#babylon 5 rewatch

[davidcgc]

Shaal Mayan: Such great hatred for so little real reason. It seems incomprehensible to me.

Delenn:

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 rewatch #the war prayer #b5 #b5 rewatch

[babylon-5-lurkers]

Babylon 5, Season 1, Episode 2: Soul Hunter

Open discussion thread for the episode, we're getting ready to watch in a few minutes!

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 #soul hunter #babylon 5 season 1

[pedanther]

If you're doing the Babylon 5 watchalong strictly according to the schedule and haven't seen the pilot movie, you won't know that the title of this week's episode is a call-back to a scene in the movie where Sinclair recalls the Battle of the Line:

“I was squad team leader when the call came in. We all knew it was a suicide mission. The Minbari had broken through, and were closing in. Every ship we had left was ordered to circle Earth. We had to stop them… no matter what it cost. They came at us out of nowhere. We never had a chance. The sky was full of stars… and every star an exploding ship. One of ours. My team was blown out of the sky in less than a minute.”

“I managed to take out a fighter before they hit my stabilizers. I was losing power, I'd lost my team. I figured if I was to die I'd take some of them with me. So I targeted one of their heavy cruisers. Hit my afterburners. I was going to ram them head-on. The last thing I remember is hurtling toward that cruiser. Filling my screen… big… my God, so big… Then something passed in front of my eyes. I guess I blacked out from the acceleration. When I came to, 24 hours later… the cruiser was gone. I checked in. They told me the war was over. The Minbari had surrendered.”

“We were beaten. We didn't stop them, they stopped themselves. And I wish to hell I knew why.”

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #the gathering #and the sky full of stars #not a reblog

[ooksaidthelibrarian]

Babylon 5 Rewatch S1E5:  The Parliament of Dreams

man I love the Drazi so much

dude, Garibaldi is testing everyone's faith

I am so sorry but the B5 romantic music to me is always like *air raid sirens* this will be a problem

I really like Catherine, mind you, it's not about her, but so many stories featuring that music end so badly :D

please tell me this is a real pig's head

(read more because this got long)

it's certainly live crayfish he has there (I hopes someone gave them a good home after, they are such neat little guys)

jeez this episode has so much going on

Andreas Katsulas has a great singing voice

I bet the 'you stay put' was ad libbed LOL

NA'TOTH

iirc the actress of Ko D'ath was allergic to the makeup so they ended up having to change out G'Kar's attachés but it works out extremely for this plot

'Catherine's on board' 'Ah.' ...that Ah had a looooot of words

that whole scene at the Cenauri banquet is so quotable

Garibaldi IS cute in an annoying sort of way

'but in purple, I am stunning!'

I really appreciate it that Sinclair and Catherine get to be adults about their reelationship

it's awkward af but also extremely relatable

'I let you and your pants get to your business' LOL

speaking of pants, Catherine's outfit is hot

G'Kar's pyjamas are iconic - I bet Khan Noonian Singh would love those

the iridescence of G'Kar's costume is so pretty

LENNIER :D :D

I once quoted the 'you will be forever walking into things' line in a fic and so far only one person picked up on it :D

Andreas Katsulas always toes the line of ridiculously over the top with G'Kar and it works extremely well - G'Kar just is a dramatic dude

this episode is a really great showcase for the chemistry the cast has with each other

G'Kar switching out his lil religious tomato out with Ivanova's in the background

the way Katsulas uses the panties as a prop to gesture with is so good :D

THE GLASSES OMG

Na'Toth is such a good liar :D

'You will know pain. You will know fear. And then you will die. Have a pleasant flight!'

otoh of course humans are again the only ones where the culture isn't a monolith but otoh I do absolutely love that scene of Sinclair showing all of the different believes of Earth

#babylon 5 #b5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #b5 parliament of dreams #dai watches b5

[thelongestway]

watching B5 for the first time since very early childhood, in honor of its 30th anniversary. back then, it didn't grab me the way DS9 did, so I never went to revisit it before, the way I did with Star Trek. 2,5 episodes in, and I'm willing to bet that the reason B5 didn't grab me is the female characters - their relative dearth, and how those present are coded. there's a reason my three "top" childhood series are DS9, Xena and the X Files. the women there were a lot closer to what I wanted to steer towards. it's an interesting thought about gender - I never had one that's particularly strong, but when I was very young and absorbing information about the world, I had a very strong heuristic that translated to "take notes - these people look like you; this is how you can expect to be treated". that decided a lot about my favorite media, even though I didn't limit myself to whom I took notes from. I cribbed a good few social strategies from Zelazny's panoply of beings, starting with Corwin. i did have my weights, though, and gender was an important one. still, B5 is neat and there's a few iconic things already, a few episodes in. I didn't know that the "X or Y?" "yes." formula was from there - maybe around earlier? but this is the earliest popular culture instance I've seen. so far my favorites are Garibaldi and Londo. Garibaldi because he's the type of person that I'd see myself as - can't stand still, works hard, but also more than a little goofy - and Londo because I have the feeling he'd be be good friends with Nie Huaisang.

