This is just going to be a little mind-game which continues the Babylon 5 saga in the context of the Dark Side of the Moon. I'm not sure what I'll do with this (if anything) but I'll try to imagine Babylon 5 type scenarios occurring within the Moon. Then I'll probably transfer the posts to The United States of the Solar System thread. I'm imagining that governmental system commencing in (or around) 2133 AD. I've been watching Babylon 5 -- and I've been wondering if the Moon and Deep Underground Military Bases are sort of like Babylon 5?! I continue to think that Politics, Religion, Business, and Science-Fiction work well together. I also think that the right researchers might benefit greatly from the approach I've attempted within this (and other) threads (within this website). If I ever get over being a basket-case -- and fine-tune my approach -- I might actually be dangerous!! I'm harmless presently -- mostly because I'm so screwed-up. I'm not faking being a miserable-idiot. I'm not faking various experiences I report on. I am faking a personality and manner of communicating. On the other hand -- I might be attempting to resurrect a hidden-aspect of who I really am (on a soul-basis). I could frankly see myself being onboard a bad@$$teroid queen-ship with various reptilians, greys, hybrids, and humans -- involved in really nasty star-wars. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how we got here in antiquity. I wish to repeat that I'm seriously considering spending a lot of time researching international-banking, galactic-banking, intergalactic-banking, world-warfare, star-warfare, international-law, and space-law. Who knows?? I might already know way too much about all of the above (on a soul-basis). Something is VERY Wrong with this incarnation. I feel SO Out of Place. What if this is my first human incarnation on Earth -- after having been away for a very long time?? That wouldn't surprise me -- believe it, or not. Also, my Archangelic speculation is just that -- speculation. I've been somewhat tough on Gabriel -- mostly because of what Hollywood has done with that particular Archangelic-Character. I'm just seeing a lot of evidence for a Michael v Gabriel conflict -- with Lucifer being the Archangel Who Never Was (and being used as a convenient Fall-Guy). What if both Michael and Gabriel are known as both Christ and Lucifer (depending on the situation and one's perspective)?! What if the Greatest Story Ever Told -- and the Theology Connected With It -- are mostly inventions intended to accomplish a specific task -- but which spiraled out of control (or something like that)?! Try studying Matthew 5 through 25 in the KJV -- reading it straight-through -- over and over. Try taking a very close look at Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Daniel, and Matthew in the KJV. How much of the Torah appears in these books?? How much Christian Theology is supported by these books?? What if Matthew 5 through 25 were placed in an Old-Testament context?? The Torah might've been absolutely necessary historically -- but I certainly would NOT wish to see the Torah strictly enforced upon the world in modernity!! Can you even begin to imagine the hell which would break-loose if that were attempted??!! I'm seeking Modern Law and Liturgy which might be unifying and elevating -- but this is VERY Dangerous Territory!! It is a VERY Slippery Slope!! What if -- during the Inquisition -- the church had simply thrown the "Heretics" into Prison -- instead of torturing them, and burning them to death??!! What if Hitler had simply expelled the Jews from Germany?? I'm not saying even that would've been "Right" -- but it sure would've been much nicer!!! I have no problem with incarceration -- but I have HUGE problems with torture and capital-punishment. I have REALLY HUGE Problems with the Torture and Extermination of Body and Soul!!! What if Earth were Paradise -- and the Moon were Purgatory -- with NO HELL??!! What if the Solar System were a Huge Corporation called Paradise Incorporated?? I tend to think that a United States of the Solar System would be necessary to keep such a thing from becoming a cruel and corrupt Worker's Hell. I'm NOT trying to Override God and Heaven. I am simply attempting to understand our situation and options -- but this seems to be a Most Dangerous Guessing Game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5 Babylon 5 is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Television. After the successful airing of a backdoor pilot movie, Warner Bros. commissioned the series as part of the second-year schedule of programs provided by its Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN).[1] The pilot episode was broadcast on February 22, 1993 in the US. The first season premiered in the US on January 26, 1994, and the series ultimately ran for the intended five seasons. Describing it as having "always been conceived as, fundamentally, a five-year story, a novel for television," Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes, and served as executive producer, along with Douglas Netter.[2]
