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Babylon 5 is a spacestation which replaces four abortive
attempts to create a meeting place for the representatives
of the five major races, as well as the non-aligned worlds.
Although a major city in itself, housing defence systems,
trade centres and recreation, its primary purpose is as an
independent embassy for diplomatic negotiations between the
Mimbari, the Narn, the Centauri, the Vorlons and the Humans,
represented by the Earth Alliance. There's plenty of action
and intrigue, and nobody is exactly the person they seem to
be...
Every
so often a TV show emerges which annihilates all the current
competition in terms of subject matter, storylines and production
values. In case you were wondering, I'm talking about Babylon
5. How refreshing it is to have such diverse characters,
who are changed forever by events. This is not your standard
story of the week science fiction, featuring injuries, near-death
experiences and emotional conflict which is conveniently forgotten
by the next episode. Every major decision has far-reaching
consequences, and every choice repercussions that might affect
people immediately or come back to haunt them when they (and
you, as the viewer) least expect it. It reminds me somewhat
of the political chess-moves of ancient China or Japan; honour
and diplomacy is always in the forefront, with assassins or
covert arrangements made in the background.
Season
Two sees almost as many changes as there were between the
feature-length pilot, The Gathering, and the start
of season One. There is a major personnel change, with Commander
Jeffrey Sinclair being replaced with the more dynamic Captain
John Sheridan. Sinclair is mysteriously spirited away to the
Mimbari homeworld, and pops up now and again in future stories.
Ambassador Kosh goes from enigmatic soothsayer to anti-hero
manipulator, as the others learn there is an ulterior motive
for everything he does. From short-tempered aggressor, G'Kar
becomes a poet, diplomat and religious ikon. Londo makes the
transition from drunken reveller to the most dangerous individual
around. Of course, none of this happens overnight, and creator
J. Michael Straczynski kept his plot-strands bible close to
his chest, giving the actors no inkling of what was to come,
so it's compelling to witness the transmogrifications and
the events that cause them.
This
season there's significantly less stand-alone stories; Straczynski
pens fifteen of the twenty-two episodes, and the five-year
arc begins to take a firmer hold. The Coming of Shadows
season teases us with the coming threat to all the races,
but for the meantime centres primarily on the present conflict
between the Narn and the Centauri. Particularly strong episodes
include: In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum, wherein Sheridan
pushes his luck to learn more information about his presumed-dead
wife, and finds himself confronted with the original homeworld
of the Shadows; The Long, Twilight Struggle, which
follows a major battle between the Narn and the Centauri;
and The Fall of Night, in which surprising connections
are made between the Shadows and Kosh's race, the Vorlons.
This six-disc set benefits from digital widescreen transfers
and is beautifully remastered in Dolby digital 5.1. Two episodes
contain an optional commentary by the man himself, J. Michael
Straczynski, The Geometry of Shadows has a joint commentary
by Bruce Boxleitner (Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Lt. Com.
Susan Ivanova) and Jerry Doyle (Security Chief Michael Garibaldi).
There is also a Season Two introduction from Straczynski and
various cast and crew. Other extras include two new documentaries:
Building Babylon: Anatomy of an Episode, and Shadows
and Dreams: Honors of Babylon ( in which the crew talk
about the Hugo awards success). There is an Audio-visual Archive
split into Personnel Files, Data Files, Tech Files, and an
Historical Timeline.
Season
Two is the final place that I would advise any new viewers
to jump on board. From here on in it is essential to follow
every episode. I would have given this excellent release a
10, but as anyone who has seen season four will testify, the
best is yet to come!
Ty
Power
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