ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Let's team up. I'll come up with a 30 second pitch and then you do all the hard work of actually writing it.
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RTTP: Babylon 5
- Thread starter JeffZero
- Start date
Let's team up. I'll come up with a 30 second pitch and then you do all the hard work of actually writing it.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
S1E03 finished. Middling episode but i enjoyed it well enough. i like the secondary plot about the gold channel communication but it didnt really make sense because it was never explained why she needed an ultra top secret clearance channel to communicate with her dying father. Couldnt regular space phone work?
Also kind of disappointed that the negotiation stuff didnt go anywhere. i laughed when both ambassadors say "Dont give away the homeworld" when they go off to attend to personal business. i was fully expecting the subordinates to hammer out a deal while everyone else dealt with what was going on that would mirror Sinclairs proposal but it was just left hanging with no resolution yet.
About G'Kar.. so far he comes across as a malevolent backstabbing bumbling idiot.
edit:
At first i thought this was in reference to when Dukat had to take the reins from Sisko to get things done. Not quite but thanks for the memories regardless lol
edit2:
i stumbled across the Dukat thing while looking for JeffZeros rundown of the last episode. Got a pic of "Chuck Norris":
Also kind of disappointed that the negotiation stuff didnt go anywhere. i laughed when both ambassadors say "Dont give away the homeworld" when they go off to attend to personal business. i was fully expecting the subordinates to hammer out a deal while everyone else dealt with what was going on that would mirror Sinclairs proposal but it was just left hanging with no resolution yet.
About G'Kar.. so far he comes across as a malevolent backstabbing bumbling idiot.
edit:
Who are you?
At first i thought this was in reference to when Dukat had to take the reins from Sisko to get things done. Not quite but thanks for the memories regardless lol
edit2:
i stumbled across the Dukat thing while looking for JeffZeros rundown of the last episode. Got a pic of "Chuck Norris":
weemadarthur
Member
Yes, but you'll find that's not the only thing she does that skates around the rules. I'm not far enough to know whether she likes just messing around to make up for her extreme commitment to military rigidity, or she's keeping up her skills with personal motivations.
Agreed.
Also the gameboy thing was the funnest thing in that episode, with other people playing it in turn.
I'm no good at market copy. Like, really, really no-good. Dreadful.
This is honestly a reasonable deal. Let me clear my schedule for the next six months and we'll find a third team member with a time machine so I can spend a solid decade perfecting things during that timeframe.
BASED water_wendi. You did it. You found him. You found 2258 Chuck Norris. I could just print it and hang it on my wall.
I mean, I won't, that would be weird, I don't even particularly like Chuck Norris, but I feel like a miracle has been performed here tonight.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
No problem, we'll just include a time machine in the story.
BlackLagoon
Member
As I recall there is no FTL "space phone", all long distance communication has to be sent through hyperspace, relayed through the jumpgate routes. As this network is pretty bandwidth constrained, real time communication would be prohibitively expensive for a private citizen. Without doing this she'd be limited to recorded messages, with no guarantee as to when her message or the reply would arrive.
Everyone's design changed from Season to Season. Heck, the costume changes are one of the reasons why the opening credits are so spoilerific.
One further thing that sets Babylon 5 apart from most other science fiction shows is that they have different foundations. The latter tend to be based on other science fiction visual media, be it films or other TV shows. Babylon 5 is primarily based on written science fiction and it tends to use visual media conventions as counterprogramming.
eot
Banned
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
i see. There should have been some dialogue in there for that because otherwise its confusing as to why she would hack into the system to make a call. Its not a biggie and doesnt take away from the emotional impact of the scene it just had me scratching my head.
Well so far theres been two episodes closing with him stamping his feet in frustration while everyone looks on and laughs while goofy music plays. So far the best moment with him was with the psionic in The Gathering where he asks her in a matter of fact way to have a Narn child with him to add psi potential to the gene pool lolGood
This is an actual plot point!
Saw this pop up a while back and used the go90 link. So nice to have a stream. Been watching through S3 & 4.
I'd forgotten how much you can't help but smile when Vir is on screen. Just finished the episode where
The flashback was unnecessary (to me, at least), but still so much fun.
I'd forgotten how much you can't help but smile when Vir is on screen. Just finished the episode where
he gets his "wish".
