If you could change one thing about B5...

[calloutdrummer1247]

Okay, how about this? If I was to change one thing about Babylon 5, I would have Adira come back after a few months, like before the Morden episode. I would want to see how the relationship develops and grows between her and Londo. How would it change him? Would his future be the same or would his conversation with Morden be vastly different?

Would things happen alot differently and have a much happier ending? That's something I like to see.

What do you think? He just seemed so happy with Adira and willing to drop appearances and his mask with her.

[Jan]

True, I just really wish it had a different ending for Londo. I was really rooting for that guy!

I think most of us were. But B5 is about choices and consequences. Thing is, though...and this all depends on what you believe...but on this re-watch, pay attention to the predictions that Lady Morella makes. I've always thought that Londo did find redemption in the end...whatever that means.

Jan

[calloutdrummer1247]

True, I just really wish it had a different ending for Londo. I was really rooting for that guy!

[Jan]

Uh yeah...and then the other Drakh would have set off the fusion bombs and destroyed his entire planet.

Even though we only 'meet' one Drakh, we saw many of them leave and Shivkala (a name we only learned from the Centauri Trilogy of books) always refers to the Drakh in multiples so you know his people are around, if unseen.

Jan

[JoeD80]

Here he was changing, wanting peace and the best for his people and the next thing he knows he is infested by a keeper. And what makes it tragic was that he felt that he had no choice. I think he should've grabbed a gun when he had a chance and blew that Drahk's head right off.

Uh yeah...and then the other Drakh would have set off the fusion bombs and destroyed his entire planet.

[calloutdrummer1247]

If there is one thing I would change about Babylon 5, it would be the Londo story line. He is one of the most tragic characters I've ever known on TV. Here he was changing, wanting peace and the best for his people and the next thing he knows he is infested by a keeper. And what makes it tragic was that he felt that he had no choice. I think he should've grabbed a gun when he had a chance and blew that Drahk's head right off.

At any rate, the change I would make would come from the two part episode on Babylon 4. From my perspective, and being spoiled by Star Trek, they could've changed the future. Making the future, unwritten.

I would change it so that Sheridan heeds Delann's warning not to go to Za'ha'dum. I would also make it so that they have the Drahk war in the final season and drive off the drahk's for good, before Londo gets the keeper attached to him. It would end almost he same but no keeper. And G'Kar continuing to act as Londo's bodyguard. And my love for happy endings would have them continue to be on the advisory council.

And no telepath war. Just someone granting the telepaths a planet so they can be left alone. I mean why didn't they do that at the beginning of season 5? When Byron was asking for a planet to settle on, instead they get a colony on Babylon 5. Very dangerous since they have their own set of rules and culture. Okay, I admit I skimmed through the last season because I was looking forward to seeing what happens with Londo and the Drahk.

[sarthaz]

Those Sinclair/Sakai scenes you reference are some of my favorite.

Interesting. I really liked Sakai and was frustrated that she ultimately had to get written out of the show. However, watching the series back recently, it was her scenes with Sinclair that really underscored to me why the show needed Boxleitner so much. Bruce was a little over-the-top at times, but when he starts talking about Anna in "Revelations", there's a deep emotion connection there that I wasn't feeling with Sinclair. The show needed that.

Which brings me to this post ...

I would like to have seen a season 1 that had John Sheridan as a recurring background character and a season 2 and maybe season 3 also that continued to see Jeffrey Sinclair as a recurring (more often) character. Even though replacing Sinclair had behind-the-scenes reasons, I still like the original cover story that too much of the main story arc was wrapped up in one character and needed to be split up. So, I would like to have seen Sheridan's command experiences aboard the Agamemnon and his growing suspicion of anti-alien politics. And, I'd also really like to see what life was like for Sinclair on Minbar with him becoming Ranger One in less than half a year and how he prepared for what happened on Babylon 4 a year after that.

I love this. One of my disappointments with the show was how they never got the chance to really establish the love-awakens-the-Shadows story properly. From Sykes to Sakai to Anna #1 to Anna #2, by the time of the big moment, that whole storyline ended up resting on Bruce's acting shoulders to sell a story that we never got to see. How great would it have been if they could have slowly built that story, where the audience lives with them being in love and then has her suddenly ripped from the show, and we feel and adjust to Sheridan's loss only to have her re-appear in "Shadow Dancing". She wouldn't even need to say "I'm Anna Sheridan ... John's wife." We'd know, and our jaws would drop like that snow globe.

So, yeah, that's my answer to the question in this thread. I would have liked the Sinclair/Sheridan transition to dove-tail more cleanly (as if it were planned from the beginning), affording the opportunity to see more of the Agamemnon (I always loved those scenes), more of Sinclair's time on Minbar, and more of the love affair between Sheridan and Catherine Sakai. That's right

[WorkerCaste]

On a slightly different tack and something a little subtle, I would have changed it so that B5 got picked up early each season and got a modest increase in per episode budget each year.

