Reviews Series / Babylon Five

Casual viewer's impressions

It's hard to review a series in a few paragraphs, let alone Babylon 5, so I'll dissect the parts that pleased me.

Acting: The acting on this show is consistently excellent, though the scripts and direction sometimes let the side down. Women are usually the strong point of any sci-fi show, and this is no exception. Besides Furlan, Tallman is probably the best actress, and her Lyta quietly steals the show in s.4 Ivanova has such an expressive face! Talia is great and I missed her once she left.

As for the men, the Captains are likable, if a little wet. G'Kar and Londo are obviously the heavy-hitters, but Marcus is a laugh riot throughout. Garibaldi is a little flaky but he has some great, darker moments and a fun little "private investigator" arc running in Year Four.

I can take or leave Franklin and Delenn. (Sorry)

Themes: Space punk, LOTR in space, Dali Lama gobbledegook, a stinging indictment of the media and the cowardice of people who trade freedom for security...yes, you can guess which one I enjoyed the most!

The depiction of a corrupt Earth is more relevant than ever and the AMAZING takedown of the news media still gives me chills today. How did they get away with that?

Production: The production value is very high and still looks good, with crisp sets and a judicious use of shaky cam. Apart from the goofy sci-fi lettering on every sign, newspaper and placard, it doesn't seem dated. The CGI is the worst aspect of the show, bar-none. Had it aired a few years later, it might look as good as Farscape or SG-1.

Story: The show suffers from a preponderance of scripts by Stracinzski. He's a great ideas man but doesn't have an ear for dialogue, and the myth arc is a little flabby; the show truly shines when it focuses on the minutiae of everyday life on B5/Mars. I did enjoy the bits with Lorien (credit to Wayne Alexander) and the First Ones, and the Centauri Prime scenes.

It's easy to see why B5 has such a cult following. In spite of the 90's cheese factor, high fantasy trappings, the romantic treacle, and the somewhat stagey dialogue (everyone talks like Klingons), it's a show which takes risks and rewards you for paying attention.