Two veteran Star Trek podcasters watch Babylon 5 for the first time in this reaction video and podcast. Brent Allen and Jeff Akin search for Star Trek like messages in this series, deciding if they should have watched it sooner.
Psi Corp, Psi Cops and Chekov?!? Does this episode answer the questions Jeff and Brent have had, or will it (sending telepathic signals to you…)?
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You mentioned in another comment that you didn’t really get to see Koenig’s acting talent in TOS. Have you ever watched the fan series Star Trek New Voyages? Koenig gets to really do something interesting with Chekhov in the episode To Serve All My Days (written by DC Fontana). I expect you probably have but just in case.
Back to B5. I love Mind War mainly just for the tidbits it gives about Psy Corp (I bumped up against the effects too when I first watched it in the aughts. I feel like you start forgiving the effects more when you get more involved in the show) but I really really love the b-plot leading to that great speech from G-kar
I'm curious. Are you guys watching the show on DVD, or the newly remastered versions on HBO Max? The CGI effects shots were rendered in 4:3 and then stretched to 16:9 for the DVDs making them look much worse then they should have.
Koenig was originally planned to be a different character, but he had a heart attack and had to bow out. Then JMS wrote the character of Bester for him.
The actors who played Garibaldi and Talia were married for awhile in real life.
I've always tried to subscribe to the philosophy that sci-fi needs at least one season to mature as they always have a ton of world building first. Season one is a bit ropey but it's worth it for the foundations that are being laid.
You should switch to Bester's Be Seeing You at the end of each episode instead of live long and prosper 🙂
B5 introduced my to Alfred Bester (Psi cop) which led me to Alfred Bester the classic sci-fi author (the character was named after him). ‘Demolished Man’ is a top 5 favorite book for me. The way he wrote telepathic thoughts/communications was like nothing I’d seen before, I highly recommend that book
Jeff: at one of your comments I laughed loud because you were so close to something – I'm not saying more, because spoilers. Same thing, something Brent said made me chuckle – again I'm not saying any more…
To me Walter Koenig is much more Bester than Checkov. I have seen him at conventions he has said more than once that he like the role of Bester better. I can see why, because as Bester he gets to do some more flexing of the "acting muscle"
Do you know that the name Bester is a nod to the author Alfred Bester who wrote, among others, the novel "The Demolished Man", a story that has a telepathic police force.
I really loved the G'Kar stuff in this one. Are we seeing another side of G'Kar, and will there be more of that?
So much fun to see where you are spot on and where you are not. After all, it's the first time.
Production quality gets somewhat better – the remasters look " kinda" good.
Just something to consider if Garibaldi and Bester were to get into a fight. Bester could literally see what attack Garibaldi was going to perform in his mind and figure out how to counter it before he did it. I hate to say it but Bester would wipe the floor with Garibaldi
As you have already picked up on, there is a long running story at play through the episodes.
Do you have any plans for a "season review" or recap episode?
It would be interesting to see if your opinions on the episodes change in hindsight.
"That bit in Soul Hunter makes sense now and I was too harsh with my original rating…" or, "I understand that bit in Soul Hunter now but it is still poor overall…"
With naming the actors other roles in surprised that lenniers actor hasn't been mentioned since he was one of the biggest stars on the show
I'm surprised you didn't compare Jason's ascendency to "John Doe's" story in TNG's Transfigurations.
FYI Narn are not reptilian but marsupials
Random acting detail developed by Koenig that became part of the canon (especially in the Psi-Corps novels) is Bester's right hand being non-functional. It is always permanently clenched and Koenig said he wanted a guy with such a powerful mind and personality to have a physical defect.
JMS said years later that everyone who worked on the show would come to his office to ask about his plan, he would never tell them. As he refused to tell them there was a folder on the shelf right above him with the full plan on cards, no one ever thought to look there lol
Catching up on these and enjoying what I have seen so far. It may be a bit late for comments but have you guys read The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester?. Yup. B5's Bester is named after a Science Fiction writer. And while the Demolished Man has nothing whatsoever to do with B5 in general and PsiCorp in particular, it clearly influenced JMS and is something he is willing to make pretty explicit with the naming of Bester. It's a very good read that might give you an idea of what the show is going for with PsiCorp as its about a world with telepaths who all belong to a Guild and are ranked according to their power level.
Remember your comment about the "unchecked power" of Psycorps, Bester is going to get his comeuppance multiple times, and simultaneously you find out a great deal of depth in Bester, like all of the really well written characters in this series. Just wait, there's so much more coming.
Side note, you can so tell that Walter Koenig was just having WAY too much fun with playing Bester, you can see it in his eyes.
The Dune reference is not wrong. And this moment with Ironheart does pay off later, but you will have to find out in the due course of the series.
The layers to Ivanova are slowly peeled back over the course of the series. You'll see. All I'm going to say about it.
It's the Sakai plot (with especially G'Kar in it) that makes this episode amazing for me. Yeah, otherwise, the Psicorps stuff isn't great. Cool plot, but it's not beautiful TV, excepting everything Koenig. I rewatch and show clips to friends to excite them about this show from this episode. But it's all about the Sakai/G'Kar/the Walkers of Sigma 957 stuff. We are like ants.
I think that "Ironheart" is a hint to "Michael Ironside" the original "Scanner"
I hope you know that back when this was aired, B5's CGI was considered the best, better than Star trek, they got prices for it 🙂
My reaction to this episode is one from the Final Fantasy 14 fandom. "A smile better suits a spoiler." So 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
The Actors that played Taila and Garabaldi were married at that time.
Who is Iva Nova?
Jason's transformation reminds me of Kes on Voyager.
I won't spoil anything, I'll just say I really enjoyed your theories and cackled maniacally a few times while listening. It's good your minds are really getting active now with the speculation, and it's exciting to see you starting to wrestle with some of these bigger ideas presented in the show. You're starting to get a taste of what this show can do to you, the viewer. It'll really blow your mind sometimes with revelations and possibilities.