Saturday, December 13, 2014

Sci-Fi Experience, Thoughts on Babylon 5, ep. 1-4

I do love Babylon 5. I am going to enjoy rewatching it for the 42 challenge and Carl's Sci-Fi Experience.

The first disc has four episodes: "Midnight on the Firing Line," "Soul Hunter," "Born to the Purple," "Infection."

First, I just have to say if you don't know whether you want to (re)watch Babylon 5, yourself, and you're open to being persuaded. Watch this video. Take ten minutes and ENJOY
The video, it has spoilers, it does. So if you don't want to watch it, listen to *some* of it. I'll just say it is WORTHY of the music!!!

Midnight on the Firing Line:
Strengths: Introduces viewers to Londo and G'Kar! You'd never guess how *lovable* both Londo and G'Kar will turn out to be based on this first episode. This is the episode where the Narn "attack" or "rescue" a Centauri colony. The council will have to decide which it was, and how they'll react. This is also the episode where Talia tries to get to know Susan.

Pay attention to: Londo's talk about the future! Susan's talk about her mother.

 Favorite quotes:
The best way to understand someone is to fight him, make him angry. That's when you see the real person. ~ Jeffrey Sinclair
My people…we have a way, you see. We know how, and sometimes even when, we are going to die. Comes in a dream. In my dream, I am an old man, it's twenty years from now, and I am dying. My hands wrapped around someone's throat, and his around mine. We have squeezed the life out of each other. The first time I saw G'Kar, I recognized him as the one from the dream. It will happen. Twenty years from now, we'll die with our hands around each other's throats. ~ Londo
Soul Hunter:
Strengths: This episode has strengths?! Well, it is FAR FROM A FAVORITE. But it's not one to skip. It introduces the doctor, Stephen Franklin. It focuses on Delenn...and Sinclair. It is packed with good information. So it may be very, very annoying in certain ways...it is worth watching.
Pay attention to: any scene with Delenn
Favorite quotes:
Stephen Franklin: It's all so brief, isn't it? Typical human lifespan is almost a hundred years, but it's barely a second compared to what's out there. It wouldn't be so bad if life didn't take so long to figure out. Seems you just start to get it right and then…it's over.
Ivanova: Doesn't matter. If we lived 200 years we'd still be human, we'd still make the same mistakes.
Franklin: You're a pessimist.
Ivanova: I'm Russian, doctor. We understand these things.

Born to the Purple:
Strengths: I like this episode. I do. It's one of my favorite 'early' episodes. There are two 'big' stories. Londo and G'Kar are supposed to be hard at work coming to a political agreement. But Londo's a bit distracted by love. Londo's love affair proves frustrating to quite a few people. The second story reveals more about Susan. And Garibaldi. Plenty of scenes to love in this one.
I tend to think of this episode as the "Don't give away the home world" episode!!! I love Vir!!!!!

Infection:
Strengths: I hate almost everything about this episode. BUT. I love, love, love, LOVE Garibaldi's conversation with Sinclair in the last five or six minutes. He's talking about veterans from the Earth-Minbari war, and their struggles after the war. "I think they're looking for something worth dying for, because it easier than looking for something worth living for."
The last ten minutes of this episode is good. But most of it, well, it's painful. In this episode, Sinclair has to dodge an ISN Reporter (he HATES talking to reporters) and save the station from a stupid human-transormed-into-super-warrior-alien-monster.
Favorite quotes:
ISN Reporter: "You still haven't told me when the commander is due back?"
Garibaldi: "Soon."
ISN Reporter: "How soon is soon?"
Garibaldi: "Longer than a little while, faster than later."
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

Andrea J said...

My husband and I are slowly rewatching B5. well, he's watching it, and most episodes I find myself glued to the screen. We're most of the way through the first season. And these first 4 episodes are pretty bad! Luckily the show gets better, very quickly.