Babylon 5: any reason to get Season 5? (1 Viewer)

Before getting flamed hear me out please.
I'm new to the series, following it since its DVD release.
It seemed to me that S4 wrapped up the series pretty well.
What does S5 add to the series?
Does it wrap it up better than S4?

I know that JMS planned a 5 year arc but wasn't the arc accelerated because of network uncertainty?

I love all of season 5, but I'm one of the few.
Most just love the centauri story arc and the season finale. Even that is worth the $60-$70 pricetag.

Whilst Series 5 is definitely one of the weaker series it is still very much worth getting. Its not that the series is bad, its just that after what has gone before it is a bit of a letdown. And there are 2 new weak characters introduced. The first half of the season is the weakest but some of the episodes in the latter half are as good as anything that has been before, especially with regard to the characters of Londo and GKar.

And Id buy it just for the final episode Sleeping In Light which is an absolute must to watch and wraps up the series far better than S4 does (It was filmed at the end of Season 4 in case they didnt get another series but when they did, it was saved until S5. The Deconstruction of Falling Stars which finishes S4 is its replacement.

Personally I can't see not buying it.

Even with the Byron arc, the 5th season is well worth picking up. (And the Byron arc definitely makes itself worthwhile with the episode "Secrets of the Soul". Pat Tallman fans know what I mean.)

JMS always said that the series was about the build up to the war, the war, and the aftermath. S5 is the aftermath, a bit like Reconstruction following the Civil War. Not as dramatic as Gettysburg in some ways, but still a very interesting and dramatic period.

S4 was not accelerated as much as some people think (or claim.) If he'd known for sure that there was going to be a fifth season there would have been a few more "stand alone" episodes early in the season - in the pause for breath between "Z'ha'dum" at the end of S3 and the conclusion of the Shadow War (to let new viewers sampling the show early in the season catch up and acclimate) and a couple of more in between the Shadow and Earth Civil Wars. "Into the Fire" might have been a two parter - or not. When he actually came to write it JMS may have decided to do it in one episode anyway, rather than stall for another expensive battle-filled episode. The season would have ended with Sheridan's interrogation in "Intersections in Realtime" and the Earth Civil War would have ended a few episodes into S5 instead of right at the end of S4. So we're really only talking about a shift of four or five episodes, and one thread being resolved early in S5 rather than late in S4.

Oh, and the Telepath Colony alluded to in "Deconstruction" and several posts here would have been gradually been established in the background of episodes late in the fourth season without ever becoming a major plot focus.

The arc about the telepaths in the first 8 episodes is weaker than it would have been if Claudia Christian hadn't declined to return for S5 at the last possible minute. JMS really didn't have time to properly rearrange a mini-arc originally intended to deal with Ivanova's latent telepathy and put her in an impossible ethical situation as commander of the station.

A lot of the power was lost from this part of the story because Ivanova was no longer (literally) at the heart of it, but it still had to be shown because it formed part of the backstory of the B5 spin-off Crusade, which was then in the planning stages, and the new set of B5 novels from Del Rey Books that JMS was then outlining. (Not to mention the abortive feature film that Warner Bros. was then interested in.)

The story of the mysterious attacks on the new Alliance that runs parallel to the teep arc for the first 8 episodes helps hold the first part of the season together and the later episodes build brilliantly to the conclusion JMS was aiming at from the start, despite many detours and dead ends.

S5 is at least as good as S1, and doesn't have a single real "clunker" of the sort many fans consider "Infection", "Grey 17" or "Grail". (Although three "off-format" experimental episodes, one written by Neil Gaiman, tend to be "love 'em or hate 'em" for most fans.)

By all means buy the set. I'd pay the full price just to have the last five minutes of the last episode on DVD, and there's so much more than that to enjoy.

Regards,

Joe

I'll agree with that. Sad and beautiful at the same time. It was a great way for the series to go out.

Some were dissatisfied with the ending, because it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but the story is about Babylon 5, and ends when that story is over with. Life is open-ended, and there are always more stories to be told...

Jason

I love all five seasons but I'd buy the set just for "Sleeping in Light." That episode alone makes it worth every penny.

Definitely worth it for "Day of the Dead" and "Sleeping in Light."

Despite what you've heard, the fifth season isn't that bad. It does get off to a rocky start, but the second half of the season picks up.

Yes, especially for the last several episodes and SLEEPING IN LIGHT.

I still wish we'd get some version of the Centauri Trilogy Books by Peter David, like a mini-series or 3 made for TV movies.

Absolutely, after a bit of a bad few episodes in the Telepath arc, we get back to buisness on Centuri prime, And Sleeping In Light is a must see ending to the series. Joe I don't know if it was supposed to be ivonova involved with Byron I think I would've lost my cookies for sure. Yuck. Almost glad she did'nt return

Absolutely. You can't not watch how Londo winds up, or for that matter G'Kar. So If you have S1 to 4, S5 is a must.

Regards,

Joe

(First edited to fix typo in spoiler tag, then to fix typo in a word. )

Wow. Heady stuff there Joe! Makes me think, thats for sure!

Blu, as everyone else is saying, yes, it's worth it.

The G'Kar/Londo relationship, the finale of the series (which is a brilliant brilliant tear-jerker) and more. Worth every penny. I can hardly wait!!!

Well with 8 days left before season 5 hits the streets I'm excited to complete this collection!

I am hoping that it is worth getting!

I don't think you'll regret it Blu. Like everyone else has said...just "Sleeping In Light" is worth the entire price. I'm sure you'll enjoy more than that.

Agreed! I find Lando's story one of the most compelling.


Plus, Sleeping in the Light is worth the cost of the season all by itself (as many have said).

I'm looking forward to my S5 set shipping soon. It was a very good season, with the second half of it as essential as anything in the five years of the show.

Hey, has anyone said that Sleeping in Light is worth the whole package?



Yeah, between that and the G'Kar/Londo story, it's worth every penny. Just grit your teeth whenever Byron is onscreen.