Babylon 5 5-20: Objects in Motion

Episode:

108

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Director:

Jesús Salvador Treviño

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Air Date:

11-Nov-1998

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching Babylon 5 season 5 episode 20: Objects in Motion. Hey wasn't that the name of a Firefly episode? Oh sorry, I'm thinking of Objects in Space.

Objects in Space was the final episode of Firefly, this on the other hand is just the final Babylon 5 story to be directed by Jesús Treviño. He was one of the chosen few to have been asked to direct one of the movies (along with Mike Vejar and Janet Greek), but Thirdspace had been and gone by this point. He did return to the B5 universe one last time for an episode of Crusade however.

This is also one of the rare episodes to give Harlan Ellison a story credit (along with writer J. Michael Straczynski), which probably means he suggested something for one of the plots.

SPOILER WARNING: I'll be recapping, screencapping and commenting on the whole episode, scene by scene, so if you don't know what happens in it yet, you will do after reading this. I'll not be spoiling anything that happens afterwards however, not that there's much left to spoil.

Babylon 5: Thirdspace - Part 3

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm finally going to shut up talking about the Babylon 5 movie Thirdspace. I just have to write about what happens in the ending and then I'm done. Though if you want more words you can check out PART ONE and PART TWO and read how the story got to this point.

This review will contain SPOILERS for the movie and the first half of season 4, but I don't intend to give away any more than that, for the sake of people watching the series for the first time. There should always be people watching this series for the first time.

Babylon 5: Thirdspace - Part 2

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about the middle third of the Babylon 5 movie Thirdspace. If you want to go back to PART ONE then click that text and you'll go straight there.

There'll be SPOILERS here for the first half of season four, but I'll try not to give away anything about what happens next. Sure the movie aired near the end of season five, but some people might decide to watch the films where they fit chronologically, and I don't want to ruin one damn thing for first time viewers.

Babylon 5: Thirdspace - Part 1

Written By:

J. Michael Straczynski

|

Directed By:

Jesús Treviño

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Release Date:

1998

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the Babylon 5 TV movie Thirdspace. Not The Third Place, that's a PS3 advert directed by David Lynch where he plays a duck.

The series hit a bit of a snag during its fourth season as PTEN, the network airing B5 in the US, collapsed. Fortunately it found a new home with the TNT network for its final season and they even wanted them to produce some B5 movies! Thirdspace was the first of the these movies to be filmed, however it's technically the second film as it aired 7 months after In the Beginning (on July 19th 1998 if you're curious). That puts it three quarters of the way through season 5, which is why I'm writing about it after ep 5-17, Movements of Fire and Shadow, even though chronologically it fits somewhere in season 4. Ep 4-09, Atonement, seems the most suitable place for it to slot in, though it would have to take place between the first scene and the rest of the episode.

Like all the best movie DVDs, Thirdspace's disc comes with a commentary track and it's loaded with people. There's director Jesús Treviño, Bruce Boxleitner (Sheridan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta), Jeff Conaway (Zack), and Stephen Furst (Vir), and they're a good group of people to hang out with for 90 minutes. It also features SPOILER. Just one single spoiler, at least that's all I noticed

This recap/review, on the other hand, is going to be WALL TO WALL SPOILERS, for this movie and any relevant episodes leading up to it. But if you're watching through the series for the first time you'll be fine here, I'll not ruin anything that happens next.

Babylon 5 4-10: Racing Mars

Episode:

76

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Director:

Jesús Salvador Treviño

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Air Date:

21-Apr-1997

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I'm pretty sure that's a spaceship in that screencap up there, but are those glowing panels supposed to be windows? Their polygon budget must have been really tight.

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about another episode of Babylon 5! This episode's called Racing Mars, which is a play on the phrase 'racing cars'. Actually I don't know what it means, it's mysterious. Sounds good though.