StrangeRoboMemory
Member
G'Kar is going to change a lot for you...I won't say more, but he's a very multi-layered character. You're in for a real treat as the show opens him up in different ways.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
04 and 05 finished. Both very solid episodes. i do like how at the end of Infection there is a nod to why the Commander has been the point man so many times. Worked into a nice little bit of character building. A return to the reporter stuff was nice to see (last seen with the election in the first episode i believe).. gives the world building a chance to show off a bit what humanity back on Earth things of aliens etc.
The religious episode was the stronger of the two. Sinclairs love life was interesting to see and its probably the first dialogue that i could recognize as coming from JMS (you know how he can be clever with relationship stuff). The assassin stuff was interesting and nice to finally get some more info on Narn culture.
i have to say.. i was expecting far worse from early Babylon 5 given all that ive heard about it. Even The Gathering i was bracing for an absolute shit show and got something fairly inoffensive on the level of a Sci-Fi Original Movie.
The religious episode was the stronger of the two. Sinclairs love life was interesting to see and its probably the first dialogue that i could recognize as coming from JMS (you know how he can be clever with relationship stuff). The assassin stuff was interesting and nice to finally get some more info on Narn culture.
i have to say.. i was expecting far worse from early Babylon 5 given all that ive heard about it. Even The Gathering i was bracing for an absolute shit show and got something fairly inoffensive on the level of a Sci-Fi Original Movie.
BlackLagoon
Member
If Infection didn't faze you, you should be fine with the rest of the season. That one is regarded as one of the bigger turkeys in the series. Off hand I think TKO (episode 14) is probably the only other one in this season regarded in its league.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
The main problem with Infection is something every episode has had so far.. felt like an hour and half story crammed into 40 minutes. The scene near the end.. the doctor and Sinclairs walk through Exposition Hallway.. is a perfect example of this. The scientists went from "we need to find something to help stop this" to what seems like 10 minutes later "we know their language, their culture, the entire history.. heres whats going on." The time constraints makes it an extremely inelegant out but something like that i consider a "gimme".. something kind of ridiculous thats necessary to make the story work.
eot
Banned
B5 is a bit like theatre, if you can get over the goofy plastic costumes and the campy overacting there is some real heart and genuinely affecting moments in it.
Dang, I totally missed that the actor who played Garibaldi also died, last year..
Yeah, it's kind of eerie how many of the actors from the show have died relatively early.
Joe Condor
Banned
Alrighty, I have seen "The War Prayer". After work today I'll catch up on the reply backlog and post thoughts.
One episode away from a major plot episode!
davidwhangchoi
Member
this is 10x better than that other station show on at the same time.
love JeffZero's commentary =) great poster
love JeffZero's commentary =) great poster
Joe Condor
Banned
Ehm, maybe if you only look at the first 2 seasons of DS9.
BlackLagoon
Member
"Babylon 5 means something! It's not some sort of deep space franchise!"
Pagusas
Elden Member
I'm the biggest B5 fanboy on the planet and still can recognize and respect DS9's full run as being special. Both were damn good shows.
This is the first time I've been forced to post a write-up on mobile, so hopefully there isn't too rough a quality drop. I usually try to do this stuff with a keyboard. With luck, the more limiting interface won't limit me from expressing myself. I'm sure there will be some bumps along the way. As it happens, the same can be said for "The War Prayer" itself. What's interesting here is that we just had an episode with war in its title, "Mind War", and yet neither episode technically features a war. But both episodes nevertheless hint at warlike possibilities. And while, like a keyboard, "Mind War" seems to operate more smoothly and with greater focus, "The War Prayer" is something of a mobile texting interface. Comparably clunky, but with some high-fidelity bells and whistles that signal something better on the horizon.
I lost the plot halfway into the previous paragraph but I refused to stop texting and now everything's awkward.
In a shocking twist, early Season 1 Satai Delenn (if I'm Lennier, don't tell her I said "Satai") gets some actual screentime again. We open on she and her friend laughing -- Delenn, laughing! -- until her friend calls it a night, then gets stabbed brutally and given a cursed mark on her forehead. You can see the mark in Exhibit A, and it looks like some kind of "you don't fit either gender, you freak" sort of sentiment. I don't think I need to explain how terrifyingly, um, relevant this shape of hateful rhetoric feels in 2017. Anyway, Delenn is pretty damned angry about this, and G'Kar decides to rile up a crowd (read: mob, although I dare you to go back and watch the extras in the audience; their weird apathy is hilarious). The station is weathering a new storm as Earth's forces are accused of doing nothing to stop the xenophobic pro-Earth movement that's picking at various alien residents.