#babylon 5 #b5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #hi people i am joining you for what's realistically the first time #so i might jump ahead a little initially so I can participate from a rewatch perspective #and don't get too spoiled

[unearthlytraveller]

Babylon 5 Rewatch, S1 E9: Deathwalker

Running a little late due to family committments, again.

"Do you think it will always be like this? Smaller powers at the mercy of greater powers, politics before morality, expediency before justice?"

I get older, and this sentiment gets truer. It's so bloody depressing.

Some other thoughts.

We see an interesting side of G'Kar when he's talking to Na'Toth here. Not exactly moral, but there's a definite kind of honor here.

I forgot how happy Londo seems to be at the end, when the Vorlons off Jha'Dur. For all that he was willing to vote against the trial, I think this shows what he really wanted.

Speaking of which, I always found that scene at the end where everyone is watching the monitor to be funny. There's no real in-Universe reason for them all to be there, it's just so we can easily see everyone's reactions; which tells us that something's going to happen.

Ah, a 23rd century reference to VCRs. I remember using VCRs to record B5 back before the DVDs were released.

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #deathwalker

[thethirdromana]

Two episodes in and Babylon 5 is still very good!

I didn't twig last episode that Delen is Minbari, i.e. the species that humanity was at war with. She seems to be among the friendliest of the aliens with Sinclair and Garibaldi, so I'm fascinated to learn more of the backstory there.

Ivanova continues to get 100% of the best lines and remains my favourite. Like it's not even close.

(I made an extra effort this episode to remember names!)

Interesting to see the sci-fi/fantasy lines being blurred here - it seems like, for all the doubts cast on the idea of the soul specifically, the Soul Hunters genuinely can sense the coming of death.

It strikes me that this doesn't seem to cause the human characters any disquiet. In the context of the telepathy in the previous episode, maybe there any just more paranormal abilities in this universe, by aliens and humans alike?

I also didn't twig last episode that humans have a reserved role on Babylon 5 and there are access levels only humans can get. That feels dodgy! Didn't they say last episode that they weren't the galaxy's policeman? Where does the line get drawn?

Actually, I'm making assumptions here that Earther = human. I don't think we know yet if the Earth Alliance encompasses all humans, or if it's exclusively human.

Either way I'm enjoying watching the worldbuilding play out, more of that please 👍

#b5-rewatch #soul hunter #babylon 5 rewatch

[kyliafanfiction]

Babylon 5: Born to the purple (finally having time to do this on the day)

*The whole 'G'kar is a horndog' thing gets kind of ignored after Season 1, which does make sense (it sort of comes back in Season 5, for one scene), but it was a thing earlier on, including in this line where G'kar agrees with 'all things in live females are the greatest'

*K'odath's disbelief that G'kar would be there raises questions about Narn society and G'kar's repuation back home *God, this episode hits harder in Hindsight *I love how Arcy B5 got later on, but I also like the opening to Season 1, because it lent itself to the more episodic feel of Season 1

*Oh yeah, this is the episode with Ivanova using Gold Channel

*Vir's use of the weird Gameboy like thing is hilarious. We never see that again, probably because he learns to do it back in his quarters. *B5 throws words like 'Sector' and 'Quadrant' around without much of a real sense of place and size. No clarity as to where these places are. *This episode tells us so much about Centauri society, and really drives home where Londo sits at this point. *MOON FACED ASSASSIN OF JOY *I don't think I've ever noticed the narn playing Vir's game before when I've watched this episode. *G'kar being so thrown by Londo's Mood *THIS ASSHOLE. And plot thickens. *God, it's so heartwarming though, how much he cares about her. This is not just some 'I want a pretty woman' thing. He really does love her *Londo's password is so very him at this point in his life. *I just wish Talia had been taken to dinner by Ivanova here. *cries in shipper* *Ivanova being protective of her console feels so in-character you forget... *"Figment of your demented imagination" *I do feel like Mollari's cipher should have requried a specific tone too, but I guess a voiceprint is pretty secure *Don't Give Away The Homeworld :rofl: *"get your feet moist" I love it when Londo and Vir get earth sayings wrong *Just a casual use of a tazer in public *I get that slavery is legal in Centauri space, but how is it legal on B5?

