This is probably the last big sci-fi show I haven't watched. Is it worth it? Heard great things, but couldn't find a good quality copy years ago and I let it slip by
Season 1 can be pretty rough. I almost recommend people just start with season 2 so I don't have to explain it
But season 1 also has some stuff that makes it worth it.
It's just like the 3 worst episodes right off the bat and the entire season is meh until the end when it only gets okay
But after that it becomes one of the best shows ever made so yeah.
I'll add that season 1 is significantly better upon rewatch because you can pick up on all the foreshadowing and world building that remains extremely relevant in later seasons.
Of course that won't matter to a first time viewer.
true, it's must better on rewatch. The real story is in the background and you don't even really realize it. It's worth watching but if it's going to stop people from watching the show at all, better to just go to season 2.
Its good but dont take the (inexplicably diehard) fans fool you, Its very 90s dated ,both in sets and cgi ,but also the vaunted writing, which is at turns hammy and cheesy. Also the story has no coherency, with them dropping and adding cast memebers and their storyline at the drop of a hat series to series
>Its very 90s dated ,both in sets and cgi
Also we watched it on televisions that were maybe 21" and NTSC (effectively 486i) so visual flaws weren't as apparent at the time. For the time and the medium, the CGI was groundbreaking but yes, is dated by today's standards.
DS9 was a snoozefest. i still watched it. B5 was just more entertaining and less restrictive than the Star Trek franchise. Although Star Trek was cobstabtly stealing crom B5. They copied a lot of Garabaldi’s love for the 20th century media and Tech and added it to Tom Paris in Voyager. B5 had cooler shit like Michael Garabaldi assembling a Kawasaki Ninja motocycle in his quarters while an alien adapted a non-petroleum based fuel so they could ride it through the corridors of the stagion
This is such obvious trolling the only thing you could do to make it worse is to say "btw homosexuals I'm trolling." If you did you'd probably still have got yous.
Its fine Razorfist, you can now play again with your Worf figure and complain about The Witcher being a copy of Elrik while jerking off to DS9, while thats a copy of B5.
Some anons already recommend starting with S2 and I do so too because: >1. seasons back then had a huge episode number >2. keeping you in the seat in times of streaming will not work if you need to endure 20+ episodes of meh. >3. Go watch S1 after you finished. >4. B5 takes off during S2 and then becomes bombastic and epic as a show can get
Season 1 is rough but it sets up a lot of stuff that pays off later. Don't watch Season 5, it's so fricking bad. They thought the show was going to be cancelled so the myth arc got wrapped up in Season 4. The original series finale then got bumped to become the series finale in Season 5.
The tie-in movies are pretty good, though.
It’s the only sci-fi that manages to tell a high quality coherent overarching plot (other than battlestar galactica) but it exceeds them all in also having 10/10 character development
Season 5 is a drop in quality but you get 4 seasons of gold
I only give S1 a 10/10 in that department. So much great character interaction between Sinclair & friends and it all had to get tossed. Sheridan just felt like an butthole boss to everyone aside from the forced waifu plot
It’s a triumph of will over budgetary restraints. You’ll rapidly identify a couple of main characters you identify with the most. Keep that passion as the sets get progressively cheaper and cheesier and you’ll come to love it as much as many others do.
They were. Centauri were passive in S1 and Narns kept fricking with them and militarizing instead of feeding their starving pop. Absolute savage snake people.
They were liberating stolen territory from an empire that only 30 years earlier had been enslaving and genociding them. It's no mystery why no other non-devil species ever moved to support the Centauri during the show.
What, if Nazi Germany had survived the war you'd blame the Poles for trying to get Gdansk back?
The Centauri are definitely guilty of some bad diplomacy there, contrast and compare the Minbari who were just meticulously delivering Total Human Death to every terran colony from space. One of the best parts of Babylon 5 was that the humans and their Vulcans fricking hated each other initially, it feels like a much more hostile universe initially, but gradually it becomes friendly as mankind befriends everyone, and the threat appears from within, the perverse desires of individual men of hubris rather than the crimes of nations.
Beautiful stuff! But the Narns are like the dark mirror to humanity here, because the Centauri were never repentent and were always kind of petty and bitter about not losing their Empire, the Narns never even tried to understand them, so they could never bond the way humanity and the oysters did, and in the end G'Kar and Londo symbolize this with a terminal snuggling contest. That's part of the magic though, wars are at their coolest when they are the most organically tragic that they can be.
>What, if Nazi Germany had survived the war you'd blame the Poles for trying to get Gdansk back?
And if Germany survived WW1 would you blame them for trying to get Danzig back?
1 week ago
Anonymous
WW1 Germany wasn't evil, so the analogy fails
1 week ago
Anonymous
You did not answer the question
Was Germany evil for returning lands stolen from them after WW1? their ideology is irrelevant here.
1 week ago
Anonymous
>You did not answer the question
Because, as I said, the analogy failed. Try a new one that applies.
1 week ago
Anonymous
Ok mein jude, was palestinians murdering israeli invaders and taking back their land justified?
1 week ago
Anonymous
>/pol/ack reveals himself
Big surprise. Why are your sort obsessed with Nazis and Centauri?
1 week ago
Anonymous
Obviously. Narn/Centauri are a clear Palestinian/Zionist expy.
>/pol/ack reveals himself
Big surprise. Why are your sort obsessed with Nazis and Centauri?
>What, if Nazi Germany had survived the war you'd blame the Poles for trying to get Gdansk back?
I don't get why nazis would watch a show that is explicitly anti-nazi and constantly points out how evil and morally corrupt they were.
1 week ago
Anonymous
>I don't get why nazis would watch a show that is explicitly anti-nazi and constantly points out how evil and morally corrupt they were.
it is absurd but this place is /misc/ adjacent and so is chock full of nazis.
1 week ago
Anonymous
>modern day nazis are autistic neet shitposting
Zey ehr makig der Fuhrer türn ein hiz grawe.
1 week ago
Anonymous
>I don't get why nazis would watch a show that is explicitly anti-nazi and constantly points out how evil and morally corrupt they were.
it is absurd but this place is /misc/ adjacent and so is chock full of nazis.
Obviously. Narn/Centauri are a clear Palestinian/Zionist expy.
[...]
[...]
I don't get why nazis would watch a show that is explicitly anti-nazi and constantly points out how evil and morally corrupt they were.
