but in purple, i am stunning

[rivendellrose]

We're up through "Parliament of Dreams" on the big dragging-ninjascript-through-B5 rewatch... minus the fact that I made him let me skip "Infection." I still don't like Sinclair. I still wish Catherine Sakai had more scenes without him, because I think I could really like her. Oh, and I still love when Delenn gets one of her chances to be scary. They seemed so much more frequent before Things That Happen Later. Poor Lennier looked likely to piss himself when she cornered him about calling her Satai. ♥

It's very strange going into this firmly aware of both how much I love the show... and how weird it looks to someone who's not used to it. I catch myself constantly apologizing. "The special effects are totally crap. Oh, god, the costumes... No, ignore this guest actor... Yes, I'm sorry, that person will eventually learn to act, she just hasn't quite got there yet... Don't worry about him, he won't be around much longer... No, he's not going to die, but... well, you'll see," etc. And of course, my favorite, "They can't help it, they had a really low budget." The poor guy is probably wondering what the hell I love so much about this show, not least because I keep apologizing for it. I just hope it starts to show soon. At the moment, I feel like (while glorious to my nostalgia) the first season is a bit weaker than I'd remembered.

Plus, I've got spoiler-y double-vision now on everything. Like that bit in "Parliament of Dreams," with the Minbari ceremony? At the time of course it's all jokey "ha-ha, significant staring, also a marriage ceremony, etc," but I have to say... even at the time I remember thinking "so... now Sinclair and Delenn are sort of married? Because they're definitely the ones with the most significant staring going on in that scene..." And yet of course later we discover that "fate" (ie, casting) is really after getting her married to Sheridan, while Sinclair has to go off and become Valen. So... where does that put this ceremony?

My frequent remarks about how 'three is sacred' to the Minbari may fit here, but... damn, we're reaching the point of "what about four, five, or maybe even six?" with Delenn. I love her, too, but it does rather seem that she's more-or-less-married to the whole universe, some days...

Afterward, he played a little bit of one of the older Final Fantasy games, to test out the video up-scaling on his new media receiver, and the narrator guy at the beginning was doing a really weird accent. I started to make fun of him, then trailed off. "I really can't make those comments after you just watched two episodes of Peter Jurasik's accent as Londo, can I?" I asked. He laughed, and told me no, I couldn't. He's probably right. ...But it was still a weird, random accent.

Comments

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

I really must watch b5 all over again, it was so good and now I know what happens!

Early Delenn is awesome and kickass I love her so much and I remember there was all this mystery around her like wtf is going what is she hiding ahhhhh! though If I remember rightly the end of season 2 was more omg, possibly?

But I do exactly the same when trying to get people to watch B5, all yeah the sfx are shit but pioneering at the time and really if you get through teh first series it does get better, just stick with it please. I just so want people to love the show as much as I do.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

And knowing what happens makes so much of the early stuff so interesting!

I don't remember precisely what was going on with her in S2, although I do remember there was something like you said (...I seem to recall it was something about Anna? Or possibly about Z'ha'dum in general?), but they're really laying on the "but she might be EEEVIL!!!" in S1. It's sort of charming, when you picture both her position, and her real history and tendency to be scarily bad-ass. ♥

"Just stick with it please" is pretty much exactly where I'm at right now, along with "I just so want people to love the show as much as I do." It's so good if you can just get past all the weirdness!

[alto2.livejournal.com]

I rewatched through the middle of S4 last summer (and only just now realized that was almost a year ago!). Never went any further, and I think it's because once the Shadow War is over, I'm not so interested in what comes next. Well, I was back then, but now...ehh. Clark can't hold a candle to Z'ha'dum, for instance. And I think it reminds me too much of the Bush Era, which I would sooner not think about ever again. (And don't get me going on S5. Worth it only for Day of the Dead and The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari. And the occasional great G'Kar quote. Sleeping in Light I don't quite count as S5, either)

So... where does that put this ceremony?

