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DVD Babylon 5 - The Complete Fifth Season
A disappointment after the superb two previous seasons, the final run of Babylon 5 found Claudia Christian departed and Ivanova replaced by Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins), who in a soap-opera twist turned out to be Sheridan's first wife. Sheridan was promoted to President of the Interstellar Alliance and the action moved to a group of telepaths seeking sanctuary from the PSI-Corp on B5. Giving a prominent role to Patricia Tallman's Lyta Alexander, a love story for her was woven with the leader of the telepaths, Byron (Robin Atkin Downs). Meanwhile the aftermath of the Shadow War was explored as the origin of human telepaths became clear in "Secrets of the Soul," and the appearance of PSI-Corp's Bester (Walter Koenig) brought the plight of the refugees to a powerful close in "A Tragedy of Telepaths" and "Phoenix Rising."
This was immediately followed by a rare episode not written by J. Michael Straczynski. Much was expected of "Day of the Dead," penned by Neil Gaiman, the British creator of DC's landmark Sandman comic and graphic novel series. Yet despite a change of tone including a guest appearance by Penn & Teller as 23rd-century comedy favorites Rebo & Zooty, the story proved an incongruous side trip into an unexplained twilight zone of fantasy. As usual the season picked up toward the end, with a string of fine political episodes leading to "The Fall of Centauri Prime" and the haunting "Objects at Rest," in which Sheridan and Delenn leave Babylon 5 for new quarters on Minbar.
The final episode, "Sleeping in Light," was directed by J. Michael Straczynski and made an epilogue to the series. Set 20 years later, after all the sound and fury this quiet, elegiac tale is the apotheosis of the love story that proved the balance to the tragedy of the preceding darkness. A personal story resolved against a background of the epic, at once transcendent, deeply human, and profoundly optimistic, "Sleeping in Light" is as moving as any hour in the history of television drama and a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest series ever made. --Gary S. Dalkin
Review(s): DVD Babylon 5 - The Complete Fifth Season
No 3
overall the series maintains the high standard set by the whole series but this season does rush things toward the end ( maybe should have stretched it for another season.
Worth buying even if just for the last episode
The final season of B5 is a little uneven, as JMS wrapped up most of the story in season 4, believing that there would be no funding for a fifth and final season. At the last minute production for season five was green-lighted, leaving season 5 a little empty of story to tell. Also some of the characters are missing, since they have been killed off or sent away during season 4 and Ivanova is missing, since her contract expired and she had already found another job. So we start season 5 with a slimmer cast, a new storyline regarding the telepaths, that most agree was quite weak and some new actors that are not as charismatic as the ones left behind, giving an overall feeling of anticlimax to the show, at least during the first half of the season.
However the show picks up midway with a great storyline regarding Londo and the legacy of the shadows on Centauri Prime. This is a great great piece of dramatic story writing that I enjoyed immensely.
The show ultimately ends with the masterpiece episode "Sleeping in Light" that had me and my boyfriend crying so much we had to pause the DVD several times to catch our breath. This is such a melancholic and moving and profound episode, that ends the story beautifully and brilliantly. It is one of the best episodes of B5 and one of the best ends to a show I have ever seen. It is worth buying the fifth season for this episode alone.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the B5 series is a masterpiece sci-fi series and such a fabulous novel for television. A true classic in the genre and a great show that leaves you wanting more.
From the sublime to the banal (to the sublime)
The fifth season of Babylon V is problematic at best, due entirely to the fact that it wasn't supposed to happen. The intended five year story arc of Babylon V was finished in season four, an epilogue tacked on as the last episode and the whole thing (almost) shelved for future development. So when TNT picked up Babylon V for a fifth season, most of J.M. Straczynski's best ideas were exhausted.
Thus, what we have here are some beginnings, some extended endings and some filler. The beginnings are underdeveloped, the endings superb, and the filler banal. Much of the confusion that was season one of Babylon V is played out again in season five.
This is not helped by weak casting decisions like Tracy Scoggins as Captain Lochley. Like Bruce Boxleitner, whose greatest prior sci-fi role is his portrayal of the titular role in the cheesy Tron, Scoggins is a B-list television actress and is as awkward and tentative as Boxleitner in his first season of Babylon V as a result. It makes you want to throw up your arms and say, "Oh no! Not again!"
The only problem is that she does not have three more seasons to build into the portrayal of an epic hero that Boxleitner did, nor is she given the material or the sense of a horizon to the part from the producers. She's running headlong into a brick wall with this character and it shows.
So while Boxleitner had the time of his life with his newfound A-list status, Scoggins plays the role in workaday fashion and is upstaged at every point by characters that seem like they should be more peripheral. Everyone has more franchise clout than her, including the comedy team of Rebo and Zooty. She disappears. Every show taking place on the station loses its "anchor" as a result.
To Scoggins credit, Sir Lawrence Olivier in his prime would have had trouble matching pace. It's a miscast. She's a good actress: she toes the line with her perfunctory performance, and she wisely avoids Shatneresque histrionics.
Walter Koenig returns as Bester and is as playful and sinister as ever. If you're a fan of Koenig, this set is a must buy. He has a lead role in a few of the stories.
Read the reviews for all the other compilations for details on the other leads.