>/pol/ack reveals himself
Big surprise. Why are your sort obsessed with Nazis and Centauri?
its funny of you to use nazi so easily when its isreal that is conservative, invading, land stealing and murdering for decades. isreal is easily the most fascist state in todays history.
1 week ago
Anonymous
Oh did you read that on your latest polthread? Such cute little fairytales you create.
1 week ago
Anonymous
That's what all these leftist/commie morons protesting are saying, not pol. The true pol (correct) take is hoping that the Palestinians and the Israelis exterminate each other.
I stopped watching this in the first season, but I don't Fricking understand how the Narns were losing so badly! In the first season they were pushing the Centauri's Shit in and bullying them around! Yeah I know the Centauri got help with that one attack, but that was a single battle and they were fricking losing everywhere!
Londo made a deal with Mr. Morden, the shadow thrall and got the Centauri forces bolsterd with all the power of the Shadows to b***h slap anyone they wanted basically. The Narns just got the brunt of it because...well frickin Narns lol.
>In the first season they were pushing the Centauri's Shit in and bullying them around
Not really. The Centauri were just not fighting back because the Emperor was old and wanted peace, so he restrained them as best he could and was letting their territory diminish. When he died, Cartagia came to power, and the Centauri moved onto a war footing, they crushed the Narns.
From the beginning, Narn ships and their "empire" is considered significantly less advanced than the other races. They strap themselves in on their ships, for example, because they don't even have artificial gravity (even Earth does with rotating hulls), it's just a hull with engines, shields, and weapons strapped to it.
Yes, my point is that the Narns are behind Earth, they have bootstrapped themselves into an "empire" mainly by revolution against the Centauri and getting some of their tech (Centauri have artificial gravity too), and through the Centauri not fighting back while the Narns act belligerent.
As soon as the Centauri start flexing seriously, they steadily flatten the Narns.
Scale of power goes >First Ones > Minbari >> Centauri > Earth > Narn
I remember Earth forces in principle being stronger than Centauri ones, but they need to get back to the pre-Minbar numbers first. So: >First Ones > Minbari >> Earth > Centauri > Narn
1 week ago
Anonymous
Earth claimed that, and much of Earth believes it because they used to consider themselves hot shit and Minbar "surrendered" but the ones in the know like Sheridan don't seem to believe the party line.
I vaguely remember G'Kar even saying that the Narn built themselves up into a paper tiger.
1 week ago
Anonymous
Yes. It's a bluff that nobody has called, until the Centauri finally do. Even G'Kar doesn't know the full extent of it, like how he was getting doctored reports from the home world about how well the war was going, only for his uncle or whatever to show up and tell him no, it's all bullshit, they are getting crushed and the Centauri are rolling them over and over.
1 week ago
Anonymous
But didn't they fricking have good tech!?
1 week ago
Anonymous
the best tech the Narn have is built on what the Centauri left behind after their first occupation, and weapons they bought from other races, but across the board they're still not as advanced or as big as the Centauri. it would have been a bloodier and more even war for a while if not for the Shadows strategically raping the Narn forces on the Centauri's behalf, but they still would have won eventually.
1 week ago
Anonymous
They did, but the Centauri were aided by the Shadows
The Shadows wiped lot a lot of the forward Narn forces near Centauri space discreetly before the Centaurians declared war so they started off on the back foot. Shadow and Centauri vessels never operated together for obvious reasons, only the very top of Centauri leadership even knew about the alliance.
>I want to frick Ivanova
You missed your shot. She was a crazy alcoholic in the '90s and 2000s and was running around drinking herself unconscious and fricking dudes.
Has to be Sleeping in Light for me, the emotions hit hard if you stuck around long enough to get there. Although Deconstruction of Falling Stars is also fantastic. Many shows don't get one good series finale and this one got two.
it's easily one of, if not the best final episodes of any show I've seen, they absolutely nailed it.
The episode was brilliant and so moving if you were a long time fan. What i was NOT expecting was the credits that rolled after. JMS thanking all the people involved and the cast s1 pics alongside the end season pics. I about hit the floor. No one has ever or probably Will ever do that. Truly an historic show.
I have watched the show before but I have totally forgotten all of it. Should I rewatch it? I think I might have stopped after they try to patch up Condo and Neekar.
theres a recent HBO web upscale, in 4:3 with consistent quality, so now would be a good time to rewatch the show. the DVDs we had before were really bad, especially when na special effect or cgi was used in the shot, its all cropped and zoomed in to fit the widescreen normal scenes. mind you my screenshot is just from a low but okay quality rarbg rip, but it still looks better than the DVDs
>theres a recent HBO web upscale
It's not exactly an upscale. WB went and rescanned some old HDCAM master tapes of Babylon 5. Basically the old tapes were like 700p in quality, and they upscaled them and slapped on new logos.
WB only did it because HBO demanded they give them better quality footage for B5.
But Mister Mollari, we just finished converting your kitchen into an open kitchenette. Are you absolutely sure you want us to rebuild the wall separating it from the living room?
You know that guy in back to the future 2? That's based on Trump. Trump was not some random dude who appeared out of nowhere. He's been a conman, lying scumbad for decades before you were born. That's why it was such a joke that he was running because of course no one would be stupid enough to elect him to such an office. He had his angry rant all ready to go about how Hillary stole it from him and it's rigged, etc. Then his win surprised even him. Point is, they didn't 'predict' anything rather based it on real people not everyone pays attention to
Is Trump a devious conman who didn’t want to win the election? Or was he a power-hungry fascist dictator? Or was he a stoopid cheeto moron with no plan? He can’t be all three.
something thats always stuck in my mind and comes up every now and then is the Minbari way of understanding life and the universe, how all life in it is just a way of the universe trying to understand itself, extensions of it, which i thought was kinda neat
>Be gorillion year old aliens >Discover Solipsism >"Oh this one looks good, we'll do that except it's also perennialism existentialism but with reincarnation and also we're like a pantheist gestalt consciousness." >"Just us?" >"We'll see lol"
Fricking 90s was so wild dude, I love this shit every time, trying to guess what the aliens' goofy religions are by how they look. I remember being pissed because I figured the Centauri were going to be Space Catholics with an obnoxiously Italian Space Pope and that his hair would be like the hat.
l want justice. To suck the marrow from their bones. Grind their skulls to powder. To tear down their cities, blacken their sky, sow their ground with salt. To completely, utterly erase them.
