Babylon 5

[kg redhead]

the most ambitious sci-fi show ever

[kg redhead]

[Opening narration, season 1]
Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last, best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.

[kg redhead]

[Opening narration, season 2]
Captain John Sheridan: The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace, a self-contained world five miles long located in neutral territory, a place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens, a shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, the year the great war came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5.

[kg redhead]

[Opening narration, season 3]
Susan Ivanova: The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But in the year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for victory. The year is 2260. The place - Babylon 5.

[kg redhead]

[Opening narration, season 4]
Lennier: It was the year of fire,
Zack Allan: The year of destruction,
Citizen G'Kar: The year we took back what was ours.
Lyta Alexander: It was the year of rebirth,
Ambassador Vir Cotto: The year of great sadness,
Marcus Cole: The year of pain,
Delenn: And a year of joy.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: It was a new age.
Dr. Stephen Franklin: It was the end of history.
Susan Ivanova: It was the year everything changed.
Michael Garibaldi: The year is 2261.
Captain John Sheridan: The place, Babylon 5.

[kg redhead]

And so it begins...
There is a hole in your mind.
What do you want?
No one here is exactly what he appears.
Nothing's the same anymore.
Commander Sinclair is being reassigned.
Why don't you eliminate the entire Narn homeworld?
Reaching out the stars...
Who are you?
President Clark signed a decree today declaring...
These orders have forced us to declare independence.
Weapons, supplies...
...get off their encounter-suited butts and do something.
You are the one who was.
...to Z'ha'dum will die.
Why are you here?
Do you have anything worth living for?
I think of my beautiful city in flames...
Like giants in the playground...
Get the hell out of our galaxy!
We are here to place President Clark under arrest.

[kg redhead]

Babylon 5 is an epic science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The music for the TV series and related TV movies was composed by Christopher Franke. The pilot movie, The Gathering, aired on February 22, 1993, and the regular series initially aired from January 26, 1994 through November 25, 1998, first in syndication on the short-lived Prime Time Entertainment Network, then on cable network TNT. Because the show was aired every week in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 without a break, the last four or five episodes of the early seasons were shown in the UK before the US.

The series, often held as a good example of space opera, consists of a five-year story arc taking place over five seasons of 22 episodes each. The hub of the story is a large space station named Babylon 5; the five mile (8 km) long, 2.5 million ton rotating colony is built to be a gathering place for fostering peace through diplomacy, trade, and cooperation. Babylon 5 is a center of political intrigue and conflict, and eventually becomes a pawn in a massive interstellar conflict from which it emerges with a victory over forces of darkness and chaos albeit at great cost. This is reflected in the opening monologue of each episode which includes "last, best hope for peace" in series one but changes to "last, best hope for victory" by season three.

Having long been a science fiction fan himself, Straczynski was determined to produce a science fiction series for adults where, for once, things would be done properly: consistent technology, "no kids or cute robots", no new "particle of the week" to tie up a plot. It was not a utopian future — there is greed and homelessness. It was not a place where everything was the same at the end of the day — main characters grow, develop, live, and die. An unabashedly political show, it was always ready to deal with politics, sex, religion, and philosophy.

Unlike most television shows, this series was conceived as a novel, with a defined beginning, middle, and end. In addition, even tie-in novels, comic books, and short stories play a significant part of the overall story.

The overall story of the show was plotted out in some detail before the first episode was ever shot. Having a (loosely) predetermined plot was advantageous in many respects, as longer-term planning greatly reduced the working budget required on sets and costumes. The planned plot arc, allowing largely fixed sets and economies of scale, favorably compared with more episodic series which might require an entirely new set of props or costumes for each episode.

Though conceived as a whole, and with Straczynski writing most of the episodes (including all of the episodes of the third and fourth seasons, a feat never before accomplished in American television), it was necessary to adjust the plotline to accommodate external influences. The replacement of actor Michael O'Hare as the station commander after the first season, the unexpected departure of actresses Claudia Christian and Andrea Thompson, and the necessity to compress the fourth season story arc due to fears of cancellation proved to be major challenges. Consequently, season 4 is loaded with a dizzying amount of plot, and the final episode shot for season 4 was held back to be the ending for the fifth season.