Set between the years 2257 and 2281, it depicts a future where Earth has sovereign states, and a unifying Earth government. Colonies within the solar system, and beyond, make up the Earth Alliance, and contact has been made with other spacefaring races. The ensemble cast portray alien ambassadorial staff and humans assigned to the five-mile-long Babylon 5 space station, a center for trade and diplomacy. Described as "one of the most complex programs on television," the various story arcs drew upon the prophesies, religious zealotry, racial tensions, social pressures, and political rivalries which existed within each of their cultures, to create a contextual framework for the motivations and consequences of the protagonists' actions.[3] With a strong emphasis on character development set against a backdrop of conflicting ideologies on multiple levels, Straczynski wanted "to take an adult approach to SF, and attempt to do for television SF what Hill Street Blues did for cop shows."[4]
Generally viewed as having "launched the new era of television CGI visual effects,"[5] it received multiple awards during its initial run, including two consecutive Hugo Awards for best dramatic presentation,[6][7] and continues to regularly feature prominently in various polls and listings highlighting top-rated science fiction series.[8][9][10] Not appearing on American television since 2003, it continues to be shown in international markets such as Fox in the UK, the TV4-ScifFi Channel in Sweden, and the FBC TV channel in Fiji.[11] Initially written by Straczynski, DC began publishing Babylon 5 comics in 1994, with stories that closely tied in with events depicted in the show, with events in the comics eventually being referenced onscreen in the actual television series.[12] The franchise continued to expand into short stories, RPG games, and novels, with the Technomage trilogy of books being the last to be published in 2001, shortly after the spin-off television series, Crusade, was cancelled. All rights except for a possible movie are controlled by Warner (movie rights are retained by Straczynski).
At the beginning of the series, five dominant civilizations are represented. The dominant species are the Humans, Minbari, Narn, Centauri, and the Vorlons. "The Shadows" and their various allies are malevolent species who appear later in the series. Several dozen less powerful species from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds appear, including the Drazi, Brakiri, Vree, Markab, and pak'ma'ra. The station's first three predecessors (the original Babylon station, Babylon 2 and Babylon 3) were sabotaged or accidentally destroyed before their completion. The fourth station, Babylon 4, vanished 24 hours after it became fully operational.[13]
Babylon 5 TV seasons and films
1993–2007
In order of series chronology:
2245–48 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2256 • Babylon 5 station commissioned
2257 • The Gathering (Pilot)
2258 • Signs and Portents (Season 1)
2259 • The Coming of Shadows (Season 2)
2260 • Point of No Return (Season 3)
2261 • No Surrender, No Retreat (Season 4)**
2261 • Thirdspace (2nd film)***
2262 • The Wheel of Fire (Season 5)†
2263 • The River of Souls (3rd film)
2265 • The Legend of the Rangers (5th film)
2266 • A Call to Arms (4th film)
2267 • Crusade (spin-off series)
2271 • The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark
2278 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2281 • Babylon 5 station decommissioned
* The framing story is set in 2278.
** The final episode of the season includes scenes of future events up to 3262 and beyond.
*** The story is set between the two wars in season 4.
† The final episode of series is set in 2281.
The television series takes its name from the Babylon 5 space station, located in the Epsilon Eridani star system, at the fifth Lagrangian point between the fictional planet Epsilon III and its moon.[14] Babylon 5 is an O'Neill cylinder five miles long and a half-mile to a mile in diameter. Living areas accommodate the various alien species, providing differing atmospheres and gravities. Human visitors to the alien sectors are shown using breathing equipment and other measures to tolerate the conditions.[15]
The five seasons of the series each correspond to one fictional sequential year in the period 2258–2262. Each season shares its name with an episode that is central to that season's plot. As the series starts, the Babylon 5 station is welcoming ambassadors from various races in the galaxy. Earth has just barely survived an accidental war with the much more powerful Minbari, who, despite their superior technology, mysteriously surrendered at the brink of the destruction of the human race during the Battle of the Line.
During 2258, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair is in charge of the station. Much of the story revolves around his gradual discovery that it was his capture by the Minbari at the Battle of the Line which ended the war against Earth. Upon capturing Sinclair, the Minbari came to believe that Valen, a great Minbari leader and hero of the last Minbari-Shadow war, had been reincarnated as the Commander. Concluding that others of their species had been, and were continuing to be reborn as humans, and in obedience to the edict that Minbari do not kill one another, lest they harm the soul, they stopped the war just as Earth's final defenses were on the verge of collapse.