Furlan lives through the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bloody Yugoslav wars. In contrast, Wheaton had a difficult childhood being raised in Hollywood.
If you're a hardcore Babylon 5 fan, there's a pretty well-written fanfic about the Dilgar War that's called "The Dilgar War"
If you recall Deathwalker, the Dilgar war criminal in season 1, Earth Alliance joined in a war against her race about 30 years before B5 takes place.
Someone wrote a 100 chapter story about that war. Some original characters, some B5 characters directly, and some relatives (Garibaldi, Franklin and Sinclair's fathers were all in the war).
It's mostly told from Jha'dur's point of view, recounting the war to the Minbari as she's in exile/imprisoned by the Wind Swords of the Warrior Caste.
The guy who wrote it says the version online was the original draft and there is a proofread version out, so what you'll probably find has a lot of basic editing errors (you're instead of your). But the actual story itself, the battles, the characters, they're really good. If you're a fan of B5, I *highly* recommend it.
>Someone wrote a 100 chapter story
It was at this moment that I decided that from now on I'll only describe myself as "a person who likes Babylon 5" rather than "a Babylon 5 fan".
>billion years in the future >Sol is dying and about the go nova >humans have evolved into energy beings more advanced than the vorlons > still no cure for baldness.
it was just a great show that was made without an enormous Paramount studio budget and without ILM. There were so many great 90s sci-fi shows that just didnt make survive like Space: Above and Beyond.
Why does everyone shit on season 5 so much? It's definitely a step down from season 4 when they wrapped up the war plots, but it's still got some good stuff in it: >The fragile beginning of the alliance >Garibaldi's PTSD and relapse >The drakh and fall of Centauri prime >Disillusioned Lyta >Sleeping in light
I agree Byron freaking sucked, and to me the biggest let down of the series was not seeing the Telepath war. It always seemed like Psicorps was the final boss even from season 1.
My reason was because of the fallout between Claudia and JMS where she left the show and they replaced her with Lockley. The 1st episode of S5 was basically JMS talking smack to the fans in code if you watch closely. Seriously put a damper on my mood for the series after that. + it was mainly about the teep war stuff and that was frankly boring. Last three episodes are very kino tho +SiL.
Why does everyone shit on season 5 so much? It's definitely a step down from season 4 when they wrapped up the war plots, but it's still got some good stuff in it: >The fragile beginning of the alliance >Garibaldi's PTSD and relapse >The drakh and fall of Centauri prime >Disillusioned Lyta >Sleeping in light
I agree Byron freaking sucked, and to me the biggest let down of the series was not seeing the Telepath war. It always seemed like Psicorps was the final boss even from season 1.
Byron sucked, but S5 showed us how kino the telepath war would be. I'm thinking specifically of that scene where the teeps put the idea of a bomb in the mind of that maintenance worker.
and of course Bester.
The only thing that really bothers me about S5 (other than the new captain) is that Sheridan seems to have forgotten about his "unstuck in time" experience. He should be able to figure out the Londo situation, or at the very least get out ahead of it before centauri prime is bombed.
I think if JMS focused more on the PSI core side of it, with showing more of their inner workings/weird tech shit and just how vile they are and less of the byron/lyta romance bullshit it would have been better.
The explorer ships were a neat idea. I don't think it ever captured the feel of being really far out in space and away from humanity though. That could make for some creepy episodes
Any other OG watchers here? I remember seeing The Gathering over rabbit ears when I was 10 in 1993. Kept watching after it turned into a series. I didn't know there was an S5 until years later, since we didn't have cable.
i'd catch an episode every now and then but not enough to have any idea what was going on. the vorlon ships were the coolest thing i'd ever seen at the time and i'd always get mad that star trek could never have anything that looked that good (until voyager ripped them off with 8472).
Road Home really disappointed me. I see podcasts and media guys jerking off over how great it is, but to me it felt like fan fiction. You know, the kind of thing that uses the framework of a show but gets all the details wrong. If JMS hadn't been so vocal about writing it I would have thought it was a studio project written by interns. It's like he had ideas for a few scenes and found a way to cobble them together. Plus all the goofy humor and awkward writing.
Speaking of JMS, I think B5 was lightning in a bottle for him. Anything he's done since has been highly questionable.
>I think B5 was lightning in a bottle for him
don't think there's any question about it. JMS poured every good idea he ever had into b5 and when he was done with that there was nothing left. in retrospect he's probably lucky crusade got cancelled early (and yes he can complain about interference from tnt but honestly everything he describes is the sort of stuff everyone else in tv had to work with at the time). his star trek reboot pitch from the 2000s is warmed-over b5 material at best.
Franklin was based, honorary white
two of the moments that made me laugh the most in the show were when g'kar says "I can hear you" when they're trapped in the elevator and Londo is calling for help
And when an alien wants to have sex with Ivanova to seal a deal and Franklin is like "Maybe you put a big over his head and 'Do it for B5'"
it's a real mixed bag, the first half of the season is heavily focused on telepaths with a cult like leader on B5, it's some of the weakest shit of the whole show, but the second half running in to the finale is back closer to the quality you'd expect from the previous few seasons.
Good character but there is no way this fat race of weird looking simps could ever have been a space empire. Nobody but the Narn and humans ever show any sort of actual ability to do aggressive and cohesive violence.
Did you miss the scene where Londo watched the orbital bombardment of the Narn planet? Or the scene where earth pilots are being taught specific anti-Centauri fighter combat tactics taking advantge of the Centauri habit of relying on autopilot when they push maneuver too hard and pass out?
People focus on the Shadow war (with good reason) but the subtle build up with random news clips and off hand references from as early as s1 about the corrupt government and the climax of that plotline is really just as good as the Shadow war writing wise.
Its been years since i watch this show.
i dont temenbwr why, but i remember the scene where Londo begins taking things apart in his quarters to extract smuggled parts rto assemble a pistol. i always thought that was so badass.
Claudia Christian's autobiography is nuts. Almost the entire thing is just fricking and drinking. And then there's the part about the compulsive knitting tribble cosplayer stalking her and shooting her at a con.
