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I decided that after watching the first season and working on the second season after my friend passed me the dvd's I decided to watch it. and now I give a review.
The first episode wasn't that impressive but the character Londo the Ambassador for the Centauri republic struck me as being well acted and continues to impress me and has long since been my favorite character, the humans I'm sorry to say struck me as poorly acted for the first half of the first season but however continually improve with each episode. Garibaldi and Sinclair have grown on me and the new character Cpt. John Sheridan is kick ass. Susan Ivanova is an interesting character representing the Russian/Jewish perpsective on things though the constant Russian references are a tad tiring but okay most of the time. Her family's friend Rabbi struck me as an excellent character who cared deeply for the Susan and did all that he could do to confort her after (SPOILER) the death of her father. Susan herself did an excellent job of acting out the pain of losing her father and I fel tlike crying too when she was crying (thats how you tell if its a good show/movie). The whole feud with Londo and G'Kar (the Narn ambassador) is funny and interesting at the same time and continues to build their characters and now the slow emergance of the Shadows will definenatly make Babylon 5 worth watching.
All in all I give it 5 stars our of 5. Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Man, if you're only up to the first half of season 2, you have not even gotten to the really good stuff yet. Season 4 is by FAR the best. Well, in my opinion at least. The development of the conflict is intense at times. G'kar and Ivonova have always been my personal favorites as far as the characters are concerned, with Delenn and Kosh following close behind. The character dynamic continues to grow and change as the series progresses, sometimes with surprising results. Keep watching and decide for yourself though.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I was totally obsessed over this show back in college and got many of my friends and frat Bros interested in it too. We created the "Alma College B5 Fan Club" or more lovingly called "The Six Pounds of Meal Club". The thing was Bab5 had only a fraction of the budget of say Star Trek and was syndicated so not everyone would have it. For all of my freshman year it was on at 1am. Then after I got about three of my buds addicted to it they stopped playing it!
Luckily one of my fellow fans was a frat Bro who was at MSU school getting his masters in philosophy, so he would tape the show and bring it up to Alma for us to watch! And there was a great mexican resturant near his house....that sold the famous 3 pound burrito. So we would pick up one of those monsters and a two liter of pop...and the goal was to eat and drink everything before the end of that week's episode.
Long live the Narn Empire! Long live the Kha'Ri! The Narn are my favorite people...and their starships are SO freaking beautiful! Mmmm.... three miles of sleek killer death...
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote: though the constant Russian references are a tad tiring but okay most of the time.
I think that it would not be as tiring if you watched one episode a week. But, yeah.
The relationship between Londo and G'Kar is one of my favorite relationships in all fiction. It is beautiful and ugly, and I love and cannot stand both of them (depending on when in the show you talk about).
Posts: 751 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Exactly Porter. Their relationship for me is the linchpin of the whole show. They represent so much in our real world. The Centauri going from the fading old European powers to a reborn Nazi Germany… the Narn going from peaceful philosophers to brutal conquerors with empire on the way to the final cataclysm similar to the fall of France, or maybe Rwanda. Or if you want to think of the Centauri as the French then the Narn are the Russians.
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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B5 is the BEST thing that ever happened on television
Too bad most people never realised that though, hated it myself the first few episodes I saw... but after I once decied to actually watch the whole show it struck me how damn good it was... And now after seeing the whole show 3 times (you have to do that to really notice HOW well-planned it was) I have to admit that the rise and fall of Londo is my favorite part of the whole thing... seems sometimes like the whole idea of the show was to show what happened to him, atlest he made the biggest impact on me.
Watching the second season of Jeremiah right, also by JMS, and if you like B5 I really recommend you to watch Jeremiah too; totally different setting, but also among the best shows that has been on tv, and any show that lets me watch 2 old "Beverly Hills"-stars kick each others butts has to be great (Luke Perry plays the main character and in one episode Jason Priestley gets to play some lunatic who wants to be god)
Posts: 10 | Registered: May 2005
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I love Bab 5. But I am aware of it's weaknesses too. It is campy, and I love it. There needs to be more of it's ilk on American TV. Having a *real* story arc with a definite ending is a new concept for us for some reason, and we have yet to perfect it.
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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B5 is one of my favorite shows of all time. Yeah, seasons 1 and 5 are a lil weak but 3 and 4 make up for it in spades. Especially the episode entitled "Severed Dreams" (won the Hugo ya know)
Finish watching the rest of it, Sid, then we can talk up a storm about it. Right now, I'm too scared to spoil you.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Ivanova, to Ambassador Malari, about B5 Merchandising and some decidedly anatomically incorrect action figures, "You mean, Ambassador, that you feel cast....in a poor light."
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:"Mass drivers! They have been outlawed by every civilized planet!"