Meanwhile, tensions between the Centauri Republic, which is an empire in decline, and the Narn Regime, a former dominion which rebelled and gained freedom, are increasing. Ambassador G'Kar of the Narn wishes for his people to strike back at the Centauri for what they did, and Ambassador Londo Mollari of the Centauri wishes for his people to become again the great empire they once were. As part of these struggles, Mollari makes a deal with a mysterious ally to strike back at the Narn, further heightening tensions.
It is gradually revealed that Ambassador Delenn is a member of the mysterious and powerful Grey Council, the ruling body of the Minbari. Towards the end of 2258, she begins the transformation into a Minbari-human hybrid, ostensibly to build a bridge between the humans and Minbari. The year ends with the death of Earth Alliance president Luis Santiago. The death is officially ruled an accident, but some members of the military, including the staff of Babylon 5, believe it to be an assassination.
At the beginning of 2259, Captain John Sheridan replaces Sinclair as the military governor of the station after Sinclair is reassigned as ambassador to Minbar. He and the command staff gradually learn that the assassination of President Santiago was arranged by his then-Vice President, Morgan Clark, who has now become president. Conflict develops between the Babylon 5 command staff and the Psi Corps, an increasingly autocratic organization which oversees and controls the lives of human telepaths.
The Shadows, an ancient and extremely powerful race who have recently emerged from hibernation, are revealed to be the cause of a variety of mysterious and disturbing events, including the attack on the Narn outpost at the end of 2258. Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari unknowingly enlists their aid through his association with their mysterious human representative Mr. Morden in the ongoing conflict with the Narn. The elderly and ailing Centauri emperor, long an advocate of reconciliation with the Narn, unfortunately has insufficient control to prevent others from instigating war against the Narn Regime. When the emperor dies suddenly during a peace mission to Babylon 5, a number of conspirators, including Ambassador Londo Mollari and Lord Refa, take control of the Centauri government by assassinating their opponents and placing the late emperor's unstable nephew on the throne. Their first act is to start open aggression against the Narn. After a full-scale war breaks out, the Centauri with the help of the Shadows through Londo eventually conquer Narn in a brutal attack involving mass drivers, outlawed weapons of mass destruction. Towards the end of the year, the Clark administration begins to show increasingly totalitarian characteristics, clamping down on dissent and restricting freedom of speech. The Vorlons are revealed to be the basis of legends about angels on various worlds, including Earth, and are the ancient enemies of the Shadows. They enlist the aid of Sheridan and the Babylon 5 command staff in the struggle against the Shadows.
The Psi Corps and President Clark, whose government has discovered Shadow vessels buried in Earth's solar system, begin to harness the vessels' advanced technology. The Clark administration continues to become increasingly xenophobic and totalitarian, and gradually develops an Orwellian government style, including an organization called Night Watch which targets citizens who hold views contrary to those of Clark's regime.
Sheridan and Delenn's "conspiracy of light" works to uncover clues about how to defeat the Shadows. During a mission near Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter, their ship is seen by an Earth Alliance vessel, but not recognized. Though they escape and no shots were fired in the encounter, President Clark uses it as an excuse to declare martial law. This triggers a war of independence on Mars, which had long had a strained political relationship with Earth. Babylon 5 attempts to avoid conflict with Earth, but in response to civilian bombings on Mars, concerns with Night Watch, and illegal orders meant to oppress their populations, they choose to declare independence from Earth, along with several other outlying Earth Alliance colonies. In response, the Earth Alliance attempts to retake Babylon 5 by force, but with the aid of the Minbari, who have allied with the station against the growing Shadow threat, the attack is repelled.
Becoming concerned over the Shadows' growing influence among his people, Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari attempts to sever ties with them. Mr. Morden, the Shadows' human representative, tricks him into restoring the partnership by engineering the murder of Mollari's mistress while putting the blame on a rival Centauri House. Open warfare breaks out between the Shadows and the alliance led by Babylon 5 and the Minbari. It is learned that genetic manipulation by the Vorlons is the source of human telepathy, as it is later discovered that Shadow ships are vulnerable to telepathic attacks. Displeased at the Vorlons' lack of direct action against the Shadows, Captain John Sheridan browbeats Vorlon ambassador Kosh Naranek into launching an attack against their mutual enemy. Kosh's deeds lead to his subsequent assassination by the Shadows.
