Babylon 5 Question(s)...

[Petrov]

Last night I finally watched the Babylon 5 pilot - 'The Gathering'. I've had friends talk up B5 to me for years, but knowing there was a large element of continuity I've waited until now when I can rent the show in order from NetFlix.

Now, most of these same friends who have recomended B5 to me all this time offered their recomendation along with a cavet: that the first season wasn't the show's best and on the slow side, but you need to watch it for the story set up for when the seires really gets going in seasons 2 & 3. I also know that the guy playing Sinclair (Michael O'Hare?) is only around the first season and that Bruce Boxleiter as Sheridan comes in in the second season.

Now, knowing all this, I put on 'The Gathering' with mild expectations, willing to cut it some slack. Here's the thing: Even with all that, I didn't particularly like it. I don't mind the low production values -- being an old Dr. Who fan, I think I find it kind of endearing in a sci-fi series. But what I need, above all else in a TV series, is characters. Characters I can love deeply or hate immensly. Somebody drawn interestingly and complicated enough that I want to watch the next episode to find out what they're getting up to. In the show everyone walks around as sci-fi cardboard cutouts spewing cliched dialog. The only character that broke out of this trap for me was Londo, and then only briefly (his halting apology for voting against Sinclair.)

I guess my question is this if you're a B5 fan: Given my assesment of the pilot, should I continue on watching the show? Does it really take a season before JMS hits his groove and the characters are let out of cliche hell? Have I grossly misjudged?

Thanks for any feedback.

-Peter

[zap]

Oh Peter, I envy you! My best friend pleaded with me for years to watch Bab5, I just couldnt get into it. Then a few years ago, scifi chanel started showing it 4 nights a week, in order, from the beginning. I offered to tape it for my friend, which mean of course that I would be watching. I was not exactly enthralled with it at first either.....but like fine creeper weed, bab5 snuck up on me, and I was soooooooo into it! I grew to love many of the characters, and the story works so well on so many levels! The entire series fits well together, much like the idea of a novel JMS was apparently aiming at. HAng in there, because YES! Its WORTH it!!

[Selena]

The pilot was not the best but it did set the background for how the station got there and how the 5 species came to be on the station.

WARNING ..... MINOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1-5





















Season 1 is a wonderful series of episodes and not slow at all. It elaborates each character and introduces new ones who were not on B5 for the Gathering.

Season 1 also introduces The Shadows, and it creates credible back story fodder for the other seasons and the political intrigue that is the core of the trouble on Earth. Season 1 introduces us to Bester - a Psi Cop who is pivotal in the rest of the seasons' events.

Babylon 5 was made on a very low budget and consideraing that, JMS and the cast and crew did a great job with the limited resources. The series was able to vastly improve on the make-up and one gets to know and love the characters who were strangers in The Gathering. Remember too that this series was made almost 10 years ago and the technology and cinematography available then was not what we are seeing today

Please DO NOT watch "In The Beginning" until after season 3.

Michael O'Hare's departure at the end of season 1 is a pivotal part of the story and is eventaully explained in season 3 in which he again has a key role.

I can truly say that until Farscape came along, I was totally nuts for B5. Watch it! You won't be sorry!

[ipimen]

ok, i consider myself i b5 nut!! and i have only watched the show once. i could not answer any trivias, but i love the show and no one can say otherwise :D

if the fact that the characters are stuck on cliche hell is your problem, then i'd say you have nothing to worry about :D All the characters have a great evolution IMHO and the backstory of each one of them is really interesting.

I started with "The Gathering" and the first episodes were not very fun to watch, but i was on vacation at the time and had nothing else to do. When the story starts to build and become even more complex and when you start to know the characters, you are so fascinated by the whole thing that you'll be sorry there were only 5 seasons :D (although S5 is not the greatest either)

I'd say give i a try until S2, if by then you are not fascinated by the whole thing, then you won't like it at all, and that's fine, different ppl like different things :D nothing wrong with that 8)

[fermicat]

I was not all that impressed with The Gathering, but you should give the first few episodes of S1 a try before you decide it isn't for you. Once it got into the plot arc, I was hooked. Season 3 was my favorite, but S2 and S4 were also riveting. Season 1 has the most "standalone" eps.

[Kurt_eh]

The answer to your question is in G'Kar's own words "no one on Babylon 5 is quite what he appears."

The evolution of the characters is 3/4 the fun of the series!

[Col.Batguano]

It's a soap opera, you just have to sit back and wait and see what develops,
and the plot twists and complications will strike out of nowhere.
it's like playing paint ball, it's when you think nothing is happening is when some one shoots you in the back of the head.
it looks like nothing is going on but it is.
view it as if you are watching a five season long murder mystery.
even when nothing is happening, something is happening.

[BillFrugge]

Petrov, stay with it. You won't regret it.

When 'The Gathering' first aired, I managed to fall asleep through it on 4 occasions! It plays like a murder/mystery, but there are a few plot points that play out later on. A lot of the actors don't quite know their characters at this point, and some of them were even changed in season 1. Season 1, however, takes off immediately.

I watched the first season, but lost track of it. During the second season, I went nuts after hearing what I'd missed! I'm rewatching the fourth season now. Beware: Once the major arcs start, you can't put the book down.

You're assessment of Londo is right on. There are times during the show where you will be mesmerized by the scenes with Londo and/or G'Kar. Whenever either is on, I can't take myself away from the TV.

[Kurt_eh]

Bill hit the nail on the head. G'Kar and Londo are the true stars of the show!

[divinedaydreams]

Those two change so much during the course of the show. Definitly my favorites.

[RobinC]

I had a friend who kept trying to get me hooked on B5 during season 1, but I hated it. Thought the characters were boring, the plots were awful. Cardboard and cliche.

Then I watched on episode halfway through season 3...wow. I was hooked. Had to go back and watch every single episode that came before, and never missed a single episode again.

Deep plots, 3-dimensional characters, great writing. Why didn't I see it in season 1? I don't know. Just glad I finally caught on.

Give it a chance. If you really can't stomach season 1, rent DVD's from season 2 or season 3. But give it a chance--it's worth it. If you try season 3 and still don't like it, then maybe it just isn't your thing (hey, it happens).

Oh, and those who said (above) that G'Kar and Londo are the real stars...they're right!

Robin

[darius]

I actually liked the first ep and season of B5. What does it have low production values comapred to? Farscape? Firefly? That's about the only 2 shows I would say are actually significantly better in production values. And that includes alot of non-scifi shows too.

[ranger1]

going back to see B5 now, especially the pilot, i'd agree in that the acting seems a bit wooden. but there are glimpses of what they will become. i guess i'd be looking at it from the outside in - after seeing it the whole way through. there are some things done in the pilot that aren't explained until a few seasons later (and i'm not gonna say what)!

IMO, B5 was a mastery of foreshadowing plot. also, the first time i saw a 'shadow' ship, it truly did give me the chills and 'prickly's' on the back of my neck. many of the great novels start slow, as does this show; but slowness is not the barometer for greatness. the discriminating viewer of B5 would do well to pay attention to the detail (the confusing, not fully-explained, and throw-away scenes). it will pay of wonderfully in future episodes (sometimes seasons later).

[ranger1]

the B5 dvd season sets have a place on my 'permanent' reserved shelf of great viewing - i'll never frelling sell them. they'll be passed on to an heir who'll appreciate them.

i'm also excited about a spinoff series that's been announced by JMS (not the 'Legend of the Rangers' frell-up that was, again, the fault of the network). i don't know current news on this forth-coming series though.