Watching B5 with C&T - S4

[Looney]

[*]It had the (unintended) consequence of making Sheridan's mock execution even more believable

I guess I can see that as being a good outcome.

[alpha128]

"Endgame"

I introduced this one by reminding them that in "No Surrender, No Retreat", Sheridan had declared, "We're going to take back our home. Or die trying." I said this was it: Endgame.

At the beginning, when Marcus was watching over Ivanova, C smugly reiterated her "knowledge" that Ivanova was going to die because Claudia Christian asked for more money. T said, "We don't know that." C replied, "I do know that, I looked it up on the Internet. Tell him I'm right." I said, "You'll find out." C also remarked that Delenn looked like she was constipated.

C referred to Sheridan's fleet, waiting in hyperspace, as "quite the traffic jam." She also asked me the significance of Sheridan's ship the Agamemnon. I said he was a Greek hero who won the Trojan War only to be killed when he got home.

T as usual enjoyed the humor, e.g., Garibaldi's "Snow White" inspired radio codes and Gen. Lefcourt's assessment that "the enemy just pulled our shorts up over our head and tied them into a knot." Unfortunately they didn't seem to recognize Lefcourt from "In the Beginning", as neither of them mentioned that they remembered him from the movie.

When the senator picked up the late President Clark's note, T asked if that was some sort of code. I said if you look closely, you'll see the circled letters spell out "Scorched Earth". And when the senator informed Sheridan the particle beams were about to level 40% of the Earth's surface, C said, "Danger! Danger!"

C didn't understand Delenn's comment "We are there", since she was at Earth entire time. I explained that the Minbari ships were in the back, while the Earth Destroyers and White Stars were leading the assault. So Delenn was essentially saying they were moving to front lines.

When the jump point formed as the Agamemnon was about to collide with the defense platform, C asked what ship that was, and I told her it was the Apollo.

At the end, when we saw Marcus and Ivanova connected to the alien healing device, C was starting to show signs of confusion, "But, he's the best looking guy on the show, and he didn't ask for more money..." T said, "So we still don't know what's going to happen to her." I said, "You'll find out in the next episode."


"Rising Star"

Prior to starting this one I said it would deal with the aftermath of Sheridan's return to Earth, and bring closure to such plot points as the telepath virus and Ivanova's fate. C said once again, "I know what happens. She died because she asked for more money." Right before the opening titles, C gave me the reaction I had expected for Keffer's death way back at the end of Season 2, "Don't tell me they're going to kill off the only good looking guy on the show?!?"

When Franklin got back to the station and found Ivanova sitting on the Medlab floor T said, "She seems to have made a remarkable recovery." But C was still trying to reconcile her inaccurate data from the Internet by saying, "I know what happens. I could write this show, she'll turn on the machine again - in reverse!

T appreciated the humor as usual, particularly enjoying the General's discovery that Sheridan was now President of the Interstellar Alliance, and Londo's comment to G'Kar about rice.

Both C & T were happy to see Sheridan's father emerge unscathed from his captivity. And they both seemed engaged by the episode, even though there wasn't a lot of action and much of it played out through ISN reports.

Upon reaching Delenn's closing words, that I recently paraphrased here, C asked if this was the final episode. I said, "No, they were prepared to end the show after four seasons, but got a last minute reprieve." T said the conclusion of "Rising Star" made it feel like a series finale, and I agreed.


"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars"

While we were waiting for C to join us, T speculated that since this was the season finale it would end on a cliffhanger. I said, "Normally you'd be right". When C sat down, I went on to explain that due to the show's last minute renewal for a fifth season, we would see (in the words of JMS) "a series of short stories set in the 'Babylon 5' universe."

I reminded them that in previous episode the Interstellar Alliance was founded, and Sheridan and Delenn got married. T laughed at pretty much everything Londo said upon his arrival back on the station. He also enjoyed the ISN "Night Side" program quite a bit.

During the 2362 vignette, C said that the 140 year-old Delenn "looked pretty good for her age." When we got to 2762, C asked if Delenn was still alive, and I said, "No she's dead. They're all long dead. During the holographic simulation of Franklin, C remarked "This is weird."

When we got to 3262, T asked if things had really regressed that far after the "Great Burn" and I said yes. C asked about the picture in the book Brother Michael was illuminating and I said it depicted a Ranger. Later, when Brother Alwyn opened his wardrobe and pulled out his uniform, I explained that he was one of the Rangers. Around this time, C said "This is a strange way to end the series." I said this wasn't the end of the series, but the season. C had assumed that this episode was intended to be the series finale, and I explained that the original series finale was held back until end of the next season.

