[BRIEF NOTE] Babylon 5
Jul. 12th, 2005 02:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldI've returned from a Babylon 5 viewing session with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
schizmatic and acrabtree, watching the 1993 pilot "The Gathering", the series' first real episode "Midnight on the Firing Line", and the pleasantly creepy "Soul Hunter." It was quite fun. Quite apart from the inherent value of these episodes, even the very pilotish "The Gathering," it had been so long since I had last seen any Babylon 5 that I had forgotten not only all the characters' personalities (Sinclair's reserved humour, Ivanova's sharp bluntness, Londo's forced joviality, G'Kar's hatreds, Delenn's mysteries). Knowing what I know now about the story arc, it was also fun to watch these earliest episodes and realize just how much of the overall arc Straczynski had planned from the very beginning.
Although I remain fond of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and am quite curious about the new Dr. Who, I feel safe in claiming that Babylon 5 remains the best televised science fiction produced to date, at least in North America. Babylon 5, more than any of its competitors, was a show that was defined by limits, by realistic characterization and compelling plots and good acting and things that just could not be done else the dramatic universe would be ripped asunder. It's just a shame that it's no longer shown on Space.
schizmatic and acrabtree, watching the 1993 pilot "The Gathering", the series' first real episode "Midnight on the Firing Line", and the pleasantly creepy "Soul Hunter." It was quite fun. Quite apart from the inherent value of these episodes, even the very pilotish "The Gathering," it had been so long since I had last seen any Babylon 5 that I had forgotten not only all the characters' personalities (Sinclair's reserved humour, Ivanova's sharp bluntness, Londo's forced joviality, G'Kar's hatreds, Delenn's mysteries). Knowing what I know now about the story arc, it was also fun to watch these earliest episodes and realize just how much of the overall arc Straczynski had planned from the very beginning.Although I remain fond of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and am quite curious about the new Dr. Who, I feel safe in claiming that Babylon 5 remains the best televised science fiction produced to date, at least in North America. Babylon 5, more than any of its competitors, was a show that was defined by limits, by realistic characterization and compelling plots and good acting and things that just could not be done else the dramatic universe would be ripped asunder. It's just a shame that it's no longer shown on Space.
