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Delenn's future love interest, Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) arrived on Babylon 5 in the first episode of season 2, "Points of Departure." The show marked the handing over of command of B5 to Sheridan from Commander Jeffery Sinclair, actor Michael O'Hare becoming a victim of studio politicians who wanted a bigger star in the leading role. This excellent installment also revealed more about why the Minbari surrendered to Earth at the Battle of the Line when they were on the verge of victory. "Revelations" explains that Sheridan's wife, Anna, died during an archaeological survey of the world Z'ha'dum, the name being just one of many references to Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings (the bridge at Khazad-Dum). "The Geometry of Shadows" introduced the Technomages, characters who featured more significantly in the ill-fated spinoff series Crusade (1999), while "The Coming of Shadows" proved to be Babylon 5's finest hour to date. The story of political intrigue foreshadowing the fate of two of the major characters beat Apollo 13, Toy Story, 12 Monkeys, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Visitor" to win the Hugo award for Best Dramatic Presentation at the 1996 World Science Fiction Convention and proved so powerful that J. Michael Straczynski included it in his Complete Book of Scriptwriting.
"And Now for a Word" took the unusual step of presenting a day-in-the-life of B5 seen through the eyes of a TV news crew, just as the Narn declared war on the Centauri. The inclusion of a PSI-Corps commercial paid homage to Paul Verhoeven's satirical ads in Robocop (1987), while his later Starship Troopers (1997) seemed at times like a spoof of B5's earnest space opera. In "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum," Sheridan learns that Morden was on the ship on which Anna died; the episode sees the captain pushed to his limits by grief and determination to discover why Morden survived. Three exceptional shows conclude the season. The Narn-Centauri war escalates in "The Long, Twilight Struggle," Sheridan faces a most unusual ordeal in "Comes the Inquisitor," and in "The Fall of Night" all hope of peace is shattered as a nerve-racking assassination attempt reveals a startling secret about Ambassador Kosh. --Gary S. Dalkin
Additional Features
Babylon 5: Season 2 presents all 22 episodes anamorphically enhanced at 16:9, with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Originally shot with eventual widescreen presentation in mind, the programs look far better than they did when broadcast. The effects shots, reformatted from full-screen CGI, show occasional pixilation, but the new compositions are more dynamic than the old 4:3. Always a show with powerful audio, the remixed soundtrack is rich and involving, if lacking the bass punch and complex layering of much more expensive theatrical productions. Extras include an introduction to Season 2 (8 minutes) and "Building Babylon: Blueprint of an Episode" (13 min.). More interesting is "Shadows and Dreams," an 8-minute feature on B5's two Hugo Awards. Three episodes have commentary tracks, with J. Michael Straczynski examining the politics, mythology, and production of "In the Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum" and "The Fall of Night," and stars Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, and Jerry Doyle have a decidedly lowbrow laughfest through "The Geometry of Shadows." --Gary S. Dalkin
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The Coming of Shadows",
By
This review is from: Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
Back in the mid-nineties I really wasn't watching any TV show religiously. There was the occasional "Married...with children" episode, or once in a while I would watch "Star Trek: the Next Generation." Then I caught a single episode from season 2 of some Sci-fi show called "Babylon 5." The reason I know it was season 2 is because Bruce Boxleitner(of "Tron" fame) was the commander of the space station. At first I thought, "Okay, this looks like a slight variation on Deep Space 9, nothing more." I could not have been more wrong. What makes all "Star Trek" shows so frustrating is that they become predictable through repitition of plotting with only a handful of predictable characters. One knows that somehow the characters will resolve to succeed, usually in some positive re-affirmation of humanity. But on "Babylon 5" all the characters are flawed, there are many episodes that are left unexplained and/or unresolved. This makes for a very fresh experience with each story. More or less, there is a through story about "The Coming of Shadows," creatures that are oddly reminiscent of the "Buggers" from the Orson Scott Card novels "Ender's Game," "Speaker for the Dead," and "Xenocide." There are side stories, many of which are very humorous, that keep the show interesting most of the time. There are many reviews here that state that starting with season 2 is the way to go because of a respectable but fairly lackluster first season. I never saw the first season; even in syndication the networks only showed "Babylon 5" from season 2 on. There are also many reviews here noting all the references to "The Lord of the Rings." There are quite a few. There is "Za-Ha-Dum," then there is the Minbari council know as "The Nine," just to name a couple. There is an underlying reference, I feel, to the writing style of Jack Vance and his use of various cultures clashing violently and politically. Other none-too-subtle references come from George Orwell's "1984," such as the "Ministry of Peace" and the Psi-Corps(a thinly veiled nod to the "Thought Police"). Obviously, this is a thoughtfully well-written series. The acting from everyone is solid character acting of the highest quality. There is the occasional down moment, or ill-conceived sub-plot/side story, but overall I was thoroughly entertained and more often than not, completely enthralled with the through story leading me to the coming darkness. It arrives in season 3. Thank you.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A big leap up from season 1,
By
This review is from: Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season (Repackage) (DVD)
Fascinating, sometimes maddening mix of wonderful and silly,intelligent and dumb, insightful and obvious. At it's best it's the 'Wire' of science fiction, challenging 'Battlestar Galactica' for intelligence and emotional depth. The most interesting thing; this was an early case of a series having a pre-planned multi-year arc, so throughout there are sometimes intentionally confusing or mysterious details that return to be finally explained as having great importance a season or two or three later. On the other hand, because this preceded the acceptance of truly serial cable shows, each episode is more self contained than more recent shows in a sometimes annoyingly neat way. The show is also full of allusions; Shakespeare, the Bible, Buddhism, King Arthur, the Koran. Certainly the writing is grounded in pretty heady stuff.. Season 2 brought in some stronger cast, and somewhat better effects than the slightly rocky season 1. The stories in season 2 continued to be a mix, mostly quite good, a few great, and some subplots that were to be honest, dopey. But overall it remained pretty riveting, with lots of interesting allusions to history and philosophy. And it was great to see characters that seriously evolve as the show goes on. What may be the series' biggest problem; if this show could have been 12 episodes a year instead of 22, as is the case with most current serialized series, there would be a lot fewer episodes that felt lacking in substance, as if the show were just marking time. I wish it was even more consistently great, but - in the end - it was more than good enough. P.S. To echo what others have written here, be careful with the special features. They sometimes have a nasty habit of acting as spoilers and giving away plot twists to come.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent service,
By Gordon Lavoie (Charlottetown, P.E.I. Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season (Repackage) (DVD)
Hard to find item here on Prince Edward ISland these days. Glad to find it. Great service and arrived in excellent condition.
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