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Dusting off the DVDs - Season 1

Mr.GaribaldiMr.Garibaldi Earthforce Officer
in Babylon 5
Had some time tonight so I decided to put in the B5 Season 1 DVD and watch the 1st episode (been at least a few years)...
And I realized again very quickly why this show ROCKS. Right in the first episode they plant the seeds of Londo and G'Kar's ultimate fate, the hinting from Kosh that the Narn and Centauri are dying races, and the critical Earth re-election of Santiago. Good stuff. If you haven't gone thorough Season 1 lately I recommend it.
Plus being a fan of Garibaldi I was happy to remember the 1st word spoken on B5 was "Garibaldi!" by Ivonova.

Comments

  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    My friend had watched S1 and S2 on HULU for the first time over the summer, We went away this past weekend for 4 days down south, and he was house sitting for us, he watched S3, S4 and S5 in 4 days, plus all the movies... When we got home he was watching Thirdspace and it made me want to watch the series over again.

    We did sit down with him and watch the Gag reel... It really was a great show...
  • SeafroggysSeafroggys Ranger
    Still gonna wait a few years before I attempt another rewatch...not having the DVD's really helps the temptation.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    I may rewatch B5 at some point in the New Year after I'm done with my run with BSG.

    Worf
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Still need to finish season 5
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    I finished the whole damned show recently, save half of crusade, B5LR, and The Lost Tales. (Unfortunately, B5LR is a requirement according to our viewing rules). It was well worth it.

    I also realized that Season 5 wasn't as bad as I remembered, and that most of the Byron stuff was really just throw-away material that could be completely tuned out and forgotten.
  • HuntSmackerHuntSmacker Firstones Ambassador to Starcraftia
    I kind of liked the Byron stuff. Specifically, the part where he Spoiler: blows everyone up. LOTR was watchable too, specifically the part where Spoiler: that flying brick blows up.
  • SeafroggysSeafroggys Ranger
    I saw LOTR like twice, once when it aired on my bro's birthday, and then a few days later. I remember a good chunk of it, it didn't happen early enough in my life where my memory is hazy (I was a freshman at the time).....it never felt like B5 to me, the Rangers didn't feel like Rangers, Minbar didn't look like Minbar, none of the ships felt like they belonged in the same universe....G'kar was like the only thing resembling B5 at all. Lost Tales feels so much more like B5 despite having like 1/10 the budget and for being made so long after the series ended.

    And to this day, I still maintain that Byron was not bad. Some of his followers were creepy. I think people were just pissed he got Lyta. Jealous bastards.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    [QUOTE=Seafroggys;185457]it didn't happen early enough in my life where my memory is hazy (I was a freshman at the time)[/QUOTE]

    One of those two statements is clearly false.
  • RedAssAg05RedAssAg05 Ranger
    [quote] I still maintain that Byron was not bad. Some of his followers were creepy. I think people were just pissed he got Lyta.[/quote]

    My wife and I are in agreement that he was just annoying. Too much of a whiner. And that hair, like he was Fabio or something.

    Spoiler: and that song! That they all sing together like some hippy commune or something. It still makes me cringe even when I know it's coming. I may have to mute those parts in the future.

    In the end I think what ticked me off the most was the glaring quality difference in the writing between Bryon's telepaths and other arcs in the series. It is simply obvious when I watch now, that JMS had to come up with something to fill the rest of S5, and it just doesn't hold up in quality to his other arcs. Compare it to the Lando/G'Kar arc, or Lennier's arc.

    I fully agree with you on the last part, seafroggys. Spoiler: I was pissed that Lyta ended up with Byron instead of Zach. Always kinda liked the idea of the two of them together, if only for a little while
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    IRRC the Byron arc was suppose to be in there all along, however it was suppose to begin developing at the end of season 4 and there would be conflict with lyta and ivonova over byron.

    I have no idea the source of this though, it just jumped out of memory.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    I thought the Byron arc was never actually planned, JMS had intended for the Earth Civil War to continue on onto the first half of season 5 but when they thought the show would end with 4 he tied it up early.

    So Byron came about to fill the gap.

    Worf
  • DarthCaligulaDarthCaligula Elite Ranger
    No, Croxis is right. Byron and his followers were going to arrive on the station some time in the second half of the fourth season. After Marcus died, Ivanova would notice Byron, who resembled Marcus in some ways (for example, long hair, British) and Ivanova would figure that since she didn't give Marcus a chance, that she wouldn't make the same mistake twice and so she and Byron would have had a romance for a while, until Byron tried his whole Telepath Homeworld thing, and they'd have to be on opposite sides. I think that Lyta would just have been a deeply devoted follower, and not in love with him. After Byron died, Ivanova would have just decided to give up on ever finding anyone. Watch Sleeping in Light again with this sort of story in mind for her, and you might get a different impression of her in that episode.
    And the whole thing with Byron and his followers was actually inspired by the time JMS was in a religous commune, including the singing. I found out all this from the script books that came out a while ago.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    [QUOTE=RedAssAg05;185476]My wife and I are in agreement that he was just annoying. Too much of a whiner. And that hair, like he was Fabio or something.

    In the end I think what ticked me off the most was the glaring quality difference in the writing between Bryon's telepaths and other arcs in the series. It is simply obvious when I watch now, that JMS had to come up with something to fill the rest of S5, and it just doesn't hold up in quality to his other arcs. Compare it to the L[b]o[/b]ndo/G'Kar arc, or Lennier's arc.[/QUOTE]

    [i](Corrected! :P)[/i]

    Essentially, this is where I stand. When I picked up B5 again with my friends, what we managed to realize was how truly abrupt the change in the quality of the writing was. While every other portion of the series felt in some way as if it had been thought about, dwelled on, or otherwise examined in some detail, the Byron plotline in its entirety came off sounding like something a high school student would write for a short story. It felt like the work of an amateur, not someone who had given us G'Kar. And as was also mentioned elsewhere, it was likely due to the shortened time-to-production. It still sucked.
  • Death Firstone2Death Firstone2 Trainee
    Byron

    I also recently watched large portions of the B5 material.

    In some ways, the Byron material was a warning of things to come with JMS and the B5 spinoffs.

    I know it is sacrilege, but a lot of later JMS choices with the material were odd, and that is before we even discuss the later music...
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