[Jan]

can I cheat and say IÆd change the contract from WB and give Joe all rights to B5, in perpetuity.

On that line, given Joe's hard work and obvious success now, can he not just *buy* the darned thing back, I'm actually pondering asking him this on his facebook page, but will now to her supreme Jan-ness in judgement afore me.

JMS has mentioned a few times now that he's negotiating for the TV rights which would enhance the movie rights he already holds (because nobody really wants to finance a movie that can't eventually be sold to TV). As for buying it outright...how much would he be able to offer for that property that's earned WB well over 500 million dollars over the years (the one figure we know from DVD sales)? JMS is very successful but I doubt he could ever make that kind of offer and WB isn't likely to look at it as the property they're not inclined to market as long as they know there might be a buyer.

At least, that's my thinking from way over here in the cheap seats.

Jan

[phazedout]

can I cheat and say IÆd change the contract from WB and give Joe all rights to B5, in perpetuity.

On that line, given Joe's hard work and obvious success now, can he not just *buy* the darned thing back, I'm actually pondering asking him this on his facebook page, but will now to her supreme Jan-ness in judgement afore me.
Phaze
on the "I am sadly cat-less, I miss my furry family " ID

[sarthaz]

It really drives me crazy when I see people say this. Yes, they are great actors. But the reason Londo and G'Kar are good characters? It's because the writing was good. I think it was an interview with Peter I was reading where he was asked how he made Londo come to life so well, and he said something like, "I just do what Joe writes."

Please don't misunderstand what I was saying. I'm not saying they transcended bad writing -- Londo and G'Kar are two of the best written characters in the history of television. But Joe's not perfect, and every now and then he wrote a line of dialogue or an entire scene that was a bit of a clunker or simply needed a little extra "oomph" from the performance. All I was saying is that during those (rare) times, an exceptional actor (like Peter or Andreas) can elevate a weak or average scene in a way other cannot.

[JoeD80]

he does have a tendancy to give characters longer chunks of dialogue, of the type that you'd rarely use in a normal conversation. It's that tendancy towards long monologues that sometimes creeps into exchanges between characters. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE some of those monologues, but it's a stylistic tick that sometimes lets the writing down, especially when he's dealing with more casual conversations between two or more people.

I personally think that is one of Joe's *strengths* in script writing. Those Sinclair/Sakai scenes you reference are some of my favorite.

But, seriously, doesn't everybody hate Byron?

No.

Ivanova was too smart & independent to get mixed up with Byron

The point was she would have her latent telepathic ability brought in to play by him, and that she would see similarity to Marcus. Normally she wouldn't get involved, but there are extenuating circumstances leading to it.

[*]Since JMS chose to explore the technomages further in Crusade, a few of the TV movies, and a couple of the book trilogies (there were some in the Centauri trilogy too, if I remember correctly), what if he had explored them further in the main series instead of just the one season 2 episode?[/LIST]

Well the thing is they had to be far away since they are effectively the Shadow equivalent of the telepaths - the weapon created for their side in the Vorlon/Shadow conflict. Apparently JMS had been toying with the idea of Elric being the one Sheridan meets on Z'ha'dum though.

Wasn't one of the Vorlon colonies we saw near the end of the Shadow War built into the side of an asteroid?

Yep.

I like the the whole Earth Force military concept and what we've seen of life on board a Dreadnaught.

Along these lines I would have liked to see Ivanova in command of the Earth ship in season five - so we could see her dealing with the Shadow tech that was installed.

[Ninja_Squirrel]

Well...technically we did, albeit only a tiny bit of it. When Lyta opened her mind to Byron, we saw the cavern and tanks where babies were being altered.

Jan

It's funny you mentioned it. I just watched that episode, "Secrets of the Soul," this morning. However, are you sure it was a cavern? Maybe it was, and I just didn't pay enough attention to the walls. I always considered the possibility that it was a ship, a space station, or even if it was in a cavern, it could have been a colony world instead of the homeworld.

You may be right because I think Lyta did say she had been to the homeworld, but it doesn't mean she couldn't have been taken somewhere else within Vorlon space too. Wasn't one of the Vorlon colonies we saw near the end of the Shadow War built into the side of an asteroid?

[DaveNarn]

So, I would like to have seen Sheridan's command experiences aboard the Agamemnon and his growing suspicion of anti-alien politics.

I've speculated about this as well.

I like the the whole Earth Force military concept and what we've seen of life on board a Dreadnaught.
John Sheridan commanding the Agamemnon could have made for some compelling stories.

Maybe assign him to B5 midway through season 2.

[Jan]

[*]What if we had actually gotten to see the Vorlon homeworld.

Well...technically we did, albeit only a tiny bit of it. When Lyta opened her mind to Byron, we saw the cavern and tanks where babies were being altered.

Jan