I believe it puts it in the "Well, this bit got frakked by a casting change that let us do some really cool stuff later on, so, erm, forgive us? Please?" category.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Worth it only for Day of the Dead and The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari. And the occasional great G'Kar quote. Sleeping in Light I don't quite count as S5, either

Totally agreed. Oh, and for "Day of the Dead," which I quite like in principle even if I'm not entirely thrilled with it in actual practice.

"Well, this bit got frakked by a casting change that let us do some really cool stuff later on, so, erm, forgive us? Please?"

Sure, sure, definitely. And it's hilarious in that context because... I mean, seriously? Sinclair and Delenn? I just can't picture it. (Entirely apart from the fact that part of me goes "but, ew, he's her ancestor!") But I'm thinking... in the context of the series? Like, in-series, what does that make that scene? What would Delenn have thought of it, thinking back?

...Damn, and I was so sure I didn't have any more plotbunnies for this show, too.

[alto2.livejournal.com]

I honestly barely remember Day of the Dead--I just figured I would actually watch that one when I got to S5 (though I never did) because Neil Gaiman wrote it and I should check it out again. So I probably shouldn't put it on this list, should I? Hmm.

Oh, I knew what you meant about the scene, I was just being relentlessly literal. Sorry!

So it turns out someone else on my flist is starting a rewatch, too. Should we all band together into a little rewatch comm or something? 'Cause if two of you are doing it, I'm tempted to go back, too, even though it doesn't feel like I left off all that long ago.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I have extremely character-specific memory of a lot of stuff from season 5 - I remember the things that had to do with Delenn, Lennier, G'Kar, Londo, and occasionally Lochley, and more or less forget anything else... Except Byron, who I wish I could forget.

No worries! I just meant that it's the in-show explanation that is tweaking at me.

Hmmmm... I totally would be interested, but I don't know if we'll keep up. We tend to go through things several shows at a time and a bit slowly, depending on what's going on. But if you don't mind that, I'd love to be involved (and I have another pair of friends who might be interested, if we do decide to do such a thing)!

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

(And don't get me going on S5. Worth it only for Day of the Dead and The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari. And the occasional great G'Kar quote. Sleeping in Light I don't quite count as S5, either)

... You know, I understand this position, but at the same time every time someone says this I go, "Are you talking about No Compromises to Phoenix Rising? Because, y'know, there was also Lennier's Ranger training and the stuff on Centauri Prime and The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father and the Drakh and OH MY GOD G'KAR'S LAST SPEECH TO LONDO."

Without Season 5, we wouldn't have had Lochley and Sir Hair, but we also wouldn't have had "My people can never forgive your people... but I can forgive you."

(Which makes me tear up just thinking about it.) And I just feel it's not just "a great G'Kar quote", it's also, y'know, the culmination of the entire Centauri and Narn story, and... those episodes are a lot better than people give them credit for, is all I'm arguing, because the whole rogue telepath storyline was SO. BAD. I think the second half of S5 gets short shrift as a result and that's really sad, because it's got some good stuff in there.

... Also, um, after watching it about six times I actually like Lochley a lot, but I don't expect anyone else to share that opinion offhand. ;)

[alto2.livejournal.com]

You almost undoubtedly have a point. I haven't seen it since it first aired, so I'm going solely on my recollection from how many years ago? I just got so tired of the telepath thing so quickly--totally the "Oh shit, we actually got renewed and I don't know what to put here now!" storyline--that I don't remember much else. G'Kar is the only other thing I really remember being generally awesome in S5.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

--totally the "Oh shit, we actually got renewed and I don't know what to put here now!" storyline--

Quite literally, not only did that happen but JMS lost his entire stack o' notes for the rest of the show at That Fateful WorldCon, and had to flail to come up with anything at that point. So he didn't even have that to fall back on.

But yeah--if you have the chance, go look at the stuff that happens after Phoenix Rising some time, because whenever I do that I'm always startled at how good the back half of the season is.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I definitely remember the 2nd half of the season being a whole lot better than the first, but never could remember precisely when the switch happened. "Phoenix Rising" sounds like a familiar title and a good bet (I don't remember what happened in that ep, I just have faintly more pleasant associations with it somehow as opposed to, say, "No Compromises," which always seemed like a terrible joke.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

"Phoenix Rising" is when Byron dies in a fire. After that, the telepath storyline is oooooover.

