• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

Season 1 recap

M

Moonface

Member
Hi folks!

I'm new here as I'm seeking guidance:

I've watched the show 2 times so far, and I was lucky to find out, that friends of mine, who are into scifi, did not see it yet. So we started watching it together, but then some chinese people decided to give non-fish-Sushi a go and so we had to stop watching the show together. Now, as it slowly starts to get back to normal again, I hope we can finish the show.

Before we had to stop, we made it through season 1, but I recon, that by now, everybody did forget about most things that happend, so I thought: why not make a recap of about 1h with the most important scenes, so everyone is primed for season 2.

But I soon found, that this task overwhelmed me completely. There is so much to consider, even though I think of B5 as a flawed masterpiece, I don't know it by heart. That's why I'm coming to you:

How would you go on about such a thing?
Would you group the scenes by character? by plotpoint? chronologicaly? What scenes would you include?

At the moment I tend to make it chronologically: that would mean rewatching the first season and take about 5 minutes from each episode and focus only on those things one needs to follow the main story arc. So I could skip TKO for example. Sure Ivanova gets character development, but there is nothing in there one really should know for later on like:
Soulhunter: establish that souls are a thing in the B5 universe (needed for the Valen story arc)
or
Infection: establish, that there is tech, that can meld with people and use their brains as "CPU" (needed of course for the shadows.)

(I happen to know these two by heard, as I find them to be one of the lesser episodes in season 1, but I do understand that they serve a purpose, as stated above.)

But I'm torn. Creating "signs and portents.zip" is demanding enough, but having to take it all in within about an hour, maybe one and a half, is a lot.
So maybe it's better to group it by major players? like

The Humans: main players, typical scenes, major plotpoints...
The Minbari: Main players, typical scenes, major plotpoints...

and so on.

But with this approach I guess I'm gonna run into troubles as everything get's more and more connected. But maybe I can get away with it in season 1.

I don't know.

What do you think about this endeavour?
 
Rather then making a summary, why not rewatch the most important episodes?

Must watch:
  • Signs and portents
  • A voice in the wilderness 1 & 2
  • Babylon squared
  • Chrysalis

With the following episodes as recommended:
  • Mind war
  • And the sky full of stars
 
Maybe tackle it narratively rather than trying to compile a complete introduction. After all, your friends have seen season 1, so they probably don't need to be reminded who the Minbari are or what a Centauri looks like. It's probably more the case of them having forgotten plot points.

The main plot threads that continue after season 1 that I can think of are:

1. The Narn-Centauri relationship/conflict – so include scenes such as the invasion of Ragesh III, and G'Kar and Londo's respective replies to Morden

2. Londo's involvement with the Shadows - again, Londo's reply to Morden, the Shadow ship destroying the raider ship and retrieving the Eye for Londo, and Londo's deal with the Shadows to to wipe out the Narn base in quadrant 37

3. Sinclair's missing time from the Battle of the Line - suggest including bits from And the Sky Full of Stars, and from Signs and Portents when Garibaldi finds out the Minbari chose Sinclair to command the station. Maybe also include a few scenes of Neroon from Legacies as he becomes important later in the show

4. Psi-Corps - scenes from Mind War with Bester and Jason Ironheart warning Talia and Sinclair about the Psi Corps, also maybe the scene from Midnight on the Firing Line of Ivanova telling the story of what happened to her mother

5. Epsilon 3: so the Great Machine, Draal taking custody of it, and the mystery of Babylon 4 ( but maybe don't make it obvious that B4 and the Great Machine are connected!)

6. The Alien Healing Machine - just a short snippet from the Quality of Mercy explaining how it works

7. Everything that happens in Chrysalis. Seriously I'd repeat watch this episode with your friends before starting season 2, so much happens in it!
 
Last edited:
I see no reason to not re-watch the entire season and be done with it. :p

I can argue every episode is critical, but I don't have to. As has been illustrated by the previous posts, there is a lot of important material to cover so just give in and re-watch the season.

Here is the most important reason why: It is their SECOND viewing and they will see all the things they missed the first time around. ;)

POINT LOONEY ----- GAME OVER!!!!! ...................... :LOL::guffaw::LOL:
 
Looney said:
Here is the most important reason why: It is their SECOND viewing and they will see all the things they missed the first time around. ;)

POINT LOONEY ----- GAME OVER!!!!! ...................... :LOL::guffaw::LOL:
Click to expand...

When Looney's right - Looney's right. And Looney's right. :bolian::guffaw:
 
Looney said:
Here is the most important reason why: It is their SECOND viewing and they will see all the things they missed the first time around. ;)
Click to expand...
Most of the "hidden in plain sight" foreshadowing won't make sense untill you have seen the entire show. Having finished at Chrysalis, is not going to make you go OMG when rewatching S01E01 through S01E21.

That's why I would suggest sticking to the main episodes. Then, after the show is finished, go back for a complete S1 rerun.
 
Perhaps just copy some notes from the Lurker's Guide for the main plot points. Or use that to get your cues if you are editing a short video to do a 'previously on B5' type video mash up.

There's no point in a S1 re-watch, as none of it will smack of new revelations until they have seen the rest of the show. Give them the main beats to refresh their memory and carry on! Youtube probably has a recap video somewhere.

You could maybe re-watch Chrysalis, but probably not needed if they've already seen it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your input!

I'm in line with babylonfan/Springer and Ubiks thinking: A rewatch is probably too demanding and there is lots of material that, while adding to the flair and world building, are not really critical to be able to follow the rest of the story.
Of course I could just tell them: "hey, we're about to start watching B5 again, maybe give S1 a rewatch!" but as they have to take care of a 1.5 year old hatchling I doubt that they have the time and energy to sit through 15h+ again. The reason why the watching of B5 worked in the first place is that it doubled as a social event to see each other again and after the catching up was done, we ended the evening by watching 1-2 episodes of B5...

