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MonsieurChoc
Oct 12, 2013

Every species can smell its own extinction.

Polaron posted:

Tiny thing: Vorlon, not Zorlon.

Zordon from Power Rangers is a lost Vorlon CONFIRMED.

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AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

Polaron posted:

Tiny thing: Vorlon, not Zorlon.

:lol: sorry. I think the word just hasn''t been used enough to stick in my brain correctly. It's the same reason I was calling him "Cotto" until I just went and looked to be reminded of his first name. I am not great with names.

E: Similarly, it wasn't until The_Doctor's post that I recalled the guy's name was Morden. :downs:

AARD VARKMAN fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jun 8, 2020

Winifred Madgers
Feb 12, 2002

TheAardvark posted:

S1E20 - "Babylon Squared"
Here's the usual Sci-Fi wankery over humans' unique strengths. I'm sorry, I'm never a big fan of this. Humans are the only race that has emotions and cares and it makes them the most powerful blah blah blah.

While fully realizing this is wankery to the hilt, I'm still a sucker for it, in this and Star Trek and Stargate and so on and so on.

Polaron
Oct 13, 2010

The Oncoming Storm

TheAardvark posted:

:lol: sorry. I think the word just hasn''t been used enough to stick in my brain correctly.

Wait until you see how many different ways people have come up with to spell "Minbari" :v:

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993
When I get to season 2 I will start putting the episode title in its own spoiler block.

S1E21 - "The Quality of Mercy"


Londo opening in to Lennier with the immediate depressing monk life story is very promising.

Londo being a bad/excellent influence. I like it when Londo does things that are ACTUALLY lovely like using Lennier's money, it adds to the realism when people act like he's a cut-throat. I pray to one day get to see Lennier's "psychotic impulses and violent homicidal rages"

Thought for sure Ivanova was gonna shut the clinic down.

God drat, brainwipes as a punishment. The worst part is it's almost reasonable, given they're in remote space and their only prison (earth) refuses to take the guy.

"In my eleventyfifth year" :love:

Centauris have sex tentacles. :ok:

The prisoner mentioned shadows again. Maybe they're a race of nanobots taking over humans. Patent pending on this hot take.

LOL okay, of course Minbari are all warrior monks.

Hell yeah Dr. Grandma. "I did the necessary thing. That is not always the same as the right thing."

Ahhhhh God I love Lennier. No wonder the Minbari are the race humans got into a war with. They're the only ones with a culture of kindness.

Londo/Lennier alone might make this my favorite episode.

Finally an interesting subplot for Dr. Franklin.


E: Forgot another note I had: It'll be interesting to see if that alien healing device gets used in the future/throughout the series, since it was introduced during a one-off episode.

E2: Also, did Londo take that statue of the god with both genders' genitals back in to his bedroom? :staredog:

AARD VARKMAN fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Jun 8, 2020

Agronox
Feb 4, 2005

TheAardvark posted:

:lol: sorry. I think the word just hasn''t been used enough to stick in my brain correctly. It's the same reason I was calling him "Cotto" until I just went and looked to be reminded of his first name. I am not great with names.

Don't feel too bad. People have been calling them the Mimbari for 25 years now so a Zorlon for a new viewer is nbd

Narsham
Jun 5, 2008

Agronox posted:

Don't feel too bad. People have been calling them the Mimbari for 25 years now so a Zorlon for a new viewer is nbd

My favorite is the blooper in a later season where a guest actor who is supposed to be referencing the war between Earth and the Minbari refers to it as "the Minibar War."

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

Narsham posted:

My favorite is the blooper in a later season where a guest actor who is supposed to be referencing the war between Earth and the Minbari refers to it as "the Minibar War."

ah yes, the internal war I wage every time work puts me up in a hotel

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993
S1E22 - "Chrysalis"
G'Kar still exists! When this was airing weekly he wasn't on the show for 2 months right? drat.

There's a hedge maze on Babylon 5.

Ok. I don't know what's going on here.

Cotto's reactions are fantastic. "Oh, that'll go over well." Not afraid to use sarcasm on Londo.

G'Kar banging 3 babes at once!

Garibaldi identifying those things as "some kind of transmitters" that are currently set to emit static? Mr. Garibaldi's been holding out on us, he's apparently some kind of technical genius

I like how competent Na'Toth is compared to the other assistants. I mean I guess Lennier is competent but the Minbari aren't really political animals

Garibaldi's incompetence, on the other hand, just got the president killed. The last guy to discover that secret died in the walk up the ship, just say "code ultraviolet ITS THE PRESIDENT" this time you moron.

Ahh God drat just what they need, less government support.

Wait what the gently caress? Delenn is in a chrysalis? What the poo poo?

