It wasn’t even the pilot! It was…A Call To Arms? Whichever movie special started with two special ships an ended with one special ship.
The thing that annoyed me most was the chinese-ish music. Which then grew on me. And then it really annoyed me that it grew on me…
-Joe
Yes and yes.
It grew on me like an irritating fungus. Bloody Evan Chen…I missed Christopher Franke.
And this is why I think TKO is worse than Infection. Both were bad, but Infection at least had those connections to the larger story to partly redeem it. TKO, though, the only connection it had whatsoever to the rest of the series was the B plot about Ivanova coming to peace with her father’s death… And that could have been handled with five minutes of a C plot in a real episode.
Although, what does it say about this show vs. Star Trek, that we insult one of the worst episodes in the series by calling it a TNG episode?
Not fair to TNG; the worst TNG episode still has Patrick Stewart at center stage; nobody in B5 was up to his standards except Jurasik and Katsulsas, and if it’s a Londo or G’Kar episode it is by definition not a bad episode of B5.
And some of the best TNG episodes had Katsulas in them, in fact. He was always fun to watch scheme.
One of those, I think Gray 17 is Missing, was started right before the writers’ strike, and JMS really did stop working on it until the strike was settled. By which time he’d lost the thread of what he was doing. <sigh>
JMS also said that O’Hare had an impossible job, because he had to be the one explaining everything about the universe to the viewer, which meant he had pages of dialogue to deliver.
Really need to dig out those DVDs. And grab the appropriate script book to follow along.
And yet, look at any of his scenes with Kosh, where he’s basically reacting to a jukebox. Or the scene right before he flings himself off the balcony at Z’ha’dum, where he’s looking at what used to be his wife. All the memory and realization and … everything, he put into his face, not a word said. THAT was good.
Then it is JMS’s fault, because he should have hired someone who could do that entertainingly.
Oh, wait. He did. Unfortunately, he’s playing G’Kar.
If you dare to go through the 5th season, the Londo and G’Kar story arc is the only part really worth watching. And I say this as someone who has all 5 seasons on DVD–I just chapter-skip a lot toward the end.
Just dug out my B5 stuff and started watching it over the weekend - still good - well mostly but I could skip over the bad so…
Loved Ivanova (bit od a crush really but don’t tell my then wife :D) G’Kar and Londo - great chemistry both of them had always fun to watch.
Remember one of my friends used to call me Londo - every time I took off my bike helmet - with little hair on top and the hair on the back of my head standing up every time…
And what is it ther ‘The Big Bang Theory’ got againt B5 - Sheldon and the gang wont even watch it :dubious:
There was also the foreshadowing of Garabaldi being betrayed.
IMO: TKO >Infection >Dog doo-doo >Grey 17 is Missing.
None of them were remotely good, though.
Infection was so bad that it nearly made me give up on the series. If I hadn’t had a friend vehemently reassuring me that it gets lots, lots better I think I wouldn’t have made it any further. It reminded me of the worst sort of drecky heavy-handed “message” TNG episodes.
B5 is the Billy Joel of science fiction television. For some reason, the mainstream media sees it is its personal punching bag.
What, the line “Watch your back”? I think someone said that to Garibaldi in every single episode of seasons 1 and 2. It’s not like this one utterance of it really made any difference.
Didn’t Garibaldi get shot at the end of season one? And Gray 17 wasn’t until Season three. I know he got shot before that.
-Joe
We’re referencing TKO.
IIRC, one of the security guards in TKO (the one with the distinctive facial scar) becomes important in mid-season 3, not to bother you with any details.
No, you are wrong. I have read, I believe on the Lurker’s guide, that this was specifically inserted by JMS to hint that Garibaldi should watch his back 'cause he was getting shot in his back soon after.
Here is a quote from the Lurker guide, though I can’t find the more specific one I’ve seen:
I give you “The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari” as an exception to that rule. It was an important part of the character arc but a very silly way to go about it.
If that is the exception, it proves a lot about the rule. That episode is very well acted by Jurasik.