Join Brent as he does his first watch of the Babylon 5 Season episode, “Movements of Fire and Shadow.” In this one, we find out Lyta’s secret hiding place for her money, G’kar gets foul, we finally discover exactly where Star Trek ripped off Babylon 5, and Brent has a suspicion about JMS. So join Brent as he dives into his first watch of this episode.
And be sure to catch our main show, Babylon 5: For the First Time, when Brent is joined by Jeff to take a deep dive into the episode, searching for those Star Trek-like messages, and seeing if they should have watched it sooner. New Episodes drop on Mondays.
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Now, you know one thing I had to be silent about. All the reasons for the war revealed in this one… all that you have done well seeing going on but not exactly everything about it…
"You told me it's not the Streib"
Presumably that was a spoiler that some idiot sent you?
"My buttons were melting!"
That ending always gives me chills. Some of the most intense moments in this series. And absolutely amazing acting by Peter Jurasik (Londo) and Damian London (Regent Virini)
not a spoiler, but the jump Sheridan takes into the future to see London on Centuri Prime is indeed 20 years in the future. This is not that.
when you get to the last episode; remember to have tissue at hand.
After the first half of season 5, it's nice to see you get excited about the show again. Season 5 gets a bad rap, but if we're being honest, only the first half deserves the hate.
"THAT'S WHERE IT ENDS???" Lol Brent imagine watching it in first run and having to wait four months between this one and the next.
Ha! Just got to the end and Brent made the happy nerd noises again. We're back!
Of course, Londo is there voluntarily. He said, wherever G'Kar goes, he will. So, they let him go to jail with him.
War without end is in the future — but the set up for it happens before
On my first watch I really gave up hope during the first half of season 5. I thought, even if they get rid of Byron, there will be okay episodes at best. I had no idea it can go this hard.
In case of power outage, the doors would swing SHUT. You want to seal rooms in case you have a pressure loss
Also, the hinge would be oriented to the station rotation but think of two rooms across a hallway. From inside the rooms, the hinges would be left or right but from the hallway theyd be in the same side.
Yes, originally that was years in the future, after Sheridan and Delenn's kid was born, but obviously, history was altered. That happens from time to time. 😆
We had to wait a week, old school TV! There was always to pain of waiting, or the excruciating problem of missing an episode (or part of one) because of life. Let's just say B5 fans were the ones that truly learned how to use our VCR's to record television! Glad you liked this.
That ending always hits me hard. Londo may have turned into a villain over time, but in his heart, he just wanted the best for his people. And here we are…every choice in B5 has consequences 😢
The doors would swing the other way for any room facing the opposite direction.
Another amazing scene from Damian London as The Regent aka "Jokey McJoker-Guy"(as I now will always think of him as 😂). He nails it every time.
has anyone checked on Brent after he did this? Can his heart take the cliffhanger?
And next episode is just Sheridan walking out of the shower: "Delenn: I had the strangest dream" 😀
Regarding doors, doors on the other side of the corridor will have to open in the other direction to be affected by the spin the same way.
Londo's vision of him and G'kar choking eachother to death predates signs and portents. Londo mentioned that in the first episode. I don't think he knew that he had an eyeball on his shoulder or that Centari Prime would be in flames in his vision but he knew how he will die.
I think G'kar farted. Or maybe worse. Could be the key to the meaning of that title 😆
This is the moment like TNG's ending with Picard revealed as the Borg and Riker gives the fire order, only JMS placed it at the we have engaged the Borg moment earlier. As others pointed out this was the mid-season break too. The point they showed both what was filmed pre season plus during the early season. This is when they start filming the end of the season and start work on the Premier (A call to Arms) for Babylon 5 Crusade. The or season six (that was intended to have another 5 year arc) Legion of the Rangers also was meant as a Premier but was stillborn with the loss of G'Kar, Andreas died not long after filming the third Babylon 5 pilot movie. You still have a fair bit to go if you are to be complete to quote Mira. (Also passed now) JMS planned for more but with so many key players dead it has been hard to continue and change in leadership at WB was never a fan like JMS's co producer was while also being head of the studio.
I can't say why Centauri Prime looked like that in War Without End just yet, but there is a good explanation I might be able to write next week. Great episode and next episode is gonna be great too. I don't think there's a single bad episode in the rest of the season, but that's just me.
A classic cliffhanger episode we had to wait months for the next episode in 1998
it's not just a star trek message. just look at gaza.
Brent's reaction to the end of the episode was fantastic to watch 😁
Press the button, Brent…
I actually quite like Regent Virini. What did you guys call him, Joker McJokerface? Because he was always telling (Centauri-style) exaggerated jokes?… And yet here he is, in a quite tense, dramatic scene, and his eyes and facial expression are appropriately sad. He now longs to die, he is happy the Drakh told him he will be dead by morning. Rest in Peace, Regent. You were a good man who was tragically forced to do bad things, and this broke you.
"Let's Go!" Good to see Brent eager again. Babylon 5 is back.
This is something that feels forgotten in the US – some towns never recovered from WW1, and many showed the damage for decades. Heck, I think the V&A museum in London has a few little bits of damage on the walls from where bombs blew up nearby. A city in ruins doesn't have to be a recent thing, I'm wondering if there were some Yugoslavian cities that have ended up being abandoned and that is slightly outside the time-frame from this point in the show to WWE.
The pods don't exonerate the Centauri, they were acting on signals that were from the Centauri. We know about the Drakh, the alliance doesn't at this point, they have no reason to believe that the tech wasn't something left behind by the Shadows who were known to be on Centauri Prime
It’s just a week to wait, and you can rewatch this episode. Back in 1998 the span between this episode and the next was 17 June to 28 October! {Londo’s voice} Can you imagine?!
Hey Brent, if you want the full Babylon 5 For the First Time Experience, consider waiting the 5 to 6 months I had to when it first aired in 1998. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL! This is one of my favorite OVERALL episodes of the series, to say nothing short of one of the top Season 5 episodes.
JMS ended it there just to honk you off…. back when he wrote this episode, he knew the things you were going to say about his earlier episode in this season so he said, "I'm going to write an episode that ends on such a cliffhanger just to make Brent go out of his mind waiting!" – this is JMS responding to your earlier comments, that's all 🐵
don't watch the end of the episode again. spoiler on the screen briefly
For such a weak season, this episode's ending is probably on my top 5 Babylon 5 moments.
"It ended right there?!"
Yes. And now wait a week! Fun, isn't it? 😀 Kinda old-school, I have to say…
Actually, waiting a week for next episode beats dumping an entire season's worth of episodes all at once so people can binge for a day or two. That was a weird strategy back when that was (relatively briefly) the norm, going against the grain completely of how not just capitalism usually works (you'd want the tension to build over time, the hype to build, the speculation, the gossipping and the rumor-mongering…), it also goes against the creative desire to build tension and drama.
So you'll be all the better for having to wait! For sure! 🙂
Brent, forgive me if you've said this already, but when are you going to watch the movies? After the end of the season?
G'kar pooped it out!!
Have to feel for Londo at the end. You will love the next episode.
The Narn General's name is Na'Tok.
I like how Brent and Londo both have the exact same reaction at the exact same time to the deactivation of the defense grid.
The effect would be MUCH WORSE … if the buildup for this story was spaced out much longer … across season 4 and 5.