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I've been re-watching The West Wing lately, and there's a (small) common thread there. It's easy to rise up through a bureaucracy, taking your meetings, working your angles, and never really notice how far you've risen, right up until it matters. Suddenly your position paper gets to the President of the United States, and he changes his mind, and that thing you wrote for the sake of argument is now national policy. That time you decided to vent your spleen in a meeting turned into an attack that wiped out a colony. That's got to be a hell of a realization.
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Oct 11, 2019 20:01
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| # ? May 16, 2024 12:36 |
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Finished season 2 and first episode of season 3. Buckle up indeed! This show is brilliantly done and all the groundwork is coming together now.
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Oct 11, 2019 20:12
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SlothfulCobra posted:B5 makes a couple of design choices for no apparent reason other than just to look extra sci-fi. The doors, for example. They have those weird teeth on them instead of just being plain ol' rectangles. Except 'superfluous design for the sake of aesthetic' is something people just do. They didn't reinvent the door, some interior designer just went 'OH, do you know what would look awesome?' Then the Corps of Engineers or w/e went 'but--' and some big-dollar I'm Here For the Business donor went 'I LOVE IT, it reflects a kind of nuanced sophistication that we should absolutely advertise to our space buddies,' and the senators they donate to/people that know a thing just kind of sighed and nodded, while the designer went away to weep gratefully into a pillow somewhere. The font is pretty silly, but if you write everything off as 'humans trying to look cool around their space bros even if it flies in the face of utility (or just ends up looking dumb and ugly on accident)' then it makes a hilarious amount of sense.
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Oct 11, 2019 21:08
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TraderStav posted:Finished season 2 and first episode of season 3. Buckle up indeed! Oh man... I am so envious but happy for you. What do you think of the intro? Not spoiling anything but pay attention to the intro. Not just the clips but the cast pics and their expressions. You will thank me. Since you JUST finished season two... TraderStav posted:Season 2, episode 20 Oh you sweet summer child...you don't get to take the easy road. When you finish season 5 there will be so many discussions. G'Kar is the best though. It was the "consider the ant" speed he gave to Catherine Sakai that made me really warm up to him... that and I get the hate for a people that want to enslave and/or destroy you. He and Londo reeled me in to loving Babylon 5. Enjoy gentle goon.
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Oct 11, 2019 22:48
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Von_Doom posted:Oh man... I am so envious but happy for you. What do you think of the intro? Not spoiling anything but pay attention to the intro. Not just the clips but the cast pics and their expressions. You will thank me. I love the changing intros. Season 2 was a much more optimistic change from the first and then the third came in so dour and the cast reflects that. 'The project failed' quote:Since you JUST finished season two... The ant was a good discussion, but he really sold me at the Long Twilight Struggle in the council chambers. How the hell did he express himself so well under 10 pounds of prosthetic?! Then the elevator scene with Vir...
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Oct 11, 2019 22:56
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If you JUST started season 3, remember that elevator. 
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Oct 11, 2019 22:58
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CainFortea posted:If you JUST started season 3, remember that elevator. So.... don't spoil me, but here are my predictions: 1. Reif works around Londo with Morden and continues his goals of taking the throne. Somehow, Londo pulls off a brilliant move to get Reif out of the picture and become Emperor himself while eliminating the shadows from the picture, somehow 2. Londo appoints Vir to be the new ambassador on B5. Vir uses this position to secretly help the Narn/G'kar 3. Night watch keeps on growing as fascists until B5 is completely overtaken by their fog and those aligned with 'the light side' have to work in shadows to operate properly 4. Marcus Cole hair game stays on point 5. Kosh leaves the picture at some point. Having a god figure like that around seems to convenient. He'll go out in a blaze of glory though All I got right now, those were just top of my head ideas of the going forward.
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Oct 11, 2019 23:03
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That's certainly a set of logical deductions. Gonna spoil the hair one: you're 100% right on that.
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Oct 11, 2019 23:10
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There’s no hiding place down here You know, there’s no hiding place down here I went to the rock to hide my face But the rock cried out, no hiding place, now No Hiding place down here!
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Oct 11, 2019 23:13
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Burning_Monk posted:There’s no hiding place down here One of the greatest moments in the show
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Oct 11, 2019 23:29
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I remember my friends going 'whoa!' at the length of that title.
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Oct 11, 2019 23:32
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Burning_Monk posted:There’s no hiding place down here This sounds like something Zathras would say.
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Oct 11, 2019 23:34
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TraderStav posted:This sounds like something Zathras would say. Zathras would never say that! Zathras might though.