And "No Compromises" is my least favorite episode of Babylon 5 in any season. Not least because I had to watch it a ton of times in order to write my B5/Pirates crossover. ;)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

"Phoenix Rising" is when Byron dies in a fire.

God, no wonder I have such fond feelings for that title. ♥ I know there are folks who like him, and I respect that (...although I would point out that a damned refugee shouldn't the time or wherewithal to look like a Vidal Sassoon hair product commercial and that constantly repeating "god, so-and-so is so charismatic!" in no way equals actually writing a character with charisma or hiring an actor who is actually charismatic), but dear god I was happy when that bastard burned. Literally, cheering.

And yes, it's terrible beyond measure. I don't even exactly remember why, anymore, I just remember being horrified by how hideously bad it was. And I'm sooooo sorry you had to watch it a lot.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

I liked the actor in In the Beginning, as Morann. And on my second or third watch-through I liked his stupid-hippie schtick, but still can't get over the switch from stupid-hippie to "ARGH REVENGE FOR THE TELEPATHS WE WILL MAKE THEM SEE." And then swiftly back to "OH SHIT, VIOLENCE IS BAD."

But yeah, all his charisma was informed attributes, and the bits where he did get to be actually charismatic were few and far between. And occasionally ruined. Like, the episode where the Psi Corps first shows up, and he gives Lyta that "willow" speech? The "Four lifetimes ago! I was a coppersmith, and I went down to the river with my girlfriend, and she turned into a willow! And it's a parable! Lyta, you're awesome." That speech was okay. But then after she says "SERIOUSLY, DUDE, GET SOME SLEEP", he just pushes it ONE line too far with "We sleep too much! It's the dreaming we don't do enough of!" ... Ouch.

And No Compromises... Sigh. So JMS talks about rhetorical judo occasionally. He did this when he brought in Sheridan--he's Bruce Boxleitner, and everyone expects him to be a lightweight, so instead of fighting that he embraces it and then leads the audience around to his more serious stuff. Okay so far. But when he tries it with Lochley--"The audience isn't going to like her, so I'll embrace her unlikableness!" ... That is a less good idea. Plus all her efficiency in that was more informed attributes--we got to hear it all the time, but all we saw was her bitching out Corwin for not running a proper space station.

And the timeline made no sense. I mean, SERIOUSLY made no sense. They find out about the assassin on day A, and Garibaldi is up all night figuring out who the guy is, and when we see him working he is literally just saying to the computer, "Okay, check another database for a voice match!" And this took him like eighteen hours before he finally looks up the Earthforce database and finds out that the guy is an infiltrator, and then ANOTHER like ten minutes before he gets the guy's file and finds out he can pilot a Starfury, and... UGH. AUGH. ARGH.

... Needless to say, I dealt with as much as I could in my AU, but. Um. It was difficult. It does have the exchange about the Presidency, though. "Do you want to be President?" "Yes." "Put your hand on the book and say 'I do.'" "I do." "Good, done, let's eat." Thank you, G'Kar. For the win.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I suspect he might have worked out just fine as a Minbari, since about 50% of Minbari already have that sharp, useless look and an inability to project emotion beyond "haughty, arrogant, and superior." The good ones (Neroon, Dukhat, Delenn, etc) can do better, but... more often than not the 2ndary Minbari look like failed models who were picked for their cheekbones and their arrogance. It frustrates me, given how much I love the rest of them, but... that's another issue entirely.

JMS? Pushing a speech one line too far? I have never experienced such a thing - certainly it didn't make me scream at the TV during "Sleeping in Light." /sarcasm.

The whole rhetorical judo concept is interesting and I can definitely see how it works sometimes. It sure as hell worked (sometimes, at least - he still pushes it too far at others, IMHO) with Sheridan. And I actually would have been somewhat willing to like Lochley if he hadn't gone ahead with his usual stupid informed traits bullshit and actually given her more of a chance to be a real character.