Former station commander Jeffrey Sinclair returns to Babylon 5 to enlist the aid of Captain Sheridan, Delenn, Ivanova and Marcus in stealing the Babylon 4 space station and sending it 1,000 years back in time to use it as a base of operations against the Shadows in the previous Minbari-Shadow war. Undergoing the same transformation as Delenn at the end of Season 1, Sinclair transforms into a Minbari and is subsequently revealed to be the actual Valen of Minbari legend, rather than simply a reincarnation. Meanwhile, as a result of the unstable time travel, Sheridan sees a vision of the downfall of Centauri Prime when it is attacked by Shadow allies after the Shadow war, and he becomes determined to prevent that future.
Sheridan and Delenn begin a romantic relationship, but their lives and the war are interrupted by the sudden reappearance of Sheridan's wife, who was presumed dead after taking part in an archaeological expedition to Z'ha'dum years prior. She tells Sheridan that the Shadows are not evil, hoping to bring him back with her and recruit him to their cause. He soon realizes that her mind has been tampered with and corrupted by the Shadows, but accepts her offer to visit Z'ha'dum because he hopes it will save the galaxy sooner and prevent the downfall of Centauri Prime. He takes with him a pair of nuclear warheads, which he uses to destroy their largest city, and is last seen jumping into a miles-deep pit to escape the explosion.
Shadow vessels appear at the station, but disappear after Sheridan's attack. However, after they leave, station personnel realize that Garibaldi, who left in a fighter to defend against the vessels, never returned.
In 2261, the Vorlons join the Shadow War, but their tactics become a concern for the alliance when the Vorlons begin destroying entire planets which they deem to have been "influenced" by the Shadows. Disturbed by this turn of events, Babylon 5 recruits several other powerful and ancient races (the First Ones) to their cause, against both the Shadows and the Vorlons. Captain John Sheridan returns to the station after escaping from Z'ha'dum and reunites the galaxy against the Shadows, but at a price: barring illness or injury, he has only 20 years left to live. He is accompanied by a mysterious alien named Lorien who claims to be the first sentient being in the galaxy, and who breathed life into Sheridan at Z'ha'dum. Once Sheridan returns, he and Delenn formalize their relationship and begin planning to marry, though most of their plans are put on hold due to the ongoing war.
Hours before Sheridan's return, Garibaldi is rescued and returned to the station, in rather dubious circumstances. Over the course of the next several months, he becomes markedly more paranoid and suspicious of other alien races and of Sheridan than he was before, causing worry among his friends and colleagues. After the Shadows are defeated Garibaldi leaves his post as security chief and works on his own as a "provider of information". He begins working for one William Edgars, a Mars tycoon, who is married to Garibaldi's former love. While he works ever closer with Edgars, he becomes increasingly aggressive toward Sheridan and eventually leaves Babylon 5.
Centauri Emperor Cartagia forges a relationship with the Shadows. With the reluctant help of his enemy G'Kar, Londo Mollari engineers the assassination of Cartagia and repudiates his agreement with the Shadows. In exchange for G'Kar's help, Londo frees the Narn from Centauri occupation. Londo afterwards kills Mr. Morden and destroys the Shadow vessels based on the Centauri homeworld, in an attempt to save his planet from destruction by the Vorlons. Aided by the other ancient races, and several younger ones, Sheridan lures both the Vorlons and the Shadows into an immense battle, during which the Vorlons and Shadows reveal that they have been left as guardians of the younger races, but due to philosophical differences, ended up using them as pawns in their endless proxy wars throughout the ages. The younger races reject their continued interference, and the Vorlons and Shadows, along with the remaining First Ones, agree to depart the galaxy in order to allow the younger races to find their own way.
Minbar is gripped by a brief civil war between the Warrior and Religious castes. Delenn secretly meets with Neroon of the Warrior caste and convinces him that neither side can be allowed to win. She tells him that she will undergo a ritual wherein she will be willing to sacrifice herself, but will stop the ritual before she actually dies. When Neroon sees that she actually intends to go through the entire ritual, he rescues her and sacrifices himself instead, declaring that, although he was born Warrior caste, in his heart he is Religious caste.