Babylon 5 is often cited as raising the bar for science fiction television, using an arc-driven storytelling style now prevalent not only in sci-fi, but in mainstream dramas as well. Straczynski anticipated the rise of digital television, shooting the series in 1.78:1 format rather than the normal 1.33:1 - a full six years before ER and many other dramas began doing the same thing. Babylon 5 also revolutionized the use of computer technology in creating visual effects at a time when using models and miniatures was the norm.

Babylon 5 is the fifth, and last, of the Babylon space stations. Its predecessors, the original Babylon station, Babylon 2 and Babylon 3 were all sabotaged and destroyed before their completion. Twenty-four hours before it became fully operational Babylon 4 disappeared without a trace. The episode "Babylon Squared" and the two-part episode "War Without End" deal with the disappearance of Babylon 4. Babylon 5 is substantially smaller than the previous stations because so much money was spent on the prior stations. For example, Babylon 4 had its own propulsion system, while Babylon 5 has none.

Straczynski has said that he has detailed notes on the inauguration of the Babylon station program, and that one man was at the heart of the effort to get the first one built.

The three Babylon stations seen on screen were each a different color: Babylon 1 was red, Babylon 4 green, and Babylon 5 blue.

Bruce Boxleitner described the spacestation Babylon 5 as "... A free port for diplomats, travelers and businessmen. A combination of building the United Nations and Times Square on an intergalactic scale...", in the introduction of "The Guide to Babylon 5".

[kg redhead]

Authoritarianism vs. chaos; light vs. dark vs. gray

The central theme in Babylon 5 is the conflict between order and chaos, and the people caught in between.

The Vorlons and the Earth Alliance Government both represent oppressive, authoritarian philosophies: you will do what we tell you to, because we tell you to do it. Who are you? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for a greater cause, or are you merely serving your own petty interests?

The Shadows represent chaos. Their belief is that by creating conflict, a stronger generation is born — pure "survival of the fittest". To accomplish this, the Shadows encourage conflict between other groups, who choose to serve their own glory or profit. What do you want? Money, territory, fame, power?

The Rangers, composed mainly of Minbari and Humans with a scattering of other races, represent a third way; their unwavering commitment to compassion and self-sacrifice, epitomised by the character of Marcus Cole, opposes both the emotionless war of the Vorlons and the chaotic brutality of the Shadows.

Ultimately, the main characters try to strike a balance: sometimes selfish, sometimes self-sacrificing, and making many mistakes along the way. Sometimes they impress us, and sometimes they horrify us. Do you have anything worth living for? Do you love? Do you have a true calling?

Straczynski occasionally hinted that there was a "fourth question." One suggestion that has been made for this question is, "Why are you here?" Another possibility is Lorien's final question to Sheridan: "Where are you going?"

It is (intentionally) ironic that the Earth Alliance government, an incarnation of Vorlon-style order, informally allied itself with the Shadows during the course of the series.


War and Peace

The Babylon 5 timeline includes numerous major armed conflicts:

* The first war between the Narn and Centauri, which ends four decades before the series.
* The war between the Dilgar and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds (aided by the Earth Alliance), which takes place three decades before the series.
* The war between the Humans and the Minbari (the Earth-Minbari War), which takes place ten years before the series starts.
* The second war between the Narn and Centauri, which takes place during the series.
* The aeons-old conflict between the Vorlons and the Shadows, which breaks out again during the series after a thousand-year lull.
* The civil war between the Minbari religious and warrior castes.
* The civil war between President Clark's corrupt Earthgov and the Babylon 5-led resistance.
* The war between the new Interstellar Alliance and the Centauri Republic.
* The war between the Earth Alliance and the Drakh.
* The Telepath War, most of which takes place shortly after the series, from 2264-65.
* The battle to free Centauri Prime from Drakh occupation, which takes place a decade and a half after the series.
* The Great Burn, a nuclear war between factions of the Earth Alliance that takes place five centuries after the series.

Most of the above conflicts end when the side with superior firepower gives in to the side with the superior understanding. Every conflict has a forgotten "third side," people crushed beneath the feet of the powerful. Usually a single individual willing to sacrifice himself is more powerful than the greatest army...whereas an individual willing to sacrifice everyone else to serve his own objectives can reduce entire worlds to ashes, and yet still be defeated.