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Oct 11, 2019 23:48
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Kibayasu posted:Zathras would never say that! I suspect this will mean a lot more and/or be much funnier as I march through the seasons. When should I watch the movies? I see that there are 7 according to the master list on the lurkers guide. The Gathering is done obviously. The Master List has In the Beginning ahead of The Gathering, but specifically says that it spoils seasons 1-4. So, I'm confused.
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Oct 11, 2019 23:57
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Just watch after the show imo. Most of them are... not great.
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Oct 12, 2019 00:04
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I too, am starting this show, as I need something to watch while I grind on a video game / downtime at work. Currently on season 1, episode 5 "The Parliament of Dreams"
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Oct 12, 2019 00:15
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TraderStav posted:I suspect this will mean a lot more and/or be much funnier as I march through the seasons. In The Beginning is a prequel to all of the TV show, though it does use a framing device from the future of the show. It also makes heavy references to the episodes that had been aired. Thirdspace and River of Souls are mostly self contained side stories that don’t have much to do with the TV plots but I think are mostly enjoyable.
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Oct 12, 2019 00:18
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Chopstix posted:I too, am starting this show, as I need something to watch while I grind on a video game / downtime at work. I would contend that this is not a good candidate for something to watch when your attention is not undivided. Plenty of other shows that would be better imo
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Oct 12, 2019 00:23
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Kibayasu posted:In The Beginning is a prequel to all of the TV show, though it does use a framing device from the future of the show. It also makes heavy references to the episodes that had been aired. Thirdspace is a really good BDO story with a decent part for you-know-who. River of Souls must be watched after S5 and is chiefly notable for being one of Martin Sheen's last pay-the-rent performances before The West Wing put him into orbit for a while.
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Oct 12, 2019 01:15
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Oh yes you should still watch Thirdspace and River where they are intended but they don’t have anything “vital”
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Oct 12, 2019 01:50
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I watched Thirdspace when an episode guide told me to, sandwiched between two episodes where subtle continuity cues said it made the most sense. I don't think that was necessary; it doesn't really have much to do with the season that chronologically surrounds it and is pretty independent. Wasn't it released years later? I am generally a fan of consuming media by publication date.
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Oct 12, 2019 03:19
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wizzardstaff posted:
In The Beginning and Thirdspace came out between seasons 4 and 5, while River of Souls came out right at the end of season 5 (just before Sleeping in Light, I believe) and Call to Arms came out after Series 5 ended.
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Oct 12, 2019 03:27
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Screw the continuity guides. Just watch them the episodes in sequence with the movies at the end.
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Oct 12, 2019 04:09
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yeah aside from like one occasion (in season 2) where it makes sense to change the screening order, just watch them as they came out. Thirdspace comes in a certain part of the continuity just because that's the only time all the characters coul dhave been in one place, not because it's important to watch in context.
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Oct 12, 2019 04:33
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I watched “Born to the Purple” and “Infection.” So far, okay! I’d say both episodes have some pacing and writing issues, particularly “Infection.” Sinclair talking the alien doomsday device into killing itself was some Kirk in original Star Trek cringe. Londo and G’kar steal the show in every scene and are pretty much what I look forward to at this point. Not a huge fan of Sinclair and his weirdly deep voice yet- it reminds me a bit of Troy Mcclure. Ivanova and Garibaldi are growing on me. Also, the Babylon 5 station is two years old? How are there already these weird slums filled with homeless humans?
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Oct 13, 2019 11:50
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Delthalaz posted:I watched “Born to the Purple” and “Infection.” So far, okay! I’d say both episodes have some pacing and writing issues, particularly “Infection.” Sinclair talking the alien doomsday device into killing itself was some Kirk in original Star Trek cringe. Londo and G’kar steal the show in every scene and are pretty much what I look forward to at this point. Not a huge fan of Sinclair and his weirdly deep voice yet- it reminds me a bit of Troy Mcclure. Ivanova and Garibaldi are growing on me. If you got through infection, you'll do fine with the show. The number of homeless had been explained a few ways but I think the big contributor was workers who built B5 but were poor don't have the cash to leave coupled with people showing up assuming there must be work and welp.
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Oct 13, 2019 12:05
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Delthalaz posted:Also, the Babylon 5 station is two years old? How are there already these weird slums filled with homeless humans? B5 isn't quite Las Vegas in Space, but it has similarity in its geographic isolation. People would have gone there in hope of new opportunities then find themselves unable to leave when it didn't work out. Some of the homeless on B5 are even the people who built it.