Why didn't Franklin ever approach Garibaldi about his relapse? It was weird that after all that Garibaldi intervention about Franklin's stim use that Zach was the one to say something about his drinking. It was just set up too well for the two of them to commiserate over addiction
I love Babylon 5 and the ships. I also really enjoyed The Expanse and feel like it did the concept of no-grav/low-grav ships far better. The ships are designed more like skyscrapers with floors perpendicular to the long axis of the ship. They also have asteroid stations out there that they spend significant effort to get spinning to provide some 'gravity'. And integrating low grav effects into storylines such as wounds not healing or unsecured equipment flying around during maneuvers. B5 did some of that, like when Sheridan jumps out of the tram and floats, so they have to try to catch him before he hits the spinning outer shell. But if B5 ever started up again, it would be fantastic to see even more of that included. Although they did start getting artificial gravity towards the end of the series.
Bill Mumy must be one of the few child actors to come out not utterly fricked in the head. Also thought it was funny he asked to be on Star Trek but wanted to be sure it was as a human after years of wearing alien makeup.
Did nothing wrong.
>left his people a broken wreck by making a deal with the space devils
yeah he did plenty wrong kek as based as he is
Narns made no deal and where did it get them
they bombed Centauri Prime and joined the Interstellar Alliance
Best part of the show. I need a Londo edit of the show, because boy do most of the other characters not come off well now.
THEY KILLED MY homie KOSH
>Kosh would rather pretend to be dead than admit he got absolutely fricked up in a hallway to some inferior alien species.
This is probably the last big sci-fi show I haven't watched. Is it worth it? Heard great things, but couldn't find a good quality copy years ago and I let it slip by
Start watching it right now, anon.
>A pic of two B5 actors still alive.
Impressive.
Semper in memoria vives.
It´s like this show was filmed in a studio built over an indian cemetery.
A former hot tub manufacturing plant next to a waste transfer station, so not quite disturbed spirits and more likely disturbed chemicals.
>people.... le DIE
Oh wow
Compared to any of the other 90s sci-fi shows it isnt even close. Shit, none of the TNG cast has died even
the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long
>Shit, none of the TNG cast has died even
They're statistically lucky. I think. I'm too lazy to do the math.
a lot of the main cast were heavy smokers.
I think think there was a time when a greater percentage of the Original Star Trek crew were alive.
fun cast I will definitely watch.
this picture is so great for so many reasons
name 2.
Londo.
Mira not inderstanding the assignment
Lyta was so hot
>Is it worth it?
It is fricking amazing.
It is worth it. Starts slow, but it grows.
IIRC, it came out in Blu-ray a short while ago.
It's on Tubi. Check it out.
Season 1 can be pretty rough. I almost recommend people just start with season 2 so I don't have to explain it
But season 1 also has some stuff that makes it worth it.
It's just like the 3 worst episodes right off the bat and the entire season is meh until the end when it only gets okay
But after that it becomes one of the best shows ever made so yeah.
I'll add that season 1 is significantly better upon rewatch because you can pick up on all the foreshadowing and world building that remains extremely relevant in later seasons.
Of course that won't matter to a first time viewer.
true, it's must better on rewatch. The real story is in the background and you don't even really realize it. It's worth watching but if it's going to stop people from watching the show at all, better to just go to season 2.
1st season has some great villain of the weak on off episodes as well
>better to just go to season 2
christ no, that's terrible advice
S1 of Babylon 5 is no worse than Season 1 of any of the Star Treks
Writing wise is the best sci fi show of all time, if you want present day CGI and diseny shit then don't
YES
>not Gkar
Kiss my pouch you
>becomes a bodyguard for people who cut your eye out
literal cuck kek
I like g'kar too but Cinemaphile is a CENTAURI board
It's Londo's fault, he did NOTHING
This is a GREEN board!
PURPLE SQUAD,
GREEN GENOCIDE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE
TPD
Green Chads rise up!
>Is it worth it?
absolutely fricking yes. watch it.
Its good but dont take the (inexplicably diehard) fans fool you, Its very 90s dated ,both in sets and cgi ,but also the vaunted writing, which is at turns hammy and cheesy. Also the story has no coherency, with them dropping and adding cast memebers and their storyline at the drop of a hat series to series
DS9 wuz bettaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Ds9 was a rip off that didn't go nearly as hard as Babylon 5
WRONG
Great selection!
Here ONE MOMENT OF PERFECT BEAUTY (S2):
>. Also the story has no coherency,
This made no sense until I saw this
>DS9 wuz bettaaaaaaaaaaaaah
and realized you're actually a braindead partisan
Or most likely a troll.
the only thing DS9 has over B5 is budget.
>Its very 90s dated ,both in sets and cgi
Also we watched it on televisions that were maybe 21" and NTSC (effectively 486i) so visual flaws weren't as apparent at the time. For the time and the medium, the CGI was groundbreaking but yes, is dated by today's standards.
also race mixing propaganda
Delenn was basically a slav with a horn on her head.
I mean the blonde that dates that black doctor
Steven was basically white to begin with.
DS9 was a snoozefest. i still watched it. B5 was just more entertaining and less restrictive than the Star Trek franchise. Although Star Trek was cobstabtly stealing crom B5. They copied a lot of Garabaldi’s love for the 20th century media and Tech and added it to Tom Paris in Voyager. B5 had cooler shit like Michael Garabaldi assembling a Kawasaki Ninja motocycle in his quarters while an alien adapted a non-petroleum based fuel so they could ride it through the corridors of the stagion
better image of the Ninja from the Bluray
This is such obvious trolling the only thing you could do to make it worse is to say "btw homosexuals I'm trolling." If you did you'd probably still have got yous.
Its fine Razorfist, you can now play again with your Worf figure and complain about The Witcher being a copy of Elrik while jerking off to DS9, while thats a copy of B5.
the "CGI" is dated as frick, the the acting and story is top notch
once you get past the first season
Some anons already recommend starting with S2 and I do so too because:
>1. seasons back then had a huge episode number
>2. keeping you in the seat in times of streaming will not work if you need to endure 20+ episodes of meh.
>3. Go watch S1 after you finished.
>4. B5 takes off during S2 and then becomes bombastic and epic as a show can get
Season 1 is rough but it sets up a lot of stuff that pays off later. Don't watch Season 5, it's so fricking bad. They thought the show was going to be cancelled so the myth arc got wrapped up in Season 4. The original series finale then got bumped to become the series finale in Season 5.
The tie-in movies are pretty good, though.
