shudder.

Coming back to this one...

I was reading about the Julius Caesar last night, and apparently putting somebody's head on a pike as a warning was very common practice in Rome especially amongst the politicians. I've always figured the Centauri were a spin on the Romans, so therefore...

I believe you are correct.

What happened is that they filmed the series finale, "Sleeping in Light," as 422, in case season 5 didn't get made. When season 5 was given a go-ahead, they moved 422 back to the end of the series, and shot "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" as 501, and aired it as the fourth season finale. I actually have Stephen Furst's director's copy of the #501 script, complete with his filming notes on each scene, camera angles, etc. Very cool.

Weird night...I can't get away from this show.

I think it's the first day in a while that I haven't watched any B5 because I got two DVDs from blockbuster today and wanted to get them mailed tomorrow.

Anyway, one of them was Dawn of the Dead (2004) and one of the extras on that was a newscast describing the zombie outbreak. The anchor was the same guy who plays Franklin, which was bad enough considering that he's supposedly dead, but about 15 minutes in, they broadcast a radio message from the president, who is played by Bruce Boxleitner!

Fucking weird.

Good info...and sorry you couldn't get a better episode.

G'night fellas.

I kinda like Deconstruction, actually. (My favorite bit is towards the end, when the "future human" ship has a Ranger logo on the side.) Sure, it's a little bit "Canticle of Liebowitz," but it does have some nice ideas about the nature of history and how our actions are viewed by the future.

I do have some other scripts -- a signed copy of Gerrold's "Believers," for one, and just a regular copy of "Sleeping in Light." I actually had the SiL script a couple weeks after they filmed it, a year before it aired. For someone who loved B5 spoilers (and who kept the web's first ever B5 episode guide), that was a real test of will -- to see how long I could have that script and not read it.

I lasted three minutes.

But, and I am proud of myself, I never said a word about it until after it aired. Didn't want to spoil all those amazing surprises.

I don't know if you are reading the lurker's guide or not ( know it was mentioned early in this thread), but this episode ("intersections...") was to be the oriiginal finale to season 4 had JMS been sure there would be a fifth season. A few plot points in early season 5 would have occured in season 4 and "Into the Fire" would have been a two parter. It looks like either way you would have been disappointed with the season finale.

Oddly, I don't think so.

"intersections" *might* have worked as a season finale, as long as they showed what was going on with somebody besides Sheridan. It could have made a nice cliffhanger IMO if done properly. They could have left Sheridan in custody, played out the whole Ivanova mortal injury thing, and finished with the Garabaldi/Bester scene.

I'm mostly sitting out the lurker's guide this go-round. I find that a lot of the speculation on the episode guide influence my interpretation of the show, and I prefer to draw my own conclusions. My second time through, I'll use it religiously.

I thought Intersections in Real Time was an awesome episode. The first time around. It has almost no reply value for me. I still think it's a great episode, but I just can't get into it now that I've seen it before.

I did it just the opposite. The first time through I read the Guide after every episode. Now, my second time through, I'm watching without the Guide, but I'm also watching all of the special features which I skipped the first time through to avoid spoilers.

Ah-ha! So you're Kittydreamer's husband!

I find that all of the "Wham" episodes have great replay value, and only a few of the "non-Wham" episodes have poor replay value. I haven't gotten to Intersections yet, but I think I will enjoy rewatching that one.

I've been found out.

I'd love to hear what you think the second time around. It's probably my least favorite to watch (and I've probably seen the entire series about a dozen times now). It's one of the better episodes, but the suspense is gone now and that's all it really had to offer in my opinion. It just bores me now.

Yes, yes you have and now stay out of otter!

In the Beginning

Well done. My only beef is that it's the sort of thing that shrinks the universe. Too many of the major B5 characters were there. Sort of like the little cameos in the Star Wars prequels. Though their presence does make a lot more sense in the big scheme of things.

Not really much new either...it just filled in a few blanks about the roles of the other races in the human-minbari war.

High production values and well written. I liked that Londo told the story right before calling for "the prisoners". That was a nice bit of writing.

