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The year is 2261: the year everything changed. As the Shadow
War intensifies, the human crew of Babylon 5 must also
contend with the threat posed by their own planet's corrupt
government. Meanwhile, Ambassador Mollari struggles to save
the Centauri Republic from its insane new emperor. And Minbari
Ambassador Delenn discovers that all is not well on her home
planet either...
SPOILER
ALERT! It's difficult to discuss this show without giving
away several major aspects of its ongoing storyline. Therefore,
if you have never seen this season before, you might wish
to stop reading now. (You should also put off watching creator
J. Michael Straczynski's introduction until last, since it
is rather revelatory about events to come!)
When
this season was in production, Straczynski found himself in
the difficult situation of not knowing whether his series
would be renewed for its fifth and final year. Rather than
risk the show being cancelled before his complex ongoing narrative
could be resolved, he opted to bring the major plot arcs to
a close here. Consequently, much of this season passes by
at breakneck speed.
If anything, the pace is too fast at times. The first
six episodes cram in numerous elements, such as the reappearances
of Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Security Chief
Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle), the capture of G'Kar (Andreas
Katsulas) by the Centauri, the introduction and departure
of Lorien (Wayne Alexander), a cryptic and powerful alien
who takes over the role of mentor from Kosh, the introduction
and assassination of the barking-mad Centauri Emperor Cartagia
(Wortham Krimmer), and bring the Shadow War to a close - some
would say a premature one. It is a particular shame that we
don't get to see more of Krimmer's excellent turn as Cartagia,
a kind of futuristic Caligula, before he is dispatched. In
retrospect, perhaps Straczynski should have held over the
disintegration of Minbari society (dealt with in the episodes
Atonement, Lines of Communication, Rumors,
Bargains and Lies and Moments of Transition), which
has little impact on other events in any case, and instead
devoted three or four more episodes to the conclusion of the
Shadow War.
What is annoying is that once the War has been brought to
such a swift resolution, the characters make conspicuously
frequent references back to the threat of the Shadows and
their servants. You can almost hear Straczynski pleading with
his audience: "No, don't turn off. There's still plenty more
exciting stuff to come..."
And
indeed there is! The latter half of the season cannot be faulted
for pace or excitement, as the focus shifts towards Earth
and Mars, and events drag inexorably towards a deadly confrontation
between Sheridan's forces and those loyal to the corrupt regime
of President Clark. Cue more rousing dialogue and stunning
CGI space battles.
As with the previous season, it's often hard to think of this
series in terms of individual episodes. The first six instalments
in particular are really one long, continuous - and nail-bitingly
gripping - adventure. Things get a little more episodic after
that, with more stand-alone stories such as The Illusion
of Truth, an excellent semi-sequel to the second season's
And Now For a Word and the aforementioned Minbari episodes.
Another batch of six towards the end of the season, beginning
with No Surrender, No Retreat and ending with Rising
Star, form another inseparable narrative. Within this
latter run is a curious beast: the experimental Intersections
in Real Time, which ties in seamlessly with the surrounding
events but functions as a stand-alone episode as well. Focusing
entirely upon the questioning of Sheridan by a disarmingly
unconventional but nevertheless ruthless interrogator (Bruce
Gray), this instalment would work almost as well if taken
entirely out of context, as, for example, an episode of The
Outer Limits or a short stage play. The season concludes
with another oddity, The Deconstruction of Falling Stars,
which flashes forward to various points in humanity's history
and thus affords a few tantalising hints as to what will happen
in Season Five.
In addition to familiar special features such as the 22 promotional
trailers, three episodic audio commentaries (with Straczynski,
Boxleitner, Doyle, Peter Jurasik, alias Londo Mollari, and
Patricia Tallman, a.k.a. telepath Lyta Alexander) and short
"data files" about various characters and concepts from the
series, we are also treated to a gag reel and Celestial
Sounds, a profile of composer Christopher Franke's marvellous
incidental music. Some of this music features in the No
Surrender, No Retreat Suite, which accompanies a dramatic
montage of clips from this season.
Though
not as flawless as some fans would claim, Babylon 5's
fourth season is an undeniable masterpiece of storytelling
and television production.
Richard
McGinlay
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