Less interesting is Ivanova's run-in with an old flame. I'll level with you, any subplot that can be described with the words "an old flame" generally tends to bore me. Claudia Christian does her best to salvage the situation, but even though her character is already very good, we still aren't given much reason to care that some dude wants to bang her again. And really, until the late-game revelation that he's spearheading that aforementioned xenophobic group, that's all we're seeing. Once the guy's role becomes clear, and Ivanova and Sinclair decide to play along with the charade just long enough to nab him, things improve dramatically.
Alright, fine, damn you, your character is more engaging now.
I'm of a mixed mind on the Londo plot involving a couple of young Centauri lovers who wish to eschew marital tradition but require his approval. It's cute, I guess. There's a really great, sort of absurdist line from Londo when he explains to Vir an old quote of his grandfather's: "My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to dance." Londo gets a feel-good moment when he decides to approve the young lovers' break from tradition, telling them they should be allowed to dance, but there's just a lot of schmaltz going on here that isn't my cup of tea. The best parts are the technical achievement of tying every story strand in "The War Prayer" into the larger picture (the young Centauri male is attacked by the xenophobes) and the retrospective smile that graced me once I sat back and thought about how pleasant it is to see things going so right for Londo right now.
For now.
There's a missed opportunity near the end of the episode. Sinclair almost gets his cover blown while playing along with the Homeguard recruiter. He comes face-to-face with an alien dignitary who he'd previously verbally harassed; she's been kidnapped and in order to prove himself he's ordered to kill her in cold blood. Now obviously he'd never do this, nor would I want him to do it, but the writing is a little weak because he's let off the hook rather quickly and we don't get to see the struggle, the grief, the hope for a better way out.
But I'm nitpicking. "The War Prayer" is a solid, if somewhat uninspired and moderately cliched, episode that moves things forward in a meaningful way and illustrates a growing dark sentiment among certain subsets of humankind. So again I'm drawn to thinking of the parallels between this episode and the war-titular episode before it. Nice consistency, Babylon 5.
Yeah, you're really doing great here if your reception is already kind of warm overall. I recall a few more Season 1 episodes that are tough for crowds -- well, two in particular -- but "Infection" is often regarded as one of the bigger duds of the year and you didn't hate it!
Dang, I totally missed that the actor who played Garibaldi also died, last year..
D:
Yeah. Jerry Doyle, Andreas Katsulas, Michael O'Hare, Richard Biggs, Jeff Conaway, Tim Choate. It's really sad.
Hype!
Haha, I appreciate the kind words, my friend. But I am a lifelong hardcore DS9 fan, too, y'know!
I barely recall "the War Prayer". I think that it's partly because the very next episode makes a bigger splash and that I tend to conflate this title with the story in "Deathwalker". In any case, it's nice to see the human anti-alien sentiment show up relatively early. Obviously, it's just a nice parable here, but it's going to mean bigger things for the future.
I also find Londo to be surprisingly sympathetic in Season 1. He's ineffectual and has little power, but you can see him try to amount to something. It's the kind of underdog story that seems pretty rare in television, but much more common in film or literature.
The really awful episodes tend to be cushioned by being sandwiched by much better episodes (I'm looking right at Grey 17).
I also find Londo to be surprisingly sympathetic in Season 1. He's ineffectual and has little power, but you can see him try to amount to something. It's the kind of underdog story that seems pretty rare in television, but much more common in film or literature.
I know that Season 1 is regarded fairly lowly among the Babylon 5 fandom, but I don't think it's entirely warranted. There are a couple of duds, but they tend to be more forgettable rather than being outright awful. The greater problem is that there are fewer arc stories that people gravitate towards when they think about the show in general.
The really awful episodes tend to be cushioned by being sandwiched by much better episodes (I'm looking right at Grey 17).
Davey Cakes
Member
In my experience, people are pretty harsh on Sci-Fi shows like Babylon 5, Star Trek, Farscape, and Stargate. That said, the first couple of seasons are never bad as people make them out to be, even if there's a clear ramp-up as the writing teams transition into doing more interesting things with characters and arcs.
I mean, yeah, TNG Season 1 was close to shit but it was still watchable at worst and engaging at best. Same for DS9 Season 1. Same for Babylon 5.
And, the thing about Babylon 5 is that, even with its first season being filled with "lesser" episodes, it's still actively setting up the rest of the series. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
I mean, yeah, TNG Season 1 was close to shit but it was still watchable at worst and engaging at best. Same for DS9 Season 1. Same for Babylon 5.