Ah, yes, that one. Now I remember. My favorite thought at the time was "hasn't it been previously established that C&C has to approve Starfuries for departure or they're still locked into the little bay thing, thus making this plotline pretty much completely impossible?"

"Do you want to be President?" "Yes." "Put your hand on the book and say 'I do.'" "I do." "Good, done, let's eat."

Once again, G'Kar saves the fucking day, at least as far as the audience is concerned. ♥ I really ought to get a G'Kar icon.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

Well, I like Hedronn/Kelonn (he was given a different name in the S2 opener than the TV movie) played by Robin Sachs, and I like the un-actor-credited Grey Council guy in whichever episode it is where Delenn goes back to the council and they've voted her in as leader, and I like Shal Mayan, and Sech Durhan and Turval except that we only see the two of them in one of the worst episodes of Season 5 ever. (Thank you, thank you, thank you for making the Mora'dum suck. /sarcasm.)

And yeah. Lochley in Day of the Dead is so much better because it's just a character-centric episode without much else going on. And I like her a lot in River of Souls where she doesn't have to play second fiddle to Sheridan and can just get on with running the station.

And as for the Starfuries thing--my personal fanwank is that he stole launch codes and overrides and was thus able to launch without authorization. But there were a lot of things about that plot I didn't like.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to say that all the Minbari other than the ones I'd mentioned were like that, by a long shot (especially not Robin Sachs - I love him). Just that there seem to be a lot of them who are like that. ...And oh, god, the Mora'dum. Why did you have to remind me of that? :P

Day of the Dead was the episode where I really started to love Lochley, if I remember right. Very fun stuff.

Stealing authorization works, it's just... argh. Such a poor episode on nearly every level.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

Erik loved B-5 and bought the entire series, and all the movies, on DVD. (As well as Crusade.)

I was a "Trekkie" and also fell in love with B-5. I haven't watched it for years, but I'm tempted to follow your idea and watch them again.

(I didn't like Sinclair, either, which is why I think he was replaced after the first season.)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I was a Trekkie first, too. Took me years to get around to B5, but I finally did a few years ago, and fell completely head-over-heels. One of these days I'll get around to a few of the movies (at least "The Beginning") and maaaaaybe Crusade. I'm a little iffy about the concept of the show without the characters I like, if that makes sense.

(I hate to say it, but I think so, too. He's just... he's acting for stage. And he's on TV. That doesn't work unless you're really good and have the right character for it.)

[windrose.livejournal.com]

Actually, it had more to do with the actor's declining health than anything else. It's been so many years that can't remember what, precisely, was wrong with him anymore, but it was something degenerative that pretty thoroughly sidelined him from anything but the occasional small guest-starring role.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Goodness. o_O That's awful. Poor man! I had no idea.

[windrose.livejournal.com]

I probably should have messaged you privately about this. For the record, it was a mutual friend of O'Hare's and mine who told me about the illness, though I had it confirmed later by Katherine. I don't know what he was sick with. I don't know if he's still sick. All I know is that his health was pretty shaky for a while, and that it was a factor in his decision to leave B5.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

No worries, I understand. I just feel a bit badly for being so dismissive of him, that's all. It doesn't really make a difference, just pings my guilt complex.

[alto2.livejournal.com]

Wow, you sure about this? I heard there'd been some sort of harassment issue!

[windrose.livejournal.com]

I don't have any concrete proof, just what I was told by friends who worked on the series. There were other factors involved, but the main one was that O'Hare was starting to get sick and couldn't keep up with the demands of the production schedule. He may be perfectly fine now.

[alto2.livejournal.com]

Well, if you have friends who worked on the series, I shall bow to your superior connections and assume you are much more correct than whatever I heard, from a source I can't even recall anymore. :)

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

One of these days I'll get around to a few of the movies (at least "The Beginning") and maaaaaybe Crusade. I'm a little iffy about the concept of the show without the characters I like, if that makes sense.

ItB is great. Thirdspace is kinda fun. River of Souls made me like Lochley, but it drags a bit toward the end. A Call to Arms is problematic but fun--it was always meant to be a setup for Crusade, but it's relatively self-contained. And don't watch the pilot, dear God don't watch the pilot, or rather, if you watch the pilot, fortify yourself both mentally and with intoxicants.

