Not just Babble (Babylon 5)

Member Name: MShanks

Product:	Babylon 5
Date:	15/12/00 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Long series to really get your teeth into

Disadvantages: After three & a half years, it went downhill

When I first tuned into this programme, I disliked it. The pilot was terrible, the make-up awful, and every character seemed awkward with everyone else. It’ll never last, I thought. How wrong I was! The Star Trek viewers often argue that it is difficult to get into that you need to watch all the episodes to know what it going on, and to some extent they have a point. A viewer who has not watched all the episodes will not have the hairs on the back of their neck stand up when they hear “There is a hole in your mind” or “I have always been here.” However, there are many episodes that are ‘stand alone’ ones as well as being part of the whole. A good starting point would be the excellent “Deathwalker”, which covers subjects relevant today, such as war criminals, how much does the end justify the means and so on.

The main story arc covers three and a half years. There is an ancient battle going on between two races, the Vorlons and the Shadows, who are made (at first) to represent Light and Dark. Then there are the younger races, the Centauri, the Narns, the Minbari and of course, the humans. Humans are also divided into telepaths and non-telepaths. There is politics, there is fighting, there are love interests – basically, something to interest anyone. Except sports fans perhaps!

In the beginning, it seemed so simple. The Vorlons were the good guys, they were mysterious, but they preached peace and enlightenment through contemplation. The Shadows were the bad guys, they invited war and conquest – always undesirable, right? The Vorlons would ask philosophical questions such as “Who are you?” and “Why are you here?” The Shadows…well, I dismissed them as being without redemption until the writer of the series pointed out that all they had done was ask, “What do you want?” Is this a bad thing? The conflicting ideas between them
eventually leads to a showdown which does not end as expected.

The only disadvantage was the fact that once the war was over, the series went down hill. Its only redemption was the episode “Sleeping in the light”, which many will find over-sentimental, but I enjoyed it.

Quote for life : “When the avalanche has started, it is too late for the small pebbles to vote”.

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