Babylon 5: Season 1 (6 Discs)

The most irritating problem with the show is the writing itself. The dialogue is so stiff and cliched that I physically winced on several occasions. (example: "Let's get this show on the road!") Dialogue is used to spoonfeed the viewer ("As you already know, Commander...") which adds to the sense of This-is-12-year-old-superhero-comic-book. The intro is a weak attempt to duplicate the power of "To boldly go where no man has gone before." Alas, "The name of the place is Babylon 5!!!" doesn't exactly give one cold chills. The lame attempts at humor usually fall quite flat and the characters never really mesh. The effects are distracting rather than special--it's tough to concentrate on the storyline when one is busy noticing how obviously superimposed the actors are against an animated background. The frequent explosions resemble hand-held sparklers that kids waive around on the 4th of July.

Having said all that, I did find some redemption in the final episodes, during which time the promised story arc begins to appear, some characters begin to come alive, and the writing improves significantly. In fact, it was towards the end that I realized that several of the actors are actually quite talented. In particular, Peter Jurasik (Londo) does an outstanding job of presenting a character that is all at once brash and subtle. Poor Peter was initially handicapped by the aforementioned inferior writing and an unconvincing costume complete with sideways mohawk (someone should tell S.E.T.I. that in order to find alien life, all they need is a bottle of Elmer's glue) but he is the one who is ultimately most convincing in his role. Also, the story absolutely succeeds in establishing a complex and interesting socio-political environment as well as a humdinger of a finale upon which to base future episodes.

All in all, the show was mournfully lacking. But, just perhaps, the show had to suffer some growing pains. Enough of interest occured in the final hours to give me hope, and I actually (*deep breath, fingers crossed*) ordered the second season! We shall see...

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I love Babylon 5. Every good thing that any scifi geek has ever told you about it being it best science fiction series produced is dead on.

And yet one cannot really give the first season a great review. There are very few series that could warrant such a review for the first season, simply because there are always growing pains. This first season isn't bad, it's simply mediocre. It's slow in its character development, there are a lot of serial (self-contained) episodes, the dialogue is pretty bad at times (eg. "that's on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know"), and one of the actors is quite horrible (but thank [god] they get rid of her in the second season).

Really, it all boils down to this; if you are unsure as to whether you want to purchase the series, start on series 2. You'll be pleasantly surprised. You'll continue on, and find you need the first for your collection.

You really cannot go wrong with this show, but I can see as how the first season would be off-putting. So, rather than give it a stellar review, I give you this. Hopefully you will come to know, and love, Babylon 5 as I have.

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