Babylon 5: Science Fiction & Reboot

Speculative fiction on television flourished in the 1990s, and the genre’s experimentation with serialization and other storytelling approaches foreshadowed the “Golden Age” of drama in the 2000s. Some of these shows are well-known for their contributions to the genre, such as The X-Files, which has been hailed as one of the best and most influential shows of the decade despite recurring storyline disappointment. There’s also Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which has gone from cult favorite to important part of the canon. Others, such as Hercules, Xena, Sliders, and SeaQuest, have largely been forgotten.

Then there’s Babylon 5, a show that needs more attention, despite the fact that it’s understandable why it’s not as well-known as Buffy or the X-Files.

J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, a science-fiction epic set onboard a space station, scripted the most of the series and devised a five-year plan that the show generally followed. Furthermore, the performance was the first to incorporate computer-generated special effects. However, Babylon 5 gets off to a poor start, repelling potential viewers. Its writing and acting lack nuance (which grates on people used to irony-drenched post-Whedon dialogue), and the shoestring budget results in occasionally irritating low production values.

However, arguing the relevance of Babylon 5 and how, why, and when it was poor detracts from its most important legacy: During its mid-series peak, Babylon 5 was typically fantastic television, and it could still achieve high points during its poorer seasons. Part of the reason those middle seasons seemed so revolutionary is that they were simply better than the ones before them. Almost every major speculative fiction show of the time, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Buffy, and even The X-Files, debuted with a shaky first season, and Babylon 5 was no exception. Throughout the series, technical competence, including that of the performers, steadily improves, peaking in the middle years.

There’s also the five-year plan, which begins to bear fruit after a half-season.

Few TV shows can match Babylon 5’s propensity to change the core relationships of its characters, as well as its Shakespearean levels of tragic blunders, partial redemptions, and unavoidable fates. Ambassador Londo Mollari, in particular, is a good example of this. Londo began as the show’s most absurd character, thanks to his weird hair and generic science-fiction name, but with time, he evolved into the show’s soul, and actor Peter Jurasik ate up the scenery and played up Londo’s comedy and weaknesses, even in the worst early episodes. Meanwhile, his opponent, G’Kar, began as a cartoon villain before gradually gaining complexity and making some major adjustments. The story prompted these two people to switch roles: the aggressor became the victim, the sufferer overcame her anguish, and antagonism turned into friendship. All of this had been hinted at, was unexpected, and could be explained.

That’s how the show became so addictive to watch: All of the world-building, all of the various characters and factions, all of the time spent creating the sandcastle of what’s expected of television is knocked over, dismantled, and rebuilt, and it all makes sense as part of a broader coherent narrative. Babylon 5 may destroy and rebuild every important planet in its world, and it may significantly or subtly change the motivations of all of its major characters, yet none of this feels like a stunt. It succeeds because the plot develops naturally, and the absence of sophistication allows it to function on an archetypal level.

Reboot:

And now, Babylon 5 is returning to television 23 years after it first aired.

The CW has ordered a revival of the legendary sci-fi series, according to Variety.

J. Michael Straczynski, the original creator, is also involved in the project.

This is great news, considering Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes in Babylon 5. There are few facts about the project at the time, but we do know that it is being marketed as a “from-the-ground-up revival.” Currently, none of the original cast members, including Bruce Boxleitner, are affiliated to the project, but that could change. It’s sometimes difficult to discern what makes Babylon 5 so great, given its frequently archaic aesthetics. It was, nevertheless, ahead of its time in many ways. It was a long time before series like The Wire established serialized storytelling. There is also the possibility that there could be and like is a whole new cast.

Further Reading/Sources:

https://andrewmtanner.medium.com/why-bablyon-5-was-so-special-f790600adc58