Babylon 5 Newbies React to 4x11 | Lines of Communication | First Time Watching

[@RKnights]

Hey Guys! Its Ray, I need some help with my students. We run an afterschool gaming club and we need some games. If you can help us reach our goal we will truly appreciate it. Here is the link : www.donorschoose.org/project/game-on-empower-students-with-engaging/8587707/?rf=directlink-dc-2024-10-project-teacher_2812003&challengeid=20550431

[@this.is.a.username]

RIP Mira, gods I miss the warrior-poet-queen

[@biocapsule7311]

Yes, you can watch *'In the Beginning' (a must watch),* can be done either before or after Season 4, *'Third Space'* happen during Season 4 just after the end of Shadow War. Aside from 'In the Beginning', most of the movies are unimportant. And it's not so much that people *hate* season 5, just 1 part (and a character) of it. And that part went too long because the story of Season 4 was suppose to carry over to season 5, but they thought season 4 was the last so JMS rush to end most of the important story in Season 4... so when they find another network to back season 5, the front end of the season was not very good. But the series finale was shoot for season 4, when S5 was green light, they pull it out and place it at the end of S5. Also, B5 is the first to use purely CGI for the space battle. So what they are the people who advance the technology for the CG at the time.

[@JustinGreene0224]

Also Call to Arms, the last film, is a prequel into Crusade. So it serves as the bridge between the 2 series and is basically the same thing as The Gathering.

[@commanderkruge]

@@JustinGreene0224 Ah, right - Call to arms is the "Excalibur" Pilot I mentioned above. :)

[@commanderkruge]

Ah, okay, so I was right with "in the beginning". Definitely can be watched now and fills some gaps the series itself never does.

[@darrenbabidge4694]

No. Definitely can't watch in the beginning. The final lines uttered are a spoiler about end of season 4. Thirdspace you can watch now.

[@biocapsule7311]

@@darrenbabidge4694 And what line is that? It would be like saying 'War without End' or 'Deconstruction of Falling Stars' as "spoiler". The movie is made as an easier access for people who hasn't watch B5.

[@sergioaccioly5219]

You can watch In the Beginning and Thirdspace, there are no spoilers there for you at this point. As a point of physics, inertia is related to mass. If you have mass (and, in some cases, even if you don't, as I was told by a youtube physics channel) you have inertia. What you don't have in space is gravity and atmosphere.

[@commanderkruge]

"Wouldn't innertia not be a thing in space" - it totaly would be a thing. Whether on a planet or in space - you can't simply go from 0 speed to 100 in no time - you'll have to speed up. And the bigger and heavier a spaceship is, the slower it can change it's vector, ESPECIALLY in space, actually. Because it can't use wheels on the ground or the interaction between wings and an atmosphere. It has to fire off a lot of energy into one direction to move the other way.

[@derekramsaroup3883]

Delenn is the perfect example of how the quiet ones can be the most dangerous...

[@meropetied]

Yes! You can watch Thirdspace now. It takes place between Illusion of Truth and Atonement. But it's also worth saying that the movie In the Beginning could be watched now for you too. Atonement was the last episode it would have spoiled. Both movies first aired after season 4 ended, but they take place earlier.

[@xoberonx]

Marcus and the Doc make a great team. Like Pinky and The Brain.

[@tetefather]

Yes guys, Mike's reaction was the MOST appropriate for that space battle. Thank you for expressing what needed to be expressed. That's what I call a reaction.

[@sergioaccioly5219]

About the situation in Minbar, two or three things: The Warrior caste guy you mentioned, Neroon, will appear later on, it's inevitable. But remember G'Kar saying to Catherine Sakai: "nobody here is exactly what they seem". Nuff said Also, Draal told Delenn is A Voice in the Wilderness, waaaay back in S1, that the Minbari people was changing for the worse. Talk about foreshadowing. And finally, according to some sources, in the earliest drafts of B5, JMS wanted the Minbari civil war to be the main focus of the show, that would end with destruction of B5. Our Heroes wouldthen have to go back in time and steal B4 to use as a base against the Warrior Caste in a new series to be called Babylon Prime. Then Michael O'Hare got sick, and JMS had to retool the entire premise of the show. any peoplle think that whatwe got wass an upgrade. It certainly was a more original story.

