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Babylon 5 - The Complete Fourth SeasonRating:
Release Date: 06 January, 2004 Retail Price: $99.98 OUR Price: $74.99 You SAVE: $24.99! Cast: |
Babylon 5 - The Complete Fourth Season Reviews
Familiar Themes and Stories, Well-Told
Season 4 continues the quality of the previous two seasons. If you're new to Babylon 5, start with the first season (or, rather, the first movie). Now then, a topic I'm interested in: the originality, or lack there of, of Babylon 5.
It's an interesting question--Does unoriginality make something inherently worse?
The plotlines of Babylon 5 are not original. They are taken from other, sometimes famous, sources. But the show does not try to hide this, either. The war against the shadows is straight out of Tolkien, repleat with the shadows coming back every so often and the passing of the elder races to the Gray Havens, er, I mean, beyond the rim of the galaxy. The Menbari are clearly elves.
Earth's development into a dictatorship follows Nazi progression (especially with Nightwatch) and other, similar historical sources, with a nod or two to Orwell. For instance, in the second season they speak of the development of the Ministry of Peace, which they call MiniPax, and the Ministry of Truth--straight out of 1984. The decadance of the Centauri court seems Imperial Roman, and Cartagia a veritable Caligula (is the similarity in their names coincidental?). Garibaldi's betrayal of the messianic figure of Sheridan is certainly a re-enactment of Judas Iscariot, and specifically as represented in Jesus Christ Superstar where Judas explains that Christ has started to believe his own press, and that the man has become more important than the mission. Bester's frequent farewell of "be seeing you" evokes The Prisoner, and again, I doubt that this is coincidental given everything else.
So, does any of this matter? Does it take away from the power of Babylon 5, that its central storylines are culled directly from other sources? I don't believe that it does take anything away. Instead, it makes Babylon 5 an interesting pastiche of many of the themes and stories that interest us against a sci-fi backdrop. And it's certainly a clever idea, regardless of whether we approve or not. Further, the characters are individual enough that, despite the similarity of plot, the stories are always unique. There has never been G'Kar in any other work, if you understand my meaning.
In conclusion, Babylon 5 is not weakened by its use of earlier stories and is, in some ways, strengthened by it. It fortunately does not try to hide its relationship to the sources on which it draws, making explicit references to items such as the thirty pieces of silver and the night of the long knives. And so, Babylon 5 (itself a reference no doubt to the Tower of Babel, reaching out onto the heavens) represents humanity and all our stories come together. Can't be done all the time, but, done once, it's pretty neat.
"No Surrender, No Retreat"
I started watching this series beginning with season 2(by recommendation from many reviewers here) and by season 3(the best in the series, by far) I was thoroughly hooked to buy this, season 4. With the Shadow War in full swing throughout season 3 there was bound to be a let-down in the following season. The Shadow War overflows into season 4 and the final battle is a magnificent climax with stellar(excuse the pun) special effects but with a fairly lame resolution. There are 22 episodes here and with nearly twenty episodes to go after the climax the next phase in the story unfolds: that of reclaiming Earth from President Clark and his Orwellian empire. There are a few average shows leading up to the confrontation, with side-stories covering specific characters and their agendas, but when all the pieces are in place(a Queen's Gambit, to be sure) the fireworks begin and the show has renewed vigor and purpose. I have a minor complaint regarding the dialogue. For the most part the teleplays are sharp and seldom strained, but occasionally there is a feeble jab at humor regarding love-making or something else with similar predictability that felt forced. There is also frequent use of modern-day slang, which I'm certain will not be as hip in the middle of the 23rd century as it was in the mid-nineties when this show was created. Someday the dialogue in this show will definitely show its age. Then there is the occasional flashback to season 1 which was horribly written with tepid performances from some characters that make a return here; and seriously speaking, I can see why they were either replaced or their lines were cut to shorten their fairly unremarkable performances. This series ends with a complete wrap-up of all the characters and an all-encompassing final show that had me scratching my head in lieu of the fact that there is yet another season left to be seen. Overall, this is certainly worth obtaining for a solid continuance from season 3 and a good, oftentimes great follow-up story. Thank you.
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