"These are uncivilized times."
"We have treaties."
"Ink on a page."
quote:"With our basic freedom in stake, no response can be too extreme. There maybe some minor and *temporary* abridgments in the traditionally protected areas, such as speech and association, but only until this crisis is over."
quote:"This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw, .. or be destroyed."
"Negative. We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship."
"Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."
quote:"No, that was not Zathras, that was Zathras. There are 10 of us, all of family Zathras, each one named Zathras. Slight differences in how you pronounce. Zathraas, Zathras, Zathras.. You are seeing now?"
"There are ten of you?"
"Yes! Well, nine now."
quote:"This is the White Star Fleet. Negative on surrender...we will not stand down."
"Who is this? Identify yourself."
"Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova, Commander, daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth ... I am Death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."
quote:"Dedicated to all the people who predicted that the Babylon Project would fail in its mission. Faith manages." Dedication in, The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
quote:"Commander! Did you threaten to grab hold of this man by the collar and throw him out an airlock?" "Yes I did." "I'm shocked. Shocked and dismayed. I'd remind you that we are short on supplies here. We can't afford to take perfectly good clothing and throw it out into space. Always take the jacket off first, I've told you that before. Sorry, she meant to say: 'Stripped naked and thrown out an airlock.' I apologize for any confusion this may have caused."
quote: "When I said my quarters were cold, I did not mean: 'Oh, I think it's a little chilly in here, perhaps I'll throw a blanket on the bed.' No, I said it was cold! As in: 'Oh, look, my left arm has snapped off like an icicle and shattered on the floor.' This is highly inappropriate, Captain." "You are right. There are several other parts of your body I much rather see snapped off."
quote: "Speaking of which, as of now I'm relieving you of command." "Ivanova, your sense of humor has always been on the edge of good taste, but--" "I'm serious, John." "On what grounds?" "You haven't taken any personal time in over nine months. And in that time we have broken away from Earth, fought a war, you have been declared dead at least once, and you know how tiring that can be."
quote: "Everyone's entitled to a fresh start." "You're even willing to forget about the business--" "Yes, even though it did make Mr. Garibaldi's hair fall out. You had no way of knowing what was in that bottle. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, just in case he asks."
quote: "Delenn tells me that you are going to try contacting the First Ones. It is a magnificent idea. A daring, and splendid idea. In doing so you will see things no human has seen before. It will be fun. Assuming you are not vaporised, dissected, or otherwise killed in an assortment of supremely horrible and painful ways. Exciting, isn't it?"
quote: "Zog? What do you mean zog? Zog what? Zog yes, zog no?" "It's leaving. My guess is zog means no." "Like hell. I am not letting them leave here without saying yes." "Really? And how do you propose stopping them? Perhaps a big red and white sign with the word 'Stop' on it? I'll put a bucket on my head and pretend to be the ancient Vorlon god Booji." "That's it!" "Fine, I'll get a bucket."
quote: "No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by the force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies can not stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."
I could go on forever...
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote:"Or if you want to think of the Centauri as the French then the Narn are the Russians."
The decadence of the Centuri always reminded me of the French, perhaps during the Napoleonic era. As for the Narn, they always reminded me of Muslim/Arab culture...perhaps because of the highly spiritual and prophetic culture they had, and there are other reasons too that I won't go into here.
As for my favorite season, it is definitely season 3, mainly because some of the most memorable and defining episodes are in it..."Point of No Return,""Severed Dreams,""And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," and of course, "Z'Ha'Dum" come immediately to mind.
As for most memorable B5 quotes, you guys posted some of the best, but how could you forget G'Kar's very best one (IMHO) at the very end of Season 3? "All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. [...] G'Kwan wrote there is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities; it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us waiting in moments of transition to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain."
Like the author of this thread, I just discovered B5, around a year ago, during my senior year of college. That show was a lifesaver, and really helped me get through a very boring last semester in school.
Oh, and my favorite character in the show is definitely Sheridan, and maybe because I am such a sap for traditional heros...but I have to also admit that I loved seeing the relationship between Sheridan and Delenn blossom into a full-blown romance and marriage. I always thought that more females would be more open to the show if they knew that.
Posts: 57 | Registered: Aug 2003
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The proper spelling is actually "G'Quan". I love the speech G'Kar gives after the Narn Empire has fallen and 40 billion of his people killed by the Shadow/Centuari dark alliance...Let's see if I can do it from memory:
"No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by arms forever. There is no greater power in the Universe than the need for Freedom. Against this tyrants cannot stand. The Centauri learned this once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."
And then G'Kar, like the Narn, walk off the galactic stage.
WOW. I cried my eyes out when I first saw that.
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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