>saving the best for last
kino
It’s the only sci-fi that manages to tell a high quality coherent overarching plot (other than battlestar galactica) but it exceeds them all in also having 10/10 character development
Season 5 is a drop in quality but you get 4 seasons of gold
I only give S1 a 10/10 in that department. So much great character interaction between Sinclair & friends and it all had to get tossed. Sheridan just felt like an butthole boss to everyone aside from the forced waifu plot
It’s a triumph of will over budgetary restraints. You’ll rapidly identify a couple of main characters you identify with the most. Keep that passion as the sets get progressively cheaper and cheesier and you’ll come to love it as much as many others do.
>triumph of will
Are you saying that JMS had a plan for 14 seasons of 88 episodes?!?
The effects are rough, but the rest is very good.
MISTAH GARIBALDI
>me thinking about Star Wars
Name a better character in sciencie fiction than Mr. Morden
>star wars shit
lmao!!!!!!!!!!
Sure as hell they can take punishment like no one, individually and as a race.
>watching show as a kid
>those poor narns ;_;
>watching show as an adult
>more mass drivers now TND
>literally israel vs palestinians: the show
>shadows being the US empire, vorlons being the USSR
Really MAKES you think
The US is 100% the Vorlons in this analogy
They're doing it for our own good and protection. They must destroy your planet to save democracy
US is shadows
>starts a million proxy wars because muh freedom
>implying the shadows weren't israelites
I actually feel bad for the Narns now. When I was a kid I liked Londo so I assumed the Centauri were always right.
They were. Centauri were passive in S1 and Narns kept fricking with them and militarizing instead of feeding their starving pop. Absolute savage snake people.
They were liberating stolen territory from an empire that only 30 years earlier had been enslaving and genociding them. It's no mystery why no other non-devil species ever moved to support the Centauri during the show.
What, if Nazi Germany had survived the war you'd blame the Poles for trying to get Gdansk back?
The Centauri are definitely guilty of some bad diplomacy there, contrast and compare the Minbari who were just meticulously delivering Total Human Death to every terran colony from space. One of the best parts of Babylon 5 was that the humans and their Vulcans fricking hated each other initially, it feels like a much more hostile universe initially, but gradually it becomes friendly as mankind befriends everyone, and the threat appears from within, the perverse desires of individual men of hubris rather than the crimes of nations.
Beautiful stuff! But the Narns are like the dark mirror to humanity here, because the Centauri were never repentent and were always kind of petty and bitter about not losing their Empire, the Narns never even tried to understand them, so they could never bond the way humanity and the oysters did, and in the end G'Kar and Londo symbolize this with a terminal snuggling contest. That's part of the magic though, wars are at their coolest when they are the most organically tragic that they can be.
>What, if Nazi Germany had survived the war you'd blame the Poles for trying to get Gdansk back?
And if Germany survived WW1 would you blame them for trying to get Danzig back?
WW1 Germany wasn't evil, so the analogy fails
You did not answer the question
Was Germany evil for returning lands stolen from them after WW1? their ideology is irrelevant here.
>You did not answer the question
Because, as I said, the analogy failed. Try a new one that applies.
Ok mein jude, was palestinians murdering israeli invaders and taking back their land justified?
>/pol/ack reveals himself
Big surprise. Why are your sort obsessed with Nazis and Centauri?
Obviously. Narn/Centauri are a clear Palestinian/Zionist expy.
I don't get why nazis would watch a show that is explicitly anti-nazi and constantly points out how evil and morally corrupt they were.
>I don't get why nazis would watch a show that is explicitly anti-nazi and constantly points out how evil and morally corrupt they were.
it is absurd but this place is /misc/ adjacent and so is chock full of nazis.
>modern day nazis are autistic neet shitposting
Zey ehr makig der Fuhrer türn ein hiz grawe.
its funny of you to use nazi so easily when its isreal that is conservative, invading, land stealing and murdering for decades. isreal is easily the most fascist state in todays history.
Oh did you read that on your latest polthread? Such cute little fairytales you create.
That's what all these leftist/commie morons protesting are saying, not pol. The true pol (correct) take is hoping that the Palestinians and the Israelis exterminate each other.
funny you didnt deny it, centauri scum
Hence why the Centauri are like the Israelis.
>What, if Nazi Germany had survived the war you'd blame the Poles for trying to get Gdansk back?
I stopped watching this in the first season, but I don't Fricking understand how the Narns were losing so badly! In the first season they were pushing the Centauri's Shit in and bullying them around! Yeah I know the Centauri got help with that one attack, but that was a single battle and they were fricking losing everywhere!
I think you can assume that the centauri had help in other battles. but of course of there isn't enough in the CGI budget to show it all.
Londo made a deal with Mr. Morden, the shadow thrall and got the Centauri forces bolsterd with all the power of the Shadows to b***h slap anyone they wanted basically. The Narns just got the brunt of it because...well frickin Narns lol.
>In the first season they were pushing the Centauri's Shit in and bullying them around
Not really. The Centauri were just not fighting back because the Emperor was old and wanted peace, so he restrained them as best he could and was letting their territory diminish. When he died, Cartagia came to power, and the Centauri moved onto a war footing, they crushed the Narns.
From the beginning, Narn ships and their "empire" is considered significantly less advanced than the other races. They strap themselves in on their ships, for example, because they don't even have artificial gravity (even Earth does with rotating hulls), it's just a hull with engines, shields, and weapons strapped to it.
>They strap themselves in on their ships, for example, because they don't even have artificial gravity (even Earth does with rotating hulls)
And even that is a more recent earth development since their older ships, they did the same.
Yes, my point is that the Narns are behind Earth, they have bootstrapped themselves into an "empire" mainly by revolution against the Centauri and getting some of their tech (Centauri have artificial gravity too), and through the Centauri not fighting back while the Narns act belligerent.
As soon as the Centauri start flexing seriously, they steadily flatten the Narns.
Scale of power goes
>First Ones > Minbari >> Centauri > Earth > Narn
I remember Earth forces in principle being stronger than Centauri ones, but they need to get back to the pre-Minbar numbers first. So:
>First Ones > Minbari >> Earth > Centauri > Narn
Earth claimed that, and much of Earth believes it because they used to consider themselves hot shit and Minbar "surrendered" but the ones in the know like Sheridan don't seem to believe the party line.
