Babylon 5

Au contraire, mon ami, it's pronounced exactly the same: "ja-CAR". Or did you think Jacquard was pronounced "Ja-kew-ard"?

edited 29th May '14 5:42:06 AM by TheHandle

Well, from an In-universe POV the G'something thing is very prevalent with male narn

Ah, vous êtes français?

That makes your choice of spelling for the name make a bit more sense. It does sound similar in French...just with a lot more letters.

Conversely, I can easily imagine a Jacquard from the projects nickname themselves "G-Kar", SMS-stye.

I'm on a rewatch of the show myself. I started with In The Beginning (although I wouldn't recommend that for people on their first watch through, as it would spoil the big mystery of the first season), then The Gathering and now I'm about half-way through season one.

Last episode I watched last night was the one with the sick alien kid, and Dr. Franklin having a different view then the parents on how the child should be treated. I'll be vague, so as not to spoil things for The Handle if he's not there yet, but boy that episode plays out differently then if it had been an episode of Trek.

Re: Londo's "Shoes Too Tight" as opposed to his fling with Adira a few episodes prior. I don't see that as a huge contradiction. Rather, it is Londo's hypocrisy. On the surface, and concerning his expectations of others, he's all for the traditions of the great Centauri Republic! But when he himself fell in love with someone beneath his station, he was willing to pursue it. (And keep in mind, he never said he was going to divorce his wives for her.)

Re: The Narn Ambassador: Dude, it's "G'Kar." Is it really that difficult? Or shall I start calling you something convoluted like "The Hn'dlle" to compensate?

Anyway, to sum up my thoughts thus far... Ah, the first season. What simple days. Everything seemed so episodic... but so many little details hidden in plain sight that will take on so much more significance later...

Hope you're enjoying things so far, The Handle. The first season is but a taste of what to come. Babylon 5 has often been called a novel for television, and that really is an apt description. And season one is but the prologue.

(And to those who have seen the series before, that analogy really helps the fifth season make more sense if you think of it as an epilogue!)

And Crusade is an bad misprint by idiot editors? ^^

Crusade was a sequel hampered by excessive Executive Meddling. The show had potential, I'd say Crusade is better than Season 1 of B5.

I'll call him Jacquard if only out of contrariness. You may call me Händel for all I care.

I've seen the kid episode. Well, I don't know if I'm being overconfident, but I think I'd have successfully argued that you can, in fact, cut someone open and sew them back without them losing their "spirit". I would certainly have asked if they knew of any antecedents of Eggheads being operated on (war, gangrene, frostbite...), and what they usually did in those cases. I would also have gotten extremely suspicious at their peaceful reaction after having panicked at the sight of their child, and would have questioned them on what they were going to do with him now that they thought his "spirit" was gone, and whether there would be any way to test if the spirit was still there.

Frankly, there was a fair share of the Idiot Ball being passed around for the plot to work, and the obvious allegory to groups like Jehovah's Witnesses (who refuse blood transfusion) or some "Only-for-our-chosen-people" religions had some Unfortunate Implications. But I really liked the part where the doctor flat-out admitted that "playing God" is what doctors are for, "to make it better, to make it not so" when "prayer isn't enough".

A cool fanfic would be if the parents were stopped and the kid was left in the Doctor's custody. Then he would roam the galaxy as the Soulless Eggchild, learning much of that "disapproved information", and coming back home strong and mighty, spreading the Gospel of the Dispirited.

edited 30th May '14 4:44:35 AM by TheHandle

I've always been upset Crusade hasn't been continued in some form... That show did have potential, and any bad in it was likely the result of the massive amount of meddling TNT gave the show. (Well, I suppose I did like the black uniforms better, so I'll give TNT that one.)

Enough time has passed that there's no way that Crusade will be remounted. JMS obviously had a plan for it like he did B5. I wish he'd take his notes, flesh them out somewhat, and get some good authors (such as Peter David, who did some excellent work with his Centauri trilogy, and also wrote some actual episodes of the show) to continue the Crusade story via novels. I fear it is a pipe dream at this point, but a guy can dream.

Speaking of Executive Meddling, I believe S2 gets a pretty vivid example of that, but for those not in the know, hang around, there's a bit of a payoff. ;)

I assume you're talking about the character of Keffer? At least in that case, JMS made it work for him.

The Kawasaki episode was excellent. That Coronel guy was so tense and stuff! The whole thing was exhilarating!

I want a Minbari-powered motorcycle too.

Sounds like we're keeping about pace with each other, Händel. That was one of the ones I watched last night, and I'll be finishing up season one this morning, and I'll start season two tomorrow.

I really look forward to hearing your thoughts on season one as a whole once you've finished it, and I also look forward to your thoughts on some of the things that go down come the beginning of season two.

Aw, you are about to meet one of my favorite Warrior Caste Minbari

edited 31st May '14 6:14:26 AM by 3of4

I assume you mean Neroon. He does become quite an interesting character. It is fun doing a fresh watch through and seeing characters who at first glance could just be one-offs, knowing that they will have a much greater part to play later...

