Babylon 5 blind watch thread: Maybe they're Zorlons?

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Sci-Fi Wi-Fi > Babylon 5 blind watch thread: Maybe they're Zorlons?

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

I did my first blind watch of this show about 6 months ago and am STILL thinking about this show. Enjoy your first time through this and avoid the lurkers guide.

Buckle up.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2020 13:12

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 20, 2024 00:37

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

The Gathering: �There�s a hole in your mind.�

Lots of cases of pilot-itis all over the place, but good setup. Sinclair�s past is explored nicely, and everyone gets good time in the limelight to establish their characters. Londo�s speech about the fall of the Centauri Empire was utterly spellbinding.

Takeshima�s actress sounds bored being there, Ivanova being more engaging from what I�ve seen. And now I know who the Dr Kyle is mentioned in ep 2. Shame he left, he was very good, but it seems like he retired from acting for health reasons after filming this, so I can�t blame him.

I�m glad they changed Delenn�s makeup for the series, what they started with looks very odd.

Definitely the place you need to start from for the series.

There was a long time (at least a year?) between the filming of the pilot and them getting the first season order so a few of the actors were no longer available come S01E01. Some 'refinements' were also made, such as the makeup you addressed.

So happy about this thread, this is giving me much needed joy in this awful time we're in right now.

PLEASE KEEP CHUGGING FORWARD AND SHARING EVERY STRAY THOUGHT AND OBSERVATION

When you're done with the series. Join us in the main discussion thread.

Well, look at that, the suns coming up.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2020 15:11

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Should the newbies watch in the standard order or the modified order? I did the modified order after I found out about it half way through Season 1 and some stuff made more sense that way.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2020 19:50

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

Wait, there�s a modified order?

It attempts to correct some issues with airing of episodes that has some minor continuity problems, but nothing major.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2020 20:31

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

head58 posted:

You�re blowing through these at a fair clip but if you�re looking for some companion media I will not so humbly invite you to listen to my podcast �The Name of the Pod.� We do episode by episode but don�t do synopses, more looking at the themes of the show and why it is one of the most important programs in shaping what genre (and non genre) tv is today. We watched and loved the show in the 90s but don�t do spoilers, so you�re safe.

We�re recording our penultimate episode tonight, looking at the Lost Tales dvd from 2008. Then a series wrap up in a couple weeks.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-name-of-the-pod-a-babylon-5-podcast/id1244239639

https://www.ilinxilinx.com/nameofthepod

Confirmed legit good podcast. I listened to it through my first watch through. My only regret was that you hadn't finished season 5 and I was watching 2-3 episodes a day!

I won't spoil anything regarding Max

RIP you opinionated cat

# ¿ Jun 3, 2020 00:34

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

We mentioned this in the other thread, but stay out of that B5 thread until you've finished the series. You do NOT want to come across spoilers and ruin this experience for yourselves.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2020 04:17

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Sanguinia posted:

Seeing this thread full of newbies just bursting with love for SEASON ONE is making me salivate.

Seriously, if they are fully engaged on Season 1, they are going to explode with joy watching the rest of the series.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 14:40

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

S1E7 - The War Prayer

�My shoes are too tight and I have forgotten how to dance.�

Knowing there�s a different order makes me wonder if this episode was earlier in the season as it brings up Kosh�s attack and the disappearance of Dr Kyle and the other telepath. Sinclair and Ivanova�s conversation about the Vorlons is very clear �well isn�t that interesting� setup stuff, adding to the pile of things I�m sure we�ll come back to.

That�s all from the prequel movie, �The Gathering� that came before the series started.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 19:38

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

Yes, I know.

So far all of the episodes you have watched are in the correct order. Any modifications are pretty subtle and does not have large implications.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 19:45

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Stick to the original broadcast order. I�m pasting season 1 below. Don�t want to show season and episode titles for future seasons at this point.