But maybe I should mix it up: make a recap with everything except chrysalis and then watch chrysalis again together...

I'm gonna start rewatching the suggested episodes and keep you updated on my progress. I haven't found a recap on Youtube so far, but if I accomplish this task, there will be (although: I won't make it public. I'll probably post a link here ^^)
 
WOH!!!!!!

Ummmm..... I claimed the point and declared the game to be over. That means full season re-watch. Sorry, those are the rules I made up in my head and everyone must abide by them. :dancing:

AND more specifically, while a full Season Re-Watch won't help them establish connections to future episodes they have yet to see, it will allow them to catch plot elements they may have missed on the first go-round that are just plot points and not necessarily tied to any extra critical arc elements. Plus they will have plot elements that do tie into the arc more firmly grasped. :thumbsup:

BUT now that I've done my due diligence on what you SHOULD do I can be practical and say, just start Season Two. I first really sat down and started watching every episode with Season Two in late 1994. I saw bits and pieces of Season One the prior year, but did not have the time or will to commit until Season Two. They've already seen Season One and, as has been stated, they aren't really going to get everything until they make it to the end. For the sake of being practical just start where you left off, fill in the blanks as you go, and count on them doing a second viewing to get the full meaning.

There, that's not so Looney afterall. :cool:

:p:LOL::guffaw::LOL:

PS And yes something like a YouTube Recap is fine, but watch it first to make sure there are no spoilers - because many such things have spoilers. People like to hear themselves talk.

:rolleyes: :)
 
Last edited:
Well, in a way I do abide by your rules, as my project will require me to rewatch S1 anyways, so: Emperor Looneys rules are abliged, the flower will be guarded!
 
Moonface said:
Well, in a way I do abide by your rules, as my project will require me to rewatch S1 anyways, so: Emperor Looneys rules are abliged, the flower will be guarded!
Click to expand...

OMG, I bet you have a new best friend! Looney, don't let it go to your head, now! :p :LOL:
 
See everyone!!!!!!!!!
MOONFACE gets it.
I might need to change my ID to "Emperor Looney".
5 posts and Moonface is already proving to be an Intellectual Titan. :thumbsup:


Jan said:
OMG, I bet you have a new best friend! Looney, don't let it go to your head, now! :p :LOL:
Click to expand...

Are you jealous Jan?! Don't try to come between us! Moonface gets it. Sorry you don't.

:guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: (Is this what you meant Jan?) :p:p:p:p:p

;) ;) ;)
 
Looney said:
Jan said:
OMG, I bet you have a new best friend! Looney, don't let it go to your head, now! :p :LOL:
Click to expand...

Are you jealous Jan?! Don't try to come between us! Moonface gets it. Sorry you don't.

:guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: (Is this what you meant Jan?) :p:p:p:p:p

;) ;) ;)
Click to expand...

No, Looney - I would *never* try to compete with you on emojis! You're definitely the Emoji Emperor or Excess! :p :thumbsup:
 
Moonface, please do report back on how your B5 newbies react to the series. We love living vicatiously through others who haven't had the pleasure of B5 before. New first time viewers are a scarce and valuable resource!

I just got the HBO MAX remasters, but think I'll save those for the winter months.
 
Last edited:
Ubik said:
Moonface, please do report back on how your B5 newbies react to the series. We love living vicatiously through others who haven't had the pleasure of B5 before. New first time viewers are a scarce and valuable resource!

I just got the HBO MAX remasters, but think I'll save those for the winter months.
Click to expand...

I will do! I did get their promises that they won't watch it without me. Stories like B5, that have those amazing developments are best the first time one watches them. After that closest we get to that experience is "second hand first time watching" as I call it.

So far they're excited. He is a big Trekkie and smells similarities to DS9 (I told him about the controversy after he mentioned it), while she was shocked when Delenns Friend got stabbed. She was not prepared to have such themes explored in a TV Show :D


I so envy you that you've got the remastered version as it's not available yet in Europe :/

Edit: wait... Ubik, you're from the UK, how did you get it??
 
I believe the HD remasters are available on iTunes and Amazon. They are the same as the remasters showing on HBO, I think? I haven't downloaded them yet, waiting instead in forlorn hope of that rumoured Blu-ray set being released!
 
Yep, Amazon UK has the remastered seasons to buy digitally. I think iTunes does too. They look great. Big improvement on the old DVDs.
 
I checked with Amazon from my region, and you're right! They are available already! But I stumbled upon this here:
https://b5remasterissues.wordpress.com/
In my region B4 squared is shown to be only 40 minutes long. So you should check that with your version, if you do have the mentioned scenes missing as well...
 
I finally figured out how to use lightworks and am now en route to make the recap. Epsode 1 is down to less than 5.5min. Just starting Episode 2.
I don't really like this one. They should have mixed this and TKO together. I really feel, that the Soulhunter story is way too long.
At least it gave me a few funny notes for my episode list, like:

Scene 6: Delenn to Sinclair: Soulhunter hunts Souls!
Scene 12: Soulhunter chanting and dissing Minbari
Scene 15: Soulhunter playing with his balls
Scene 22: SH2 explains that bad SH is bad
Scene 23: SH wants Delenn to touch his ball
Scene 24: Delenn's screaming
Scene 28: Sinclair at home, stalking Delenn
Scene 30: Delenn releasing the contents of SH's balls

I feel like a 16 year old ^^
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 637 (members: 0, guests: 637)

Share this page

Back
Top