I vaguely remember G'Kar even saying that the Narn built themselves up into a paper tiger.
Yes. It's a bluff that nobody has called, until the Centauri finally do. Even G'Kar doesn't know the full extent of it, like how he was getting doctored reports from the home world about how well the war was going, only for his uncle or whatever to show up and tell him no, it's all bullshit, they are getting crushed and the Centauri are rolling them over and over.
But didn't they fricking have good tech!?
the best tech the Narn have is built on what the Centauri left behind after their first occupation, and weapons they bought from other races, but across the board they're still not as advanced or as big as the Centauri. it would have been a bloodier and more even war for a while if not for the Shadows strategically raping the Narn forces on the Centauri's behalf, but they still would have won eventually.
They did, but the Centauri were aided by the Shadows
The Shadows wiped lot a lot of the forward Narn forces near Centauri space discreetly before the Centaurians declared war so they started off on the back foot. Shadow and Centauri vessels never operated together for obvious reasons, only the very top of Centauri leadership even knew about the alliance.
>The Avalanche has already begun. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
reminder that Ivanova did some nudies
do you think she'd like if I sent her some Tributes?
I want to frick Ivanova
>I want to frick Ivanova
You missed your shot. She was a crazy alcoholic in the '90s and 2000s and was running around drinking herself unconscious and fricking dudes.
>Understanding is a three-edged sword
How high was Kosh in this show? This guy stay lit up. The encounter suit was just a hotbox.
checked
homie would straight up get blitzed in the hallways
>kosh quotes trips
Morden seething
I only have a vague recollection and I prefer it to remain like this
I can't believe they were allowed to show this on tv. Children watch this show
Oh go repress somebody
spoiler please nsfw board
JANNY
FRICK PURPLES
Fav ep?
I really liked the one where Sinclair's ultimate fate was revealed.
The Long, Twilight Struggle
The Illusion of Truth
Intersections in Real Time
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
I fricking hate B5 episode titles, just interchangeable epic sounding gobbledyasiatic like Halo strship names.
Like I have no fricking clue what any of those episodes even are without having to look them up.
Funny that you mention Halo as both it and B5 are balls deep in Arthurian legend so some comparisons beyond "it's sci fi" are bound to arise.
non-main story ones, the one with chucky being a mind erased priest
Has to be Sleeping in Light for me, the emotions hit hard if you stuck around long enough to get there. Although Deconstruction of Falling Stars is also fantastic. Many shows don't get one good series finale and this one got two.
honestly a great finale. All Good Things is a great end to TNG but a pretty ok episode. Sleeping in Light is a great episode.
it's easily one of, if not the best final episodes of any show I've seen, they absolutely nailed it.
The episode was brilliant and so moving if you were a long time fan. What i was NOT expecting was the credits that rolled after. JMS thanking all the people involved and the cast s1 pics alongside the end season pics. I about hit the floor. No one has ever or probably Will ever do that. Truly an historic show.
Pilot, because it's the only one the best character shows up in before she got replaced by an ugly russian
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Lots of good ones, but Severed Dreams is probably the peak for me
>"Remembered not as a messenger, remembered not as a reformer, not as a prophet, not as a hero, not even as Sebastian. Remembered only as Jack."
the motivations of the Vorlons confuse me still.
well it's not confusing, it's just all seems a bit wishy washy and poorly defined.
>Race of squidlike energy beings almost as old at the universe itself
>They confuse me
Working as intended.
What about their motivation is so confusing?
yes
garibaldi robs the post office
S04E13 - "Rumours, Bargains, and Lies"
The Garden of Gethsemane
And The Rock Cried Out No Hiding Place
NO HIDING PLACE!
>Drazi
I'm surprised Cinemaphile barely ever talks about B5 compared to DS9, considering Cinemaphile is a board of contrarians.
My shoes no longer fit, but that's okay.
I don't understand
You see, I no longer remember how to dance.
I have watched the show before but I have totally forgotten all of it. Should I rewatch it? I think I might have stopped after they try to patch up Condo and Neekar.
theres a recent HBO web upscale, in 4:3 with consistent quality, so now would be a good time to rewatch the show. the DVDs we had before were really bad, especially when na special effect or cgi was used in the shot, its all cropped and zoomed in to fit the widescreen normal scenes. mind you my screenshot is just from a low but okay quality rarbg rip, but it still looks better than the DVDs
>theres a recent HBO web upscale
It's not exactly an upscale. WB went and rescanned some old HDCAM master tapes of Babylon 5. Basically the old tapes were like 700p in quality, and they upscaled them and slapped on new logos.
WB only did it because HBO demanded they give them better quality footage for B5.
either way, i'm happy with it.
But Mister Mollari, we just finished converting your kitchen into an open kitchenette. Are you absolutely sure you want us to rebuild the wall separating it from the living room?
Are people saying ah mister morden! when they see him? i would
Season 1 is the firewall.
There aren't a lot of shows were the quality suddenly jumps into unknown highs from S1 to S2.
Dayumn, how did they predict Trump???
They didn´t, but they predicted precisely the Department of Homeland Security (Nightwatch)
Based Clarump
You know that guy in back to the future 2? That's based on Trump. Trump was not some random dude who appeared out of nowhere. He's been a conman, lying scumbad for decades before you were born. That's why it was such a joke that he was running because of course no one would be stupid enough to elect him to such an office. He had his angry rant all ready to go about how Hillary stole it from him and it's rigged, etc. Then his win surprised even him. Point is, they didn't 'predict' anything rather based it on real people not everyone pays attention to
Is Trump a devious conman who didn’t want to win the election? Or was he a power-hungry fascist dictator? Or was he a stoopid cheeto moron with no plan? He can’t be all three.
of course he can
something thats always stuck in my mind and comes up every now and then is the Minbari way of understanding life and the universe, how all life in it is just a way of the universe trying to understand itself, extensions of it, which i thought was kinda neat
*points a gun at you*
Hey, don't mind me, I'm just trying to understand you.
Well the universe doesn't always like every other part of itself
The real question is why didn't the Minbari already know about human thanks to Babylon 4?
They knew everything, but the Grey Council withheld shit.
>Be gorillion year old aliens
>Discover Solipsism
>"Oh this one looks good, we'll do that except it's also perennialism existentialism but with reincarnation and also we're like a pantheist gestalt consciousness."
>"Just us?"
