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Revisiting B5 Season 4
I just finished watching the fourth season of B5 and somehow I felt a little dissatisfied at the end for several reasons:
1. Episode 22: The Deconstruction of Falling Stars... sucks. Ok, it has the fudge factor that it was directed by Stephen Furst (aka Vir), but it feels like such an afterthought and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I really don't know what they were thinking. I would have much rather seen him in front of the camera doing his fumbling-mumbling thing because, I mean, and that brings me to the second point.
2. The whole fourth season feels somehow rushed, so as if they tried to fit the contents of two seasons into one, a lot of material, and yet not as deeply fleshed out as the previous seasons. Ok, I understand that they picked up the pace and that there was a risk of there not being a 5th season. Still, and that brings me to the third point.
3. They killed off perfectly good characters, Marcus (Ranger), Neroon (Minbari, Warrior Caste) and indirectly Ivanova (awww!). And what for? Lochley? Byron, who??? I would have much rather seen more scenes with those actors than episode 22. I'm sure I'm forgetting some... like Morden... he was great too, what a waste. And don't get me started about the end of the Shadow war... "Now get the hell out of our galaxy!" (???) that's it? That's all it takes to vanquish a foe that can cut a battle cruiser in half like a hot knife through butter???
The fact of the matter is, the show could have ended right at the epilogue of episode 21, Rising Star, and it would have been the end of a great story. Somehow it feels like JMS and the crew in charge dropped the ball along the way, and don't get me started on Crusade. :D
What a shame... and damn, what a great show!!! :)
(In all fairness though, the show comes over a bit different when you watch all episodes of a season in a relative short period of time and you'll notice certain things you wouldn't while watching one episode a week or even one a day.)
1. Episode 22: The Deconstruction of Falling Stars... sucks. Ok, it has the fudge factor that it was directed by Stephen Furst (aka Vir), but it feels like such an afterthought and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I really don't know what they were thinking. I would have much rather seen him in front of the camera doing his fumbling-mumbling thing because, I mean, and that brings me to the second point.
2. The whole fourth season feels somehow rushed, so as if they tried to fit the contents of two seasons into one, a lot of material, and yet not as deeply fleshed out as the previous seasons. Ok, I understand that they picked up the pace and that there was a risk of there not being a 5th season. Still, and that brings me to the third point.
3. They killed off perfectly good characters, Marcus (Ranger), Neroon (Minbari, Warrior Caste) and indirectly Ivanova (awww!). And what for? Lochley? Byron, who??? I would have much rather seen more scenes with those actors than episode 22. I'm sure I'm forgetting some... like Morden... he was great too, what a waste. And don't get me started about the end of the Shadow war... "Now get the hell out of our galaxy!" (???) that's it? That's all it takes to vanquish a foe that can cut a battle cruiser in half like a hot knife through butter???
The fact of the matter is, the show could have ended right at the epilogue of episode 21, Rising Star, and it would have been the end of a great story. Somehow it feels like JMS and the crew in charge dropped the ball along the way, and don't get me started on Crusade. :D
What a shame... and damn, what a great show!!! :)
(In all fairness though, the show comes over a bit different when you watch all episodes of a season in a relative short period of time and you'll notice certain things you wouldn't while watching one episode a week or even one a day.)
Comments
Season 4 was a time when JMS wasn't sure if he would get Season 5, so it WAS rushed. He wanted to give the fans some form of closure...
Then of course when Season 5 came through... well you get the idea...
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I actually had fun with DoFS, because Garibaldi was his usual prankster self as an emulation. It was amusing to know that it was his actions as a holographic emulation that forced both sides into war, and led to the great burn...
:p
It took a lot more than Sheriden shouting at the Vorlons and the Shadows to get rid of them. They had to convince them they were no longer needed, and that the alternative was to get rather mutilated at the hands of a huge younger races fleet backed up by the ultra powerful left over first ones.
I quite like TDofS. It's an interesting episode.
It was rushed, JMS did not know if they were going to get another season out of WB. Better to complete the major story arcs than leave them hanging, dont you think. How would you feel if there was no 5th season and the war against President Clark never got resolved?
[B]like jack said...
It was rushed, JMS did not know if they were going to get another season out of WB. Better to complete the major story arcs than leave them hanging, dont you think. How would you feel if there was no 5th season and the war against President Clark never got resolved? [/B][/QUOTE]
Probably the same way most Farscapers are feeling right now....
And yes.
[B]You DO know that Farscape is coming back later this year? a four episode miniseries to tie up loose ends? [/B][/QUOTE]
You DO know that I'm the one that posted about that, right? :rolleyes:
I was referring to the fact that the show got canned, and then Scifi left the S4 finale alone. (The cast got wind RIGHT after they finished filming the finale)
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Stingray [/i]
[B]I just finished watching the fourth season of B5 and somehow I felt a little dissatisfied at the end for several reasons:
[/B][/QUOTE]
If no-one had died I don't think it would've been so great. True I disliked Lochley but it was more to reality. Nothing stays the same. In real wars ppl die.
And I liked the quickened pace in S4. I found S1 and 2 too slow in places. Infact if S1 hadn't been on most nights I think once a wk and I would've given up. Real glad I didn't though.