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jng2058 posted:I rather liked Johnny Sekka as Dr. Kyle, and I'd have been happy to see him continue, though I love what Biggs ended up doing with Franklin as well, so I don't mind how it turned out. Tomita was awful as Takashima, but somewhat better in the redone version of the pilot that showed up on TNT with the original voice track. Still, keeping her would have meant losing Ivanova, and season five proves that Babylon 5 without Susan Ivanova is just a pale shell of itself. I suspect Compton was not especially helpful, as a director, to any of the cast during the Gathering or S1 until JMS got rid of him. He seems to have been solid with action and shot design and to have considered sci-fi to be nonsense. It’s thus plausible to me that the actors in The Gathering and early S1 were basically on their own. Tomita didn’t have much experience to fall back on, and none of it was genre related. Looks like she’s done well for herself afterward. She seems pretty uncomfortable on-screen. Compare to the old hands (playing the alien ambassadors), or to Doyle, who was inexperienced but playing a well-established type not that far off his own personality. You can tell Furlan is a bit baffled, but she had a lot of adjustment to do. Even Katsulas isn’t quite 100%, but you can see him and Jurasik just inventing anything they need to play their characters that isn’t on the page. JMS seems to have spent several years figuring everything out himself; by S3 he can identify which directors he wants shooting which kinds of episodes, where I’d wager in S1 he wasn’t even sure precisely how the director influenced how the episode turned out. Compare how fast Jason Carter captures his character. That’s to his credit, but it also shows he’s getting the support he needs in joining the cast. Tallman’s return is perhaps an even better example, as she has a tougher part to play and maybe fewer actorly tools: she still seems much more comfortable much faster than the S1 cast. sebmojo posted:This is an odd take on jms. Have you seen sense8? You were expecting a good take from a poster with his history?
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Sep 30, 2021 21:07
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jng2058 posted:I rather liked Johnny Sekka as Dr. Kyle, and I'd have been happy to see him continue, though I love what Biggs ended up doing with Franklin as well, so I don't mind how it turned out. Tomita was awful as Takashima, but somewhat better in the redone version of the pilot that showed up on TNT with the original voice track. Still, keeping her would have meant losing Ivanova, and season five proves that Babylon 5 without Susan Ivanova is just a pale shell of itself. Susan Ivanova posted:Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry rear end all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me.
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Sep 30, 2021 22:10
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Man, the telepath arc could have been so cool with Ivanova. She's reeling, emotionally vulnerable and guilty about both Marcus and Talia -- plus she feels deep sympathy for the colony's anti-psi corp stance. So you get to watch her support transition into emotional/romantic involvement. Her personal and professional lives cross and it is messy and terrible and ends violently. A couple arguments with Sheridan where she doesn't feel what she is doing is any different from what Sheridan did with Earthgov.
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Sep 30, 2021 22:23
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There's a real oppurtunity to make agressively progressive Scifi with the new Babylon 5. I feel like with JMS work on Sense8 that its likely to be pretty out there.
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Sep 30, 2021 22:55
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Sheridan is surrounded and supported by strong women. I don’t mean they cheer him on, I mean they literally would have lost without them and have full backstories, drives, motivations etc. B5 is probably the most supportive and constructive sci-if show, even to this day. Even minor characters are strong, competent, and successful (Number 1, President after Clark, and so on) Picking on Sheridan being a man is unwarranted.
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Sep 30, 2021 23:11
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OnlyBans posted:Man, the telepath arc could have been so cool with Ivanova. She's reeling, emotionally vulnerable and guilty about both Marcus and Talia -- plus she feels deep sympathy for the colony's anti-psi corp stance. So you get to watch her support transition into emotional/romantic involvement. Her personal and professional lives cross and it is messy and terrible and ends violently. A couple arguments with Sheridan where she doesn't feel what she is doing is any different from what Sheridan did with Earthgov. absolutely, yep. though i think lyta could have been great with better writing, she's got this insanely lovely arc of things that happen to her and on paper finally getting happiness via a weird cult then getting disillusioned with that is great drama, but the scene writing is just LYTA: (stands behind BYRON, smiling benignly)
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Sep 30, 2021 23:20
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Susan Ivanova posted:Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry rear end all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me. She was so freakin cool. OnlyBans posted:Man, the telepath arc could have been so cool with Ivanova. She's reeling, emotionally vulnerable and guilty about both Marcus and Talia -- plus she feels deep sympathy for the colony's anti-psi corp stance. So you get to watch her support transition into emotional/romantic involvement. Her personal and professional lives cross and it is messy and terrible and ends violently. A couple arguments with Sheridan where she doesn't feel what she is doing is any different from what Sheridan did with Earthgov. As far as replacing G'Kar with Na'Toth? I don't know. Na'Toth had always been reliable, tough and sympathetic. G'Kar was supposed to be power hungry and on a self destructive path that he would eventually come to realize was foolish and no different than the Centauri. It enhanced his arc. Plus he and Londo had some interesting parallels and sometimes felt almost like brothers. Going with just Na'Toth would cut some of that dramatic weight. At least in my silly opinion. Thanks for the info on the OG broadcast. I really like those odd details and Channel 4 and JMS having a mutually respectful relationship is always nice to hear.