[@nbartlett6538]

34:30 Inertia definitely is a thing in space. It's the reason why objects in space continue in a straight line at constant speed unless acted on by a force, such as firing their engines. Also known as Newton's 1st Law of Motion.

[@julienn8844]

See that's where I was thinking because a lot of the time the show show them magically stop without reverse thruster etc. Etc. So I usually just assume they have slow down but aren't completely stopped. I know inertia would be a property of mass by velocity. As lennier says tho the engines need time to warm up to shoot. My brain worked faster than my mouth lol.😊

[@nbartlett6538]

@@julienn8844 Yeah sometimes you see the alien ships doing weird stuff, maybe we can put it down to advanced tech that we don't understand yet? For what it's worth the motion of the human Starfuries is very physically accurate.

[@julienn8844]

That is true. Starfuries are really cool too ngl.

[@stue2298]

Yes you can watch "In the beginning" a great movie, the reason why people do have much of a like for season 5, it feels disconnected a little from the first 4 seasons do really want to spoil anything by saying more.

[@walkir2662]

"Is he gonna blow up the warp gate?" - no one touches the hyperspace gates. if one gets destroyed, the entire beacon network resets and every ship in hyperspace is going to drift into the void, with no hyperspace navigation possible until it has reset. Destroying a hypergate makes you about as popular as nuking evey homeworld at once.

[@Shoomer1988]

Sheridan blew up a jumpgate.

[@Petrosman]

Julian is completely right. The more we look at Sheridan's behavior, the way he plans to fight Earth, the more it looks like Garibaldi is right. Especially from an outside perspective. We know Sheridan is a good guy. But what he is doing is very scary and threatening to an outside observer

[@alphanerdgames9417]

38:36 MURICA!!! Uh I mean, MINBARI!!

[@lovipoekimo176]

Delenn being pissed and reacting with dignation is indeed a delight. Humans, the Streib, the Drakh watch out!

[@quentinmichel7581]

Most people don't realize how big the Whitestars actually are. Dig around and you can find a graphic of different space vehicles including Star Wars & Star Trek and you can see that a WhiteStar is actually larger in footprint than a Galaxy class Enterprise

[@toddkes5890]

There are also pictures of a White Star being smaller (down to 100 meters). The fun part of not having a standardized size in the series.

[@Carl_Gustav_Häyhä]

I saw a video about all ships on sci-fi scene. According to that, White Star is 390 m long.

[@darrenbabidge4694]

People saying you can watch In The Beginning now are wrong. Final line in it spoiles what happens at the end of S4.

[@RKnights]

Thanks for telling us that

[@timbanks8331]

"Third space.... third space.... third space! " lol

[@allimbeck1354]

3rd space was discovered by the Vorlon- look for a movie called THIRDSPACE' . Yes Delenn people aren't as wise as they think they are. She would have to reform the government and at the end she would do it differently.

[@Petrosman]

When it comes to movies. Most are supposed to be watched after season 5. Only two are recommended to be watched during the show. In the Beginning is to be watched after season 4 (although in my opinion it's an amazing movie to watch before rewatching the series, and it's better than the Gathering, because it's basically a pilot movie, created to get people on the new network TNT up to speed on what Babylon 5 is about). It's a great movie. Really highly regarded in the community. Then there's Thirdspace which is usually watched some time in the middle of season 4. Usually in between episodes 9-10. You can watch it a bit later too. But it's basically a two-parter standalone episode converted into a movie, with slightly better budget and higher quality graphics. The other movies should all be watched after season 5.

[@RKnights]

Thanks for the info

[@wrorchestra1]

In order to get the shots done on time, the VFX department had to dial down the detail of the digital models so the computers could render them quicker. A few of the original scenes have been re-rendered using modern computers and are available to view on KZbin.

[@cosmicslice7267]

"Thirdspace" actually fit in after episode 8 so you can watch it any time. After season 4 is where "In the Beginning" fits in. Then season 5 up to episode 21 for "River of Souls" and "The Legend of the Rangers" then the rest of season 5. Then "A Call to Arms" and you can move on the the show "Crusade" if that's on your radar.

[@kirishima638]

Earth Force knows Franklin is the chief medical officer on B5 so they would have to be complete dummies to not know who his transmission is for 😂

[@lovipoekimo176]

Agreed. But maybe Franklin is also hoping they'd think he's messaging someone else, say, his father who's a general?

