| TV-Commentary - Babylon 5 |
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Did J. Mike really have the series planned out in advance?
Much has been made of the fact that the Babylon 5 series was mapped out in advance before any of it was written. However, looking at the evidence closely reveals that while parts of it may have been plotted out in advance, it seems very unlikely that all of it was. Consider the following:
1) The replacement of Sinclair. Very few series plan for the replacement of their main character. The actor who played Sinclair was undoubtedly replaced to boost ratings. But since he was replaced, the entire storyline was changed; in fact, the entire storyline for the Babylon 4 two-parter would never have happened had not Sinclair's character become expendable. They couldn't have spirited him back into the past if Sheridan hadn't replaced him, and it's unlikely that J. Mike was planning from the start to replace his main character.
2) The 5th season was obviously tacked on. As the 4th season was finishing up, it was unclear whether there would be a 5th season of Babylon 5, so everything in the "rebellion against earth" storyline was hurriedly wrapped up at the end of the 4th season. When it was announced that there was going to be a fifth season, there wasn't much to write about--there was a minor storyline about rebellious telepaths, but not much happened in the final season. The last three episodes were one long extended goodbye, further evidence that there was nothing planned for the fifth season. If the last season had been planned in advance, it would have gone out with a bigger bang.
3) Changed premises. Originally the great machine on Epsilon III was supposed to be used in the final battle--what happened? If everything was planned in advance, how come we never heard about the great machine again?
4) The final battle of good v. evil never occurred. Remember how the humans were recruiting other "great ones" to fight with the Vorlons against the Shadows? That's what was being foreshadowed for the past three seasons. But the way it ended, it was the humans against both the Shadows and the Vorlons. In that case, what was the purpose of recruiting the other "great ones", who were recruited specifically to fight only the shadows? I think J. Mike decided to change the plot at the last minute again to suit his purposes.
5) The events of the last season appeared to be written quickly, without a lot of thought. A lot was made of the fact that Londo became Emperor as the Drakh puppet, but no episodes really explored what happened there. All we get is a few seconds of Vir, after becoming Emperor, bemoaning the loss of Londo.
6) The Vorlons were supposed to be "few in number" which is why they needed to enlist other allies; and yet, when the Vorlon fleet actually appeared, it was really, really big! (Not to mention their planetkiller!)
Even if the series wasn't totally mapped out from the start, that doesn't detract from the fact that it was an interesting television show. But the fact that it wasn't mapped out meant that the diversions from the main themes--the aborted battle against the Shadows, the tacked on 5th season, detracted a bit from the overall quality of the show.
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posts on 5/16/2006 6:54:35 PM
Totally agree with penfold.
babylon 5 wasn't just great sci fi it ushered in a new era, sci fi with an ongoing story.
shows like the x files and star trek were just standalone episodes with the odd two parter here and there suddenly we had a series that was telling an ongoing story, genius! and something that has changed episodic tv now and hopefully for the future take Lost for example, am I the only person that is drawing comparisons between it and B5?
If B5 had never been shown would Lost have been made, I am sure that the writers and developers of lost watched B5, what do you think?
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The very well respected commentator Penfold
posts on 2/3/2005 2:25:31 PM
Based on everything I saw/read, I would tend to believe that JMS had the overarching story in mind but was flexible on many of the details involved in getting there. Let me touch on your points with my conclusions:
1 The Sinclair replacement was not planned IN THAT WAY, but I believe he was still intended to be Valen. There are many first season hints of this ("You talk like a Minbari."). So he still would've gone at that point. However, JMS admits that he'd painted the character into a corner by the end of Season 1, so he had to replace him then. BTW, throughout the show you see major/minor characters come & go, and even die. I loved that - it gave a tension that couldn't exist in episodic shows (If I saw Kirk lying on the ground, I knew Bones would have him up & running by the end - no tension there).
2 - Agreed - the 5th season was tacked on, but by your own admission, the 4th season was rushed. He could've mapped it out over a longer period and woven the telepath story into it. On that note, Ivanova was supposed to take over - Lockley was not originally in it at all. But a contract dispute/confusion left Claudia C out. BTW, Ivanova was supposed to be the heart of the telepath arc, not Lyta. Another case where he had to adapt to unexpected change.
3 - Interesting point. I really can't dispute that much. Perhaps with the compressed 4th season that had to drop by the wayside.
4 - Someone else already posted the correct response here. However, for the record, it was "First Ones," not "Great Ones."
5 - What does "few in number mean?" I saw thousands of Vorlon ships. But given their advanced tech, how many are needed to operate a ship? Even if we say tens or hundreds per ship, we're only talking tens or hundreds of thousands. Washington DC has about 700,000 people - that's pretty few compared to the rest of the 6,000,000,000 of us. And the implication was that that was ALL of the Vorlons, so that, I would argue, is still "few in number."
Even if I'm completely off-base and he didn't have it mapped out, I still consider B5 the most masterful TV show EVER. The story arcs, the believable characters, the wonderful and thoughtful dialogue, all make it stand head and shoulders above anything else.
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Guy with too much time
posts on 1/6/2005 11:26:18 AM
The "great ones" that where gathereed for the l;ast big fight where gathered because they were going to LEVE and Loerien dintnt want any of them left behind. JMS did plan that in advance. Also he planned multiple "Trap Doors" for his charicters so they can leve do to job issuses.
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the posters.
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