>"We'll see lol"
Fricking 90s was so wild dude, I love this shit every time, trying to guess what the aliens' goofy religions are by how they look. I remember being pissed because I figured the Centauri were going to be Space Catholics with an obnoxiously Italian Space Pope and that his hair would be like the hat.
JMS stole it directly from Carl Sagan
stealing good is better than making bad, i say.
It wasn't worth it
>ting ting ting
AHEM! I have an announcement.
G'KAAAAR
GIVE IT BACK. IT ISNT RIGHT, THAT WAS OURS
TIME ON TARGET
>So, what are you going to, Mollari, blow up the island?
Bester was best char prove me wrong
I can't. Nobody can.
Doing a rewatch this year, finished season 5 and going through the movies.
This show plus stargate are my goto comfy Scifi
where were you when Narn got bombed?
>What do you want, Cinemaphile?
l want justice. To suck the marrow from their bones. Grind their skulls to powder. To tear down their cities, blacken their sky, sow their ground with salt. To completely, utterly erase them.
>mira furlan dead
>wil wheaton still alive
;_;
She seemed like a happy person and he always seems miserable. Living is his own hell.
Furlan lives through the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bloody Yugoslav wars. In contrast, Wheaton had a difficult childhood being raised in Hollywood.
Ahem, FRICK NARNS
how it started
>webm related
how it's going
For me, it's the Dilgar
>You will never have a warmaster mommy
Why even live bros.
If you're a hardcore Babylon 5 fan, there's a pretty well-written fanfic about the Dilgar War that's called "The Dilgar War"
If you recall Deathwalker, the Dilgar war criminal in season 1, Earth Alliance joined in a war against her race about 30 years before B5 takes place.
Someone wrote a 100 chapter story about that war. Some original characters, some B5 characters directly, and some relatives (Garibaldi, Franklin and Sinclair's fathers were all in the war).
It's mostly told from Jha'dur's point of view, recounting the war to the Minbari as she's in exile/imprisoned by the Wind Swords of the Warrior Caste.
The guy who wrote it says the version online was the original draft and there is a proofread version out, so what you'll probably find has a lot of basic editing errors (you're instead of your). But the actual story itself, the battles, the characters, they're really good. If you're a fan of B5, I *highly* recommend it.
>Someone wrote a 100 chapter story
It was at this moment that I decided that from now on I'll only describe myself as "a person who likes Babylon 5" rather than "a Babylon 5 fan".
Fandom is never a good thing regardless of the quality of its object of obsession.
l didnt like them turning Linear into an incel sperglord
To be fair, he always kinda was one.
he was like a geek b***h version of Marcus who they shouldnt have killed off so early btw
>billion years in the future
>Sol is dying and about the go nova
>humans have evolved into energy beings more advanced than the vorlons
> still no cure for baldness.
are the spin offs any good?
Crusade could've been great, if it was given a chance. Legend of the Rangers was pretty meh.
Who is ready for 'Babylon 6'?
t. failed
only if I can bring my Greystar!
>What's with the hat?
>Keeps the rain off my head.
#relateable
Babylon 5 > any Star Trek
>ZOG!
ZOG YES? ZOG NO?!?
they should be cancelled for coopting Polynesian culture
>dated as frick
yes, but thankfully most of the ship designs are practical so everything looks believable and that helps a lot
Wtf was his problem?
Would you have gone where others have gone before? I would. Not about to let her use it to influence me though.
any webms? I have seen the redhead out in space without a suit firing energy with her fist.
That's from a spin off. Spaceship kung fu is not canon.
MISTA GARA-BALDY
I love the juxtaposition between him and garibaldi in that episode.
it was just a great show that was made without an enormous Paramount studio budget and without ILM. There were so many great 90s sci-fi shows that just didnt make survive like Space: Above and Beyond.
Is that Alotta gayina?
Why does everyone shit on season 5 so much? It's definitely a step down from season 4 when they wrapped up the war plots, but it's still got some good stuff in it:
>The fragile beginning of the alliance
>Garibaldi's PTSD and relapse
>The drakh and fall of Centauri prime
>Disillusioned Lyta
>Sleeping in light
I agree Byron freaking sucked, and to me the biggest let down of the series was not seeing the Telepath war. It always seemed like Psicorps was the final boss even from season 1.
My reason was because of the fallout between Claudia and JMS where she left the show and they replaced her with Lockley. The 1st episode of S5 was basically JMS talking smack to the fans in code if you watch closely. Seriously put a damper on my mood for the series after that. + it was mainly about the teep war stuff and that was frankly boring. Last three episodes are very kino tho +SiL.
Byron sucked, but S5 showed us how kino the telepath war would be. I'm thinking specifically of that scene where the teeps put the idea of a bomb in the mind of that maintenance worker.
and of course Bester.
The only thing that really bothers me about S5 (other than the new captain) is that Sheridan seems to have forgotten about his "unstuck in time" experience. He should be able to figure out the Londo situation, or at the very least get out ahead of it before centauri prime is bombed.
I think if JMS focused more on the PSI core side of it, with showing more of their inner workings/weird tech shit and just how vile they are and less of the byron/lyta romance bullshit it would have been better.
>me talking about Star Wars
The explorer ships were a neat idea. I don't think it ever captured the feel of being really far out in space and away from humanity though. That could make for some creepy episodes
I think in theory that's what Crusade was supposed to be, but they shot it in its crib before the first episode even aired
Watched the season 4 finale and havent started season 5. Should i skip until the last episode or try to watch through it
The last three episodes and the finale Sleeping in light were basically S4 episodes. I would watch it like that, THEN start season 5 E1
"...On any other day you'd be wrong mr. program, but This cycle? This is a VERY different cycle. One last time, remove your user!"
"Aaaahhhh. Mr Mooorden. I see they found you. Goood, good."
God I love this show.
that scene is so good. "Today ... is a very different day ..."
>Quote from Man whose Island blew up
"What are you going to do, blow up the island?"
Still can't believe Londo and Sheridan were both in Tron kek
Is it normal for Ivanova to invoke a tingling sensation in my prostate?
hairy pusy
This is what Putin says to himself every evening.
>This is what Putin says to himself every evening.
Centauri were giving me Tsarists Russia vibes
Best girl?
Pic related, but I also have a weak spot for Anna Sheridan (Melissa Gilbert)
You forgot the pic.
>Best girl?