[@JohnSipe-jt7bm]

The emissary moved in a fashion deemed too silly so they added the effect that Ray liked. I liked it too. 32:02

[@PassiveSmoking]

I think you're far enough along to watch In The Beginning without major spoilers (I might not be 100% right on that though, been a while since I watched it, so might want to hang on until the end of the season).

[@charlesmaurer6214]

Franklin and Marcus (The 007 of Babylon 5 split into 2 people) Oh James to Oh Stephen...

[@wyrmshadow4374]

You guys might cry when you watch Beginning

[@Rangera-ct1xu]

the last half of season 4 was going to be the story arc for season 5. but the studios said that there would be no season 5. so season 4 and 5 were compressed into one season. the viola, the show got a season 5.

[@whome1629]

I walk in and Susan looks like that i would ask what do you want like Morden😂.

[@toddkes5890]

7:07 - it is never as bad as the reports indicate; it is always worse 27:33 - I am surprised that nobody was escorting the ambassador to the bridge. Plus a couple others to keep extra people out of the way, instead of just letting the ambassador walk around freely and surprise members of the crew. Also, the effect was put in because the original costume didn't look that good. 31:26 - It would not be another army killing Minbari, but another army patrolling the border against outsiders so the Religious Caste can protect itself against the Military Caste. 34:36 - inertia is always present, top speed is the thing that would not be present. Now what he could have meant was 'max acceleration', aka the time a ship needs to bring its engines up to full power. 35:48 - tells you a little bit about those alien gunboats: they are powerful enough to threaten and destroy a White Star 38:26 - I started watching the series late, this was my first episode, and this scene is where I became a fan. 44:36 - 'Steven has his hands full'? Yup.

[@kelaarin]

Unless they did not believe the Minbari were any kind of threat. NOW they know differently.

[@toddkes5890]

@@kelaarin Are you saying that the Drakh do not considering the Minbari as a threat? Which of my time-stamps are you referring to?

[@MarioButter]

You can watch the movie "In The Beginning" anytime after season 2. "Thirdspace" should be watched after season 4 episode 8 ("The Illusion of Truth"). "River of Souls" and "The Legend of the Rangers" should be watched before the last episode in season 5 ("Sleeping in Light"). "A Call to Arms" should be watched before watching Crusade.

[@JCinLapel]

You have to brake inutra in space to change to change any movement in space because there is no counter force to stop you. like wind resistance or the ground in a fall

[@Carl_Gustav_Häyhä]

For example on Alien 4 Auriga came from Jupiter to earth in 3 hours, so at least 200 000 000 km/h. On the movie the very heavy braking hadn't any affect in the ship.

[@philmarston9078]

Sheridan has 20 years to put his plan into action and as such is behaving in a manner consistent with that.

[@mattguy1980]

YOU CAN WATCH 'IN THE BEGINNING' AND 'THIRDSPACE' MOVIES NOW WHICH TAKE PLACE BETWEEN THE SHADOW WAR AND EARTH WAR. CANT WAIT FOR YOUR REACTIONS

[@janak132]

The watch list I use Gathering S1 - S4 including "6: into the fire" "Thirdspace" (this one is hard to place as there is a small "who is there, isn't there" issue, this is at least close.) S4 continue (Some people prefer to put off the last episode of season 4 and put it absolutely last, which is absolutely correct timeline wise) "In the Beginning" S5 - including "21: objects at rest" "River of Souls" "Legend of the Rangers" not my fave to put it that way "A call to Arms" Crusade Resume S5 "22: Sleeping in light" S4e22 if you put it off

[@zarabada6125]

"In the beginning" includes a couple of small references to events at the end of Season 4 (almost "blink and you miss it" references). The movie was released on TV between season 4 and season 5. If you are aiming for a "pure" reaction then watch it at the end of season 4. If you don't mind a couple of oblique references to future events in season 4, then watch it whenever you want. You have already passed the part of the series where the majority of references come from. "Third Space" was released in the middle of season 5 but chronologically happens around the point where you are now. There is a bit of a debate on which season 4 episodes it is closest to chronologically, but there are no spoilers for coming events. The remaining movies are all set after season 5.

