yuuago | Entries tagged with babylon 5

Finished Crusade yesterday.

I enjoyed the series overall! But man, it's definitely a bummer that it got dropped the way that it did. This series had a lot of potential. I do like what we did get, but it could have been so much... more.

"Wait, 13 episodes? That's it?" -> Me when I finally realized.

Even the final episode isn't very final - I mean, they're wrapping it up as much as they can considering the circumstances, but the overall effect makes the series drop off at the end like an ESC ballad, if you know what I mean.

As for the actual content, my thoughts/impressions of plot/characters/etc re: Crusade are pretty much the same as the last entry I posted about it. So there is that.

And so ends my B5 extravaganza. :V For the moment, anyway.

+ Continuing with my "Watch the B5-related things"... thingy. Since my B5 box set had Crusade too, I figured I'd work through that. Just finished up to E8.

+ It's a bummer that Crusade ended up only being 1 season rather than 5, because I would happily watch five seasons of this whole "explore random places looking for information leading to a cure for the plague" premise. ...Though I suppose the original plan was for it to get more plotty as time goes on a la B5. [There is probably information about this out there. I have not looked it up.] But the episodic format is really working for me at the moment.

+ Also wish it was longer 'cause I'd like to get to know Dureena better. There are a lot of times in which she is Ma'am Not Appearing In This Episode and I'd like to see more of her.

+ Ditto Lt Matheson. IDK, that one episode dealing with the telepath issue was compelling, and I'd like to see more episodes where we get to know him better. ...Also Daniel Dae Kim is really hot and like, that's not the most important part but it sure doesn't hurt.

+ Lochley has grown on me a lot over time. I wasn't into her At All at the beginning of B5S5, but as time goes on I'm starting to really like her. I guess it's like, when she was first introduced, she didn't seem like the kind of person who'd go off looking for One Hour of silent time to herself in order to stay sane. (As well as the whole thing with sandwiches with "...whatever this is" on it. You know?)

+ That bit where Dr Chambers punched out that one douchebag in E7 was pretty cool.

+ On the subject of B5-related things, I did watch the first 5 movies (due to coming with my set) but I suspect it's unlikely I'll get around to the other two. Mostly because of my continuing habit of "If I have to download it, I just can't be arsed". It's not that I'm not curious, but yeahhh.

I watched the B5 movie Thirdspace last night. Mainly I appreciated that there was a very decent amount of Ivanova in it. I think I went a bit into Ivanova withdrawl from the lack of her in Season 5. I just missed her so much and I like seeing her on screen no matter what she's doing.

And also that Vir made an appearance. I really liked that part where he was discussing the Artifact with Delenn and Sheridan, and explained that, "You trust each other, and I trust you, but my government does not, and..." etc etc. Because like, that sure is a Situation that he (and Londo, and others) end up juggling a lot, isn't it.

Also - Vir telling Susan about how he saw her in a dream, and how that's good luck (according to him/in Centauri culture/etc), I enjoyed that. Though it makes me wonder - good luck for who, the person who is dreaming or the person that they see? Or is it a mutual situation - good things to come for both of them? Either way, it's a nice thought.

Though it kind of puts a damper on it when you follow it up with "And you got eaten by a monster." Oh, Vir.

Come to think of it, Vir and Ivanova don't interact one-on-one very often, and when they do it tends to get awkward and weird. Like the above. And also that scene from season 3 where Vir gives her a short explanation of Centauri anatomy and mating rituals.

"You see, we have six, ah... we have six, you see, and each one is a different level of intimacy and pleasure. So, you know, first you have one, and that's ...ehhh. Then there's two... and by the time you get up to five it's -" My god Vir why are you going into this level of detail and did you REALLY think it would be a good idea to come to Susan Ivanova for romantic advice of all people asdflkjkk

Susan's expressions really made that scene, pf. Though to be fair she did end up giving him pretty decent advice. :V

I can't actually remember if they have any other scenes where it's just them together. It's possible that were some and that I'm just not remembering them because they were not weird/awkward. ...But I prefer to think that every single time he and Susan have a one-on-one conversation Vir just ends up fumbling things in the most awkward and Vir-like way. Just. Because. Yes.