After all is done, we find members of the opposing sides working together to forge a new future. (Examples: the Rangers, Delenn and Neroon; Delenn and Sheridan; Londo and G'Kar; Garibaldi and Lochley.)

Ultimately, every violent conflict is born out of self-interest, perpetuated by prejudice and ideology, and resolved by the realization that each side needs the other to survive. Hatred is associated with stupidity, forgiveness is associated with pragmatism, and wisdom follows conflict.


Love and true seekers

Unrequited love may be the source of all pain in Babylon 5. Ivanova loses everyone she loves. Lennier is the ultimate victim of unrequited love, but also of his own immaturity. Sheridan and Delenn know true love; Sheridan comes back from the dead for love ("Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?"). Marcus says, "Sometimes love is funny, sometimes very sad." Garibaldi takes a long time to figure it out. Vir knows what true love is from the beginning; his problem is getting to "number six". In the first season, Sinclair is cautioned by Garabaldi to find something to live for, rather than something for which to die. Later in the series, Marcus, the chaste warrior, sacrifices his life for the woman he loves. It was only at the last moment that he could tell her this.

But there are a few for whom physical desire has no appeal. They have a greater calling: finding the holy grail, all the names of God, or the fulfilment of a thousand year old prophecy.


Fighting the system

Straczynski's recurring message is that an individual can make a difference. This message is first presented in the episode "The Coming of Shadows", in a conversation between Emperor Turhan and Captain Sheridan. The Emperor dies before he can say that he is sorry for the crimes his government committed against the Narn. Straczynski considers this episode to be the centerpiece of the series.


Addiction

Addiction plays a recurring role in the saga of Babylon 5. Power as an addiction, work as an addiction, violence as an addiction and hatred as an addiction all play out repeatedly. Several major characters have a history of substance abuse: Garibaldi is a recovering alcoholic who succumbs to intolerable emotional pressures and attempts to find solace in drink; Londo Mollari is a heavy drinker; Dr. Franklin is addicted to synthetic stimulants ("stims"); and Lochley went through a period of hard drug abuse in her younger years. Abuse of "dust", a telepathic drug, also plays a recurring role in the story.

Obsession as a related theme occurs numerous times too. Sheridan is willing to break the rules of due process to learn the fate of his wife after discovering the connection between her and Morden. The Narn and Centauri hate each other to the point of obsession and addiction.

[kg redhead]

In the episodes of Babylon 5, five questions are asked that ultimately are the basis for the conflict of the show's "main" five seasons. Four of these questions represent the dominant thoughts and worldview of each of the four major races of Babylon 5 - the Vorlons, the Shadows, the Minbari, and the Humans. The fifth is a "transitional" question, applicable to all of the other questions, and one that must be answered before the last two can be addressed.

Who are you? - the Question of the Vorlons.

The key question of the Vorlons is that of identity - who exactly are you? This question is not just about your name, your race, or even your cause - but about a true understanding of your worth or lack of worth in the universe. This is made clear in the episode "Come the Inquisitor" - as Sebastian, the Inquisitor of the Vorlons, asks the question of Delenn to ensure that the war against the shadows is fought with the "proper" intentions.

What do you want? - the Question of the Shadows.

The Shadows believe in greed, chaos, and the survival of the fittest. As a result, their key question is one that focuses not on who you are, or your worth, but on what your desires are and what you want. It is with this question that Morden, the human agent of the Shadows, entraps Molari (and presumably the Earth Alliance) into working for them and betrays the interests of the Shadows to support opposing sides of the conflict as long as it "gets them what they want".

Where are you going? - The Transitional Question.

It was during the Shadow War that the younger races - led by the Minbari and the Humans, finally had a chance to define themselves, as they chose their side in the war, and ultimately make the choice that ends the war. This question is the most vital question, and must be asked before any true progress can be made. This question asks what you will do with yourself, where you will go, how far you are willing to go, and how firmly you will stand for your beliefs. This question was answered in "Into the Fire" when Sheridan and Delenn tell the shadows that the younger races will no longer be pawns in a misguided war. The truth about how far they will go to gain their own independance - to find and to follow their own ideologies and their own questions, is demonstrated in the sacrificing of Drazi cruiser and Minbari ship to save the lives of Sheridan and Delenn and in the following statement by Delenn "You can kill us one by one, and those who follow us, and those who follow them, on and on, every race, every planet. Until there's no one left to kill. You will have failed as guardians. And you will be alone."