[@chaost4544]

The graphics quality is noticeably better than earlier seasons. This season took place around the time other shows were upping the game on their VFX. I noticed it watching DS9 where by the end the VFX was top notch on network TV.

[@sciguyjeff]

Apparently you missed Linear whisper Zha ha Dom to Deleen

[@tomriddle8273]

Actually, we only dislike parts of season 5. The last eight episodes are very compelling.

[@alexshdvideo]

True dat.

[@ScottRutter]

"Lines of Communication" 🎶 Fighting is easy young man, governing’s harder 🎶 #Ham4B5

[@JohnJNestor-n6p]

At a certain point in this episode, one of you made an extremely prescient comment. At the appropriate time in the future, you will definitely need to remember what you said here.

[@bcsr4ever]

Season 5 is slower and has a bit of a weak first half, but it is a worthwhile end. Some really good episodes in there.

[@JohnJones-ul1lw]

The beginning is the only one you can watch till the series ends

[@Ven183]

The watchers are shadow tech.

[@TheRealStevenBritton]

Any time after the end of “War without End” I think that you could watch “In the Beginning”. “Thirdspace” is set somewhere in the second half of Season 4, and in my opinion, is very weak.

[@JCinLapel]

It is your chose In the Beggining is kinda both sides it is a movie made for people on Sci Fi channel to get updated and some conclusion of 12 years before season 4 to the end 10 years after season 5. It is meant to draw in veiwers from Sci Fi that have never seen Babylon 5 into seeing season 5 which honestly it fail to do it is aking alot of a 2 hour movie to explain 4 years of television gold. Also this is made after season 4 without them knowing there will be a season 5. I will tell you it is the most moving emotional ride of B5 and it hold 2 of the most moving speeches in all of B5 just under delenns responce to earth force coming after B5, Shardons you are the only one that can do this they really have to beleive, the Return of Sinclair, and the end of the Shadow War. It is a MUST SEE to any B5 fan but do you have to see it before season 5 not really you know what has been going on. To this day even writting this thinkig of Tricia O'Neil perfomance as President Levy has to be one of the gut werching performance I have ever seen so desprite and defeted but so hopeful at the same time pleading for help from the people she command when she could not in consider making an order. The first speech is from Peter Jurasik and i think it might be the best story he has ever told and so much incapsolated babylon 5 story.

[@darrenbabidge4694]

You're the only reactors I've seen who like the Drak effects. Fair play but not a hill to die on 😂

[@tetefather]

Why? The effects make a lot of sense. All matter vibrates and it is very plausible that some species might exist in different vibrational states and look blurry to us.

[@darrenbabidge4694]

@@tetefather haven't seen other reactors like it and I remember on first showing my friend and I finding the movements and blurring slightly comedic. JMS wasn't a fan in the end either I believe. Doesn't bother me these days in the full context of everything.

[@whome1629]

Not putting Michael in charge 😂.

[@TerryRed]

I don't think USB ports existed in the grand populous yet when this aired. We were still using COM ports back in the mid to late 90's :)

[@TechnoMageB5]

11:09 "Our job, as always, is simply to state the facts..." Ever notice whenever anyone has to assert this, way more often than not they're the ones lying?

[@RobertP-zk8vh]

you can watch the movie about the minbari war or 3rd space

[@RobertP-zk8vh]

i have some books from a babylon 5 rpg game it has stuff from the ships of all the races i like to look at it every now and then

[@connorwatson6766]

Third Space and IN The Beginning are OK to watch now. Season 5 has some really good stories, but it's the last and it's as different from Seasons 3 and 4 as Season 1 was. But you CANNOT skip it, you need to see the last episode and how they build to it, and I really want to try to watch it with you. It's one of the most important episodes of all. In so many ways, it's good and hits as hard, or harder than, any other episode of the series. I can't say anything else without spoilers.

[@differous01]

B5 CGI is poor at representing people/ people-scale tech/ techno-mage monsters... it's the space battles where it works best, to the point where the various races get confused with their vessels (presumably, at some point, "there was a Shadow on Mars" [19:08], but that's not what we saw).

[@TerryRed]

CGI didn't even exist in movies / tv shows before Babylon 5 (outside of Tron / Last Starfighter which used expensive specially made computers). B5 was the first to use CG for literally everything in the show.... and it was all done on inexpensive home computers (Amigas). They were way ahead of everyone else who took notice and copied their formula afterward. Yes, its dated by todays' standards, but it was daring / smart / creative for its time.

