6 months ago
(E)
BABYLON 5 THOUGHTS
Over the past 2 weeks I did a full binge watch of Babylon 5. Some things I noticed:
1) It obeys its own internal canon VERY well. This is probably because Babylon 5 is the poster child for a show that had a show "Bible" and actually adhered to it. As a result the show is semi-serialized and it is good at paying off every long running plot line. The show left nothing dangling out there.
2) The characters. This is an area where B5 simply outclasses DS9 and to be honest most other Science Fiction except possibly The Expanse. Deep characterization everywhere and the characters may do dark things but even the most morally suspect ones (Bester, Londo) either have some good qualities and/or at least a sort of redemption arc (Londo). One of my favorites is how Vir Cotto evolves over time from kind of timid and bumbling aide to Londo into eventually probably the greatest Emperor the Centauri Republic ever has. Likewise G'Kar, Lyta, heck everyone. DS9 has okay characterization but not on this level.
3) The acting. DS9 has some good acting (Jadzia, Quark) and some not so good acting (Sisko, Keiko, and more). Generally they do inhabit their characters decently well. B5 however is again on another level. The acting out of everyone is first level. Some REAL standouts include Mira Furlan as Delenn, Walter Koenig as Bester, Peter Jurasik as Londo, Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar and Claudia Christian as Ivanova.
4) The plot. B5 is a sweeping epic space opera that feels a lot like a high quality novel - it's even structured that way. You feel the historical arc as it fills in and you care about the characters and want to see them do well. DS9 clearly is copying B5 here but also trying to stay recognizably Star Trek and this is where it is hampered - Trek's premise doesn't really work well in a serialized format. The other problem DS9 has here is it really feels more like a soap opera a fair amount of the time with "who's shipping with who" being too prominent. B5 smartly kept the shipping both to a minimum and also tied closely to the story and the story always came first - even in the romance of Sheridan and Delenn.
Some thoughts...
Over the past 2 weeks I did a full binge watch of Babylon 5. Some things I noticed:
1) It obeys its own internal canon VERY well. This is probably because Babylon 5 is the poster child for a show that had a show "Bible" and actually adhered to it. As a result the show is semi-serialized and it is good at paying off every long running plot line. The show left nothing dangling out there.
2) The characters. This is an area where B5 simply outclasses DS9 and to be honest most other Science Fiction except possibly The Expanse. Deep characterization everywhere and the characters may do dark things but even the most morally suspect ones (Bester, Londo) either have some good qualities and/or at least a sort of redemption arc (Londo). One of my favorites is how Vir Cotto evolves over time from kind of timid and bumbling aide to Londo into eventually probably the greatest Emperor the Centauri Republic ever has. Likewise G'Kar, Lyta, heck everyone. DS9 has okay characterization but not on this level.
3) The acting. DS9 has some good acting (Jadzia, Quark) and some not so good acting (Sisko, Keiko, and more). Generally they do inhabit their characters decently well. B5 however is again on another level. The acting out of everyone is first level. Some REAL standouts include Mira Furlan as Delenn, Walter Koenig as Bester, Peter Jurasik as Londo, Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar and Claudia Christian as Ivanova.
4) The plot. B5 is a sweeping epic space opera that feels a lot like a high quality novel - it's even structured that way. You feel the historical arc as it fills in and you care about the characters and want to see them do well. DS9 clearly is copying B5 here but also trying to stay recognizably Star Trek and this is where it is hampered - Trek's premise doesn't really work well in a serialized format. The other problem DS9 has here is it really feels more like a soap opera a fair amount of the time with "who's shipping with who" being too prominent. B5 smartly kept the shipping both to a minimum and also tied closely to the story and the story always came first - even in the romance of Sheridan and Delenn.
Some thoughts...
7 months ago
I just got done watching the eight episodes of season one of the Fallout series on Amazon. This is based on the games but the story and most characters are original.
Overall it wasn't bad. Yes it has gory moments and yes some of the dialogue gets really ***** ual. But it does successfully capture the tone of the games. It is pretty dark and has grim survival drama aspects but the weird sort of humorous undertone from the games survives here.
Most of the acting is good. Ella Purnell handles the lead part well (and is not even close to a girl boss or Mary Sue). Aaron Moten also does a good turn as a recruit of the Brotherhood of Steel (a Fallout game faction). And stealing his scenes is Walton Goggins as an immortal mutant bounty hunter (another game element translated pretty well).
As to the woke question the answer is no. It is not woke. It also avoids the curse of presentism that kills so many shows and movies nowadays. It also is not perfect. The pacing is inconsistent with the opening episode feeling like a Guy Ritchie film and some later episodes move slower than necessary, with more flashbacks to before the war than to me were needed.
One other thing I should note - I think a major reason this adaptation works is that it concentrates on getting the look, tone and feel of the setting and its background elements right. Then it tells an original story with original characters in that setting and obeying all the rules of that setting. This inherently gives writers a lot more room to operate in while not breaking lore compatibility. This is also why (bit of a sidetrack) Halo is such a bad adaptation - they used characters from the games (like Master Chief) and got them completely wrong in addition to not accurately capturing the feel and look of the game setting.
All in all it is a positive sign that maybe, just maybe, we are starting to get decently written and performed entertainment again.
Overall it wasn't bad. Yes it has gory moments and yes some of the dialogue gets really ***** ual. But it does successfully capture the tone of the games. It is pretty dark and has grim survival drama aspects but the weird sort of humorous undertone from the games survives here.
Most of the acting is good. Ella Purnell handles the lead part well (and is not even close to a girl boss or Mary Sue). Aaron Moten also does a good turn as a recruit of the Brotherhood of Steel (a Fallout game faction). And stealing his scenes is Walton Goggins as an immortal mutant bounty hunter (another game element translated pretty well).
As to the woke question the answer is no. It is not woke. It also avoids the curse of presentism that kills so many shows and movies nowadays. It also is not perfect. The pacing is inconsistent with the opening episode feeling like a Guy Ritchie film and some later episodes move slower than necessary, with more flashbacks to before the war than to me were needed.
One other thing I should note - I think a major reason this adaptation works is that it concentrates on getting the look, tone and feel of the setting and its background elements right. Then it tells an original story with original characters in that setting and obeying all the rules of that setting. This inherently gives writers a lot more room to operate in while not breaking lore compatibility. This is also why (bit of a sidetrack) Halo is such a bad adaptation - they used characters from the games (like Master Chief) and got them completely wrong in addition to not accurately capturing the feel and look of the game setting.
All in all it is a positive sign that maybe, just maybe, we are starting to get decently written and performed entertainment again.