Season One ("Signs and Portents")

code:

Air Date  Ep#  Prod#  Title
03/03/31              The Gathering part 1
03/04/01              The Gathering part 2
03/04/02    1   103   Midnight on the Firing Line
03/04/03    2   102   Soul Hunter
03/04/04    3   104   Born to the Purple
03/04/07    4   101   Infection
03/04/08    5   108   The Parliament of Dreams
03/04/09    6   110   Mind War
03/04/10    7   107   The War Prayer
03/04/11    8   106   And The Sky Full Of Stars
03/04/14    9   113   Deathwalker
03/04/15   10   105   Believers
03/04/16   11   111   Survivors
03/04/17   12   114   By Any Means Necessary
03/04/18   13   116   Signs and Portents
03/04/21   14   119   TKO
03/04/22   15   109   Grail
03/04/23   16   122   Eyes
03/04/24   17   115   Legacies
03/04/25   18   120   A Voice in the Wilderness part 1
03/04/28   19   121   A Voice in the Wilderness part 2
03/04/29   20   118   Babylon Squared
03/04/30   21   117   The Quality of Mercy
03/05/01   22   112   Chrysalis

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 19:53

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

My mistake, I didn't look at that when I pulled it off of the lurkers guide. I'm assuming that's the same airing order from 93 though?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 20:02

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

You�re talented at watching TV, you sure you are a goon?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 22:03

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Sanguinia posted:

Kind of interesting that the paper refers to San Diego being part of the "American States," rather than the "United States."

That�s the part about San Diego that caught your eye??

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 23:23

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Elder Postsman posted:

I'm very good and smart

Lol, I should have quoted. That was for the doctor

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 23:48

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

S1E09 - Deathwalker! <starts punching>

�A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from the bristles.�

Ooh, Koshenanigans! I love his encounter suit, and am pondering the practicalities of doing it as cosplay. I like the notion that Kosh is a party animal outside of being mysterious. The brain reveal at the end of the conference was remarkably icky and right up my body horror alley. The only thing that didn�t jibe well was Talia�s conversation with Sinclair and Garibaldi. She tells them that Kosh basically prodded her mind to recall the most fearful experience of her life and the guys are just �lol that wacky vorlon�.

Man, Na�Toth just starts wailing on that woman. Starts punching, stops, grabs a tool and carries on harder. Jha�dur�s costume is very samurai, but looks good.

So Earth (and others) fought the Dilgar (and others) 30 years ago and the Minbari 10 years ago. Any more wars I�ve missed? I liked the deliberations of how the past casts long shadows on the politics of today, alliances, enemies, genocide, and trying to stop history repeating. And then it is reduced to virtually a playground argument as an adult steps in and just clears the board in one stroke, citing the much bigger picture at hand.

Garibaldi�s tiny strip of hair bothers me greatly.

That scene with Na'toth is one of my favorites in the whole series.

Also, regarding the hair, yeah.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2020 01:18

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Also not all Season 1 episodes stick the landing. Can�t wait for them to get to our favorite one.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2020 22:06

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

Lol, longer write-ups. I'm writing spur of the moment thoughts into my Notes app while I watch and then c/p-ing them straight into the thread once I've tidied them up.

But ok, 1x12 here we go!

It's working for you, so don't change the formula.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2020 19:49

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

OtherworldlyInvader posted:

Now that a few people are getting pretty deep into season 1, I'd love to hear what people think about what sort of larger picture is developing. A sort of step back from an episode by episode impressions, and looking more at things overall. What sort of things seem important? What sort of future events do you anticipate, and how might you expect them to play out? Anything strike you as particularly interesting so far?

This has been my favorite thread on the forum since it was posted!

Also who's your favorite character so far? Why?

Also LOVING this thread. Don't change any of your approaches to this, there are a ton of people enjoying this.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2020 02:42

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

TheAardvark posted:

Here are my S1 rankings. I've seen all of S1 now (just need to collect my thoughts on the individual episodes). I sucked it up and got a better setup for note taking so I could get my episode thoughts down without spoiling them trying to do it with future knowledge.

This is hardly a spoiler but my opinions are up through S1E22

My rankings are mostly based off of "How likely am I to enjoy this scene based off of their presence?"

1. Londo --------
1. G'Kar --------
1. Lennier -------
1.5 Delenn -----
1.5 Na'Toth ---
2. Cotto ---------
3. Ivanova ------
3. Sinclair ------
3.5 Garibaldi --
3.5 Dr. Franklin

Londo and G'Kar both are just great, well acted characters who are continuously a joy added to any episode.

Lennier is used frequently as a joke for his sheltered-ness but he also has shown loads of potential and he's, like the other Religious caste we've seen, just so.. pleasant. How can I put him lower tier? Delenn is similarly ranked, but her plots haven't always been as interesting. She is still bae

Na'Toth is great and surprisingly deep. Her plots have tended to be pretty serious, but why not? Her race was subject of the Centauri, and personally her family had been tortured by Deathstalker.

Cotto is funny but so far he's mostly been a ridiculous foil to Londo for jokes. Apart from one pointless scene early on about the power of Love, he hasn't gotten a chance to move beyond that.