As part of the ongoing conflict between Earth and Babylon 5, Garibaldi eventually betrays Sheridan and arranges his capture in order to gain Edgars' trust and learn his plans. Garibaldi later learns that Edgars created a virus that is dangerous only to telepaths. It is then revealed that after Garibaldi was captured the previous year, he was taken to the Psi Corps and re-programmed by Bester to provide information to him at the right time. Bester releases Garibaldi of his programming, and allows him to remember everything he has done since being kidnapped. Edgars is killed and his wife disappears, but is reunited with Garibaldi after the end of the war.
Sheridan is tortured and interrogated by those who hope to break him and turn him into a propaganda tool for Earth's totalitarian government. Fortunately, Garibaldi is able to help free Sheridan and return him to the campaign to free Earth. An alliance led by Babylon 5 frees Earth from totalitarian rule by president Clark in a short but bloody war. This culminates in Clark's suicide and the restoration of democratic government due to Susanna Luchenko (played by Beata Poźniak) becoming president of Earth's Alliance. Mars is granted full independence, and Sheridan agrees to resign his commission. The League of Non-Aligned Worlds is dissolved and reformed into the Interstellar Alliance, with Sheridan elected as its first president and continuing his command of the Rangers, who are to act as a galactic equivalent of United Nations peacekeepers. Londo and G'Kar enter an uneasy alliance to help both their races as well as Sheridan in forming the Interstellar Alliance. During the Battle Ivanova is critically injured, promised only a few days to live. Marcus, who had fallen in love with Ivanova, finds the same alien healing device used to revive Garibaldi at the beginning of the second season, and uses it to transfer his life energy into Ivanova, causing her to live and him to die. This causes her immense emotional anguish, and she chooses to leave Babylon 5.
Sheridan and Delenn complete their marriage ceremony while en route to Babylon 5, where they will head the Interstellar Alliance for the next year.
In the season finale, the events of 100, 500, 1000, and one million years into the future are shown, depicting Babylon 5's lasting influence throughout history. Among the events shown are the political aftermath of the 2261 civil war, a subsequent nuclear war on Earth involving a new totalitarian government in the year AD 2762, the resulting fall of Earth into a pre-industrial society, the loss and restoration of humanity's knowledge of space travel, and the final evolution of mankind into energy beings similar to the Vorlons, after which Earth's sun goes nova.
In 2262, Earthforce Captain Elizabeth Lochley is appointed to command Babylon 5, which is now also the headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance. The station grows in its role as a sanctuary for rogue telepaths running from the Psi Corps, resulting in conflict. G'Kar, former Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, becomes unwillingly a spiritual icon after a book that he wrote while incarcerated during the Narn-Centauri War is published without his knowledge. The Drakh, former allies of the Shadows who remained in the galaxy, take control of Regent Virini on Centauri Prime through a parasitic creature called a Keeper, then incite a war between the Centauri and the Interstellar Alliance, in order to isolate the Centauri from the Alliance and gain a malleable homeworld for themselves.
Centauri Prime is devastated by Narn and Drazi warships and Londo Mollari becomes emperor, then ends the war. However, the Drakh blackmail him into accepting a Drakh Keeper, under threat of the complete nuclear destruction of the planet. Vir Cotto, Mollari's loyal and more moral aide, becomes ambassador to Babylon 5 in his stead. G'Kar also leaves Babylon 5 to escape his unwanted fame and explore the rim. Sheridan and Delenn move to a city on Minbar, where the new headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance are located, while celebrating their first year of marriage and the upcoming birth of their son, and mourning the loss of dear friendships. Garibaldi marries and settles down on Mars, where he and his wife share ownership of a prominent pharmaceutical company. Most other main characters, including Stephen Franklin and Lyta Alexander, leave Babylon 5 as well.
As shown in flash-forwards earlier in the series, the next several years include the reign of Londo Mollari as Centauri Emperor. Sixteen years later, Londo sacrifices his life to rescue Sheridan and Delenn from the Drakh, in the hope that they in turn can save Centauri Prime. To prevent the Drakh from discovering his ruse, he asks G'Kar, now an old friend, to kill him, but Londo's Keeper wakes up and forces him to kill G'Kar in return. They die at each other's throats, in accordance with Londo's vision many decades earlier, and Vir Cotto succeeds him as emperor, free of Drakh influence.