It's the fourth of five episodes directed by Jesús Treviño, and he's been doing alright so far with episodes like Sic Transit Vir and Interludes and Examinations. He also directed the movie Thirdspace and came back after the series to direct an episode of the spin-off, Crusade.

I'm going to go beyond your recommended daily allowance of SPOILERS here, as I'll be spoiling this episode scene by scene, and any stories that lead up to it. But if this is your first time watching the series you don't have to worry about me ruining anything that happens afterwards. I won't even spoil Thirdspace, even though the events probably take place before this story.

Babylon 5 3-15: Interludes and Examinations

Episode:

59

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

06-May-1996

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm sharing my thoughts on Babylon 5 season 3, episode 15: Interludes and Examinations. With a title like that, you can tell everything's about to kick off.

If you're wondering why the screencap is so fuzzy, it's because it's from a scene of the characters watching footage on a TV screen. Footage of fuzzy CGI.

Speaking of the characters watching TV, I should give you a SPOILER WARNING... about the DVDs. This episode features a commentary track with Bruce Boxleitner, Richard Biggs, Jerry Doyle, and Ed Wasser talking about the story together and they mention one thing in particular that you probably wouldn't want to know if you haven't seen the entire series. Just thought I'd give DVD owners a heads up about that.

Oh, also I'm going to spoil the hell out of this episode for you myself right now.

Babylon 5 3-12: Sic Transit Vir

Episode:

56

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

15-Apr-1996

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This is my 200th post on Sci-Fi Adventures, so to celebrate I'm writing about the next Babylon 5 episode: Sic Transit Vir!

Star Trek loves to throw in the occasional Latin title, like Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges or Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, but this is the first and only time it happened in Babylon 5. It's also the first of three occasions that a character's name appeared in a title, with Garibaldi and Londo getting their turn later. The title's a pun by the way, as it can mean both "thus passes the man" and "thus passes Vir". It's a step up from A Day in the Strife at least.

Additional trivia: this is one of five B5 episodes directed by Jesús Treviño, his second after Divided Loyalties. I think J. Michael Straczynski must have liked his work, as he's one of the elite few who got to direct a Babylon 5 movie (Thirdspace) and was invited back for the Crusade spin-off.

If you're wondering why I posted this after A Late Delivery From Avalon, it's because I'm still following the Lurker's Guide Master List, which makes this block of episodes look this:

11 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark
13 - A Late Delivery From Avalon
12 - Sic Transit Vir
14 - Ship of Tears
15 - Interludes and Examinations

This is relevant to you because I'm going to be giving SPOILERS for A Late Delivery in this review. I'm also going to be spoiling the hell out of Sic Transit Vir and some of the other episodes leading up to it.

Babylon 5 2-19: Divided Loyalties

Episode:

31

|

Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

11-Oct-1995

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I am once again writing about a second season Babylon 5 episode. Not many of them left now though. This one's called Divided Loyalties and it's episode 19 of 22.

Here, have some TV scheduling trivia to make everything else I write afterwards seem more interesting by comparison: in the US, seasons of B5 were split into four blocks, so you'd get five episodes, a month off, eight episodes, two months off, and so on. Meanwhile in the UK, we had to wait a while for the season to start, but once it was airing we didn't have so many huge gaps and we were able to catch up. So we actually got to watch up to the season two finale The Fall of Night during the four months that US fans were waiting between Confessions and Lamentations and Divided Loyalties. I can imagine VHS tapes were getting mailed across the Atlantic (they probably wouldn't have worked on an NTSC player but you never know unless you try).

Though American viewers soon got their revenge, as season two continued straight into season three without a break in the US, while British fans had to wait eight months for it. Man, could you imagine having to wait eight months between seasons of Westworld, Doctor Who or Game of Thrones?

I'll be screencapping and recapping the whole episode below, throwing in my own opinions and observations as I go, so there'll be SPOILERS for the whole of Divided Loyalties and episodes leading up to it. But if you're watching the series for the first time and you've only gotten this far, then you've got nothing to worry about as I won't spoil a thing about what happens afterwards.