Nice season finale ending where they clearly weren't sure which actors would be available next season.

Doctor Zero
Sep 21, 2002

Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Quality of Mercy fun fact: (back scenes talk only no plot revealed, but spoiler it in case someone may be surprised by the casting)

The guest star and Lennier’s actor were both in Lost In Space as mother and son, but in this episode of B5 they don’t share a scene!

Bill Mumy actually walks through a scene out of costume behind her at one point :ssh:

Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Jun 8, 2020

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."
S1Ep16 - Eyes


Chief ACAB building a ‘vintage’ bike in his smart shirt and trousers. The last gas powered motorbike probably will be built in 2035... but I’m glad Lennier had fun putting it together and robbing Garibaldi of that joy.

OH poo poo JEFFREY COMBS :swoon:

I’m surprised the cardboard sets are still standing after the amounts of saliva they endured during this episode. Ben-Zayn pulling another Drumhead and testing loyalty while working through his very obvious vendetta. He clearly had something personal gnawing at him about the B5 crew, and the episode just plodded along until we all got there, and he started doing the evil voice. At least Jeffrey Combs got to be the good guy, or at least do the right thing.

The most interesting thing about this episode were Bester’s fingerprints all over the proceedings without him even having to show up. Also Ivanova having a massive ruck in the casino. Good on you.

Eyud
Aug 5, 2006

Sanguinia posted:

Bad News: This thread made me want to go rewatch B5, but sometime since my last rewatch a couple of years ago it went from free on Amazon Prime to per-episode-purchase on Amazon Prime. Being able to watch b5 is one of the reasons I finally broke down and got that drat service, what a gip!

JMS says it's coming back next month:

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1269793485881618433

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993
That is terrible, terrible news for me. I just bought season 1 and 2 on Prime. At the rate I'm going I can either pay the $30 per season or wait a month to continue.

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."
Slow your roll? Do one a day?

Sanguinia
Jan 1, 2012

~Everybody wants to be a cat~
~Because a cat's the only cat~
~Who knows where its at~

Aardvark referring to Vir as Cotto keeps confusing me

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

Sanguinia posted:

Aardvark referring to Vir as Cotto keeps confusing me

Sorry! He doesn't have a lot of screen time in S1 and Cotto is the name that stuck. I did finally look it up after my last post when I realized he was the only one I was referring to by last name.

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."
S1ep17 - Legacies

“Good idea about the teeth.”

I really love the angelfish looking Minbari war cruisers. Plus the explorations of their culture are always welcome. The arrival of the funereal Grand Tour feels like the Minbari warrior caste, or this house specifically, baiting Sinclair. Delenn split between her loyalties to the homeworld and to her friend Sinclair, and shuffling back and forth on both.
Her reasons for what she did make a lot of sense, and work well on a plotting level. Plus Delenn not being afraid to pull rank with her Grey Council status when necessary is always helpful.

Naroon’s extra spiky head looks pretty badass, although it reminds me a lot of the xenomorph queen. Or a styracosaur. :3:

It’s probably a bit too modern a concept, but I get a slight queer vibe between Ivanova and Talia. There’s little looks every now and again in this episode and before now. Their sniping back and forth in this episode is very old married couple. Alisa’s moms both caring for her wishes, and then making up over coffee. Maybe it is intentional.

The telepathic Alisa’s religion is listed as Obeah, which is a Afro-Caribbean set of belief practices very similar to Santeria or Vodou. Also she graduated from Malcolm X Elementary school. ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

The_Doctor posted:

Slow your roll? Do one a day?

I probably will and go back to my Psych rewatch instead. Just very hard to resist when I know the entire rest of the series is at my fingertips.

MrL_JaKiri
Sep 23, 2003

A bracing glass of carrot juice!

TheAardvark posted:

:lol: sorry. I think the word just hasn''t been used enough to stick in my brain correctly. It's the same reason I was calling him "Cotto" until I just went and looked to be reminded of his first name. I am not great with names.

Londo shouting "VIR!" is one of life's little pleasures

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Londo shouting "VIR!" is one of life's little pleasures

:hmmyes:

VEE-EARRR! The little rolled R at the end is great.

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Londo shouting "VIR!" is one of life's little pleasures

Full S1 spoiler
Yeah, but I think that only happened once in the last 10 episodes I watched (when they were hiding from the feeder). Y'all gotta keep in mind that the only thing I've seen is season 1, which may not prioritize characters the same way as later seasons.

I said "look up" the name but I just meant that I had to make sure of it before posting so I don't misspell things. :shrug:

MrL_JaKiri
Sep 23, 2003

A bracing glass of carrot juice!

