter]

Babylon 5 remains one of the best television series of all time, and it's a tremendous testament to JMS' skills as a writer and storyteller that the show is as adaptable and fluid/flexible as it is given the BtS stuff he ended up having to deal with.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I enjoyed it at the time, but it hasn't aged well.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The main arc of the show was very well told but some of the writing in individual episodes could be a tad hackneyed.

 

[RomulanCommander]

The main arc of the show was very well told but some of the writing in individual episodes could be a tad hackneyed.

I don't disagree, but the same could be said for almost any show, including all the Star Trek series.

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

It's too bad WB hasn't done more to keep its legacy alive, because it's one of the best SF shows ever.

Visually, it hasn't aged well- but most sci-fi doesn't.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Simply one of the best space operas ever.

 

[tomswift2002]

It's too bad WB hasn't done more to keep its legacy alive, because it's one of the best SF shows ever.

Visually, it hasn't aged well- but most sci-fi doesn't.

Hard to believe, but according to Ron Thornton from Foundation Imaging, had Warner Brothers only bought a $5000 dollar widescreen monitor (which would've worked out to an extra $75 per episode) for Foundation to check the outputs on, all the CGI could've been produced and recorded to standard-definition videotape in true NTSC widescreen. (http://www.b5scrolls.com/B5ScrollsWorking2a.htm#Screen1_01_5) It wouldn't have been High Definition, but it would've looked a lot better upconverted to High Definition than the current widescreen versions look.

 

[RandyS]

It's too bad WB hasn't done more to keep its legacy alive, because it's one of the best SF shows ever.

Agreed. I remember when The Lost Tales came out ten years ago I was so excited for it. But then I saw it. I don't think I've ever been that disappointed after looking forward to a show for six months or whatever it was. At least I know I haven't since then.

Anyway I'm not sure I'd even want a revival now. With so many of the cast having died, it just wouldn't be the same. I think at this point it's best to leave it as a once in a lifetime great show that just happen to have been made twenty years ago.

I wouldn't be against the novel line being revived though. We don't need the actors for that. Their characters could appear with no problems.

 

[Jedman67]

A revival wouldn't work but nothing wrong with a reboot, done right. or sequel.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I used to argue for Crusade to be revived as it had potential but I think The Expanse is largely covering the same sorts of themes and satisfying my need for a TV space opera that has at least an acceptable level of semirealistic Physics being portrayed. I don't know if the five-season arc for Crusade has ever been publicly revealed by JMS. Perhaps the script books contained those details.

 

[RomulanCommander]

I wish Crusade had at least a TV movie to wrap up the loose ends.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Crusade was only really just getting started -- it would have been about much more than merely finding a cure for the Drakh plague.

Found the following speculations about what would have happened:

http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewtopic.php?t=31912

It is true, however, that the entire series of Crusade wouldn't be devoted to finding the cure, which would be found sometime during season two, but would reveal a conspiracy in Earth Force to develop Shadow technology. The idea in season two is, no one would believe the crew of the Excalibur that something bad was happening back home, and eventually, they would have to pull a Sheridan and take on their own people. What's more, we would have also discovered that Technomage technology is based on Shadow technology. This would lead to Gideon distrusting Galen, who is clear from later scripts to have a secret agenda.
...
The idea was, the final episode of season one reveals a conspiracy within Earth Force to turn Shadow technology into weapons. The crew discover that they are being used primarily to hunt down alien technology, so a fundamentalist arm of the government can turn them into weapons. The hunt for a cure is merely a cover for the mission. The cure would be found early on in season two..., but later it to would be revealed that the conspirators already knew about the cure, and planned to use the Excalibur crew for their own ends. Gideon discovers the truth, and has to find a way of putting an end to the conspiracy.

IIRC I also read that Gideon would at some point be killed, be restored to life, and his memories then recovered using the technology of the Apocalypse Box.