>Pic related, but I also have a weak spot for Anna Sheridan (Melissa Gilbert)
Forgot the pic!
>Best girl
obv
best girl
they did her wrong
Best girl
>The charcter designer: Reference is for pussies.
PIERCED
Why don't the other races have secret telepath societies like psi corps? What's keeping them in check?
Any other OG watchers here? I remember seeing The Gathering over rabbit ears when I was 10 in 1993. Kept watching after it turned into a series. I didn't know there was an S5 until years later, since we didn't have cable.
i'd catch an episode every now and then but not enough to have any idea what was going on. the vorlon ships were the coolest thing i'd ever seen at the time and i'd always get mad that star trek could never have anything that looked that good (until voyager ripped them off with 8472).
>Any other OG watchers here?
Yeah I heard about it probably about the middle/end of S1 and never looked back.
Road Home really disappointed me. I see podcasts and media guys jerking off over how great it is, but to me it felt like fan fiction. You know, the kind of thing that uses the framework of a show but gets all the details wrong. If JMS hadn't been so vocal about writing it I would have thought it was a studio project written by interns. It's like he had ideas for a few scenes and found a way to cobble them together. Plus all the goofy humor and awkward writing.
Speaking of JMS, I think B5 was lightning in a bottle for him. Anything he's done since has been highly questionable.
>I think B5 was lightning in a bottle for him
don't think there's any question about it. JMS poured every good idea he ever had into b5 and when he was done with that there was nothing left. in retrospect he's probably lucky crusade got cancelled early (and yes he can complain about interference from tnt but honestly everything he describes is the sort of stuff everyone else in tv had to work with at the time). his star trek reboot pitch from the 2000s is warmed-over b5 material at best.
Jeremiah S1 was pretty good.
Franklin was based, honorary white
two of the moments that made me laugh the most in the show were when g'kar says "I can hear you" when they're trapped in the elevator and Londo is calling for help
And when an alien wants to have sex with Ivanova to seal a deal and Franklin is like "Maybe you put a big over his head and 'Do it for B5'"
>Character is named ‘Durman’
>’Durr- man’
What did they mean by this?
I never watched the 5th season I thought the 4th ended pretty perfectly am I missing much?
S5 suffers with it being rushed out, chiefly the telepath war.
But the final episode (the original s4 finale) is a mandatory watch.
Not really. I've seen it but I basically don't remember any of it, other than the finale. Compared to the other seasons I vividly remember.
it's a real mixed bag, the first half of the season is heavily focused on telepaths with a cult like leader on B5, it's some of the weakest shit of the whole show, but the second half running in to the finale is back closer to the quality you'd expect from the previous few seasons.
>cast balding actor in your show
>call his character Gary Baldy
>meathead security enforcer
>suddenly becomes Neil Breen like super hacker secret agent
is this the power of baldness?
It's the confidence boost from finally letting go of your scraps and embracing freedom.
I could never watch this show because of how stupid the characters looked
Babylon 5 has so many great quotes I wish I could beam all the lines into my brain to repeat all the time to look cooler.
Good character but there is no way this fat race of weird looking simps could ever have been a space empire. Nobody but the Narn and humans ever show any sort of actual ability to do aggressive and cohesive violence.
They have six peni.'ll leave it at that.
Did you miss the scene where Londo watched the orbital bombardment of the Narn planet? Or the scene where earth pilots are being taught specific anti-Centauri fighter combat tactics taking advantge of the Centauri habit of relying on autopilot when they push maneuver too hard and pass out?
that karate kick on bar fight scene always get chuckle of me
It´s not like they had Yuen Woo-ping on speedial.
>thread is still up after a good sleep
You need some hot Jala commander. Here, enjoy.
Still waiting for a good blu ray box set. The one currently on sale on Amazon is shit.
Hope you have a very comfortable chair. Look how long it took for that one after the DVD set.
That's my president
People focus on the Shadow war (with good reason) but the subtle build up with random news clips and off hand references from as early as s1 about the corrupt government and the climax of that plotline is really just as good as the Shadow war writing wise.
Its been years since i watch this show.
i dont temenbwr why, but i remember the scene where Londo begins taking things apart in his quarters to extract smuggled parts rto assemble a pistol. i always thought that was so badass.
B5 and Farscape threads are always the best on Cinemaphile. Truly the two greatest sci-fi shows of all time
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/universe/intro.html
I remember browsing the lurkers guide in the mid 90's as the show was airing. Good times.
Claudia Christian's autobiography is nuts. Almost the entire thing is just fricking and drinking. And then there's the part about the compulsive knitting tribble cosplayer stalking her and shooting her at a con.
>Claudia after attending a B5 convention
The narns - Palestinians
Centauri - Israelis
Shadows - ~~*the israelites*~~
Humans - America
Why didn't Franklin ever approach Garibaldi about his relapse? It was weird that after all that Garibaldi intervention about Franklin's stim use that Zach was the one to say something about his drinking. It was just set up too well for the two of them to commiserate over addiction
>dead, dead, dead...
Yeah maybe do not start wars you can't win frickface now i'm off to fricking my hot wife with narn castration fetish.
I did a rewatch few years ago but dropped it on S5. Boring af. Did Zack get together with super telepath girl at least?
i love that show i watched it during covid 19 pandemic
I love Babylon 5 and the ships. I also really enjoyed The Expanse and feel like it did the concept of no-grav/low-grav ships far better. The ships are designed more like skyscrapers with floors perpendicular to the long axis of the ship. They also have asteroid stations out there that they spend significant effort to get spinning to provide some 'gravity'. And integrating low grav effects into storylines such as wounds not healing or unsecured equipment flying around during maneuvers. B5 did some of that, like when Sheridan jumps out of the tram and floats, so they have to try to catch him before he hits the spinning outer shell. But if B5 ever started up again, it would be fantastic to see even more of that included. Although they did start getting artificial gravity towards the end of the series.
Friendly reminder the Centauri did nothing wrong and the Narn got what they deserved
Gotta love a good B5 thread. See you next time boys
Bill Mumy must be one of the few child actors to come out not utterly fricked in the head. Also thought it was funny he asked to be on Star Trek but wanted to be sure it was as a human after years of wearing alien makeup.
Wtf was the techno mages problem?
>"I could warn you, of course, but you would not listen."
EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, b***h
>reeeeeeeeeees telepathically