davidmc1158 said:
In light of same, here's my favorite scene (or at least one of them)
What always gets me about people trumpeting that scene (and there are a lot of them; the episode won a Hugo, after all- and that was back when that meant something) is that what Delenn says isn't true- Jankowski survived his encounter with the Minbari just fine. Granted, he didn't stay to let them shoot back, but neither did Sheridan.
The funny thing about B5 is that it's even better than most of its fans think it is. Sure, the groundbreaking-a-quarter-century-ago CGI is as conspicuous as all get out, and some of the show's moral messages are as subtle as an anvil to the face, but it's a masterwork nonetheless. It's that rare thing, a show that rewards rewatchings- and repeated rewatchings, at that; every time I watch the series, I see something that I missed before, some element of foreshadowing I didn't catch, some artistic flare or mythology nod. It's the result of JMS taking an almost Wagnerian control (artistically, not politically, as goes without saying- or would, in most eras) over the show (he wrote the scripts for 92 of the 110 episodes), including his famous "trapdoors" that allowed for any character to exit the show if their actor left (and, for several, how they might come back if their actors returned). Curiously, I think it's one of these that best illustrates my point:
One of the show's main themes is the necessity of moving out of the shadow of your parents and predecessors, of rising to take your place. Now, consider the relationship between Ivanova and Sinclair, in comparison to her relationship with Sheridan. The former was a mentor as much as a superior, protective, almost paternalistic in way. Then Michael O'Hare leaves the show (and the story and reasoning behind that is almost JMS-worthy itself), which wasn't planned; he was originally in it for all five years. In comes Sheridan, who encourages and pushes her to move forward, to not merely command, but to lead, in a way that Sinclair never would've (barring some pretty major character development in that direction). In light of the way that the show's actors keep dying (seriously; I think a higher portion of the core cast of the original Star Trek is still alive) isn't that the gods hate the show; it's that they want to see a recreation with all the original stars firsthand.
Gordon_4 said:
......I don?t give a fuck what anyone thinks: Mira Furlan is gorgeous. And dat accent.
Seriously though, Babylon 5 is one of the greatest sci-fi shows I have ever seen and both Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik could act fucking rimgs around almost everyone from every Star Trek show not named Patrick Stewart.
Aside from season 5,that was kind of butts other than one or two episodes. And I?ll fight anyone who says Sleeping in Light isn't the greatest finale in sci-fi.
There... there are people who think she isn't gorgeous? I'm with Londo on this one; she was cute even when she was pure Minbari (a shame we never got to see her in purple!). And while I way be committing sci-fi fan heresy here, how good would Patrick Stewart be under fifteen pounds of latex? Very good, possibly; that's less a knock on him and more praise for Andreas.
And Sleeping in Light is more than just a great finale, it's also a wonderful test. There's a scene (you know which one I'm talking about) which, to a nonviewer, would mean pretty much nothing. But, if you have the series, and you can watch it without tearing up, you have no soul. Yes, THAT one.
Oh, and one more thing: the music. It's one of those things you usually don't notice until your second runthrough of the series and then kick yourself for missing before, but the music was just phenomenal (the Requiem for the Line still sends chills down my spine). I've got a half-dozen CDs of it. Christopher Franke's a musical master.
And of course, for those who feel inspired by this thread but can't be bothered to spend the time to watch the show, Tom Smith's got you covered: https://tomsmith.bandcamp.com/track/five-years