TheAardvark posted:

Full S1 spoiler
Yeah, but I think that only happened once in the last 10 episodes I watched (when they were hiding from the feeder). Y'all gotta keep in mind that the only thing I've seen is season 1, which may not prioritize characters the same way as later seasons.

I said "look up" the name but I just meant that I had to make sure of it before posting so I don't misspell things. :shrug:


It wasn't a criticism of you not knowing the name, it was just a comment :)

I also know the name of literally every character because I used to play the collectable card game back in the 90s.

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993
Sorry, I didn't mean to be defensive about that - just that I'm watching this blind, I'm going to forget or miss things all the time. I appreciate if I gently caress up on spelling or something, but I read the post last page before it got edited out. That's why I'm so glad The_Doctor is watching through this too, since having a second pair of eyes is kinda like reading a live TVIV thread where people see all the poo poo I don't. When it's other people calling attention to it I have to approach it very differently.

Zaroff
Nov 10, 2009

Nothing in the world can stop me now!

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Londo shouting "VIR!" is one of life's little pleasures

One of my favourite B5 stories is how Peter Jurasik gets into character as Mollari. He would sit up straight, shout out ‘MEEster GariBALdi!’, and he’s there.

1000 Brown M and Ms
Oct 22, 2008

F:\DL>quickfli 4-clowns.fli

Agronox posted:

Don't feel too bad. People have been calling them the Mimbari for 25 years now so a Zorlon for a new viewer is nbd

To be fair, from a linguistics point of view, it's much easier for the human mouth to go to a 'b' sound from an 'm' sound than from an 'n' sound (and not just English speakers) so it's likely the actors themselves were saying Mimbari a lot.

Timby
Dec 23, 2006

Your mother!

The_Doctor posted:

It’s probably a bit too modern a concept, but I get a slight queer vibe between Ivanova and Talia.


This is intentional.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

TraderStav
May 19, 2006

It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Timby posted:

Spoiler

Quit spoiling, dude.

Come to the B5 older races thread to discuss items brought up here.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3785889

sebmojo
Oct 23, 2010


Legit Cyberpunk










Please don't do this, even in spoilers: come delight with us in the other thread.

The_Doctor
Mar 29, 2007

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."
S1Ep18 - A Voice in the Wilderness (Part 1)

“Ivanova is god.”

Ooh, we’re heading to the planet B5 orbits! I’ve been wondering about that place! I kind of assumed it was a gas giant for some reason. Loving the shuttle crew’s jackets, they’re so big and voluminous and ‘90s in style.

Pointing out G’Kar’s absence makes me realise, where has he been? We’ve seen Na’Toth recently, but not G’Kar. If this is a consular station, where is the ambassador?

The background news of Mars has been bubbling away for a few episodes, and now it’s exploded, but it all feels at arm’s length still. Like, it’s bad, but should I be invested? It’s flavour at the moment, rather than plot.

The dead planet launching missiles at the shuttle is very Magrathea. And I’m really pleased to see Ivanova’s personality acquire a sense of humour. The god speech is a good funny tone her character needed.

Londo cheering up Chief ACAB is a delight, and he’s a good friend, even if that friendship comes with an unexpected price. But it’s Garibaldi, so gently caress him.

OH! Epsilon 3 is Altair IV! Nice homage shot, even if it looks way more ropey than the original. I feel like it’s a bad move to have the two highest ranking officers go on a mission together to a certain death trap. They’re trapped the wrong side of a rock fall! Now they’re not and got out just fine! But the Krell machine the alien was trapped in had a nice effect with the radiating light rings.

Also, random side note on graphics. The series could really use have used someone like Mike Okuda to punch up the control panels. They’re all very static, and often look terrible. The shuttle panels of unlabelled blocks of colour bother me more than words can express. Also that static upside down picture of the station in C&C. Why is it upside down?!

It’s not over yet, but I’ll have to wait till tomorrow!


Roth
Jul 9, 2016

Once again, please do not respond to posts either confirming or denying theories and speculation.

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993
I don't want to discourage the people who have seen the show from posting at all, you all have been mostly really good about it. I like the production notes a lot too. I'm fine with y'all keeping on posting, just please think hard about what whether what you're posting is going to change our perception of the story we're watching, or give us a perspective we simply cannot have within what we have seen so far.

If you're in doubt, post it in the TVIV thread I am studiously never clicking on and let them approve of it. We aren't running out of posts, and the interaction is appreciated considering we're watching a 30 year old show. If anyone objects to discussing whether a post is appropriate here (within in the TVIV thread), well, I can't understand why. Ask them yourself. Maybe they're Zorlons?

AARD VARKMAN fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jun 9, 2020

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993
Sparse thoughts on S2E1. I watched the episode because I absolutely can't resist watching the first episode of the next season when I'm binge watching something. I am taking a break from the show for a bit after this.