Three years after Londo's death, Sheridan himself is on the verge of death and takes one last opportunity to gather his old friends together. Shortly after his farewell party, Sheridan says goodbye to Delenn, though in Minbari fashion they use the word "goodnight" to signify their hope of an eventual reunion. Sheridan then takes a final trip to the obsolete Babylon 5 station before its decommissioning. He returns to the site of the final battle between the Vorlons and the Shadows and apparently dies, but is instead claimed by The First One, who invites him to join the other First Ones on a journey beyond the rim of the galaxy. Babylon 5 station is destroyed in a demolition shortly after Sheridan's departure, its existence no longer necessary as the Alliance has taken over its diplomatic purposes and other trading routes have been established. This final episode features a cameo by Straczynski as the technician who switches off the lights before Babylon 5 is demolished.
Throughout its run, Babylon 5 found ways to portray themes relevant to modern and historical social issues. It marked several firsts in television science fiction, such as the exploration of the political and social landscapes of the first human colonies, their interactions with Earth, and the underlying tensions.[16] Babylon 5 was also one of the first television science fiction shows to denotatively refer to a same-sex relationship.[17][18] In the show, sexual orientation is as much of an issue as "being left-handed or right-handed".[19] Unrequited love is explored as a source of pain for the characters, though not all the relationships end unhappily.[20]
Neither the Vorlons nor the Shadows saw themselves as conquerors or adversaries. Both believed they were doing what was right for us. And like any possessive parent, they'll keep on believing that until the kid is strong enough to stand up and say, 'No, this is what I want.' —J. Michael Straczynski, 1997[21]
The clash between order and chaos, and the people caught in between, plays an important role in Babylon 5. The conflict between two unimaginably powerful older races, the Vorlons and the Shadows, is represented as a battle between two competing ideologies, each seeking to turn the humans and the other younger races to their beliefs. The Vorlons represent an authoritarian philosophy: you will do what we tell you to, because we tell you to do it. The Vorlon question, "Who are you?" focuses on identity as a catalyst for shaping personal goals;[22][23] the intention is not to solicit a "correct" answer, but to "tear down the artifices we construct around ourselves until we're left facing ourselves, not our roles."[24] The Shadows represent a philosophy of evolution through fire, of sowing the seeds of conflict in order to engender progress.[25] The question the Shadows ask is "What do you want?" In contrast to the Vorlons, they place personal desire and ambition first, using it to shape identity,[23] encouraging conflict between groups who choose to serve their own glory or profit.[26] The representation of order and chaos was informed by the Babylonian myth that the universe was born in the conflict between both. The climax of this conflict comes with the younger races' exposing of the Vorlons' and the Shadows' "true faces"[21] and the rejection of both philosophies,[23] heralding the dawn of a new age without their interference.
The notion that the war was about "killing your parents"[21] is echoed in the portrayal of the civil war between the human colonies and Earth. Deliberately dealing in historical and political metaphor, with particular emphasis upon McCarthyism and the HUAC,[27] the Earth Alliance becomes increasingly authoritarian, eventually sliding into a dictatorship. The show examines the impositions on civil liberties under the pretext of greater defense against outside threats which aid its rise, and the self-delusion of a populace which believes its moral superiority will never allow a dictatorship to come to power, until it is too late.[28] The successful rebellion led by the Babylon 5 station results in the restoration of a democratic government, and true autonomy for Mars and the colonies.[29]
What interests me, what I wanted to do with making this show, was in large measure to examine the issues and emotions and events that precede a war, precipitate a war, the effects of the war itself, the end of the war and the aftermath of the war. The war is hardware; the people are at the center of the story. —J. Michael Straczynski, 1997[30]
The Babylon 5 universe deals with numerous armed conflicts which range on an interstellar scale. The story begins in the aftermath of a war which brought the human race to the brink of extinction, caused by a misunderstanding during a first contact situation.[13] The Babylon 5 station is subsequently built in order to foster peace through diplomacy, described as the "last, best hope for peace" in the opening credits monologue during its first three seasons. Wars between separate alien civilizations are featured. The conflict between the Narn and the Centauri is followed from its beginnings as a minor territorial dispute amplified by historical animosity, through to its end, in which weapons of mass destruction are employed to subjugate and enslave an entire planet. The war is an attempt to portray a more sobering kind of conflict than usually seen on science fiction television. Informed by the events of the first Gulf War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Soviet invasion of Prague, the intent was to recreate these moments when "the world held its breath" and the emotional core of the conflict was the disbelief that the situation could have occurred at all, and the desperation to find a way to bring it to an end.[31] By the start of the third season, the opening monologue had changed to say that the hope for peace had "failed" and the Babylon 5 station had become the "last, best hope for victory", indicating that while peace is a laudable accomplishment, it can also mean a capitulation to an enemy intent on committing horrendous acts, and that "peace is a byproduct of victory against those who do not want peace."[32]