Ivanova has enough backstory to put her equal with Sinclair, who I don't care all that much about, honestly. I did have the foreknowledge of Michael O'Hare's departure, so I may have gotten more attached to him if I hadn't, but really the human plots haven't been largely as interesting or well acted so far. Garibaldi could be a good viewer standin if he wasn't a loving cop.

That's the main billed cast, which does not include Kosh. Kosh is honorable "above tier 1" because his scenes are incredible.

This was honestly really tough, I reserve my right to tier list instead of rank.

Please update this at the end of each season! I thoroughly enjoyed your list and reasoning, but for the sake of spoilers cannot weigh in on them.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2020 16:56

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Timby posted:

Spoiler

Quit spoiling, dude.

Come to the B5 older races thread to discuss items brought up here.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3785889

# ¿ Jun 9, 2020 00:37

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Folks are getting spread out on their watching schedules, please make sure you�re tagging your spoilers, the one a couple posts back is a couple episodes into season 2 and a larger spoiler for those still on season 1.

Thanks and namaste

# ¿ Jun 9, 2020 13:29

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

You�ve properly made it through the Sargasso Sea and onto B5 proper after B**2. Welcome to the party, buckle up. It�s nothing but awesomeness for the entire duration, with one small brief unfortunate detour in Season 5 that we all wish was on the cutting room floor, but has its charm in its own way.

# ¿ Jun 10, 2020 02:08

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

Their poor knees. Maybe he put down a futon or something.

Who said that he wasn't on bottom?

# ¿ Jun 17, 2020 22:38

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

I've heard it said that Vir is from the Centauri Midwest, like their version of Minnesota with that accent compared to the rest.

I like the idea that there are dialects and accents in alien species, because of course they wouldn't be completely homogenous. Also makes things easier from a production standpoint and not having to push Steven Furst too far out of his own creative range.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2020 03:18

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Link?

# ¿ Jun 24, 2020 23:32

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

The_Doctor posted:

S2ep09 - The Coming of Shadows

�The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between.�

�How will this all end?�
�In fire.�

Buckle up Doc.

And so it begins.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2020 00:13

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Uhh. We need a mod to restore that posts previous version. It was an exceptionally good reaction spot.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2020 00:43

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Just checking in, you guys all okay? Need anything? Healthy? Any work assignments you need some of us to take on so that you can be freed up to watch some more B5?

# ¿ Jul 8, 2020 21:51

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

I found Babylon Squared was when it hit its stride and then just went. Enjoy the ride.

I also found that the consistency and quality hit a new epoch when JMS wrote every script for dozens of episodes in a row.

No spoilers in my opinion with that, just context that if you like what you have seen so far, you will not be disappointed with how the series unfolds.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2020 16:29

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Michael Bearigaldi

# ¿ Jul 13, 2020 21:42

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

TheAardvark posted:

Exactly. I'm aware of the in-universe explanations we've been given, it's just they've given us enough information about everything else that the in-universe explanation seems like nonsense. This is the hub of trade for all of these races, the brown section would be completely booked out by traders from every race years before the station opened. I'm not complaining, I realize the need for it and I don't let it bother me while I'm watching the show, but it is still ridiculous on face value.

E: I'm not trying to trash the show or anything, I can appreciate it as intended, but this one thing just feels really designed for plot rather than to fit the facts.

Remember that it's viewed as hopeless for its mission and a backwater outpost in the middle of nowhere...

# ¿ Jul 14, 2020 21:02

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Knives is the last episode written by someone other than JMS until series 5 (and even then, there's only one)

Still a record unbeaten by anyone in the WGA, by miles.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2020 21:54

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

ultrafilter posted:

I think at some point JMS said that he wouldn't have done it if he'd known exactly what he was signing up for. TV writing is a lot of work.

I just got to that part in his autobiography and he had no choice apparently. They were on an insane time crunch and there was no time to hold freelancers hands so he just did the needful. The man is a machine. I'd say it was a shame that he doesn't have children but that stuff is going upbringing I feel, and he has those experiences in spades.

Not that he also didn't say what you said.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2020 23:04

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Another solid write up and reactions. We've all been waiting for one of you to get to this one due to 2020 and all

# ¿ Jul 15, 2020 23:42

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 20, 2024 00:37

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

I think a lot about gratitude. This thread and the insightful analysis ad and reactions the young watchers have is something that I often am grateful for.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2020 04:10

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Sci-Fi Wi-Fi > Babylon 5 blind watch thread: Maybe they're Zorlons?