The intro gives away that Delenn is half-human now. Also that the new Captain is here to stay.

I knew that Michael O'Hare was gone because it was a bit of a pop trivia thing for a while, once JMS came out and told the full story - front page of Reddit was like "JMS explains why Michael O'Hare left after season 1!" but I had assumed Ivanova would take command. A new leader entirely is a bit unexpected.

Episode was decent. Lennier vomiting out replacement story poo poo for Sinclair leaving. This was a stopgap episode. I would bet the next one is too, to repair the loss of the ~main character~

Proud of Delenn's actress for demanding less makeup.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

TheAardvark posted:

I don't want to discourage the people who have seen the show from posting at all, you all have been mostly really good about it. I like the production notes a lot too. I'm fine with y'all keeping on posting, just please think hard about what whether what you're posting is going to change our perception of the story we're watching, or give us a perspective we simply cannot have within what we have seen so far.

If you're in doubt, post it in the TVIV thread I am studiously never clicking on and let them approve of it. We aren't running out of posts, and the interaction is appreciated considering we're watching a 30 year old show. If anyone objects to discussing whether a post is appropriate here (within in the TVIV thread), well, I can't understand why. Ask them yourself. Maybe they're Zorlons?

It's a frequent topic, someone said it's a good idea for some people to stay engaged with you blind watchers to keep up the thread activity. I was amped to see how people respond to surprise guest star David Warner. So many actors show up in early mid 90s sci-fi shows especially Canadian ones its a treat for people who's watched the last 20 years of the genre to see a young David Hewleet from Stargate or a famous VA like Warner having a small part.

I also want to vote for the new thread title to be "Maybe they're Zorlons?"

Zaroff
Nov 10, 2009

Nothing in the world can stop me now!

TheAardvark posted:


The intro gives away that Delenn is half-human now.


Regarding the first point:
This is an error on the US DVDs - the episodes as broadcast had Delenn in her S1 Minbari makeup up until her reveal.
Thankfully the UK DVDs had this error corrected.

Angry Salami
Jul 27, 2013

Don't trust the skull.

1000 Brown M and Ms posted:

To be fair, from a linguistics point of view, it's much easier for the human mouth to go to a 'b' sound from an 'm' sound than from an 'n' sound (and not just English speakers) so it's likely the actors themselves were saying Mimbari a lot.

Although Minbar is a real world - it's the pulpit in a mosque. No idea if Arabic has more n-b transitions than English.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

pentyne posted:

I also want to vote for the new thread title to be "Maybe they're Zorlons?"

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

The_Doctor posted:

S1Ep18 - A Voice in the Wilderness (Part 1)

“Ivanova is god.”
Also that static upside down picture of the station in C&C. Why is it upside down?!

But is it upside down? Which way is up, when from the perspective of the inhabitants, up is always towards the station's core, since they're simulating gravity by having the station rotate?

Vavrek
Mar 2, 2013

I like your style hombre, but this is no laughing matter. Assault on a police officer. Theft of police property. Illegal possession of a firearm. FIVE counts of attempted murder. That comes to... 29 dollars and 40 cents. Cash, cheque, or credit card?

TheAardvark posted:


Proud of Delenn's actress for demanding less makeup.


I believe they said her S2 appearance was actually a lot harder to deal with, though maybe I'm remembering people saying it was harder to make look right, since it has to have her hair pass through. I know Bill Mumy (Lennier) has said he absolutely hated the standard Minbari makeup. But then, he joined the show saying "This looks great, I love the premise, I will play anything but an alien keep me out of prosthetics." :v:



Zaroff posted:

Regarding the first point:
This is an error on the US DVDs - the episodes as broadcast had Delenn in her S1 Minbari makeup up until her reveal.
Thankfully the UK DVDs had this error corrected.


Oh cool. I didn't realize there was a non-VHS version of the correct S2 intros out there.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

TheAardvark posted:

I don't want to discourage the people who have seen the show from posting at all, you all have been mostly really good about it. I like the production notes a lot too. I'm fine with y'all keeping on posting, just please think hard about what whether what you're posting is going to change our perception of the story we're watching, or give us a perspective we simply cannot have within what we have seen so far.

The difficulty is that by posting, we might change your perspective without meaning to. I've bitten my tongue on mentioning things that aren't even spoilers, really, in case I accidentally let something slip or just make you watch the show in a different way. It's best not to start, and I'm happy with there being a moderator enforced prohibition on Knowledgeable Folk posting here.

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Nice piece of fish
Jan 29, 2008

Ultra Carp
I love this thread and this thread title. I need to rewatch B5.

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