(Six!)

I watched the B5 movie In the Beginning last night.

Ended up liking it quite a bit! I hadn't realized that I'd wanted more details on how the Earth-Minbari War went down, but here we are.

And of course, more Londo. It had not occurred to me that he would have had any role there, or the Centauri in general for that matter. But now that I think of it, it should have, since it had been previously mentioned that Earth had been in contact with the Centauri at the time. It makes sense that Earth would have asked them for information, at the very least.

So, I enjoyed hearing about Londo's part in how things went down - including that spectacular fuckup, wow. Man, he sure doesn't need Shadow input to go making bad decisions, does he. Guy manages it all by himself.

The real surprise was G'kar, though. Hadn't expected to see him! Was delighted that he was there! And being helpful (though not completely out of altruism, of course, hah). I just really enjoyed whenever he was on the screen, ah.

So, that's two out of five down, since I've also watched the pilot film. Wonder that the other three will be like.

It isn't that I have the hots for Londo per se. But. The costuming (see previous post). Also, Peter Jurasik has a fascinating face. And the crow's feet that show at the corner of his eyes when he smiles are very cute.

One can say what one wants about Londo Mollari, but he is a pretty snappy dresser. His formal outfits are very over-the-top, but they look pretty damn good, and the more casual ones are very to my taste. Embroidery and cravats and waistcoats and whatnot.

Vir too, come to think of it. Obviously, his outfits are more low-key, but a lot of them are quite nice.

I'm not saying I would dress like either of them, but I'm not... not saying that.

I finally finished watching Babylon 5.

I feel kind of like the last handful episodes were one big long drawn-out finale. It works okay when you're watching them one after another, but I wonder how it would have played out when it first came out.

There are some things that I feel like... Ehh. The stuff with the Drakh was not tied up as much as I would have liked. I found myself thinking, "What next?" and then... sudden 20-year jump? Augh. But. Anyway.

I'm really glad that I ended up deciding to watch the whole series. There were some parts of the series that I thought were better than others, some seasons that I liked more than others (though of course now that I'm actually thinking of it, I can't put my finger on specifics) but overall I had a really enjoyable time with it.

Part of me wants to rewatch from the beginning, since I have a feeling that many things from the earlier parts will feel much different when I know what happens later. But, there are so many things on my to-do list, I think I'll save that for another time. I do have access to the movies, though, so I'll watch those.

Londo and G'kar are, as Tik described it, "Something Else. The most situationship of all time". Man, I just find those two and the mess going on between them so very compelling.

I mentioned at one point (or maybe it was just to Tik) that Londo reminds me of Prince Yu from Nirvana in Fire, at least in a few small but significant ways. Mostly related to making horrible decisions out of ambitious/selfishness/etc and then continuing to make horrible decisions even when it bites him in the ass. But if Prince Yu is the personification of "The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math", Londo seems to eventually notice the calculation errors and make some correcting entries in the accounts, though not enough to make it balance properly. ...I think I'm running a little too far with this metaphor.

Apparently I ended up with mister "In purple, I'm stunning" as my B5 blorbo. Quite a surprise that I would become so attached to the embodiment of "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me". (Then again, see above re: Prince Yu.) G'kar is more my typical type - though, I suppose he and Londo are kind of a package deal, considering how he and Londo are so entwined. (Speaking of which, everything re: "Where he goes, I go" is just. Let me sit here a bit with that. Yeahh.)

I feel like I should have more concrete thoughts (or, like, any at all) but frankly my brain is mush right now, so I'll end it here.

Fandom-wise, I have no idea what I might desire - aside from works that explore alien worldbuilding, for any/all of the alien races, which I found myself enjoying in canon but wanting more of in general. (Well, and also anything with well-characterised Londo and/or G'kar.) Whether I will set aside time to go poking around for fic remains to be seen, though.

I love how, in addition to all of the strange and fancy alien spacecraft we see in B5, there are also some literal flying saucers.

My inner kid who loved reading about flying saucers and other various UFOs finds it strangely delightful.

