Babylon 5 - Series 4 (6 disc set) - No surrender, No retreat (Babylon 5)

Member Name: dancomp

Product:	Babylon 5
Date:	07/09/06 (130 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Living, breathing universe with a fantastic storyline

Disadvantages: None at all.

Babylon5. The mere mention of the word causes grown men like myself to go weak at the knees and utter four additional ones. Best. Sci-fi. Series. Ever.

A while back, JMS or J. Michael Straczynski decided it would be a cool idea to have a single core science fiction storyline that spanned five years. Nothing quite like this had come before and nothing like it has come along since. Unlike the throw-away culture of series that came before it, the viewer got characters that evolved and changed with time and the experiences that befell them as well as crptic plotlines that would'nt be resolved for another two years. Alliances waxed and waned among political intrigue, action, wars, victory, loss, ideals, humour - you will find all of it here in outstanding epidodes from a series with critical acclaim including several Hugo awards.

In this review I will cover the fourth - and to my mind the best - series. This will involve a lot of references to people, places and events that those unfamiliar with B5 will not be able to appreciate. However, it will hopefully be enough to pique the interest and perhaps pick up an earlier series.

Series four begins after the shock closure to series three. Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) of the succeeded space station Babylon 5 and the central character of the series has died at the Homeworld of the shadows, Z'ha'dum, just as foretold by the now deceased Vorlon ambassador, Kosh. His close friend, Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) has been kidnapped by the Shadows on the same day as Sheridan's death. Meanwhile, the ambassador of the Centauri, Londo Mollari has been recalled to his own homeworld where the mad Emperor Cartagia (Wortham Krimmer) has agreed to house a contingent of Shadow vessels on the planet with their sinister go-between Mr. Morden (Ed Wasser) in exchange for elevation to living godhood. There, he can do little to help his once bitter enemy, citizen G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) of the Narn Alliance from being sentenced to death by vivisection.

The Shadows continue to mobilise for war, dividing the universe into those that co-operate with them and those that will be destroyed utterly. The Vorlons, mysterious as always seem to be doing the same. Only one thing is certain, sooner or later billions will die. What else? Oh, yes. I mentioned that B5 had succeeded - in this case from Earthgov. Our planet is under the heel of President Clarke and the nefarious Psi-cops and ministry of truth who not only have taken control of all news stations and imprisoned or executed their rivals, but are also busy bombing the colonies on Mars and other planets into submission with huge civilian casualties while the retaking of B5 is never far from their minds. Lastly, the third most powerful civilisation after the Vorlons and the Shadows, the Mimbari are in crisis. An impending civil war is gathering momentumn between the warrior and the religious castes and the Grey Council, dissolved by Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan) has been reformed in the warrior caste's favour.

As you can start to appreciate, there's a lot going on and the above is merely a synopsis. With Warner brothers pulling the plug on B5, some of the storylines had to be tied up early with the result that this series in particular is filled to the brim. (B5 would be picked up by another network at the nth hour and go on to a fifth season). The bulk of series four concerns the conclusion to the Shadow war, an event that has been building ever since the first series. Add to this Sheridan's rebirth from the ashes at the hands of the eldest of the first ones, the Mimbari civil war, Garibaldi's manipulated descent into betrayal and the struggle to free Earth from Clarke and his allies.

The special effects of B5 are held at a steady high point with plenty of attention to detail, from the bolts of energy that the hand particle guns fire (PPGs) to the most immense of space battles involving large numbers of races with clearly different design philosophies. When fighters explode, there is a brief flare of burning gas, be it oxygen or nitrogen, depending on species. The earth cruisers still have rotating hulls in order to generate gravity, though like most larger vessels are still capable of forming their own jump points. The costumes remain the best thought out of any series, putting fat unimaginative cash cows like Enterprise to shame while the alien makeup is again far superior, particularly with the Narn facial masks and the encounter suits of the Vorlons. You won't find just a simple stick-on ruber nose and an earring here. The score by Christopher Franke (Original member of Tangerine Dream) is orchestral in nature, but with brilliant timing and relevance. And the cast is simply incredible, I could write four or five paragraphs simply on the principal members, let alone the recurring back characters such as the Sci-cop Al Bester, brilliantly portrayed by Walter Koneig who finally banishes Chekov for good. If someone tortured me into admitting which of the main characters were my favourite, the answers would probably be the late Andreas Katsulas, Peter Jurasik and Mira Furlan.

The six-disc edition is of good visual and audio quality and has many "Universe of Babylon 5" extras as well as a gag reel. This and the commentary track illustrates that the actors had as good a time in making the series as I had in watching it. The disc set can be bought from Play for £30 which for close on 15 1/2 hours of entertainment is a bargain! I will admit to getting mine for a lot cheaper though...

Episodes comprise:

1. The Hour of the Wolf
2. What Ever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
3. The Summoning
4. Falling Towards Apotheosis
5. The Long Night
6. Into the Fire
7. Epiphanies
8. The Illusion of Truth
9. Atonement
10. Racing Mars
11. Lines of Communication
12. Conflicts of Interest
13. Rumors, Bargains and Lies
14. Moments of Transition
15. No Surrender, No Retreat
16. The Exercise of Vital Powers
17. The Face of the Enemy
18. Intersections in Real Time
19. Between the Darkness and the Light
20. Endgame
21. Rising Star
22. The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Summary: Best. Sci-fi. Series. Ever.