TV review: Babylon 5 Season One
13 years after it first aired, I have finally begun watching Babylon 5, having never seen it before. After only watching season one, I am enjoying the series very much. After watching the first few episodes, the obvious comparisons to Star Trek pervade the series, specifically to Deep Space Nine. But soon into the series you realize that the “Signs and Portents” in each episode which hint at the larger story make the show compelling. The series is written in such a way as to tell enough of a self-contained story in each episode but still leave clues and questions about what will happen next to make the viewer want to continue watching the series, similar to how the X-Files is written and structured.
After watching only one season so far I can say that Babylon 5 is easily better than any of the Star Trek series since The Next Generation.
Rating: 8 out of 10
John R. Frangakis replied:
I can truly say that I have never had the pleasure of watching Babylon 5 and will take your recommendation with much weight. I am interested to see your review of Twin Peaks: fifteen years later.
Right now, I am on an exercise kick, watching Smallville, and in the middle of Smallville: Season 4. I highly recommend it. The banter between Clark Kent and Lois Lane is awesome. If you need some content, let me know.
April 25, 2007 4:28 pm at 4:28 pm. Permalink.
bobsala replied:
Cindy enjoys watching Smallville. I’ve seen several episodes but never watched it regularly despite still being a big comic book fan, though I never was much of a fan of the Superman comics.
It is clear that when it originally aired, B5 was intended to capitalize on the success of Star Trek. J. Michael Straczynski thought he could create a show better than Star Trek was at the time and I think he succeeded at that.
Finally, you’ll probably have to wait about three years for my Twin Peaks review. And you’ll have to stay tuned to my blog to find out why (but you won’t have to stay tuned for three years to find out why, it will be more like three days).
April 25, 2007 10:21 pm at 10:21 pm. Permalink.
John R. Frangakis replied:
I would also love to see your review of
1) Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut &
2) Desperate Housewives (You know you like it! And I am sure Kyle MacLachlan has made it a must-see TV event for you!)
April 26, 2007 10:20 am at 10:20 am. Permalink.
bobsala replied:
While Superman 2 is by far the best Superman movie (I could barely sit through the most recent Superman Returns), I have yet to see the director’s cut.
And I honestly didn’t even know Kyle MacLachlan was on Desperate Housewives. The last thing I watched because Kyle MacLachlan was in it was Showgirls
April 26, 2007 9:08 pm at 9:08 pm. Permalink.
John R. Frangakis replied:
I would love to hear your thoughts on all the Marvel movie interpretations. Also, I am pumped about Spiderman 3 next weekend. It will be interesting to see how they interpret the whole Venom thing.
April 28, 2007 10:27 pm at 10:27 pm. Permalink.