27 years ago, a science fiction show aired that changed the way TV operated. Building upon and strengthening the idea of Star Trek’s five-year mission, this show proved that sci-fi TV could be something grander than an episodic adventure. Welcome my friends. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5.
Last year, I lamented the loss of Babylon 5 on Amazon Prime, as that was the first truly accessible place to watch it. As has become tradition for these season premiere episodes, it seems I must now amend that lamentation because as of January 26th, 2021, Babylon 5 is available to stream in crisp, clear HD on HBO Max.
I hear you saying, WHAT NEW SPORE OF MADNESS IS THIS?
I know I said last year that not only was Babylon 5 highly unlikely to ever make it to HBO Max but that an HD release of any kind was even more unlikely due to a variety of reasons laid out in my review of season 2’s “Acts of Sacrifice” but here we are. It even has the previously on segments! A six year labor of love by a team at WB, Babylon 5 now looks better than it has in a long time, even crisper and sharper than even the lovely 4:3 versions I used for last year.
As everyone is quick to point out though, this is by no means how JMS initially intended the series to look today – it’s not in widescreen – nor is it some magic tool that upgrades the show (or its CGI) to 2021 levels of polish. It is, however, 10000x better than those original Amazon Prime & DVD versions and quite a nice upgrade from the semi-broadcast quality of versions put on sale digitally last year and, I would argue, any modern production polish would detract from the lo-fi charm & dirty realism of the series. The power of B5 is in its ability to feel like this could be happening now and simultaneously in a future we could get to.
With all that out of the way, let’s see what season four has in store for us. Sheridan is missing, the shadows are in retreat, and we have a nice new intro that I would rewrite mine to parallel but it wouldn’t work as well.
Spoilers ahead.
1. Mira Furlan: 1955-2021
This will not be the last time we see Delenn but it feels like the appropriate time to do this In Memoriam. Back in January, we lost Mira Furlan at the age of 65. She died of complications due to West Nile Virus. With her death half the main cast across all five seasons are now acting with the heavenly theater troupe (or chilling amongst the stars.)
Clearly I did not know her personally, but her work has still touched my life in meaningful and profound ways. It is impossible to think about Babylon 5 and to not think of Delenn, her fierceness in the face of injustice, her deep well of caring for life, and her obstinate, playful, elegant personality. If Mira was even half the character she portrayed, and I suspect that she was much more than that, then the world has lost a great soul. Her memory will always be a blessing.
If you want to hear from someone who did know her quite closely, here is JMS’ eulogy, though I suspect there are a couple minor, broad story spoilers for those who might be averse to those. If the thread won’t load, it’s replicated in this article.
2. It’s Been….
Season four kicks off seven days after the events of “Z’Ha’Dum” and we’re treated to a spooky but poetic tour of where everyone is at. Delenn & Ivanova are simultaneously in denial and mourning the loss of Sheridan while Zach and G’Kar are in a similar position re: Garibaldi, hopeful he’s just lost and not gone. Lennier is doing his best to help Delenn, Londo has been made royal advisor to Emperor Cartagia, Vir is doing Vir stuff and eventually called to Londo’s side, and Lyta is doing her best to be the creepiest crew member with her gill neck & cryptic warnings.
Continued belowThe only characters we don’t check in with are Dr. Franklin, who is still recovering from his almost dying in “Shadow Dancing” and Marcus, who’s…doing something important I’m sure. I suspect we’ll get an answer for what they’ve been up to next week, since JMS had been pairing them up narratively more and more as season three went along. It’s a smart way to ring in the season for both viewers watching it live and for future viewers such as myself. As I mentioned in my “Z’Ha’Dum” review, “The Hour of the Wolf” aired just a week after the season three finale, with the actual large break happening between “War Without End, Part 2” and “Walkabout.” Having a week go by in show helps give a sense of motion to the events for the then weekly viewers and provides a nice reintroduction to the new status quo for those watching in syndication, those new to the series, or those watching on DVD (which I think would’ve been on the mind of Straczynski but I could be wrong.)
It also works narratively as it has given characters the time to breathe off screen and find themselves in new situations without having to do the tedious work of showing it all. I don’t really care to see how Ivanova moped about for a week; I just need to know that she did and that we’re finally at the point where that might be changing. That economy of storytelling allows for Straczynski to get right into the meat of each characters’ unique traumas and play them off each other. It’s great TV and an even greater season opener.
Supergirl should’ve taken notes.
3. I’m the Kind Of Guy Who Laughs at a Funeral
We never really got a chance to understand Nu Kosh last season. His introduction was suitibly menacing and different from Kosh but beyond that, he didn’t have much to do. That’s not without good reason, as the final four episodes of the season were pretty jam packed with stuff. That means this is our first real opportunity to take stock of this Vorlon and I am not liking what I’m seeing. He’s vindictive, cruel, and even more cryptic than Kosh. Lyta looks like she’s being literally drained of all her life-force and hasn’t slept in a week and Nu Kosh does not care. That’s messed up!