[@jakoseto3398]

There was a shadow ship on Mars.

[@chrism7395]

'In The Beginning' is definitely safe to watch Chronologically, Thirdspace happens around now; but it sort of hints at how season 4 ends, so I'd maybe leave it until the end of season 4 Some people *really* don't like the look of the Drakh intermediary, personally I love it, reminds me of how I imagine a 40k Eldar Titan Holo Field looks

[@Varg235]

G'rard still rules the R-Knights-Galaxy ^^

[@corneliusoverton2617]

Bit of a slow episode, but this season closes strong. Season 5 starts bad, but the end is pretty good. The only movie really worth watching is "In the Beginning". I noticed that you started watching Lexx, after giving up on Farscape. Farscape is one of the best sci-fi shows of all time, which would have been more clear, had you made it to the end of the first season. It's tied with Babylon 5 for me, for different reasons. It really is worth watching with the whole crew. I can guarantee that they'll eventually love it. Lexx, on the other hand, wouldn't even make my top 20 list, but to each their own, I guess. You shouldn't give up on Farscape, you should double-down. I think you all will like it even more than B5, would be my prediction, based on what I've seen of your personalities. Another worth considering, after B5, if you haven't seen it yet, is The Expanse. I think you've seen that one, but if you haven't, it's a must watch too.

[@RKnights]

Ive not given up on Farscape, it is being posted on Patreon, Not much traffic here on the channel to keep it here.

[@MarvinNoFun]

Driving a person into a cold wilderness and saying that you didn't kill him, the elements did, is like shooting him and saying it was the bullet that killed him, not you. It's such a twisted logic.

[@RobertP-zk8vh]

minbari ships use gravity drives

[@williambranch4283]

They weren't able to properly finish the story arc. Like what happened with the Rome miniseries.

[@pauljanetzke]

Do NOT watch the last episode of season 4. Major spoilers for season 5 because JMS didn't know he would be able to get a 5th season from TNT when PTEN cancelled B5. So he told several seasons of plotlines in the last episode of season 4, including some of the major plotlines of season 5.

[@commanderkruge]

"Everybody is hating season 5" - not "hating". Actually it's pretty okay, except for one or two details we'll get to when we get to them. But after THAT season 4, season 5 can't help but fall off. By now it's known why that is and of course it would have been better if seasons 4 and 5 where more "mixed". Can't be helped. Aaaaas for the movies... Ahdamn. I'd have to google, I can't remember, but I believe at this point you can indeed watch one of the movies... Sec... Ah, yes, here: "In the Beginning" is a prequel to the series going into more details of the Earth-Minbari War that'll actually fill in some gaps in the all over story - I BELIEVE this can be watched at around this time without spoiling things you don't know by now except for those gaps. Can someone else add their opinion on this (without spoiling, as always)? Then there's "Thirdspace" which is kinda a stand alone movie set between seasons 4 and 5. The other movies are more "after the series standalone"-stuff. No direct connections to the big B5 plots, except for the "Excalibur" pilot movie. (a spin off series - was okayyyy, not fantastic, not horrible. Had a few moments)

[@BeteBlanc]

Most of the movies can be watched at the end of 4 without spoilers. Five is not the strongest season. It suffered too much from a few changes and attempts to set up new story arcs. You won't hate it, but some of the choices they made didn't play out with the tone they thought they would.

[@kirishima638]

A cleaner destroying all of JMS’s notes, forcing him to rewrite the entire season from memory, didn’t help

[@RKnights]

Is that what happened? Geezus, I would have lost my shit

[@kirishima638]

@@RKnights yeah he was in a hotel and returned to his room to find all his papers gone.

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

Wait, filler? You think "Racing Mars" is filler? There's not a single bit of filler in season 4.

[@aaronleffew9593]

Watch In the Beginning, the rest are for after season 4

[@Petrosman]

Thirdspace is during season 4, I think that's what was being referred to but commentators

[@stuartwald2395]

No, THIRDSPACE is set right now (sometime about episodes 7-8; there are some minor continuity issues with regard to the uniforms et al.). IN THE BEGINNING is traditionally watched between Seasons 4 and 5.

[@RKnights]

Thanks for the info :-)