And so it begins...

Just finished season one. Things sure are about to get hairy!

Oh, by the way, Händel: assuming you haven't already gotten to season two, I have a bit of advice. Skip the opening credits on the first few episodes. When originally broadcast, the first few episodes had a slightly different title sequence to avoid a rather major spoiler, but on the home video release they used the standard title sequence for all of the episodes. (In the pipe dream of a world where B5 gets a high def blu-ray release, I do hope they fix that!)

Of course, looking at the box on my shelf, looks like the same spoiler is on the front cover... And popping the first disc in, there's the same spoiler on the menu screen... Händel, do you have any blind friends who can help you with the beginning of season two?

edited 31st May '14 7:16:59 AM by Yotsuyasan

Wait until you see the boxset for Season 4. Something major spoilery right there, not that it would surprise you too much.

Season 2 when the show starts getting better, there's some seriously amazing episode. Season 3 is my favourite of the seasons. S4 had too much going on due to the threat of the show being cancelled and felt bloated and rushed.

I'm still stuck on season 4. Maybe I'll resume it sometime tonight. For some reason, season fours tend to lose me.

I don't get how you could have problems with B5's season 4, johnnyfog... That season is like a non-stop roller coaster!

Wabbawabbajack, as far as spoilers... Not sure what spoiler you're talking about on season 4's box, unless you mean that it does give away that Sheridan (sort of) survives his fall on Z'Ha'Dum. 'Course, that's not the hugest spoiler, considering he's still in the opening credits.

edited 31st May '14 6:08:30 PM by Yotsuyasan

What have they done with Commander Eyebrows?

I assume you mean Commander Sinclair? Simple. He was reassigned and now the Earth Alliance ambassador in residence on Minbar. Don't worry, Captain Sheridan's gonna be okay.

Well, that's the in-story reasoning. The real world reasoning is a bit more complex. Originally, I believe the story was Michael O'Hare left because he wanted to go back to theater work, but that he left the production on good terms.

Some time later, for reasons I won't go into because I don't want to spoil you, J. Michael Straczynski explained that leaving Sheridan in the story and adding to him elements you will see become part of Sinclair's story would have burdened one character with an unrealistic amount of backstory, too much for one character. And if he was going to have to create a new character, rather then be saddled with two characters where he really only needed one, they would draw a line in the sand so to speak, drop Sinclare now and bring in Sheridan. May be a bit jarring so suddenly, but it would be better for the long term storytelling of the show. In this version of the story, it was still stressed that Michael O'Hare's leaving was on good terms, and I believe a mention of him looking forward to getting back to theater work may have still been made.

Since Michael O'Hare's death, however, the truth has been revealed. During his life, O'Hare he suffered from delusions and paranoia due to mental illness. He loved working on the show, but was unable to continue doing so. The decision was made, mutually between O'Hare and Straczynski, for him to leave after the first season, and (the one piece of truth in all versions) he left the show on good terms.

He wished the actual reasoning to remain secret during his lifetime, but he also wanted the truth to be known after he had passed, so that the fans could know the real reasoning, and also perhaps to raise awareness for people suffering from similar afflictions.

Anyway, Händel, to back up a quick second... Obviously, you've started season two. So what are your overall thoughts on season one? What do you think of what happened? What do you think is going on with Delen? What do you think is going on with the apparent assassination of the Earth president? What do you think is up with that mysterious man who did that huge favor for Londo? Where do you think everything will go from here?

Nothing's the same anymore...

edited 2nd Jun '14 12:56:16 PM by Yotsuyasan

That is unfortunate.

He really did seem to be enjoying himself, and I really wished to see his character again. Sinclair is cool.

He is and a few years back when the truth came out the B5 fandom pretty much had a big great CMOH/Tearjerker moment

Also on another note, Handle...what are your thoughts on Al Bester?

edited 2nd Jun '14 1:37:02 PM by 3of4

Anyone interested, there's a much more detailed version of the explanation that was given at the time here:

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/misc/sinclair-leave.html

That's the version given before the health reasons could be divulged. And, since it is the "at the time" explanation, it is obviously spoiler free. (JMS would hardly say, "Sinclair's leaving makes sense, because otherwise we couldn't have gone into the whole thing where the commander of Babylon 5 suddenly blah blah blah spoiler spoiler," before he'd had a chance to actually do it on the show!)

The above link does also have a further link to a video from when the real reasoning came out, but I haven't watched it myself (I'm about to) so I cannot say if it is spoiler free or not.

Edit: A few minor spoilers, basically that Londo and G'Kar have a memorable elevator scene and that we do see Sinclair again, there are multiple mentions of "the two parter." But other then that, the video is a lovely (but sad) story, a man keeping a promise to a departed friend.

edited 3rd Jun '14 7:15:39 AM by Yotsuyasan