The theme of season five, almost without exception, is underdeveloped ideas that play out far too quickly. The whole thing feels rushed. Thus the low, 3 star, rating.
The material mostly revolves around the fate of an artificially enhanced race of telepathic humans, and the emergence into the light of the various allies of the now banished champions of chaos: The Shadows (which is continued in the spinoff series: Crusade).
These are big ideas to tackle in the space of one season and the results are predictably unsatisfactory. You have to be a die-hard B5 fan, like me, to enjoy much of it. You also have to have watched the previous four seasons. If you haven't, you're going to feel like you just got off the Tilt-o-Whirl and stepped onto a freeway through most of the episodes.
There is one solid reason to buy this set. It is the story surrounding Centauri Prime. This is an actual continuation and denouement from the original story arc and it is some of the finest television ever produced. Not just Sci-fi TV, all TV. Think Roots (or "The City on The Edge of Forever," if you're a geek).
This is where the series gets back to the sublime, tying up the fates of G'kar and Londo Molari, making them friends through their passions for the welfare of their people, visiting dire consequences upon Molari for his mistakes, and rather hillariously rewarding G'kar for his sacrifices.
We learn the final price of Molari's actions in the Shadow War, and Straczynski again demonstrates an his incisive insight by revealing what a dictator really is. He makes a powerful statement about the relationship between power and personal freedom.
Sadly, it is only a small portion of the material, but it feels like more. It's that big.
In a world of "mission accomplished" hastily claimed years before the fact, JMS has once again proved that he understands war and the politics surrounding it. This stuff is relevant.
The final epsisode is a touching love story that takes place 20 years after the shadow war. It includes Easter Eggs for B5 fans (use your pause key) and neatly ties up some nagging questions for those wrapped up in the mythology of Ranger One.
Of course, if you're a B5 nut like me: 5 stars must buy! Duh. But that isn't a fair rating.
NOTE: This is a review of Season 5 and not of the actual boxed set. I have this on VHS tape, and I have no idea what DVD goodies are offered nor can comment of the quality of the AV.
Related DVD's Babylon 5 - The Complete Fifth Season
Season 4 began on a high point with the Centauri Prime in the grip of the insane Emperor Cartagia (Wortham Krimmer) and a run of six shows leading to the climax of the war against the Shadows in "Into the Fire." If this colossal narrative was resolved a little too easily and the ultimate aim of the Shadows turned out to be a tad disappointing, it still proved to be the most powerful slice of space opera to ever grace the small screen. In the aftermath the sheer scale dropped back a little but the pace never slowed as the rest of the season played out in one relentless cycle of conspiracy, betrayal and conflict, Babylon 5 siding with the rebel Mars colony against the totalitarian Earth.
Meanwhile Delenn came increasingly into conflict with her own people and, paralleling her... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 06 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"Matters of Honor" launched Babylon 5's third season with the introduction of the White Star, a spacecraft added to enable more of the action to take place away from the station. Also introduced was Marcus Cole (Jason Carter)--in another nod to The Lord of the Rings, a Ranger not so far removed from Tolkien's Strider. In "Voices of Authority" the show finds an epic scale as Ivanova seeks the mysterious "First Ones" for allies against the Shadows, and evidence is discovered pointing to the truth behind President Santiago's assassination. A third of the way through the season "Messages from Earth," "Point of No Return," and "Severed Dreams" prove pivotal, changing the nature of the story in a way previously unimaginable on network TV. Earth slides into dictatorship, the... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 12 August 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Delenn's future love interest, Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) arrived on Babylon 5 in the first episode of season 2, "Points of Departure." The show marked the handing over of command of B5 to Sheridan from Commander Jeffery Sinclair, actor Michael O'Hare becoming a victim of studio politicians who wanted a bigger star in the leading role. This excellent installment also revealed more about why the Minbari surrendered to Earth at the Battle of the Line when they were on the verge of victory. "Revelations" explains that Sheridan's wife, Anna, died during an archaeological survey of the world Z'ha'dum, the name being just one of many references to Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings (the bridge at Khazad-Dum). "The Geometry of Shadows" introduced the Technomages,... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 29 April 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The epic sci-fi series Babylon 5 was a unique experiment in the history of television. It was effectively a novel for television in five seasons, consisting of 110 episodes with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The first season introduces the main characters, headed this year by Commander Jeffery Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle), and familiarizes the audience with the unique environment of a five-mile-long space station in the year 2257.
The first episode, "Midnight on the Firing Line," plays at a breathless pace, introducing Commander Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian) and establishing the conflict between the Narn and Centauri races as represented by their ambassadors, G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) and Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik).... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 05 November 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Babylon 5 pilot movie The Gathering was originally broadcast in 1993 a full year ahead of the regular show. A somewhat dull tale of an attempt to assassinate Koch, the Vorlon ambassador to B5, the feature served to introduce Commander Jeffery Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) as well as familiarize the audience with the unique environment of a five-mile-long space station in the year 2257. Missing many of the main cast, and suffering from a leaden pace and mediocre music score, series creator J Michael Straczynski later improved The Gathering by tightening the cut for a special edition (the version released on DVD), adding some deleted character moments and commissioning a new score from series composer Christopher... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard Compton - Michael Vejar - Jesús Salvador Treviño DVD Release Date: Released the 17 August 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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