Who do you serve? - the Question of the Minbari

The Minbari were divided into three castes: Warrior, Religious, and Worker. The answer to the Minbari question is seen most clearly in the character of Delenn, in the civil war between the Warrior and Religious Castes, and in the restructuring of the Gray Council. Each of these serves to show that the dominant Minbari value is that of service - Delenn as a character is dominated by this characteristic, even as she shows that true service is more than a blind obedience, and can even include disobedience and a challenging of the authorities. The civil war is a war fought because the Warrior Caste have lost the idea of service and have become instead consumed by a desire for power and prestige, while the Religious Caste has become militant in their defense of this history and culture of service. Delenn finally restructures the Gray Council - the Minbari ruling body - to give the Worker Caste 5 of the 9 seats on the council to ensure that neither the Religious or Warrior Castes forget that their purpose is to serve the people of Minbar, not to seek power or prestige of their own.

Who do you trust? - the Question of Man

This is the question to be decided by Mankind, and one that ultimately has no easy answer. Trust has played a significant role in all the workings of Babylon 5, and its answer ultimately revolves somewhere along the lines of a trust in justice, freedom, equality, and goodwill.

[kg redhead]

Legend of the Rangers

A made-for-TV movie titled To Live and Die in Starlight was produced by the Sci Fi Channel. It was the proposed pilot episode of a new series titled Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers. Rescheduled after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the movie aired on January 19, 2002. However, it was scheduled against an NFL AFC Divisional Championship playoff game featuring the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders. The pilot's poor ratings killed the network's interest in a series. Straczynski posted the following to Usenet on January 27, 2002:

The east coast ratings got hammered by the football game, which was the highest rated such game in something like 5 years. The B5 male demos are pretty much the same as for sports, and we lost heavily to football. So there we did not do well. By contrast, on the west coast, where the show aired *after* the game had finished, we not only met but *exceeded* SFC's expectations, getting a 3.2 or 3.6 in many markets, which is actually pretty unheard of for a basic cable network. The problem is that the average, 1.7, is still what's used for advertising.

[kg redhead]

he Babylon 5 series has been released in DVD form. Included are all episodes, selected director and cast commentary, previews of episodes, and a multimedia database of Babylon 5 related information. As of 2005, all five seasons of the original series, as well as the six movies and the spinoff series Crusade, are available individually for purchase, although not in all regions. The Legend of the Rangers is currently unavailable in the United States, but is scheduled to be released as a standalone disc on March 14, 2006.

There is also a box set available in the UK called Babylon 5 : The Complete Universe, which, as one would expect, contains every Babylon 5 series and movie and the spinoff series Crusade.

he transfer of Babylon 5 to DVD created significant problems with regard to special-effects/CGI footage. Several factors complicated the process.

* Although originally broadcast in the standard television aspect ratio of 4:3, all live-action footage was filmed on Super 35 film (with a ratio of 1.65:1). The idea was that, once widescreen televisions (with an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 1.78:1) became more popular, the episodes could be easily converted into a widescreen format.

* CGI shots were rendered in the 4:3 ratio, but designed so that the top and bottom of each shot could be removed to create a widescreen image without ruining the image composition.

* All of the purely live-action shots were stored as high-definition digital images.

* However, CGI shots, and shots combining live-action with CGI, were stored in the much lower-definition NTSC digital format. (Again, the expectation was that it would be relatively cheap in the future to recreate the CGI as widescreen.)

* Over the years, the original computer-generated models, etc. have been lost, making it necessary to use the old 4:3 CGI shots.

This has resulted in several consistent flaws throughout the Babylon 5 DVD release. In particular, quality drops very significantly whenever a scene cuts from purely live-action to a shot combining live-action and CGI. This is especially noticeable on the PAL DVDs, since CGI shots had to be converted from NTSC as well as being blown up to fit a widescreen television.