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Sep 30, 2021 23:59
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While it wasn't planned, I like that Network fuckery basically forced them to do a "rape of the Shire" bit, completing the "LoTR with the serial numbers filed off" discussion.
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Oct 1, 2021 00:36
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Once you have the chat with Justin in Z'Ha'Dum, there's not a great deal of places for the Shadow War to go. 6 episodes is probably about right.
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Oct 1, 2021 00:48
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Keep in mind that, with JMS at the helm, we could end up with a S1 that looks familiar and then half the cast time travels into the future along with Babylon 4 and they don’t come back until S2. Expect the unexpected.
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Oct 1, 2021 00:50
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I'm a little concerned about modern short seasons. I'm watching at the Long Night of Londo Mollari on my rewatch right now and bottle episodes like that, Inquisitor, the Sheridan interrogation, the plague, etc. were all real highlights along with the more narrative-driven episodes. There isn't as much space for them in a show with fewer hours since there is a lot of ground to cover.
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Oct 1, 2021 01:03
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Nat'oth I think didn't manage to get as much traction as Vir, and it didn't really help that she was already a replacement for the blue-eyed lady and came in late. When Narn fell, she ended up basically superfluous, and as an agnostic, she didn't really compliment G'kar's arc as he found enlightenment. Lennier could really use a rewrite. I think towards the end, he was basically just an extension of Delenn's will.
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Oct 1, 2021 01:05
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OnlyBans posted:I'm a little concerned about modern short seasons. I'm watching at the Long Night of Londo Mollari on my rewatch right now and bottle episodes like that, Inquisitor, the Sheridan interrogation, the plague, etc. were all real highlights along with the more narrative-driven episodes. There isn't as much space for them in a show with fewer hours since there is a lot of ground to cover. I think this is one area where being on CW gives them an advantage. On Netflix or pretty much any other streamer they might be capped at 8-13 episode seasons with an indeterminate offseason, but on CW I could see them getting anything between 16-22 episode orders, or whatever the standard is these days for networks. I've been a cable-cutter for almost a decade now, I haven't been keeping up with that end of things. Then I guess the issue becomes how to stretch their budget over that many episodes, but at least that's not a new problem for JMS and Babylon 5, and I doubt a B5 reboot in 202X is going to look and feel any cheaper than, say, Star Trek Enterprise did in 2004 when its budget was slashed prior to cancellation, to say nothing of the Lost Tales DVD episodes.
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Oct 1, 2021 01:13
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Just got to Season 3 Episode 20 And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place , Goddamn it I'm half way through it I have to finish it later but dammit dammit dammit G'kar you fool why did you go to Narn!
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Oct 1, 2021 01:27
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Hollismason posted:Just got to Season 3 Episode 20 And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place , Goddamn it I'm half way through it I have to finish it later but dammit dammit dammit G'kar you fool why did you go to Narn! God the ending of this episode is one of the absolute best moments in the whole drat series.
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Oct 1, 2021 01:48
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Chevy Slyme posted:God the ending of this episode is one of the absolute best moments in the whole drat series. I'm on pins and needles I don't know whats going to happen. edit: drat that was good was not expecting that. Hollismason fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Oct 1, 2021 |
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Oct 1, 2021 02:06
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my favourite episode, hands down
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Oct 1, 2021 03:29
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I'm now on Season 3 Ep22 Z'Ha'Dum and drat this is intense. Sheridan's wife shows up! WTF. And John is going to go with her. This is hosed. Sheridan has to know that this is bad idea.
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Oct 1, 2021 03:33
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Probably one of my favorite moments is when Deleen and the Minbari fleet show up as Earthforce is trying to retake Babylon 5.. Her dialog is bad-rear end.Hollismason posted:I'm now on Season 3 Ep22 Z'Ha'Dum and drat this is intense. Sheridan's wife shows up! WTF. And John is going to go with her. This is hosed. Sheridan has to know that this is bad idea. I mean, considering he loads his ship with nuclear bombs, I'd say he knew there was a good probability this would end badly.
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Oct 1, 2021 03:55
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I just finished Season 3 Episode 22 Z'Ha'Dum , drat that was good and this new opening is different with everyone saying something is cool and good. I'm now on Season 4.
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Oct 1, 2021 04:00
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Nevermind
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Oct 1, 2021 04:01
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Chevy Slyme posted:Nevermind I just finished the episode super bad rear end. I kind of remember some of this when I originally watched it on TV 25 years ago. Sheridan went out like a loving boss. I know he comes back but drat I dunno how. Maybe that piece of Kosh he has in him.
