Just subscribled to them a few days ago, so maybe I'll check that out this weekend.
Babylon 5 to be Rebooted on the CW
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Its pretty awesome, especially given when it was made!
That was explained in the pilot movie, but it's elaborated upon in a later episode that has David Warner as a guest star.
As mentioned above, it was covered but here is a general spoiler free summary I found online:
The Babylon Project began in 2248 after the resolution of the Earth-Minbari War, the war itself being the inspiration for the project's foundations. Babylons 1 through 3 were all destroyed during their construction by acts of sabotage. Finally, Babylon 4 was constructed and brought online in 2254, then disappeared a mere twenty-four hours later.
Just got done with episode 10, about halfway through season 1. So far, so good. It's still very episodic but I can see some overarching plot points creeping in and it's done a good job of giving some backstories to the main crew.
It's also a good example of how different the messages are in the writing. Or as I like to say "teaching, rather than preaching" in these episodes. At that time, and much before it, when modern issues were put at the forefront of episodes they were done in such a way to give people something to think about. These days you get more of a heavy handed "This is what you're supposed to think and if you don't then you're one of the bad guys!" mindsets.
In this episode, the wacky religious weirdos didn't want to let the doctor operate on their kid because their "beliefs" dictated that his soul would shoot out of his body if it got cut open. The doctor thought they were idiots and wanted to save the kid, it was brought to the commander but instead of instantly siding with the doctor he sided with the weirdos because he says whether he believes it or not it's not his place, or the overall space station's place, to dictate otherwise, no matter how bad of an idea it might seem.
I feel like to that point, you wouldn't see that in a modern telling of that story, but it didn't end there - the doctor decided that he was just going to do it anyway and save the kid's life. So he went against their wishes and performed the operation. The boy lived and again, if today's story had gotten that far that seems like it would have been the end of it.
But no, it went even further where the parents believed their son was already dead and the body no longer had a soul so they put it out of its misery and killed their own son. That was tragic and preventable and despite doing the right (in our mind) thing, the doctor still wound up making things worse. Anyway, it just seems a lot less clear cut compared to how things are done now, and it's a very timeless narrative in our society. Especially when you see how it mirrors, to some degree, the faith healing nonsense and anti-vax stuff.
The main difference between that portrayal and the kinds of portrayals we see today is that in that case, as a viewer, you were presented with both points of view and had to draw your own conclusions instead of actively making the religious parents seem like the "bad guys". Even if you didn't agree with them, you at least got a chance to understand why they felt they were right and truly believed in what they were doing was in their son's best interest.
Anyway, on to the next.
It's also a good example of how different the messages are in the writing. Or as I like to say "teaching, rather than preaching" in these episodes. At that time, and much before it, when modern issues were put at the forefront of episodes they were done in such a way to give people something to think about. These days you get more of a heavy handed "This is what you're supposed to think and if you don't then you're one of the bad guys!" mindsets.
In this episode, the wacky religious weirdos didn't want to let the doctor operate on their kid because their "beliefs" dictated that his soul would shoot out of his body if it got cut open. The doctor thought they were idiots and wanted to save the kid, it was brought to the commander but instead of instantly siding with the doctor he sided with the weirdos because he says whether he believes it or not it's not his place, or the overall space station's place, to dictate otherwise, no matter how bad of an idea it might seem.
I feel like to that point, you wouldn't see that in a modern telling of that story, but it didn't end there - the doctor decided that he was just going to do it anyway and save the kid's life. So he went against their wishes and performed the operation. The boy lived and again, if today's story had gotten that far that seems like it would have been the end of it.
But no, it went even further where the parents believed their son was already dead and the body no longer had a soul so they put it out of its misery and killed their own son. That was tragic and preventable and despite doing the right (in our mind) thing, the doctor still wound up making things worse. Anyway, it just seems a lot less clear cut compared to how things are done now, and it's a very timeless narrative in our society. Especially when you see how it mirrors, to some degree, the faith healing nonsense and anti-vax stuff.
The main difference between that portrayal and the kinds of portrayals we see today is that in that case, as a viewer, you were presented with both points of view and had to draw your own conclusions instead of actively making the religious parents seem like the "bad guys". Even if you didn't agree with them, you at least got a chance to understand why they felt they were right and truly believed in what they were doing was in their son's best interest.
Anyway, on to the next.
I remember that episode, but I don't remember it making the parents out to be anything other than religious fanatics.
Most members of real-life cults that object to various medical treatments would never cross the line of actually killing someone for receiving forbidden treatment, and the few that have were either found guilty of murder or declared legally insane.
The child-murdering so-called parents in the episode were, in other words, written as even worse than the real-life people they were intended to be parallel to, and the apparent fictional law as even more flawed than actual present-day law.
I don't see how anyone can think the episode was not taking a clear stance.
And I also can't think of many modern works, excluding those literally for children, that have messages that are any clearer.
The child-murdering so-called parents in the episode were, in other words, written as even worse than the real-life people they were intended to be parallel to, and the apparent fictional law as even more flawed than actual present-day law.
I don't see how anyone can think the episode was not taking a clear stance.
And I also can't think of many modern works, excluding those literally for children, that have messages that are any clearer.
Well season 1 is completed. Kind of a stilted cliff hanger that didn't seem to have a lot of pacing from the crumbs dropped throughout the season, but it was cohesive enough that it all made sense in the context of the universe.
I can't really think of a bad episode in the entire season but the fight club guy episode was probably my least favorite.
I can't really think of a bad episode in the entire season but the fight club guy episode was probably my least favorite.
Kal, if you're not familiar with it, check out the old episode guides still found here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html
It includes JMS's direct interactions with the fans on Usenet in the "jms speaks" sections for each episode. The whole site is very web 1.0 and it's a fun time capsule to that time in online fandom.
It includes JMS's direct interactions with the fans on Usenet in the "jms speaks" sections for each episode. The whole site is very web 1.0 and it's a fun time capsule to that time in online fandom.
Well, I knew at some point there would be a new guy running the station. I looked up why Sinclair was removed from the show and it's a pretty sad reason. Hope I can warm up to the Scarecrow and Mrs. King guy because I really liked Sinclair.
Trust me, Sheridan is an awesome character and remember Sinclair is still alive, just reassigned. Also season 2 introduces Alfred Bester. Every episode he shows up in is gold.(Frankly, given Koenig's portrayal of Bester, Star Trek didn't do him justice)
Season Five was a victim of JMS fearing the show wouldn't get a Season 5, and thus rushing to wrap up the vital stuff so the show would have some sort of conclusion. Plus he apparently lost his notes for that season at a hotel, so all he had left was the story threads involving Centauri Prime and the telepath colony. The former was pretty interesting, but the latter...