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Since I have never personally had cable TV, when a show goes on cable it might as well not exist for me. The miracle of DVD's of course changes all that in the long run.
Babylon 5 was one of my favorite shows when it was on broadcast TV, and now that I've once again viewed the first four seasons, I have to say that it is my favorite still, even ahead of Buffy. The kicker, though, is that I haven't seen the end yet, I'm only now seeing the 5th season. Back years ago when it ran for the first time there was discussion about it and I'd heard that it didn't hold up. Now I'll decide for myself.
I really have a problem with the end of season four. JM Straczynski seemed to have had trouble summing up what he wanted to say and did some very strange and disturbing things with characters he'd been faithful to for years. What Straczynski was saying was important enough that if season four is the end, I can easily forgive him. But, seeing the first few episodes of season 5, brings them into sharp relief again.
Season four ends with Sheridan acting like a complete idiot twice with a period of a few days. The first time it was so Straczynski can shoe-horn in another torture episode. It was a fine episode, but the path to that episode was totally unsatisfactory. To demonstrate, Sheridan walks head-on into a trap to save his father when he knows doing so gambles with the fate of the universe, yet in the final ep of the season he won't even talk to a group of terrorists when Garibaldi's life and little else is at stake. Has he learned his lesson or is he just acting erratically?
In the second incident, Straczynski wants to put Sheridan in a position of weakness with Earth officials so he can thumb his nose at them in the end. It may be emotionally satisfying, but it's making your character behave childishly. Sheridan no sooner liberates and saves Earth, than his old bosses start pushing him around. Why does he put up with it? Because Straczynski needed filler I suppose. Sheridan had declared Babylon 5 independent and when all is said and done it stays that way. You have to agree that Earth would be concerned about Sheridan riding in on his white horse and making himself dictator. That's what the story should have been about. The resolution with Sheridan formally resigning from Earth Force (the declaration of independence was the de facto resignation) the pardoning of his underlings, and the freedom of Mars would have all fit nicely at the end of that story. Instead we had the moronic scenes of him meekly submitting to a board of inquiry from the Earth military and a tongue lashing later from the new Earth President in telling him how things were going to be. All this while the combined fleet loyal only to Sheridan with enough fire power to blow the Earth half way to Minbar sits idly by in orbit.
Seeing the beginning of season five, I think perhaps Straczynski had burnt out late in the writing of season 4, and why wouldn't he? He was writing virtually the whole thing himself, not supervising like Joss did, but writing it all. The concepts of Straczynski's visions and beliefs are all still there, but the heart and desire to tell the story seem to have faltered. Episode 5.2 is as fine as any in the series. Episode 5.4 has the characteristics of the excellent point-of-view episodes earlier in the series. But 5.4 just falls flat. It's not bad, but in a series of great TV, a so-so episode like that sticks out like a sore thumb. What's wrong with it? Everything about the execution is wrong. The direction is clumsy. By the end of the episode I felt it was cast badly. The characters through whom we see the episode, don't speak like the people we've seen in their jobs before should and their dialog is all wrong, which means when they act 'out of character' with their positions in the anticlimax of the story, it just screams 'this is a waste of time.' Again what's being said is interesting and worthwhile, it's the execution starting with the writing that isn't up to the outline of the story.
So far season 5 looks hampered by what came before it not supported by it. In BTVS when some of the characters' stories (Giles and Dawn) had already played out, in season seven they seemed to be out of place and not terribly helpful for furthering the story. B5 season 5 shows some of the same problems. I'll save going into detail on that for another time.
Babylon 5 was one of my favorite shows when it was on broadcast TV, and now that I've once again viewed the first four seasons, I have to say that it is my favorite still, even ahead of Buffy. The kicker, though, is that I haven't seen the end yet, I'm only now seeing the 5th season. Back years ago when it ran for the first time there was discussion about it and I'd heard that it didn't hold up. Now I'll decide for myself.
I really have a problem with the end of season four. JM Straczynski seemed to have had trouble summing up what he wanted to say and did some very strange and disturbing things with characters he'd been faithful to for years. What Straczynski was saying was important enough that if season four is the end, I can easily forgive him. But, seeing the first few episodes of season 5, brings them into sharp relief again.
Season four ends with Sheridan acting like a complete idiot twice with a period of a few days. The first time it was so Straczynski can shoe-horn in another torture episode. It was a fine episode, but the path to that episode was totally unsatisfactory. To demonstrate, Sheridan walks head-on into a trap to save his father when he knows doing so gambles with the fate of the universe, yet in the final ep of the season he won't even talk to a group of terrorists when Garibaldi's life and little else is at stake. Has he learned his lesson or is he just acting erratically?
In the second incident, Straczynski wants to put Sheridan in a position of weakness with Earth officials so he can thumb his nose at them in the end. It may be emotionally satisfying, but it's making your character behave childishly. Sheridan no sooner liberates and saves Earth, than his old bosses start pushing him around. Why does he put up with it? Because Straczynski needed filler I suppose. Sheridan had declared Babylon 5 independent and when all is said and done it stays that way. You have to agree that Earth would be concerned about Sheridan riding in on his white horse and making himself dictator. That's what the story should have been about. The resolution with Sheridan formally resigning from Earth Force (the declaration of independence was the de facto resignation) the pardoning of his underlings, and the freedom of Mars would have all fit nicely at the end of that story. Instead we had the moronic scenes of him meekly submitting to a board of inquiry from the Earth military and a tongue lashing later from the new Earth President in telling him how things were going to be. All this while the combined fleet loyal only to Sheridan with enough fire power to blow the Earth half way to Minbar sits idly by in orbit.
Seeing the beginning of season five, I think perhaps Straczynski had burnt out late in the writing of season 4, and why wouldn't he? He was writing virtually the whole thing himself, not supervising like Joss did, but writing it all. The concepts of Straczynski's visions and beliefs are all still there, but the heart and desire to tell the story seem to have faltered. Episode 5.2 is as fine as any in the series. Episode 5.4 has the characteristics of the excellent point-of-view episodes earlier in the series. But 5.4 just falls flat. It's not bad, but in a series of great TV, a so-so episode like that sticks out like a sore thumb. What's wrong with it? Everything about the execution is wrong. The direction is clumsy. By the end of the episode I felt it was cast badly. The characters through whom we see the episode, don't speak like the people we've seen in their jobs before should and their dialog is all wrong, which means when they act 'out of character' with their positions in the anticlimax of the story, it just screams 'this is a waste of time.' Again what's being said is interesting and worthwhile, it's the execution starting with the writing that isn't up to the outline of the story.
So far season 5 looks hampered by what came before it not supported by it. In BTVS when some of the characters' stories (Giles and Dawn) had already played out, in season seven they seemed to be out of place and not terribly helpful for furthering the story. B5 season 5 shows some of the same problems. I'll save going into detail on that for another time.
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