No Compromises

Not a bad episode per se, but the drastic changes in personnel and their respective jobs seems unneccessary and a bit forced. I'm sure they'll sort it all out though.

A new commander that they said was there to replace Ivanova, but was apparently there to replace Sheridan. She wears the earth uniform, but nobody else does...which begs the question "Who the hell does **ANYBODY** work for?" At any rate, she seems OK. It looks like the angle they are going for is that she was on the other side during the war...which begs the question "Was she helping the assassin?" Sheridan said that he wouldn't undermine her, but it only took him a day to do just that.

Garabaldi is back as a civilian in some made up job, which sounds about right. I'm an officer in the Air Force, and I see it all the time.

Finally, a new telepath colony...apparently the one they talked about in the S4 finale. Lots of new folks to introduce and tons of exposition in this one, I guess for new viewers. Was there a big gap between seasons?

Anyway, LOVE LOVE LOVE the new credits and theme music. Whoever asked about that earlier on, I can already tell that this is going to be my favorite.

I miss Ivanova.

The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari

Lennier is leaving!?!?!?! I really liked him too. The bloodbath continues. It feels like we're going to spend the first half of this season just figuring out who everybody is and thier respective roles.

Londo's heart attack didn't offer up much in the way of suspense since we know where he ends up, but his dream was full of symbolism. I especially liked Sheridan's changing clothes. I guess he will be the next "One" after all, which doesn't make a ton of sense as long as Delenn is alive.

A cameo by the new Captain would have been nice...just to remind us who's supposedly running things now.

Overall a decent episode, but completely skippable.

I think at some point I may make a list of the pivotal episodes and just watch *them* marathon style...skipping the ones like this and "intersections" that are nice little character pieces but have little consequence otherwise.

It was a very short gap between season 4 and season 5: Nov 97 to Jan 98. It's the fact the show went from syndication to a cable network that a lot of those things needed to be done.

I missed Ivanova too.
I never warmed to Lochley.

Finally, I agree with you on something. This has always been my favorite as well. It's just so epic and is a great reminder of the incredible journey of this show.

das

I'd imagine we agree on a lot. I would categorize myslelf as a big "fan" of the show. I just have a tendency to sound negative when I post.


Agreed. The whole "It was the year..." tone poem in S4 was pretty good too, but the direct quotes from the show (many from departed characters) were selected brilliantly and the new music is...yeah, I think "epic" is the right word.

Rowwwrrr. Waaaaapsssschhhhhhhhht.

The relationship between Delenn and Sheridan is one of my favorite parts of the show, and I really enjoyed both "Intersections in Real Time" and "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars".

das

I see. It sure seemed like a completely fresh start when that probably wasn't necessary.

I can't really speak to Lochley yet, but Ivanova was a key element IMO. She was like the anchor for the show. The one person you can always count on that you end up taking for granted. I think every workplace has one. She wasn't exceptionally gifted in any particular area, but her actions always came from a good place and she always did her best...even when she couldn't get a break.

Lennier and Vir are sort of anchors too, but they are more minor characters...plus Lennier is gone too, apparently. Sigh.

Well OK, there *is* that.

But I'm guessing a lot of the elements of the show that I did like (pretty much everything else), you enjoyed as well. For what it's worth, even the Earth conspiracy stuff grew on me in S4.

As for Delenn and Sheridan, I was rooting for Lennier.

I think this way would be best, too. I read a little of the lurkers guide, generally when I wanted some clarification on something or I was trying to remember where I was at (when I was downloading eps P2P because I was too desperate to wait for the DVD release of S4).

Lennier isn't altogether gone, Chess, don't despair. Not like Ivanova is gone.

The season is worth watching, Chess. The telepath arc some people find boring, but I think it was decent. Depends on how you feel about the whole telepath thing. It includes a couple of key moments about the telepaths (one especially in a Bester episode). The clan of telepaths led by Byron creeps people out - my wife was especially creeped out by them - and a lot of people don't seem to find the story interesting. I did. This results in lukewarm feelings about the season, along with Ivanova being gone (this story would have been a lot better with Ivanova in charge of the station). Altough unlike other parts of the show, it doesn't have the kind of rewatchability as most other parts, it's still pretty good.

