Comments on Existence is Wonderful: Babylon 5: More Fun Than A Barrel of...Vorlons?

B5 was also one of my favorite shows. Star Trek DS...

2008-05-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

B5 was also one of my favorite shows. Star Trek DS9 basically used some of basic plot themes. JMS had presented B5 to paramount. But the star Treking of DS9 made it sufficiently different.

I like the internal logic of B5 not just through the story ark and the years of the show but the overall mythology of the universe long before and long after.

Star Trek does not make sense in terms of very powerful races just kid of floating around for one episode and then not being involved. ie. Organians

Or supertech from dead races not being a fundmental area of focus.
ie. Guardian of forever.

It is the general lack of a reset button at the end of each show and the one of existance of something huge which is then ignored. Like a reality where nuclear bombs end WW2 and then everyone forgets about nuclear weapons.

that being said the stories with Star Trek, Next Gen and DS9 were entertaining in spite of limitations.

No science fiction series comes close to what I believe would be a likely projection of future direction for civilization or technology.

In a hundred years or so the situations will not be as relatable to what we currently understand. Also, to write something that captures the reasonable expected complexity would be difficult. Even writing about the past in a convincing and comprehensive way is difficult. Some successes are "Band of Brothers" about part of WW2.

I think the encounters people aliens of different technology levels would be more like Humanity meets dodo birds or a more lopsided version of western civilization meets Aztecs.

Xuenay: OK, consider me convinced! *runs off to re...

2008-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Xuenay: OK, consider me convinced! *runs off to read some of Lurker's Guide* :D

I actually think that the Lurker's Guide is the be...

2008-05-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

I actually think that the Lurker's Guide is the best to read while watching the series, not after - watching one or a couple of episodes at the time, then reading the synopses of those episodes afterwards. The reason being that each synopsis only contains information up to that episode - no spoilers for the future ones, unless you count JMS's extremly vague tidbits as such - and each synopsis has an "unanswered questions" section and an "analysis" section, which are possibly the most fun to read when you don't already know what the answers will be, and which parts of the speculation in the analysis section will hit the mark and which ones are totally off.

Incidentially, the Crusade episodes are listed JMS's preferred order on the Lurker's episode listing. (Though the Crusade synopses are probably written in the order that the show aired, so if you're going by the revised order, the "you can't be spoiled" rule probably won't hold.)

Xuenay: I've been sem-holding-off on the Lurker's ...

2008-05-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

Xuenay: I've been sem-holding-off on the Lurker's Guide pending actually finishing the series, but I am very much looking forward to, er, lurking through it. :D It's really cool that JMS stayed so involved with the whole thing -- it's so totally obvious that B5 was his "baby". And as far as what he's like as a person -- considering he's friends with Harlan Ellison, I'm guessing "thick-skinned and definitely not boring".

Nic: Cool, thanks for the tip...I will definitely ...

2008-05-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Nic: Cool, thanks for the tip...I will definitely be tracking down "Crusade". I'm assuming there's some way to find out what JMS's preferred order is...

Catana: I didn't say a Vorlon was my hero -- I'm ...

2008-05-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Catana: I didn't say a Vorlon was my hero -- I'm not really the hero-worship type to begin with.

You know how sometimes people get fascinated by things like vaccuum cleaners or train schedules? That's more where I'm at with Vorlons. :)

I think they have nifty encounter suits and ships and I'm also generally intrigued by sci-fi civilizations that are extremely old. Fascination with a fictional character or species does not equal political agreement or moral admiration -- for me it equals, "Wow, these guys are really interesting from a structural/technical/mythological/character standpoint".

Character-wise, I suppose, it could be said that Kosh acted somewhat heroically on several occasions. But that doesn't make him my hero. :P

(now, if I found out he was actually nurturing a nest of abandoned kittens under the shower curtain, that might be another story. :) )

If you haven't found it yet, do check out the epis...

2008-05-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

If you haven't found it yet, do check out the episode synopses over at the Lurker's Guide ( http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html ). Every episode synopsis has behind-the-scenes commentary from J. Michael Straczynski himself, often with commentary about the underlying themes and philosophy, compiled from his newsgroup posts. I've felt that reading those comments has opened up the series on a whole new level for me, as well as helping me find out what JMS is like as a person.

Never thought anyone would turn a Vorlon into thei...

2008-05-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

Never thought anyone would turn a Vorlon into their hero, but they're certainly a fascinating race. I also had a hard time getting into B5 originally, but mostly because the first season *was* kind of cheesy, and some of the choices for featured actors were weak. G'Kar was my favorite character, in a show that had loads of wonderful characters. I'll probably be putting it in my Netflix queue soon for another round of watching.

Glad you finally discovered the wonders of the B5 universe. Something to watch for, if you're familiar with Lord of the Rings is the many many influences from Tolkien.

Hi. I'm glad you're enjoying B5! Incidentally, if ...

2008-05-05T04:37:00.000-07:00

Hi. I'm glad you're enjoying B5! Incidentally, if you go on to watch the few existing episodes of "Crusade", I suggest you make sure you watch them in JMS's preferred order, which is different from both the airing order and (in some editions at least) the order on the DVDs. Everything makes a lot more sense that way, and is much more enjoyable!

Nic