Crusade isn't "The concept of the show but without the characters you like," Crusade is a weird animal which has been forced to undergo scientific experiments. I like some of the episodes--honestly, I have more than a little fondness for the entire thing--but it's. Um. Not really Babylon 5.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I will probably only ever get around to "In the Beginning," and that because I'm fairly sure I remember hearing that it has Dukhat and fully-Minbari!Delenn in it. Which is probably enough to make me watch just about anything, given my undying love for the two of them. Beyond that... eh. I'm a character-oriented viewer, and as much as I love other aspects of the series, if something doesn't have my pet characters in it, I probably don't care. I'm selfish like that. ;)

And dear god, no, I had already long since determined that I was never going to go anywhere near the pilot, not even with copious amounts of alcohol. All alcohol would do is make me more prone to making nasty remarks about everything (especially the acting), and... well, cause the sort of bizarre, half-remembered weirdness that I have regarding "Inferno" and "Trial of a Time Lord," thanks to our little Memorial Day bash of a few years ago. I have weird flash-bulb memories of both of those episodes... and much of it comes along with a strong sense of "dear god, I was so drunk." ♥

[diea.livejournal.com]

At least your man will sit down and watch with you! I tried to get Billy to watch The X-Files when we were first dating. He never lasted through a whole episode, and I eventually gave up.

I've never watched B5, but I've heard good things about it. *shrugs*

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Wow. ninjascript has never been able to survive an episode of classic Doctor Who (the stories have reeeeeally weird pacing), but... really, the X-Files? That's a pretty fast-paced show! I can't imagine what your boy would think of something like old Who, or of B5.

It's a good show, it just... has serious issues, mostly to do with being extremely low-budget and very early-90s.

[diea.livejournal.com]

Well there aren't any Jedi or comic book characters in TXF, so I suppose it was doomed from the start. The fact that he didn't watch TXF gave me an excuse to not sit through all of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, so it wasn't all wasted. :P

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

BAHAH, I feel that way whenever I initiate anyone to Who, especially NewWho. And Classic. Classic on the budget thing anyway- don't know WHAT the excuse from Rusty was for NewWho.

I need to watch Babylon 5 already (which I'm assuming is what you're talking about, though forgive me if my acronym-fu be lacking); I have had it recced hardcore so many times, I just keep forgetting. Boo on me.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

don't know WHAT the excuse from Rusty was for NewWho.

Rusty's excuse is that he's Rusty. Which mean's he's a genius and everything he does is perfect, don'cha'know. :P

Aaaaanway. Leaving aside the horrible sarcasm.

Yes, this is about Babylon 5 (sorry about the rampant acronyming), and yessssss, you should see it. It is mad, in some of the same ways that Old Who is, and mad in some other ways that have nothing to do with Old Who but are... sort of on the same level of "I love it even though it's crazy"? It was my mad summer passion a few years ago, and I went through all five seasons in the space of, like, four months, wrote a ton of fic, fell completely in love with several of the characters, and have ever since been harboring a vague yearning to get more people into it, because (sometimes despite itself) it is fantastic. ♥

That said, I sympathize with your forgetting of hardcore reccing. I've had Farscape recced to me so many times I've lost count, and I just can't ever seem to get around to it.

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

Farscape is awesome, and when you get the chance..oh, it is such crack. My problem was with the DVDs, the OFFICIAL DVDs, some of which, when netflixed, seemed to have the episodes in the wrong order. SO CONFUSING.
(I lost track of it when it was airing, so finally seeing the comprehensive whole was the intention. So much for that, lol..).. Unless I'm on crack and my memory is dead, I would rec just torrenting the whole thing.
(Srsly, it's amazingly cracky)

AGH ok, fuck it, queuing now. I can't forget it if netflix won't let me. I should do it for Buffy too, another tragic casualty of my distracted nature.

