Posting meme: Babylon 5

[extrapenguin]

I caught the flu on Boxing Day and am now not only 70% snot by volume, but also a day late. Oops. Ah well.

nnozomi asked about my favorite lines/episodes/characters from Babylon 5!

Characters
Susan Ivanova! She is amazingly snarky and competent and full of amazing speeches. I didn't really get the implied romance between her and Talia the first time round, but having her be attracted to women just makes everything about her better.

On the other end of the spectrum, Londo Mollari. His downfall is self-made, but he has just enough sense of morality in him to make it a great tragedy that even he can see. It's powerful and compelling and amazing, especially in his attempts to correct course.

I also appreciate Na'Toth and Lyta for similar snarky competence reasons as Ivanova, and Vir is a great morality chain for Londo. G'Kar's growth from vengeful demagogue to spiritual leader was also good.

Lines
Babylon 5 has a number of amazing lines! Here's some that have stuck in my mind:

"My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance."

"Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God."
Said by Ivanova herself when she is 100% right.

"We came to this place, because Babylon 5 was out last, best hope for peace. By the end of 2259, we knew that it had failed. But in so doing it became something greater. As the war expanded, it became our last, best hope for victory, because sometimes peace is another word for surrender, and because secrets have a way of getting out."
sometimes peace is another word for surrender. This is something we should all keep in mind.

Episodes
With the caveat that my rewatchalong is only partway through s4:

The Coming of Shadows – Emperor Turhan's visit was great, G'Kar had some amazing lines, and Londo's face when he realizes the magnitude of his fuckup. Amazing.

Confessions and Lamentations – the one with the Markab plague. Very moving and affecting, though perhaps given a boost by the current pandemic and memories of early on.

Messages from Earth / Point of No Return / Severed Dreams – the three-parter where they declare independence. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and cheered so hard when they cut off Earth.

The Long Night – the one where Emperor Cartagia dies. G'Kar gets an amazing moment, ripping off his chains, and I absolutely love the character work with Vir and Londo at the end.

Comments

[solo]

Susan Ivanova! She is amazingly snarky and competent and full of amazing speeches. I didn't really get the implied romance between her and Talia the first time round, but having her be attracted to women just makes everything about her better.

She's my favourite too, for similar reasons. I didn't like Thalia much but even I could appreciate the dilemma!

On the other end of the spectrum, Londo Mollari. His downfall is self-made, but he has just enough sense of morality in him to make it a great tragedy that even he can see. It's powerful and compelling and amazing, especially in his attempts to correct course.

OMG YES THIS SO MUCH! I really got absorbed in his story, which is odd for me and morally darker-than-gray characters. Londo and G'Kar were also my only ship in the series.

G'Kar's growth from vengeful demagogue to spiritual leader was also good.

And so well done!

Now that you reminded me of the eps again, I'll be looking for a study buddy to watch the whole thing from the beginning. I do have the DVDs, of course... but do I still have a DVD player??? 🤔

[nnozomi]

These are all wonderful! Susan Ivanova and Londo Mollari, YES YES YES. I love absolutely everything about Ivanova, in particular her sarcasm, her competence (and okay, her beauty), and she has so many of the best lines (demurely "And an open airlock policy!"). And Londo's arc, as you say, is so gripping. I remember watching "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari" with my heart in my mouth. I think one of the amazing things about Londo is that he's a villain who is also sympathetic (but definitely also a horrible person in many ways), he's a comic-relief character whose arc is deadly serious, you can't fit him into any given box.

the three-parter where they declare independence. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and cheered so hard when they cut off Earth.
Oh yes! So satisfying.

ETA: I hope you feel better soon!

[extrapenguin]

I sort of appreciate that there were multiple female characters with distinct personalities and that Talia was part of that, but yeah, she didn't really grow on me, either.

nnozomi below pointed out that Londo's also a comic relief character with a serious arc, so I think the fact he didn't get presented as a villain straight out of the gate helped? As did the fact that the characters on B5 are in general allowed to be more complicated than in most TV. And yeah, he and G'Kar have some seriously compelling interactions.

My personal opinion is that if one has bought the thing, pirating a second copy is 100% morally fine. Of course, you might have a DVD player somewhere, and I guess having one so you can digitize any lingering DVDs of more obscure stuff you own might be a good idea.

[extrapenguin]

Ivanova gets the best lines indeed! Even that "peace is another word for surrender" came from an Ivanova internal monologue. She delivers wonderfully on pre-asskicking mini-speeches, offhand snark, and insightful speech. I love her.

We've yet to get to s5, but The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari is one of the episodes I actually remember from it. (The uncancellation led to the telepath colony arc being, ah, rather stretched.) The Centauri & Narn stuff is incredibly compelling, and very good at including villains sympathetic and compelling. E.g. Emperor Cartagia might be wholly unsympathetic and completely bonkers, but he is amazingly compelling. (And has a very nice jacket.)