*damn that is a fancy bug. *Trakkis, when a man says "get out" in that tone, you GET OUT

*Vir walks in with such a swagger *Negotiating via subordinates is hardly unheard of G'kar. *"Don't give away the homeworld" *You know, I get it's conservation of Characters, but these Ambassadors really do need bigger diplomatic staff. And more competent ones. Ones you can actually trust to do the job *Then I hurt Him *"My good and dear friend" ah, Londo of this season. Such a decent guy, in a lot of ways. :rofl: *Londo's failure to talk the guy around is hilarious. But sinclair's deceptions *And here it is. The other key backstory element for Ivanova **cries* fuck. *Sinclair's strategem is so risky, I'm surprised there were no downsides. *"Coming from you Ambassador, that's a real compliment" *And the thing is, Talia has a point. The Psicorps rules about these things are there for a good reason. But this is one of those things where you'd think warrants could exist. But apparently there just is no room for that? *Not that they could get a warrant in this context but *I do love the 'don't think of an elephant' trick she pulls on him *G'kar saved Londo's career, and he's gotta hide that fact so much. :rofl: *I do wonder what exactly is in those Purple Files *I love that Garibaldi knows not to press her about it. Just "it won't happen again" *God, Londo... the ending.

#B5 Rewatch #Babylon 5 Rewatch #1x03 Born to the Purple

[rukbat3]

Babylon 5 Rewatch - Mind War

This is a post I originally wrote several years ago for Mark Oshiro’s Mark Watches blog. I don’t really plan to edit them before posting, so there may be some references that don’t make sense. If you see words that look like gibberish, they are actually rot13, which was our way of discussing spoilers. There are plugins you can install to decode the text (Cryptext is the one I use), or you can copy/paste to rot13.com, or just ignore it.

Hooray! Catherine Sakai is back! This means she’s going to be a recurring character, not just a single-episode romance character! I love how in this episode you can see the conflict between their two jobs, but it’s not a huge deal; it’s just something they’re learning to navigate. [season 1] Nyfb, unun, V sbetbg nobhg guvf yvar jurer Fvapynve gnyxf nobhg univat gb znxr ohqtrg phgf va pbafgehpgvba. Guvf vf rknpgyl jul V ybir O5. Gur pbagvahvgl srryf fb betnavp.

As you can see farther down, I think the way that G’Kar interacts with Catherine is so interesting. From everything we’ve seen about his character so far, we absolutely buy into Catherine’s interpretation of his actions. And the episode itself basically leads us to think he’s up to something nefarious. But no! He really was just trying to help. It gives us another level of insight into his character that makes us think maybe there’s something more to him than just the loud, brash, antagonistic person we’ve seen before.

As far as the main plot of the episode, it’s Star Trek comes to Babylon 5! (Or if you’re me, the other way around. The first time I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I gasped when Chekov first appeared and said, “It’s Bester!”) There’s not much more I can say at this point. We get some hints of shady doings happening back on Earth, but whether anything more will come of it is yet to be seen.

I would like to highlight two scenes, though. The first is Talia’s description of what it’s like when telepaths make love. It’s very evocative, and I have always found this scene to be particularly memorable. Naq vg’f fhecevfvatyl vzcbegnag zhpu yngre ba va gur fubj. Abg gb zragvba znxvat pregnva guvatf jr svaq bhg nobhg gur Cfv Pbecf rira zber ubeevslvat. And the second is Jason Ironheart’s explanation of what the Psi Corps experiments were aiming to do. “Think about it. You want to assassinate someone, so you get a telekinetic. He reaches into a person's throat and gently, quietly, with a thought, he pinches the carotid artery shut. The blood stops; the brain starves; the target dies; and then you just let go. Murder without a trace.” Absolutely chilling.