I love that we have a more antagonistic force form this character, as it provides a new avenue for tension and conflict. However, I’m also real pissed at Nu Kosh for not giving a shit about the other people fighting the shadows nor for the feelings of the B5 crew members. Delenn rightly lays into him for all this, even if he, and everyone else, is right in saying that going to Z’Ha’Dum to try to rescue Sheridan is a fool’s errand, as we end up seeing at the end. His inscrutability feels malicious rather than concerned or frustrating and that’s gonna be a problem.
Keeping an eye on Nu Kosh-y Boy is going to be key for success this season, I suspect.
4. Like Constantine, I Make Mad Religions, ‘kay, I Don’t Make Religions. But If I Did They’d Have A Satan
Let’s talk Londo. Or, more specifically, let’s talk Emperor Cartagia because HOLY FUCK is he a lot to unpack. For starters, the image of a preening, vain ruler who ascends the throne after the death of a wise and wizened leader is nothing new. We could talk about how Cartagia is queer coded in this way, even as he’s surrounded by the royal harem, but I think the intent here was to emphasize the vanity and flagrent disregard for tradition in a selfish manner and I’d rather focus on what comes after that first meeting, where those aspects sink into the background.
What makes Cartagia stand out is that 1) he’s not stupid nor is he unaware of his power, 2) he’s ambitious and conniving and tyrannical, and 3) he was installed into this position via the conniving of Lord Refa & to a lesser extent, Londo, who thought they could control him but are unable to (see points one and two.) That, his partnership with the Shadows, and his utterly horrifying penchant for chatting with, and gloating to, the severed heads of his enemies in his room. Cartagia is a critique of power unchecked, with a splash of monarchy thrown in.
Continued below
It should come as no surprise that the Centauri Republic is modeled after the Roman Empire neé Republic and that shines through extra hard here, now that we’re more privy to the inner courts workings and the absolute iron fist Cartagia rules with. I love how JMS chose to slowly pull back the curtain on Cartagia’s selfish and megalomaniacal ambitions via the servant who interacts with Londo. We see how his overly cheeriness isn’t a put on for the usual courtly appearances sake but instead because he fears for his life and the life of others because of the aformentioned murder of all dissidents in the court and chatting to their heads, which we think is just rumor at first but is totally true. That’s some good shit right there.
It also raises the question of how does one deal with a leader that is patently unfit to rule in a place where there is no formal method for removal (like, say, impeachment or voting.) For Londo, that answer is to channel your inner Nick Cage and proudly declare that he’s going to “Assassinate the Emperor of the Centauri Republic” to Vir. That’s a HUGE step and looks like it’s going to be much of the tension for him this season. That and figuring out how to actually compliment Vir without it also being an insult.
Well, all that AND dealing with our good old magma man friend Morden. *shudders* Horrifying.
5. You Just Did What I Thought You Were Going to Do
It’s no surprise that Sheridan is actually alive. Both from a meta perspective of knowing he’s still important in future seasons and is still in the title credits, and from a narrative one, where Sheridan’s ghost message from Kosh implies that he took an action that would allow him to survive a THERMONUCLEAR BLAST coupled with a crashing ship. I’m only incredulous because that’s some real luck there and I don’t think JMS did enough to really sell just how miraculous his survival is. There’s an inevitability to it in the show. I’m not sure how I feel about it.
I like that this inevitability allowed me to not feel cheated out of an emotional moment when Sheridan was revealed to be alive in the tunnels of Z’Ha’Dum but at the same time, it undercut a little of the grieving that Delenn and Ivanova have to do over his loss and the subsequent ill-conceived adventure to try & save him. Because that’s the A plot, it ends up taking up most of the screen time. The interpersonal drama is fantastic and moving, yes, but I found myself being more drawn to the tiny amount of Zach & G’Kar antics and the horrifying developments on Centauri Prime more, not because Delenn & Ivanova’s plot was less interesting or important but because the conclusion was telegraphed from the start, even if it played out in the correct manner – Sheridan is alive but no one knows.
Now, this may be my genre savvy-ness and having 23 or so years on this season bleeding through. It’s an important and necessary beat, with an excellent script to back it up. The mystery of “is he alive or not” wasn’t an animating force for me but wanting a definitive answer for Delenn & Ivanova so they could finally grieve and move on, or reignite their hope and create a new plan to avoid THE EYE and save him, was. Their conversations with each other, and with Lyta and Lennier, formed the true core of the A plot and my investment in it. As always, the emotional is far more important than the actionable.
When will he be saved and how? Only time will tell. Unless that weird Philosophy 101 alien does something to him. What is that guy’s deal?
That about does it for now. Join me again in a week for the HUNT FOR GARIBALDI, Sheridan learns to survive, and things get dire (I suspect) on the station where everything changed in the year of destruction and rebirth.
This is Elias. Signing out.
Best Lines of the Night:
1) Morden: Flesh is transitory. Flesh is a prison. Flesh is…an instrument. Flesh can be replaced.
Continued belowAnd flesh does as it’s told.
2) G’Kar: I was studying this image. Is it one of his household gods?
Zach: No. That’s Daffy…Yeah, well, in a way, I suppose it is. It’s sort of the Egyptian god of frustration.
G’Kar: Most appropriate. Thank you.