During the final sequence, C asked what was happening and I said the sun was going to explode and take the Earth with it. C noted the unusual timing, stating that the sun was supposed to last several billion more years. I know that when this episode first aired, JMS had hinted that somebody caused the sun to explode prematurely. But since I never saw a definitive explanation of what happened, I let the matter drop. Fellow JMSNews members - was the full story ever revealed? In any event, I explained that one million years in the future humans have essentially become the Vorlons, and that "New Earth" was the former Vorlon homeworld.

That's it until next time. After a holiday break, I'll be back with Watching B5 with C&T - S5!

[Jan]

Fellow JMSNews members - was the full story ever revealed? In any event, I explained that one million years in the future humans have essentially become the Vorlons, and that "New Earth" was the former Vorlon homeworld.

No, JMS only said that it was somebody meddling with SOL and that it might have been caused by said somebody opening jump points inside the sun to reduce its mass (iirc). But we don't know more than that. Many have speculated that there was a shadow-equivalent doing it but as far as I know JMS never confirmed.

Loved how C got their wires crossed a bit on Ivanova. CC didn't ask for more money until much later!

[alpha128]

No, JMS only said that it was somebody meddling with SOL and that it might have been caused by said somebody opening jump points inside the sun to reduce its mass (iirc). But we don't know more than that. Many have speculated that there was a shadow-equivalent doing it but as far as I know JMS never confirmed.

Yes, JMS wrote "And what if you, say, interfered substantially with the mass of the sun by, say, causing a series of jump points to open up *inside* the sun across several days?" I was wondering if there was more to the story. I guess not.

Loved how C got their wires crossed a bit on Ivanova. CC didn't ask for more money until much later!

Yes, I'm curious to see how they will react to Ivanova's return in "Sleeping in Light". I still remember my reaction. The cool thing about it is you hear Ivanova before you see her. I remember realizing just how much I missed her when I heard her voice.

[Looney]

I was really wondering how they would react to DECONSTRUCTION OF FALLING STARS. The other two episodes are just so great I don't think anyone who has taken the entire journey could react negatively to them. DECONSTRUCTION is a a horse of a different feather. LOL I can see people being lost and confused by it. It really is a bit of "next level" brilliant. I wish so many series had been able to do that type of episode. The only negative is that it placed boundaries on the future expansion of the B5 Universe. ;-)

[alpha128]

DECONSTRUCTION is a a horse of a different feather. LOL I can see people being lost and confused by it. It really is a bit of "next level" brilliant. I wish so many series had been able to do that type of episode. The only negative is that it placed boundaries on the future expansion of the B5 Universe. ;-)

Yes, "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" is an atypical season finale. I remember that someone complained about it on the old IMDb Babylon 5 board. I explained to them (more thoroughly than I explained to C & T) that "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" was a Plan C finale. Plan A was "Intersections in Real Time", while Plan B was "Sleeping in Light". I then said, "May all our Plan C efforts turn out as well."

[Looney]

Plan A was "Intersections in Real Time"

I can't even imagine INTERSECTIONS being the end of Season Four. I feel that would have just been gut-wrenching, but I would have greatly enjoyed it if INTERSECTIONS had been a Season Finale followed by another entire Season Five of the Civil War. Start the Season with, like, ten episodes of not knowing what happened to Sheridan at all. Then have a two part rescue episode followed by several episodes leading up to ENDGAME, RISING STAR, and DECONSTRUCTION. Then what was Season Five becomes Season Six, the start of a new five season arc.

Where are we on that time machine?

[alpha128]

I can't even imagine INTERSECTIONS being the end of Season Four. I feel that would have just been gut-wrenching, but I would have greatly enjoyed it if INTERSECTIONS had been a Season Finale followed by another entire Season Five of the Civil War. Start the Season with, like, ten episodes of not knowing what happened to Sheridan at all. Then have a two part rescue episode followed by several episodes leading up to ENDGAME, RISING STAR, and DECONSTRUCTION. Then what was Season Five becomes Season Six, the start of a new five season arc.

Where are we on that time machine?

IMO "Intersections in Real Time" would have been an effective season finale. Then the rescue of Sheridan, and the action packed battle for Earth, would have kicked off Season 5 nicely.

As for Season 6, the video below is about as close as you're going to get to your time machine.