Downbelow: A Babylon 5 IntroCast

One Response to “Episode 143 – The Fall of Centauri Prime”

1. Voord 99 Says:
   December 16th, 2016 at 2:11 pm

   {Spoilers for Objects in Motion and also the end of Deep Space Nine]

   There’s a notorious complaint about the film version of The Return of the King, that it takes a long time to end. The ambassadors may have noted that you can make the same observation about Babylon 5. Here we are, third episode from the end, and we’re already very much in “let’s tie everything up” mode.

   There’s an obvious contrast in Babylon 5’s bizarro twin, Deep Space Nine, which ramps up the action as it heads towards its final episode, and disposes of its characters concisely (but also effectively – to this day I can’t hear Just The Way You Look Tonight without thinking of DS9).

   Whether or not Babylon 5’s slower and more methodical approach works for you depends, I suspect, on how much affection you have for the characters, and how much you want JMS to check off every single box in showing where they all are at the end of the story. If you’re not already invested in the characters, there’s nothing to see in Objects in Motion. It would probably be the single worst episode for a new viewer to start with.

   As for me, I obviously love the show and its characters, and I don’t begrudge JMS his victory lap here.

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