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Watch Sleeping in Light Before or after Season 5?

W

Winterbottom

Member
Hi

I have been going through my old Babylon 5 tapes, watching them in sequential order, and am now approaching the end of Season 4. Now the question I have is should I watch Sleeping in Light, and then season 5, or after season 5?

I know that some people consider Season 5 to be a 'bonus' of sots, and that in some ways, the B5 story is better if season 5 was considered to be kind of like deleted footage that you would get on a DVD. You know, whatched, but not as part of the film?

I personally never watched Season 5 in one run previously. I missed the last five due to circumstances, and only watched SiL last year, despite catching the rest of B5 during it's first run in the UK.

Ultimately, I want to enjoy the B5 experience the best I can. Should I watch Season5 as part of the main chronology (and therefore wait for SiL) or view it as bonus footage?

Cheers

Percival Winterbottom
 
Re: Watch Sleeping in Light Before or after Season

It was filmed during Season 4 just to be sure.

Meaning, in case the show wouldn't get renewed, in case the story would risk being left without an ending. Because to this story, "Sleeping in Light" is the ending. I would recommend watching it after the others, where it belongs by timeline.
 
I like Season 5 /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Okay, it's not as good as 2, 3, & 4 but it's still good and I don't know why so many dislike it as passionately as they do! To me it is like a (long) epilogue to a story - it tells us what happens after the main story arc.

I would say watch SiL at the end where it belongs. The last few episodes lead up to it - most of the characters leave B5 giving a feeling that things are coming to an end but other things are about to begin. Watching SiL after all this gives sense of closure to the whole story /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
To me it is like a (long) epilogue to a story - it tells us what happens after the main story arc.

[/quote]

That's where I have to disagree. To me season five is an integral part of the "main" story, no more an epilogue than S1 was a prologue. JMS always intended B5 to be the story of how the Younger Races took control of their own destinies, and the part that B5 and the people who passed through it played in that event. This means it was the story of the build-up to a war, the war itself, and the messy aftermath of that war. Without that aftermath, the whole story isn't being told.

I certainly wouldn't consider it a "bonus", like deleted scenes on a DVD. The fact that S4 had to be reshaped to serve as the final season (if necessary) does not change the fact that S5 was always in JMS's mind from the beginning. (Remember Lyta's little chat with G'Kar in the pilot, which doesn't pay off until around episode 520?)

The telepath arc is a little long, for my tastes, and was badly hurt by the absence of Ivanova, but show for show S5 is at least as good as S1, and the last two thirds of the season has some of the very best episodes in all of B5. It should definitely be watched before "SiL".

Regards,

Joe
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I completely agree with Joe D.

[/quote]

Quick! Somebody call 60 Minutes. Antony, archive this page!

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regards,

Joe
 
They are all right, I am sure. But I saw B5 so out of order, I'd like to offer one thought: it isn't that important IMHO.

I saw Sleeping in Light after I finally saw the rest of the series. But it is filmed in a way that could almost be inserted anywhere in season 5. But Joe D and the rest are right: if you want to see it as it was INTENDED, then make it the last episode you see.

It might be more emotionally impacting if it's the last B5 that you see, as well.
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
but show for show S5 is at least as good as S1

[/quote]

I didn't think that at the time, but certainly do on re-watching.

I think the problem for me was that the sheer intensity of late S3 and S4 had given me expectations that S5 could never have lived up to no matter how good it was.

I still don't think it was as good as S3 and S4, but it certainly didn't deserve the hammering it got in some quarters. And the final third of the season had some moments that were among B5's finest.

Londo's solo walk to his inauguration accompanied by a single bell tolling was just awesome.

Cheers,
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I didn't think that at the time...

[/quote]

Neither did I. When the season first aired on TNT we were not only coming off the intensity of S3 and S4, but were anticipating getting to the end of the story, and wondering how (if) JMS was going to cover all the material leading up to 2278 and 2281 in a mere 22 episodes. The interruptions caused by the NBA play-offs didn't help. (Which is why most people still remember the teep arc taking up "half the season", when in fact it was really only a dominant thread in 7 of the first 10 episodes.)

The problem was less with the episodes themselves than with our expectations. Each week we tuned in wanting more of Londo and G'Kar and kept getting these damned hippie telepaths thrust in our faces. And many were still mourning Ivanova, and getting ticked off every time poor Lochley stepped into the frame. (Much more hatred was directed at Lochley than at Byron, at the time.)

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
...but certainly do on re-watching.

[/quote]

Agreed. While the "first impression" still colors a lot of people's perceptions of S5, even all these years later, the season definitely plays better the second and third time, when you can see it in the context of the completed story. I suspect it also plays better, even for people watching for the first time, when it is seen every day, instead of once a week or once every couple of weeks, as it was when first aired. I suspect it will work even better when the episodes can be viewed back-to-back-to-back on DVD. I certainly found the earlier seasons took on a whole new feel when I was taping them off the air and could watch four or five episodes in a row.

While it undoubtedly could have been better (had real-life events like the near cancellation at the end of S4, Claudia Christian's departure and the chambermaid's dumping of the only copy of JMS's S5 outline not intervened) it was still a good season. All things considered I think JMS did a remarkable job juggling real-world headaches that he shouldn't have had to deal with and bringing the show to a satisfying conclusion.

(Let's also not forget that at the time S5 was being put together, JMS expected to have a Crusade series and a theatrical film to deal with certain story threads, which were therefore pulled from S5, as well as the fact that some of the S5 material was intended for S4 and vice versa.)

Regards,

Joe
 
Well Thanks everyone for the thorough and consistent answers. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I think it seems clear that Season 5 first, then Sil.

(and no surprise longest answer by Joe, who won't know me, but I've certainly enjoyed his posts over the last few months)

PW
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
<font color="yellow"> Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino: </font color>
Quick! Somebody call 60 Minutes. Antony, archive this page! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/quote]
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Hey! I've agreed with you before! <mock outrage> /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
<font color="yellow"> Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino: </font color>
And many were still mourning Ivanova, and getting ticked off every time poor Lochley stepped into the frame. (Much more hatred was directed at Lochley than at Byron, at the time.)

[/quote]
I only began to warm up to the Lochley character in Crusade. Guess I just had to get used to her.
 
I also like Lochley more and more as I watched S5, both the first time through, and then upon each re-watching of the entire show.

By the way, I feel like watching S1 again now that S5 is over (except for SIL, which I watched from my tape), but I'm going to force myself to wait for the DVD. Grrrrrr! Can't wait!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
The problem was less with the episodes themselves than with our expectations. Each week we tuned in wanting more of Londo and G'Kar and kept getting these damned hippie telepaths thrust in our faces. And many were still mourning Ivanova, and getting ticked off every time poor Lochley stepped into the frame. (Much more hatred was directed at Lochley than at Byron, at the time.)

[/quote]

The man speaks the truth. Yes, I remember the actress who played Lochley getting much more flak at the time. And I hate to admit this, but part of my falling away from Farscape migh have had as much to do with their constantly interrupted seasons (and not little, brief interruptions) as with the at-the-time change in writing.

Now, I really have no interest in Farscape. They went for a different audience. And still couldn't get the ratings that the sci-fi channel wanted.

But I do think my initial waning of interest had a lot to do with those long, long gaps between the episodes.

I hate to admit it, but you have to be a pretty damned good writer to get me to put up with this kind of junk.
 
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