The Shadow War also features prominently in the show, during which an advanced alien species attempts to sow the seeds of conflict in order to promote technological and cultural advancement. The gradual discovery of the scheme and the rebellion against it, serve as the backdrop to the first three seasons,[33] but also as a metaphor for the war within ourselves. The concurrent limiting of civil liberties and Earth's descent into a dictatorship are "shadow wars" of their own.[34] In ending the Shadow War before the conclusion of the series, the show was able to more fully explore its aftermath, and it is this "war at home" which forms the bulk of the remaining two seasons. The struggle for independence between Mars and Earth culminates with a civil war between the human colonies (led by the Babylon 5 station) and the home planet. Choosing Mars as both the spark for the civil war, and the staging ground for its dramatic conclusion, enabled the viewer to understand the conflict more fully than had it involved an anonymous colony orbiting a distant star.[16] The conflict, and the reasons behind it, were informed by Nazism, McCarthyism and the breakup of Yugoslavia,[27] and the unraveling of the former Balkan country also served as partial inspiration for another civil war, which involved the alien Minbari.[35][36]
The post-war landscape has its roots in the Reconstruction. The attempt to resolve the issues of the American Civil War after the conflict had ended, and this struggle for survival in a changed world was also informed by works such as Alas, Babylon, a novel dealing with the after-effects of a nuclear war on a small American town.[37] The show expresses that the end of these wars is not an end to war itself. Events shown hundreds of years into the show's future tell of wars which will once again bring the human race to the edge of annihilation, demonstrating that mankind will not change, and the best that can be hoped for after it falls is that it climbs a little higher each time, until it can one day "take [its] place among the stars, teaching those who follow."[38]
If you look at the long history of human society, religion – whether you describe that as organized, disorganized, or the various degrees of accepted superstition – has always been present. And it will be present 200 years from now… To totally ignore that part of the human equation would be as false and wrong-headed as ignoring the fact that people get mad, or passionate, or strive for better lives. —J. Michael Straczynski, , 1993[39]
Many of Earth's contemporary religions are shown to still exist, with the main human characters often having religious convictions, including Roman Catholicism, including the Jesuits, Judaism and the fictional Foundationism, which was created after first contact with alien races.[40] Alien beliefs in the show range from the Centauri's Bacchanalian-influenced religions,[39] of which there are up to seventy different denominations,[41] to the more pantheistic, as with the Narn and Minbari religions.[42] In the show's third season, a community of Cistercian monks takes up residence on the Babylon 5 station, in order to learn what other races call God,[43] and to come to a better understanding of the different religions through study at close quarters.[44]
References to both human and alien religion is often subtle and brief, but can also form the main theme of an episode.[45] The first season episode "The Parliament of Dreams" is a conventional "showcase" for religion, in which each species on the Babylon 5 station has an opportunity to demonstrate its beliefs,[39] while "Passing Through Gethsemane" focuses on a specific position of Roman Catholic beliefs,[46] as well as concepts of justice, vengeance and biblical forgiveness.[47] Other treatments have been more contentious, such as the David Gerrold-scripted "Believers", in which alien parents would rather see their son die than undergo a life-saving operation because their religious beliefs forbid it.[39] When religion is an integral part of an episode, various characters can be used to express differing view points. Such as in "Soul Hunter", where the concept of an immortal soul is touched upon, and whether after death it is destroyed, reincarnated or simply does not exist. The character arguing the latter, Doctor Stephen Franklin, often appears in the more spiritual storylines as his scientific rationality is used to create dramatic conflict. Undercurrents of religions such as Buddhism have been viewed by some in various episode scripts,[48] and while identifying himself as an atheist,[39] Straczynski believes that passages of dialog can take on distinct meanings to viewers of differing faiths, and that the show ultimately expresses ideas which cross religious boundaries.[49]
A major theme in Babylon 5 is the concept of sacrifice for a greater cause. Kosh sacrifices his life for a first victory against the Shadows. John Sheridan is ready to die at Z'ha'dum. Delenn is ready to die in the starfire wheel to restore Minbari society. Marcus Cole gives his life to save Susan Ivanova. Londo Mollari willingly accepts complete enslavement by a Drakh keeper to save the Centauri from annihilation. Many minor characters also willingly give their lives such as the crew of Drazi or Minbari ships in the final confrontation with the Shadows to save the Army of Light's leaders, some Centauri staying back at the island of Selini to allow the destruction of the Shadow warships, and so on. Captain Ericsson of White Star 14 is knowingly given a false report detailing the opening of an Army of Light base on Coriana VI at approximately the same time as the Vorlons' arrival. It is a suicide mission; he is to intrude into Shadow space and engage the Shadows as if on a real raid, so that when the Shadows destroyed his ship and discovered the file, they would be convinced the report is true and rush to Coriana. By forcing a direct confrontation, Sheridan believes he can finally get the Vorlons and Shadows into a position where he can resolve the war. Ericsson grimly accepts the mission and gives a final Anla'Shok salute to Delenn before signing off. "Some of us must be sacrificed if all are to be saved." is the spiritual epiphany experienced by G'Kar. This reflects the Vorlon philosophy in contrast to the self-interest philosophy of the Shadows.