And, the thing about Babylon 5 is that, even with its first season being filled with "lesser" episodes, it's still actively setting up the rest of the series. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
weemadarthur
Member
I got a couple of episodes in today.
The first was about boxing/martial arts. An old trope done again. The B plot....I don't even remember. Funeral maybe? The funeral bits were all meaningful and stuff but I'm not feeling emotional enough to care.
Then one about a guy looking for the holy grail. He is treated very well by the Minbari, and they go on for a bit about their philosophy. I'm trying to piece together what they believe, not really there yet. The B plot here is about killing cthulu, which is fine. Id it supposed to make me feel sorry for the voltrons? Cause it does.
Garibaldi continues to notice suspicious things and handle them, always surprising me. Ivanova continues to say hilarious things in quiet moments.
The first was about boxing/martial arts. An old trope done again. The B plot....I don't even remember. Funeral maybe? The funeral bits were all meaningful and stuff but I'm not feeling emotional enough to care.
Then one about a guy looking for the holy grail. He is treated very well by the Minbari, and they go on for a bit about their philosophy. I'm trying to piece together what they believe, not really there yet. The B plot here is about killing cthulu, which is fine. Id it supposed to make me feel sorry for the voltrons? Cause it does.
Garibaldi continues to notice suspicious things and handle them, always surprising me. Ivanova continues to say hilarious things in quiet moments.
I'm only around for a split second until later so I just wanna throw this in real fast and I'll respond to 4Tran when I'm back.
I, uh, I think you skipped a ton of episodes, wendi? "TKO" and "Grail" are supposed to be more than midway through the season, I thought? (As fate would have it, they're also the "other two badly-received episodes" I mentioned earlier!)
I, uh, I think you skipped a ton of episodes, wendi? "TKO" and "Grail" are supposed to be more than midway through the season, I thought? (As fate would have it, they're also the "other two badly-received episodes" I mentioned earlier!)
weemadarthur
Member
I'm not wendi, babes. I'm wee. XD
weemadarthur
Member
The app seems poorly optimized, yes. When it does that stuff to me, i usually take a break for the day. I don't know if it's my pathetic internet speed or the Go90 servers dropping me, but I can't spend time waiting.
Maybe try again tomorrow quizz? Unless you've tried multiple days already?
Maybe try again tomorrow quizz? Unless you've tried multiple days already?
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
So i finished up Mind War. Overall it was a good episode. i like the misdirection with the Narn ambassador. Good stuff. i also like the focus on small tk powers (why would Yoda go lightsaber when he could just cause a small tear in the brain?). Anyway.. the weakest part of the episode is easily the ending. Alfred Bester at the end goes "Nobody would believe me." First off, its established in this same episode that the Psicorps can scan a persons memory for the truth. Even if they couldnt scan Bester because hes a 12-whatever, they can scan dozens (maybe even hundreds or thousands) of people on the station that saw a blinding light and the form of a huge naked man appear in space before flying off. i had thought that the guy would wipe everyones minds except for Sinclair and psionic lady about what really happened.. nope. Blackmail.
BlackLagoon
Member
Oh, the Psi Corps will definitively know what happened here. They just won't tell their civilian oversight. Last thing they want is some outside investigation into what they were doing with Ironheart. Also keep in mind that the Psi Cops are among the highest ranking members of the Psi Corps, and Bester is a senior Psi Cop.
There aren't a lot of windows on B5, and they're mainly on the back and front of the station. Along the length of the station I believe the outer hull is mostly off limits to the general public, and windows if they were there would be on the floor.
As for Bester wiping people's memories of the events, the Psi Corps doesn't really have the capability for quick and easy fixes like that. They have to be more subtle.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
So.. i rewatched the ending between Bester and Sinclair and before i continue i just want to say that i neglected to say earlier i like the other reference put in here. i was waiting for the word demolished to appear but instead there is a nice Prisoner reference with "Be seeing you" and 6 hand gesture. Anyway..
"You realize of course that my superiors will believe none of this."
And im sure this incident is going to come back in at the very least a reference. My point was it was just a poor closure to it. Even if its all a put on by Bester, Sinclair himself has first hand experience that any blackmail attempt to keep him quiet would fail as he was there for psi-ladys mind scan and knows what they are capable of.