Sad thing is, I'm actually MISSING the RustiCracks. At least it was original. This season has been SO BAD OMFG. I've been antiMoff from the get-go (I have this teensy irkability when it comes to flagrant gleeful sexism), but you know it's terrible when his hardcore stans are even wtfing. XP

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Awesome, I will have to take a look at it. Not right now (as I am determined to get The Boy through to the bits of B5 that are actually good), but soon.

And yes, you should definitely watch both B5 and Buffy. Will it help to tell you that B5 has two of the most awesome female characters I've ever encountered?

As for DW... honestly, my hatred of RTD, after the travesty of "End of Time," pretty much knows no bounds. I would also submit that while he claims not to be, he is in fact much more sexist than Moffat at least seems to be from what I've seen of him (I am told that his sexism comes out more in interviews, which I have not read, so I can't speak to that). I will say only that he bothers to write women who do not exist solely to love the Doctor, he manages to have older female minority characters who are not always there to Be Wrong, and, most damningly in my mind, he has not yet shown a tendency to marry off every single companion as though that is the be-all and end-all of a woman's existence, and he's not the one who made Sarah Jane Smith into a pathetic caricature of herself who had nothing better to do for thirty-some years than sit around waiting for the Doctor, as if she's just as pathetic, moony, and brainless over him as Rose. Who, at least, had the excuse of being 19.

...Sorry. I'm obviously still dealing with some anger regarding RTD.

I'm not overly happy with this season of DW, either, but at this point, I still consider RTD enemy number one, and Moffat just this guy who I don't know very well. Give him time, and I may well hate him just as much as I do RTD, but it hasn't happened yet.

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

The nongood bits are best dealt with in the same way one must Torchwood- improvised drinking game! :D
This goes for Farscape too. Oh, sci-fi, why must you be so very drastically hit-or-miss with your (often very) bad self? *sigh*

I have flixed them! So no, since I was already planning it. But that is awesome to know anyway. XD

Yeah, I'm still pretty pissed at RTD for the entire specials season. Really, I'm convinced he wanted us to be grateful for both his, and Tens departure, by tormenting us.
Ahh, but Moff.. his demonstrations of marriage/DOCTORWUVS being the end-all ARE there! Amy is his sole exception, barely. Reinette (filed under 'wants to shag the Doctor'; arguably one of the most interesting women in history was turned into a paper doll for the Doctor to be ~romanced~ by- he also said of people who criticized the Docs 2-lady asshatting antics as being OOC, that they "weren't real men" as apparently that's what all men do. Or they must turn in their peen.), Sally (marriage-obsessed, as was everyone else in that episode), Jack (wants to shag the Doctor), River (shag the Doctor), Amy (shag the Doctor..).. not all the different from Rusty's reign from where I'm standing, cept Rusty actually managed stronger plots somehow.

It's also easier to see the sexism when after seeing him discuss it, you recognize that Coupling is in fact, based entirely on how he understands reality to function.
The man honestly believes that all women care about is marriage, wuvs, babehs. His representations of men, too, are pretty disgusting. And his homophobia.

Leaving all that on the side, for we clearly disagree and others have documented Moffs sexism much more effectively than I can (I dissolve into RAAAAGE, wherein with Rusty, he fucks it up but I honestly can see where his intentions are. His biggest problem was making himself a Rose-Sue, and poor choices regarding Donnas ending, which just.. oh, yes, so bad. No argument there. I think he wanted to send out a final Fuck You All in his last episode.) ..my biggest problem with Moff this season has been his complete and utter lack of originality. Everything til episode 5 was stolen blatantly, or rehashed, from RTDs run, (aside from River-Sue is a plague on all things Who..).. of which, in the case of those damn stupid angels, he couldn't even keep his own frelling canon straight! ..

OK this was not about Who. I'm retreating to my rage-corner, and not ranting about Moff anymore. I have my own journal for that. Sorry. XD

[snakewhissperer.livejournal.com]

In my private universe that someone she's waiting for is Harry Sullivan. So there RTD! (course in my private universe he is doing time at Jan Mayan islands for a crime he didnt' commit...oh wait, being blackmailed by teh UK military.....)

[ariastar.livejournal.com]

I love how we're apparently in exactly the same place with our rewatches. :D (I hope you don't mind if I friend you over on LJ too, so's to follow this rewatch process?)