There’s a third scene not directly relating to this subplot, but relating to telepaths in general that I think it’s important to discuss. And that’s the scene where Talia is explaining to some random guy what it’s like to be a telepath and they share an elevator with Garibaldi, who is obviously thinking something sexual about Talia, which she picks up on. I feel like we get a scene like this one in a lot of books/shows/movies where mind-reading is a thing, and it’s often played for laughs, as it is here. But for me, there are a lot of questions raised by this brief moment. In a world where the existence of telepaths is widely known, how responsible is Garibaldi, who is not a telepath and presumably hasn’t received any form of mental training, for controlling his thoughts? What if he hadn’t known Talia was a telepath? Would that make it okay? On the other hand, he’s just overheard her talking about how hard it is to block out strong emotion. Does that give him more responsibility to control himself then before?

Because if he can be held responsible, then it seems to me that what he did to Talia is a form of sexual assault, or at least harassment. But are we okay with what amounts to a form of thought policing? Once you open the door to punishing someone for what may well have been a stray thought, there are any number of ways that could be abused. On the other hand, why should all the responsibility lie with Talia, or any other telepath to protect themselves? I don’t see any easy answers here.

[season 4, TV movie] Nyfb, jung vf vg va guvf frevrf nobhg gryrcnguf naq gur zra jub ner vagrerfgrq va gurz va ryringbef? Vg arire tbrf jryy!

Favorite scene: The two scenes that G’Kar and Catherine Sakai have together often get mixed up in my head when I’m thinking about this episode, so I can’t really pick one over the other. In each of them, G’Kar says something I really love. In the first, it’s “No one here is exactly what he appears. Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair. And not me.” This is borne out in the events of this episode, at least in G’Kar’s case, which makes you wonder: How right is he about everyone else? V nyfb ybir guvf dhbgr orpnhfr vg frrzf gb zr gung vg’f bar bs gur birenepuvat gurzrf bs gur fubj va trareny. Ab bar vf rknpgyl jub gurl nccrne ng svefg tynapr. Abg rira Orfgre! In the second scene, I love G’Kar’s explanation of what Catherine saw at Sigma 957, but I love what he says next even more: “They are a mystery. And I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the universe—that we have not yet explained everything.” And when you put both scenes together, I find them collectively eye-opening about what this show is trying to do, not just with the character of G’Kar, but with the world of the show in general. Vg’f rfcrpvnyyl vagrerfgvat gb pbzr onpx gb gurfr fprarf nsgre lbh’ir svavfurq gur fubj naq guvax nobhg whfg ubj evtug T’Xne vf.

#babylon 5 rewatch #babylon 5 #b5 #mind war

[fallowhearth]

I watched Babylon 5 live in the 1990s as it aired, and I was young enough that the early seasons are vague but I do have clear and definite memories of later seasons. (Though I do remember Talia Winters.)

So it's a bit of a walk down memory lane. One thing I didn't expect is how much I would miss my dad. We watched it together (well, he'd watch it, and I tagged along), and I am playing a kind of ghost soundtrack in my head of my dad’s laugh and commentary.

#To be clear he's not dead he's just an asshole #And can't be in my life due to his behaviour and personality #But I do have genuinely happy memories of his parenting as well #babylon 5 rewatch

[yumyumpod]

This week we're talking about the funnest thing ever... a season four Garibaldi plot. Spotify- https://spoti.fi/2CjDLSs Apple- https://apple.co/2NbEuaH Simplecast- https://bit.ly/2ASPib8

#Babylon 5 #B5 #Yum Yum 5 #Yum Yum Pod #Yum Yum Podcast #Bab 5 #Babylon 5 Rewatch #B5 Pod #B5 Podcast #Babylon 5 Podcast #Babylon 5 Pod #Podcast #TV #TV Podcast

[babylon-5-lurkers]

Babylon 5 Season 1, Episode 1: Midnight On The Firing Line

And so it beings...

Open discussion thread for the episode. My spouse and I are about to start watching it in a few minutes. I'm so excited! ^_^

#babylon 5 rewatch #babylon 5 #b5 #b5 season 1 #midnight on the firing line

[pedanther]

This week's episode of the Babylon 5 rewatch is the first episode of Babylon 5 I ever saw, back when it first aired. I'd seen ads for some of the earlier episodes and thought it might be interesting, but made the extra effort to catch this episode because I recognised the guest star. (Which just goes to show that casting familiar faces does sometimes work.)

And the guest star was good, but it was the ant scene that really persuaded me to stick around.