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Oct 13, 2019 12:08
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Delthalaz posted:I watched “Born to the Purple” and “Infection.” So far, okay! I’d say both episodes have some pacing and writing issues, particularly “Infection.” Sinclair talking the alien doomsday device into killing itself was some Kirk in original Star Trek cringe. Londo and G’kar steal the show in every scene and are pretty much what I look forward to at this point. Not a huge fan of Sinclair and his weirdly deep voice yet- it reminds me a bit of Troy Mcclure. Ivanova and Garibaldi are growing on me. I made essentially this exact post about 6-8 weeks ago. You’re on the right path my friend. I am a few episodes into Season 3 and once you get through season 1 you’ll appreciate it much more than when you were watching it. Are you pairing up the episodes with some podcast recaps? The non-spoiler ones mentioned earlier help bring some additional context as to why these odd episodes are the way that they are.
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Oct 13, 2019 15:13
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TraderStav posted:Are you pairing up the episodes with some podcast recaps? The non-spoiler ones mentioned earlier help bring some additional context as to why these odd episodes are the way that they are. Nope, what’s that podcast? Watching “Parliament of Dreams.” Who the hell wrote this dialogue between Sinclair and his ex? My god... *gag* All the Narn scenes are awesome though. A land of contrasts.
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Oct 13, 2019 17:25
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Delthalaz posted:Nope, what’s that podcast? relationship dialogue in b5, in general, is not very good unless you count g'kar and londo as being in a relationship, then, it is very, very good
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Oct 13, 2019 18:42
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Delthalaz posted:Also, the Babylon 5 station is two years old? How are there already these weird slums filled with homeless humans? Because the world is terrible and B5 is a heavily-trafficked station without a budget for social welfare. Garibaldi's really at his most Garibaldi in Grail. Suggesting to Sinclair that he could just get a troop of men together and clear out the slums.
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Oct 13, 2019 18:58
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I enjoyed “mind war”! Some good stuff there with Walter Koenig, G’kar gave a fun little speech about ants. Loved the “be seeing you” from Koenig in an excellent reference to The Prisoner. Talia was useless though. I wish I understood B5’s geography more- I definitely knew where things were on DS9. Also, not from this episode, but how the hell can Sinclair infiltrate the slums and gangster networks incognito? Isn’t he the most recognizable person on the whole station?
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Oct 13, 2019 19:06
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Delthalaz posted:I wish I understood B5’s geography more- I definitely knew where things were on DS9.  This should help.
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Oct 13, 2019 19:18
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Blindeye posted:If you got through infection, you'll do fine with the show. The saving grace of season 1 is the steady increase in quality. every episode, the remaining episodes of he show increase in average quality; even TKO has the Ivanova story to boost it.
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Oct 13, 2019 19:23
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Delthalaz posted:Nope, what’s that podcast? TraderStav posted:I'm roughly a month ahead of you and halfway through Season 2. It took no time once I hit Season 2 to realize that all of the difficulty of getting through Season 1 was WORTH EVERY MINUTE, even the worst of the worst. So slog through it and my god does it pay off, even only through Season 2. The world and plot feels much fuller having experienced Season 1 totally. I think all of the movement in Season 2 would have been slightly cheapened had I skipped over the 'monster-of-the-week' and the just rough episodes.
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Oct 13, 2019 19:29
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Delthalaz posted:Nope, what’s that podcast? Shameless plug for my podcast, The Name of the Pod, which is mostly spoiler free due to the fact I can’t remember poo poo about the show from when I watched it back in the 90s. We’re recording our first episodes of season 5 tomorrow. Pray for our souls.
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Oct 13, 2019 20:33
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head58 posted:Shameless plug for my podcast, The Name of the Pod, which is mostly spoiler free due to the fact I can’t remember poo poo about the show from when I watched it back in the 90s. Hurry up! I just hit episode 50 and don't want to stall my progress. I love your derails into tangential territory related to the episode rather than just making sure you cover every second and frame of the show.
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Oct 13, 2019 20:39
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Ahhh! "Voices of Authority" and "Dust to dust" How did JMS predict the "attacks on the office of the president"?! This is really hitting close to home. This parallel command structure with the Night Watch is maddening
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Oct 14, 2019 02:13
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TraderStav posted:Ahhh! "Voices of Authority" and "Dust to dust"  The next batch of episodes is my favorite run in the entire series
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Oct 14, 2019 02:22
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Judge:As citizen G'kar went to Ambassador Mollari's quarters and assaulted him that is premeditation in my book captain. *Sheridan somberly looks at G'Kar* *Nods and smiles as if to say, "Hell yes that was premeditated"* Lmao A dusted up Narn is something that will be in my nightmares.
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Oct 14, 2019 02:56
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