I find myself constantly apologizing for the show, too, and I haven't even tried to show it to people yet. When I'm trying to explain it, it usually goes something like, "The special effects are awful, and the acting starts out really shaky, and it's a bit meh, but I swear, it gets really excellent."

I've got spoiler-y double-vision now on everything.

I think it's fun to play the does-this-foreshadowing-hold-up-or-did-they-change-that-bit game. :D

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yay! It's good to not be alone in this spot, back when things are sort of iffy but so exciting. ♥ And honestly, when I watched the first time I was so... all my friends had already seen it. So I love the idea of being able to go along with people this time (particularly so I have someone to vent at so as not to spoil my boyfriend). And yes! Friend away, please - I tend to be more active over here, honestly. Constantly saying I'm going to use DW more, but... I've had this LJ for years now, and old habits die hard.

I think it's fun to play the does-this-foreshadowing-hold-up-or-did-they-change-that-bit game. :D

It really, really is. Like the thing with the Minbari ceremony in "Parliament of Dreams!" I mean, in-show, what would that mean? Esecially since, dude, he's her many-times ancestor, and that's got to wig out even the most unflappable of people, knowing "hey, I used to hang out with this guy, and now it turns out he's basically the religious leader I've revered all my life." That has got to be a major mental shift.

[snakewhissperer.livejournal.com]

You have no idea howmany times I quote that purple thing when I try on purple clothes.....

Love that scene.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It's just soooooooooo cuuuuuuuuute. ♥♥♥

(And yeah, it had slipped my mind for a long time, but I have a feeling that the next time I try on something purple, it's going to be top of my mind.)

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I just got to S2 with the new-to-show person I'm watching with, and--you know, I'm in the same weird place with apologizing for Season 1. Because I love season 1. Unabashedly, truly, with all my heart, even Infection, even Grail, even the guest stars who don't know what to do with their lines. But the problem is I'm going into it with all of the... whole... thing, and I'm almost not watching the episodes as episodes of a television show any more, but as some kind of fannish gestalt.

And it's like, the more you watch the early stuff the more you realize that JMS is letting himself reference things and build a bigger universe and just let stuff spin out there, and only about half of it gets picked up later, but the rest of it is still thematically appropriate to the rest of the show. I dunno. But yeah, when you watch with someone new and they're all, "Wow, that CG--" you cut in "I know! It was the early 90s and they had no money and were basically working on borrowed Amigas in someone's basement and it was still better than anything else CGed on TV at the time and also the DVDs are cropping the full-frame CG into letterbox so it looks even crappier, I'M SORRY!"

*sigh* Man. Babylon 5. That was good stuff.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I... love parts of S1. I really do. Other parts... I really do hate some of the guests stars and their total inability to speak lines without making me want to rip my hair out (Walter Koenig obviously exempt from this statement). But I love it anyway.

And yeah, the CG. It isn't as painful to me as, for instance, some of the acting... or, god help me, the fact that they couldn't seem to afford an actual fight coordinator until, like, S3. I'm sensitive to that sort of thing. :P

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, man, the fight scenes. The fight scenes hurt. A lot. *wince*

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

They're just so bad. I mean, I'm no great shakes as a physical actor when it comes to stunts and crap, and I certainly couldn't coordinate a fight scene myself, but... there is such a difference between a professionally choreographed fight and the crap they had in the first few seasons. It's just awful.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

And it's not like all of the later ones were good, either. The one between Marcus and Neroon at least looks distracting, but the actual fighting is pretty sad.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

As far as bad fight-scene decisions are concerned, nothing will ever quite surpass the sheer, unmitigated horror and embarrassment I felt at Lennier's... I don't even want to call it "fighting posture," although I suspect that was what it was meant to be. At the moment, I just want to call it "the time I discovered that I do actually have embarrassment squick if it regards an actor doing something horrifically stupid, unreasonable and inexplicable in context that I really, really, really wish I didn't have to be seeing."

And now that I've gone and remembered that I'm going to be dreading it until such time as the episode reappears. And I can't remember even what season it was in. *Sigh*