Even if theres not a lot of windows and there wasnt a single ship outside Bester himself knows that the Commander, his security officer, and their psionic all know what happened and that they could be scanned to verify the truth of what happened.
Not Bester wiping peoples minds but Psi-God wiping everyones minds minus Sinclair and psi-lady.
BlackLagoon
Member
Bester and the Psi Corps would not want it coming out what really happened, and the Psi Cops would be the ones in charge of any internal Psi Corps investigation (I think this is the episode Ivanova asks Bester "Who watches the watchers?"). I think it reasonable for Sinclair to assume that Bester has enough clout to keep the incident buried.
The Psi Corps is heavily regulated. Unauthorized scans would be illegal. And even powerful telepaths wouldn't be able to probe for specific memories without the subject noticing it.
Ah. Thankfully B5 isn't fond of resolutions like that.
Yeah. I'm about eight episodes into Season 1 now and I haven't encountered anything completely insufferable, or mostly insufferable, or even partially insufferable. There are scenes I dislike, often due to musical composition. There have been a few subplots I'm not especially keen on. But even "The Gathering" and "Infection" weren't as bad as I'd remembered.
I think I'll have to revise my first-season disclaimer in the coming years from "this is bad, but endure it" to a more subtle "this isn't as good as what comes later, but enjoy it for what it is and pay close attention to the details".
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
Blackmail the Psicop. Destroy the evidence. "Nobody would believe me" even though we can easily find out the truth of the fate of our super dangerous experiment that broke loose by a very easy mind probe of their top cop let alone everyone that witnessed it including their own member stationed on B5. Meh. i feel Psigod mind wipiing those that "arent ready yet" would have been a better ending but whatever.BlackLagoon said:
Finished up The War Prayer. Solid episode. That poor alien woman lol First she gets Sinclairs best Ivan Drago impression, the she gets taken hostage by bigoted humans, and finally has to deal with being in a firefight after thinking shes going to get murdered by the hateful Commander of B5, the galaxies "last best hope for peace." All she wanted to do was see what Earths hydroponics were like lol
edit:
The goofy music for comedic effect is the worst part of B5 so far.
The alien woman! I know. That episode could have been renamed "Mrs. Lookupmynameonthewiki's Worst Day Ever".
Also, you're one episode behind me and will thus pass me soon, haha.
Yep. It's terrible, lol. I seem to remember it dwindling at least a bit as the series goes on, if only because there's less and less time for such unsanctioned buffoonery.
Also, you're one episode behind me and will thus pass me soon, haha.
Yep. It's terrible, lol. I seem to remember it dwindling at least a bit as the series goes on, if only because there's less and less time for such unsanctioned buffoonery.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
Watched the credits and the hilarious introduction scene to get her name. Mila Shar. Its the least i could do after the ordeal she went though lol Its hard to see but i wonder if she was branded too?
Tomorrow ill probably go through the rest of the S1 as i finally have a day off. Although i do like watching things slowly so i can fully process everything. Not sure yet.
BlackLagoon
Member
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree here.
Fun fact, The War Prayer was written by Dorothy Fontana, who was the story editor of the original Star Trek, the Trek animated series, and the first season of TNG. It was the first aired B5 episode written by a freelance writer.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
Well if all the freelance episodes are as good as that one there should be no need to worry. The main issue with The War Prayer is the same problem with all B5 episodes thus far.. each story feels like it needs another 10-30 minutes to either stretch its legs out more or to wrap things up properly.
Babylon 5 goes bananas and peels back a layer of the Jeffrey Sinclair Mystery. The results speak for themselves. "And the Sky Full of Stars" is probably the show's best episode up through this point, dethroning "Mind War" and leaving us in Sinclair's shoes as we ask ourselves what the hell has happened to him. Let's hope those shoes are not too tight, because the Minbari are no longer dancing effortlessly around the haunted man.
A couple of guest stars called Knight One and Knight Two arrive at the station accompanied by a shady security officer and an even shadier musical cue. We soon learn the shady fellow is in debt up to his eyeballs so he's signed on to help the Knights with their shady business here on B5. A little later on, we'll watch Sinclair and Garibaldi rip into the guy, summoning him to an uncomfortable meeting in which they address his gambling addiction and send him off in disgust. I like that this fellow is in the episode. It shows the station staff is far from infallible, and it's nice that the guy is shocked to eventually discover he's aided his partners in hooking Sinclair up to some kind of Ford Taurus torture chamber. Too late, Security-kun. This is where your life must end.
