Wow, I’m totally the opposite. Among my favorite episodes and I don’t feel like it really ruined anything after that for me either.
Heh, yeah, that seems to have been the reactions of my brothers as well. For me, I almost all motivation for watching the rest of the series. Before watching that episode, I felt one of the strengths of Babylon 5 over series like Deep Space Nine was it’s unpredictability. Any character could die, lots of unexpected plot developments could take place that were already planned out in a 5 year arc. But after that episode, suddenly the possibilities really narrowed drastically. Suddenly, we KNEW certain things were going to happen. For sure. This wasn’t just one possible future the episode showed us, but THE future. I thought the two part episode was one big spoiler. It really killed the most exciting element of the series for me, and from then onward I still watched, but I never really was as thrilled with Babylon 5 as I used to be.
After reflecting on Rock8man’s comments I have a feeling I would react similarly, in part because I’ve had similar experiences with other books, movies and shows (can’t recall anything specific at the moment, though). I really hate that feeling of losing all the sense of mystery. Since I’ve already skipped part of it already by accident, I think I might just try to consciously skip past War Without End.
Edit: Hah, wouldn’t you know it, it looks like the plot of The Long, Twilight Struggle (S02E20) directly follows the events in A Voice in the Wilderness (S01E18-19). Guess I’ll rewind the series again for a bit afterall just in case.
Don’t skip War Without End. It’s incredibly significant to the show.
The beauty of B5 was the way earlier things tied together, it never felt like it was pulling this latest development out of its ass, it really did have an epic, planned feel that no other show has ever managed.
It’s a real shame that season five was so heavily compromised, but at least the second half deliver, even if it is incredibly sad.
All right, I won’t skip it. I’ll let the show progress as presented (minus Legacies).
Do you mean you skipped Legacies? It’s not a great episode (lousy acting from the guest star), but it introduces a Minbari character who becomes pretty important to that race’s storyline. If you mean you watched it after Babylon Squared, which makes more sense continuity-wise…never mind, carry on.
You guessed it, Djscman: A Voice in the Wilderness, Babylon Squared, Legacies. It worked pretty well I thought. Now onward to the last bits of Season 2 where I left off and this time I stay on course and double check my plotting.
Excellent show overall all around, really happy I finally set aside the time for it (thanks qt3 for motivating me).
Anyone still looking for a deal on this? Best Buy currently has each individual season on sale for $16.99 apiece, for a grand total of $84.95 plus tax for all five.
G’kar and Londo.
Seriously, what can “niner’s represent” even offer from any Trek dreg that could would actually compare to the relationship, stablished over years, and the dialogues between this two characters?
Fly you fools. FLY!
I’d say that the Kira/Sisko/Dukat relationship in DS9 was just as interesting, at least until Dukat went full Pah Wraith evil.
Quark and Odo. They were better-written too.
As much as I was a screaming fangirl for B5 during its first run, I’ll be the first to assert that JMS does not have an ear for natural dialogue. B5 wasn’t filled with people, it was filled with wildly-gesticulating archetypes.
Toss in the organic friendship that develops almost by accident between O’brien and Bashir. Then there’s just about every scene between Garak and Bashir, Odo or (especially) Quark.
Not that there’s really any need to rehash this. Like I said back on page one, don’t go picking fights. Niners will represent.
I wish they’d throw the whole series on Hulu like SG-1. I’ve been watching that a ton lately, despite only having a mild interest in the show previously. I wouldn’t buy B5, but I wouldn’t turn down the chance to watch it from the beginning online.
I expected my inflamatory comments to ignite a true DS9 rebellion. Sirs, I am most dissapointed at your “representing”.
Or maybe B5 and DS9 fans are more polite than say, Star Wars and Trek (general) fans?
Isn’t Bablyon 5 the show with a whole race of Space Draculas?
No vampires in B5 that I ever saw…
My basic contention is that DS9 was a conventional sci-fi adventure drama (one that started mediocre but eventually became very good). Meanwhile, for me, Babylon 5 was an opera. More outre characters, costuming, posturing, more emotional highs and lows, less naturalistic, but some of the most dramatic bits had a mythological weight to them that even the best of DS9 didn’t have.
You’re thinking Stargate: Atlantis.
He’s possibly referring to the Centauri, with their more prominent canines and bad Bela Lugosi affected accents.