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Post by bladestarr on Sept 4, 2008 8:56:57 GMT -5
I love that my favorite TV series is finally getting a full treatment on this site. One slight quarrel with you Al:
This is not exactly true. He is a religious man, but his faith STEMS from reason, much like the Founding Fathers, Renee DeCartes, and other Rationalists. His religion is explained in later seasons, but you should know that he does NOT dislike religion and spirituality, as long as those things don't get in the way of him upholding his mission to preserve and extend life at all costs.
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Post by bladestarr on Sept 4, 2008 9:01:36 GMT -5
Also, the "first" episode is actually really the second. The real first episode was the pilot movie. If you want to, I can mail to you and let you borrow my collection of all the movies, along with an explanation of "when you should watch them".
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Post by bladestarr on Sept 4, 2008 9:13:45 GMT -5
Made me laugh until tears came out.
Very entertaining article Al, I hope that you actually plan on finishing this, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the rest of the series.
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Post by StarOpal on Sept 4, 2008 11:02:41 GMT -5
Not really about the article, but I felt I had to share the fact that I was halfway through when I realized it wasn't "Minibar."
'My word, but that is an odd name for an alien race,' I thought. 'Oh, wait. Never mind.'
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Post by Al on Sept 5, 2008 13:05:59 GMT -5
This is not exactly true. He is a religious man, but his faith STEMS from reason, much like the Founding Fathers, Renee DeCartes, and other Rationalists. His religion is explained in later seasons, but you should know that he does NOT dislike religion and spirituality, as long as those things don't get in the way of him upholding his mission to preserve and extend life at all costs. Yeah, a few people have now told me that I've misconstrued some things, but I calls 'em like I sees 'em. Part of the exercise is to see how (or if) my ideas and reflections change as I watch more of the series. I certainly hope that my understanding of everything is going to become more well-rounded as the articles progress. Part of my thinking in picking Babylon 5 to dissect (in addition to what I stated in the article) is because it has a reputation for complex and evolving stories and characters. I don't think experimenting on a more straightforward show (I had also briefly toyed with doing it for Smallville or The Dead Zone) would have the potential to produce the same results. Also, the "first" episode is actually really the second. The real first episode was the pilot movie. If you want to, I can mail to you and let you borrow my collection of all the movies, along with an explanation of "when you should watch them". The offer is appreciated, but my friend Mike has already told me his copies are at my disposal.  I'm definitely planning to. I've been itching to watch Season 2 for nearly a year now. I felt pretty stupid when, seventeen episodes in, I suddenly realized I had been typing something different than what the subtitles were telling me. Oh, the temptation to go back and change things... |
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Post by bladestarr on Sept 5, 2008 19:31:05 GMT -5
Just make sure you rewatch season one if you haven't already before watching season two. In a year, some hints and other things might have slipped from your mind.
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Post by james42 on Sept 7, 2008 8:57:46 GMT -5
Al, welcome to Babylon 5!
I couldn't resist posting on one of my all-time favorite shows, one of only a very, very few I own and watch regularly.
Way, way back, when it was originally airing, my wife and I caught a few episodes of the first season, and to be honest, we were fairly apalled by Sinclair's cheesy acting and the overall stiff dialogue and limp stories. Don't know if it was just our attitude at the time (it was like 2am in the morning and we were exhausting from a weekend of moving).
Anyway, circumstance found us tuned in again about half-way into the second season...and look! Bruce Boxlighter! As if the show couldn't get any sillier...but wait...he's really cool...and oh my, what's going on with this plotline...oh, geez, that's intense...holy cow!....
And we were hooked.
We don't own Season One because we never thought it held up to the quality of season's 2-4, but after reading your article, maybe we WILL buy it. Sinclair did grow on us and we're so endeared to the characters, we may be shorting ourselves by not owning it.
I'd also like to ask everyone...am I the only one who views Babylon 5 as a retelling of Lord of the Rings in space?
***mild spoilers***
Minbari are elves...Narns are Dwarves...Centauri are humans...humans are Hobbits...The Shadows represent Sauron, the Vorlons represent Gandolf's race. The Rangers represent...well, that's pretty obvious.
Sinclair is Bilbo. Sheridan is Frodo. You have an ancient threat, one which tends to be forgotten over time other than by the certain races and prophesies. The only way to defeat this evil is for the races to join forces, but they never will...except this young, niave race manages to bring all the races together....
Countless parallels...Frodo's injury and what happens to Sheridan...blah blah blah. I could go on, but I won't.
***end spoilers***
Anyone else see these connections? And was this intentional? Because it seems obvious (and brilliant) to me.
Anyway...Al, if you enjoyed Season One, JUST YOU WAIT...you ain't seen nuthin' yet...
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Post by bladestarr on Sept 7, 2008 11:46:36 GMT -5
Naw. You're stretching. You could say that each of the races "represent" a billion different things. It's like the clouds in the sky, you see what you want to see.
I saw the history of European war, myself. JMS (the creator) said that he didn't have anything particular in mind when writing the story, he just took pieces of everything and put them into a blender and made a new story out of all those pieces.
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Post by james42 on Sept 7, 2008 12:26:49 GMT -5
Well, admittedly, I could be...it's kind of what I'm known for... However, I still maintain that the commonalities, whether intended or not, are more than vague, and I've always had fun drawing on them when I watch the show. The largest chink in the armour of my defense to the concept is having no correlation to the ring of power itself. But you are right about world history being a big influence as well, and I didn't mean to imply that the LOTR analogy was the only influence. However, I'll still hold to my idea of there be some kind of intention (or at least subconscious inspiration). Naming the planet Zahadum seems at the very least a wink to the viewers to consider it. Though, to be fair, JMS's response to this very question was: "Not really, no...I always imagined that Z'ha'dum was originally the Minbari word for the place, and the Z'ha has echoes in Entil-zha and Isil-zha. The dum (doom) part is obvious. Not to say I wasn't aware of Khazad-dum, but it wasn't on my mind at the time." |
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