#babylon 5 #mind war #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #not a reblog

[ooksaidthelibrarian]

Babylon 5 Rewatch S1E6 Mind War

ooooh Mind War, things are heating up in the telepath fandom

Garibaldi you fucking well deserved that

BESTER

aaand that guy ...dude stop asskissing the Psi Cops

ooouh Sigma 957

girl, taking down rogue telepaths has nothing to do with randomly reading people's thought, shut up

basic guest quarters, WOW

I mean, the art is kinda weird but so much space!

Ivanova is on the war path already

the way Thalia asks if the scan is necessary, the delivery is on point

Walter Koenig is so damn good as Bester, I enjoy every single one of his episodes so much

I also greatly enjoy G'Kar in this episode

ah yes human experimentation for the Greater Good, always a red flag

I mean. Jason. I wouldn't call you stable. But I get the point

this episode lays the groundwork for so much, I love it - it gets me so excited for the rest of the series

*whoops there goes another calculated risk*

JELLYFISH SHIP or maybe SPACE JELLYFISH idk if we ever find out

Sinclair, maybe knock them both out???

he is having so much fun blackmailing Bester

YES THE PRISONER SALUTE

(if you've never seen The Prisoner, the old show I mean, you should give it a try. It's *wild*)

The Ant Monologue, I love that one - I think it's my favourite one from the whole show, together with the one about the Technomages

'We know. We've tried.'

'They must walk there alone.'

I do love me a vast unknowable being people randomly encounter

#babylon 5 #b5 #b5 rewatch #dai watches stuff #b5 mind war #babylon 5 rewatch

[thelongestway]

Babylon 5, first watch on the rewatch, s1e7, "War prayer". Aw, Minbari! Delenn has friends, it would seem. ^^ Ookay, here we go, Earth Fascism! Right now I'm not sure if Garibaldi has some personal beef with them or if it's just "god you fucktards are stupid assholes". Lol, G'Kar and Sinclair. :P Diplomacy at its finest! Ivanova would definitely agree with Janeway on coffee! Garibaldi and a little blackmail never goes amiss! Also lol, the baby Centauri - just in the nick of time. Londo trying to explain Politics to the Children. Annnd realizing in the process that he's forgotten how to dance, and coming up with one of Those Decisions which always have their place in societies like that of the Centauri. Londo gets all the best lines, tbh! Interesting that Kosh has pictures of the Earth in his chambers. Like, he doesn't give a fuck about anyone else (at this point?), but Earth... Yeah. Sinclair is right to call him out on it. Meanwhile, Sinclair is the worst actor. Loudly in front of Delenn: "the only good alien is a dead alien"; man, do you really want to blow your cover by getting the diplomat to ROFL? Ok, no, I like how he plays the "old and paranoid military commander", with an unmistakable "yeah we've all seen these people". "They let us win" and bitter about it; I like how he obviously channels something real, a common sentiment that Sinclair groks but does not agree with! And the whole of the station is just coming together to clown on the earth first people, nice! ...Ooh. The people with invisibility are called Shadows, are they, by the Minbari poet? The same as in Geometry of Shadows?

#b5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #babylon 5

[unearthlytraveller]

Babylon 5 Rewatch: S1 E8, And the Sky, Full of Stars

I've been looking forwards to this one. To me, it's the first episode to really step towards the great and revolutionary things we'll see later. It's also probably the second-best episode of the first half of season 1, after Mind War.

The big highlight to me is always the final time we see Sinclair's memory of the Line. It's one of those moments in the show where the music really brings everything together. It makes us understand his actions in The Gathering or Infection. Then, when the episode is over, he's put on a completely new path, to understand what he remembers.

A few other thoughts.

Sinclair is 39. That means this is the first time I've watched the show when I'm older than him. That's... vaguely depressing.

I always found it funny that the first time we hear "What do you want?", it's in this episode, and it's Sinclair addressing the Grey Council of all people! I'd forgotten that he also asks them "Who are you?"

Aah, the shiny triangle that we almost never see again.

I always feel sorry for that security guard who gets killed at the end. We already had Bensen, a man of awful judgement, show his own deathwish. By usual redshirt rules that should mean no one else needs to die, but not this time!

In the final mind sequence where Knight One is walking towards Sinclair, given how long he walks, he must have started really far away. Makes you wonder why. Of course, in reality they didn't have a set that long so you can see he keeps walking past the same scenery.

And to finish on something slightly more serious, I always liked the aggressive use of shadow in the mental sequences. I don't know, it helped make some fairly static shots more visually interesting, and also distinguish these scenes from the "real" world.

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 rewatch #b5 rewatch #and the sky full of stars