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Oct 1, 2021 04:02
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Hollismason posted:I just finished the episode super bad rear end. I kind of remember some of this when I originally watched it on TV 25 years ago. Sheridan went out like a loving boss. I know he comes back but drat I dunno how. Maybe that piece of Kosh he has in him. That pit in the middle of their capital is there for a reason. Lorien is down there, and Kosh knows it.
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Oct 1, 2021 04:52
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Hollismason posted:I just finished Season 3 Episode 22 Z'Ha'Dum , drat that was good and this new opening is different with everyone saying something is cool and good. I'm now on Season 4. G'Kar's final monologue is absolutely killer. I think it was played at Andreas Katsulas' funeral.
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Oct 1, 2021 05:15
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One thing I haven't seen discussed yet, but which is of the utmost importance, is who they get for the score. Chris Franke is still alive, but I don't know if he's working anymore. I'd throw out Ludwig Göransson, who really surprised me in a good way on The Mandalorian.
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Oct 1, 2021 12:36
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I think the thing I'm not looking forward to with the reboot is not that it'll be bad, but that it'll be good and we have the double cliffhanger of "what's going to happen next?" and "will they cancel it before we get to find out?". Combined with longer seasons, it really will feel like watching it in the 90s. I wonder if he's still planning on making it a 5-year thing. The 5 year timescale seems kind of arbitrary in hindsight, or at least a relic of a time when he would have needed to tread more gently with layering in serialized elements. That wouldn't fly today, viewers are ready for a serialized story from the get go. Some modern shows actually feel kind of directionless when they don't establish a few motivations or threats within the first 2-3 episodes. I'm also hoping JMS has now mastered comedy. On my current rewatch, I've learned that good comedy is exactly one line shorter than JMS thinks it is. There's a number nice little jokes in B5, all ruined by an unnecessary extra line that totally deflates it. For example: "Thank you for that ray of sunshine, Marcus.
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Oct 1, 2021 12:53
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It will be an arc and I am sure (although have no proof) that JMS would not have agreed to do it if the length wasn’t set in stone ahead of time. There’s no way he’d go thought that again.
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Oct 1, 2021 13:05
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Considering the CW basically renews EVERYTHING, I think it's pretty safe.
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Oct 1, 2021 14:44
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I don't think that the 5 years was that arbitrary. It broke the story up into five chapters. And it really broke things up enough for the intro voice over to make sense. We start the first season which is all about showing the world as it is. Then we go to the second season we're now things starting to change. And then the third season where things are looking very dark. Then the fourth season the war happens. In the fifth season which is the cleanup.
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Oct 1, 2021 15:32
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Can't wait for the Legend of the Rangers series we were cruelly robbed of.
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Oct 1, 2021 15:35
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I wonder if that's part of the sales pitch. JMS gets his for 5-year Babylon 5 reboot, but he mentions that if people like it as much as he thinks it will then that allows for a bunch of spin-offs that can turn into the big long nine season stories or whatever. Like legend of the rangers could be the next supernatural
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Oct 1, 2021 15:38
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If this leads to us finally getting Crusade, I'm 100% in
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Oct 1, 2021 15:53
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Dirty posted:I wonder if he's still planning on making it a 5-year thing. The 5 year timescale seems kind of arbitrary in hindsight, or at least a relic of a time when he would have needed to tread more gently with layering in serialized elements. That wouldn't fly today, viewers are ready for a serialized story from the get go. Some modern shows actually feel kind of directionless when they don't establish a few motivations or threats within the first 2-3 episodes. CainFortea posted:I don't think that the 5 years was that arbitrary. It broke the story up into five chapters. And it really broke things up enough for the intro voice over to make sense. It's the classic Five Act Structure applied to a whole TV show's run rather than a single episode or play.
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Oct 1, 2021 16:12
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ConfusedUs posted:If this leads to us finally getting Crusade, I'm 100% in
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Oct 1, 2021 16:13
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The United States posted:JMS will finally have his Yamato 2199 Yamato 2199/2202 are excellent by the way. Great story, and the artwork is gorgeous. Well worth the time to watch.
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Oct 1, 2021 17:31
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I've made it to Season 4 Episode 4 Falling Toward Aptheosis. Goddamn the Emperor of Centauri is totally mad. Love that character its so  .
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Oct 1, 2021 22:25
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Hollismason posted:I've made it to Season 4 Episode 4 Falling Toward Aptheosis. Goddamn the Emperor of Centauri is totally mad. Love that character its so (from memory) "Londo. You know what I said about 'there has to be another way'? I was wrong."
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Oct 1, 2021 23:02
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I don't see how its only 5 episodes into the season 4 and poo poo is already going sideways. I dunno what the rest of the season is going to be about.
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Oct 1, 2021 23:15
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Season 4 is a hell of a ride.
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Oct 1, 2021 23:18
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Hollismason posted:I don't see how its only 5 episodes into the season 4 and poo poo is already going sideways. I dunno what the rest of the season is going to be about. 
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Oct 1, 2021 23:22
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