First and foremost, though, this is a Sinclair episode. Questions have been asked about his missing 24 hours at the very conclusion of the Earth-Minbari War, but aside from the (very important) matter of showing that he's a somewhat broken man for it, we have not explored the mystery. That's where the Knights come in. Embittered by what they perceive to be a lie on the commander's part, and disgusted by the increasingly alien Earth they hail from, the two men conspire to kidnap Sinclair, strap him to the chair, and send him into an Oculus Rift called "the cybernet." I like that I do these write-ups on a video game website. I like that I can reference Oculus Rift here.
Anyway, what follows is a string of mental manifestations on Sinclair's part as Knight One takes up virtual residence beside him, taunting him with very JMS-esque mini-speeches whilst he slowly cracks. As Babylon 5 was a 1990s modestly-budgeted television series and not a 2010s $200 million blockbuster film, all of these manifestations involve preexisting sets. But we are also treated to some lovely footage of the Battle of the Line. It runs at a curious 7-8 frames per second, but we can't expect the cybernet to deliver 4k 60fps just yet. I made another gaming joke. I should maybe stop that.
The Passion of the Sky Full of Stars.
My favorite part of the episode is the slight role reversal that occurs while Sinclair is under the influence. Knights One and Two are not presented especially sympathetically, so it's interesting to see Sinclair gradually seek their goal for himself. He's so pumped full of jolts by this point that while he refused to come around to their perspective, he does agree that finding out the truth behind his survival is more than worth the risk. Michael O'Hare's performance in a few of the big scenes is a touch wooden, but he hits a home run with his empathic "yes" as he decides to play ball. We watch him taken in by the Minbari, tied to a triangle, and investigated by a bunch of robed blokes otherwise known as the Grey Council. Sinclair lifts a hood and unveils Delenn.
Shock and awe.
Garibaldi and Ivanova do very smart things throughout the episode, culminating in finding the body of dearly departed Security-kun -- which helps lead Garibaldi to the enemy. He stumbles upon an escaped, delusional Sinclair, who shoots Knight Two dead. Knight One, for the record, is severely brain damaged due to the aforementioned escaped, delusional Sinclair. Delenn shows up, doubtless out of worry that Sinclair has learned of her involvement. Only, that's just it. The audience does not know yet. Sinclair plays her like a fiddle, and afterward she's visited by a big Minbari with scary eyes who reminds her he must never find out what happened to him. Trouble is, he does know. We end the episode on Delenn unhooded, proving her role in Sinclair's abduction. Our first-season lead has a mission now: piece together the rest of the story.
A very worthy mission, kicked off by a very worthy chapter.
"And the Sky Full of Stars" is the first of Babylon 5's "wham episodes". In fact, the term itself was invented by JMS, and it probably was first applied to this very episode.
And as a wham episode, it was great! I remember when I first saw this episode and how I was blown away by how much it enlarged the universe being depicted and how much more intricacy was going on beneath the surface. The fact that the show managed to do all of this with just a handful of characters and not that much in the way of special effects is something that I appreciate a lot more today.
Another cool thing is that it runs counter to quite a few science fiction conventions. That humans will always find a way to win, that they are always in the right, that humans are necessarily superior. The normal conceit is that if and when we do ever go to the stars and find a stellar community of other races out there, we will be like the conquistadors exploring the new world. Realistically, we are far more likely to be the new kids on the block and be far weaker than the established powers. This is exactly what happened in the Earth-Minbari War, and the only plausible outcome was straight extermination.
Next, we have the standard result of wham episodes - instead of just outright providing answers, we replace questions with yet more questions. Who is Delenn? Who is Sinclair? And what the hell are the Minbari up to? "And the Sky Full of Stars" is the first episode to give us a glimpse as to what the show is about, and it's as intriguing as it deserves to be.
I prefer humanity as the new kids on the block, yeah. Not only does it feel apt, it's also more dramatic. It's a factor in one of the story projects I peck at and stare at the ceiling thinking about at 3:30 in the morning. That is to say, a book I'm writing.
4Tran, is it true the term "lurker" started to appear on internet forums thanks to its usage in Babylon 5? You know, like forum lurkers who read stuff but never post. I've seen it said elsewhere. It's an interesting connection if true.
4Tran, is it true the term "lurker" started to appear on internet forums thanks to its usage in Babylon 5? You know, like forum lurkers who read stuff but never post. I've seen it said elsewhere. It's an interesting connection if true.