There's this one B5 quote that shows up in a lot of discussions about "badass moments" in fiction etc. I've seen it all over the place, but never had context. It sounded kind of neat the first time around, but after reading through it a hundred times, it got a little stale.

( The quote in question )

But then I watched the episode, and literally went Oh!

Yeah, in context, that moment is pretty damn cool. :D

Finished s2 of B5.

Man, if I'd been into this when I was younger, kid!me would have written so many fixits. I know exactly what kind of thing, too.

(And I'm only halfway through the series, oh boy.)

@ B5 S2E19 my only thoughts are what even.

( Continued, spoilers but kinda vague )

Current status: Finished up to b5s2e8.

+ At one point while watching s1 of b5, I briefly watched the French dub just for kicks. But now while snailing my way through s2, I have noticed that Babylon Cinq is not included on the discs. Perhaps only s1 was dubbed into French? A mystery. Cannot speak on the quality of the dub of course, because I do not speak French, but anyway. An observation.

+ Have found that Lennier's grown on me a bit. Possibly because of some of the S1 episodes he was in. IDK I just find myself thinking "Oh, it's Lennier! Hi!"

+ Londo continues to be amuse me and be terribly grating at the same time. IDK. He inspires a lot of reactions.

+ That one bit where Ivanova helps Delenn with her hair was cute. Like. Very cute. I enjoyed that.

+ I see I have reached the "halfassed shipping" point in my experience of this series. And by that I mean "I have no intention to write this, and probably would not seek it out, but I am enjoying entertaining the thought of it for the span of five minutes or so". Idk. Ivanova/Delenn, Ivanova/Talia, Delenn/Sheridan apparently, etc etc etc. [/waves hand vaguely] Not feeling seriously intense about anything, but yes, enjoyable for a bit. I guess one good scene can be enough to make me want to consider something.

+ idk. I have no brains. And no further commentary. Except that b5 + a halfway decent pinot grigio is an A+++ combination.

This evening consisted of watching Babylon 5 and knitting (+wine). Which is not a bad way to spend one of the last days of the year if I do say so myself.

It Is To be Said that Londo is 500% more hilarious after a few glasses. Which considering I already find him Quite Amusing, is Very Hilarious.

And also. I have finally met

kanadka's blorbo. HI NEROON. (Or at least I am assuming Neroon is your blorbo because you write about him A Lot, plz do correct me if I am incorrect old buddy old pal)

I have four episodes left of season 1 and I am Bound And Determined to finishe s1 before 2024 even if the thought of watching that amount of television two days in a row would usually make me want to vom.

What can I say, babylon 5 is Very Entertaining in general and also very good to watch while knitting a sock.

...I should probably go to bed.

This past week was far too exhausting. After that whole drama with my refrigerator dying, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, taking care of purchasing a new one and arranging to get it delivered and so on. The new fridge is in place, and everything seems to be going fine with it, so... That's that! Definitely more fuss than I would have liked to deal with, but here we are.

Anyway. This weekend, I managed to get all my Christmas present wrapping done. If I'll be honest, I'm kind of Christmased out by now. And have been for almost a month. This season is so exhausting, man, and I can hardly wait for January.

...Despite being Christmased out, when I decided to take some downtime today, I ended up watching The Muppet Christmas Carol. It still holds up. "A Christmas Carol" has always been one of my favourite Dickens works, and the Muppet version is a really good adaptation (Muppets and all). And they didn't have to go as hard as they did with the costuming, but I totally appreciate it.

Also watched a little B5 this weekend. I've finished S1E12 now. The more I watch it, the more I think that - when I was much younger, I was really into space-y science fiction stuff, and I think kid!me might have enjoyed this. Though possibly I would have found it too serious at the time. Hard to say! Anyway, I'm very glad that I'm experiencing it now. Going to keep snailing along with it. So far I don't have any deep thoughts. I enjoy G'kar more as time goes on. Londo cracks me up. Talia would've been kid!me's favourite, at least from what I see so far.

(I wish I had more free time so I could watch more. And catch up to Tik. Who is very far ahead of me and has been having Thoughts but has been kindly cutting them so I won't be spoiled for this decades-old show. Dude's a real class act. <3 )

I hope you all had a great weekend.