And interspersed with the telepath story is an important story about the Alliance. Mandatory watching

The season 5 credits are awesome. The most rewatchable credits ever. I totally watch the credits (or at least the first minute or so) almost every time I watch S5. The music and the chosen soundclips really illustrate how far the show has gone since the beginning.

Glad you like the new S5 music and credits. "And so it begins" sounds so cool as the first line.

Despite people saying that season 5 is weaker than the preceding 3, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's about the consequences and the aftermath of the two wars, and I think it has A LOT of character development. If you were impressed with the way the people evolved during the first four seasons, you will continue to be impressed with changes in season 5. Things are definitely not stagnant in the last season. On the contrary, they keep moving.......

enjoy.

Thirdspace

I'm pretty disappointed that I'm watching this movie out of order. For some reason, I got it into my head that all the movies were after S4, but this one was in the middle of S4.

At any rate, it's largely a standalone affair, and a pretty decent one. It was nice to revisit and see Ivanova again and the basic premise was pretty interesting. The production values and writing were a step or two above the average weekly episode.

Nukes seem to be pretty effective in space combat, yet nobody seems to employ them...except Sheridan.

Oddly, my favorite parts were the little romance scenes. I think I actually detected a bit of chemistry between Sheridan and Delenn, and knowing that Lyta ends up in the teep cult makes the elevator scene with Zack all the more gut wrenching.

Anyway, that out of the way, back on track...

The Paragon of Animals

OK, first of all, I'm officially weirded out by Fabio and his cult. During the course of this and the next few episodes I watched today, it's obvious that these guys are big trouble, and this Byron guy has a big time Charles Manson/David Koresh thing going on.

I've tried to get on board with this telepath arc, but so far it's leaving me a bit cold. Though considering how amazing S3 and S4 were, it would be tough not to be a bit let down.

But I press on...

BTW, the declaration was a fairly profound bit of writing.

A View from the Gallery

A view of a generic crisis from a couple of everymen...

I'm guessing that this one probably isn't terribly well regarded since it's a bit tongue in cheek, but I liked it. I'm not sure that I can defend it though, so I'll just move on.

Learning Curve

So the new Captain was on the wrong side in the war after all...and she goes off on Garabaldi. I guess she's a worthwhile replacement for Ivanova, and I do like the angle of her and Sheridan having a past.

I think we're missing some of the quirkiness from the other seasons. All of the characters, save G'Kar, have gotten kind of boring lately.

The little ranger story was kind of interesting, but inconsequential and not terribly moving.

Strange Relations

I hate when they tease me. I was kind of hopeful that Bester would get Fabio and company the hell off of B5, but I guess that was hoping for too much. Plus Lyta is apparently in the cult as well now.

My girlfriend is rooting for Zack for what it's worth.

The new Captain is a "by the book" type...sort of like Sinclair was. Know the rules and work within them.

Secrets of the Soul

So the Vorlons were behind the development of telepaths...well, no shit...though I guess they had to show it sometime. It looks like Fabio is ready to make his move.

So they finally had a straight up sex scene. And they couldn't have done that for Ivanova and Talia?!?!?

General Thoughts

We are off to a pretty shaky start for S5. It's like JMS doesn't know what to do with ANYBODY right now and we're back in S1 mode. Also, the way the teep-normal conflict is being handled is pretty weak. I guess they had to put something on B5 that Bester would want, but this little cult thing is laying it on a bit thick IMO. Fortunately, it looks like the arc is playing out pretty quick.

It's also probably not fair to compare with S3 and S4, which were both amazing...especially S4. I'm not sure how you top that, and I think JMS might have used up a few of his early S5 storylines in S4.

At any rate, I press on...looking forward to the finale and wondering how they'll work Ivanova back into it and the new Captain out of it (since it was apparently already shot).

This episode would have been early season 4 according to things JMS has posted and it would have been the shadows attacking rather than some random alien. I honestly think that would have all the difference to make this episode great.