The subliminal and subconscious play a very significant role in the Babylon 5 universe. Every single major character experiences, on at least one occasion, some altered state of consciousness in which he or she receives some sort of important mental message. This could either be one that further fleshes out the character for the benefit of the viewer, or one of transcendental and transpersonal nature that anticipates important further developments in the storyline. Some of these signs and portents resemble lucid dreams, but many are quite bizarre and "dreamlike", frequently in a spiritual context.
Substance abuse and its impact on human personalities also plays a significant role in the Babylon 5 storyline. The station's security chief, Michael Garibaldi, is a textbook relapsing-remitting alcoholic of the binge drinking type; he practices complete abstinence from alcohol throughout most of the series (with one notable exception) until the middle of season five. He only recovers physically and socially and breaks the cycle at the end of the season. His eventual replacement as Chief of Security, Zack Allen, was given a second chance by Garibaldi after overcoming his own addiction to an unspecified drug. Dr. Stephen Franklin develops an (initially unrecognized) addiction to injectable stimulant drugs while trying to cope with the chronic stress and work overload in Medlab (stemming from the Markab extinction), and wanders off to the homeless and deprived in Brown Sector, where he suffers through a severe withdrawal syndrome. Executive Officer Susan Ivanova mentions that her father became an alcoholic after her mother had committed suicide after having been drugged by the authorities over a number of years. Captain Elizabeth Lochley tells Garibaldi that her father was an alcoholic and that she is a recovering alcoholic herself.[50] Among the aliens, Londo Mollari is at least a heavy abuser of alcohol, mostly in the form of the Centauri national drink, Brivari (though in Centauri culture, sobriety, as opposed to drunkenness, is considered a vice).
Numerous other references to substance abuse and drug dealing are scattered throughout the storyline, including Dust, a white powder with a black-market presence comparable to cocaine. "Dust" turns out to be a "designer drug" developed by Psi Corps and placed into the black market as an experiment to see if psychic abilities could be brought out in "mundanes" (non-telepaths).
Perhaps ironically, Jeff Conaway, who played Zack Allen, had his own very real addiction issues for most of his adult life. Co-star Bruce Boxleitner stated unequivically that during Conaway's tenure on the show, he was the consummate professional, always coming to work on time and sober, and that his death due to pneumonia and encephalopathy due to his drug use was tragic, and Zack Allen was, in a sense, a mirror for Conaway.
Cast
Mary Kay Adams as Na'Toth (Season 2)
Julie Caitlin Brown as Na'Toth (Season 1 regular, Season 5 guest)
Richard Biggs as Dr. Stephen Franklin
Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan (Seasons 2–5)
Jason Carter as Marcus Cole (Seasons 3–4)
Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova (Seasons 1–4)
Jeff Conaway as Zack Allan (Season 2 recurring, Seasons 3–5 regular)
Jerry Doyle as Michael Garibaldi
Mira Furlan as Delenn
Stephen Furst as Vir Cotto
Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari
Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar
Bill Mumy as Lennier
Michael O'Hare as Jeffrey Sinclair (Pilot–Season 1 regular, Seasons 2–3 recurring)
Robert Rusler as Warren Keffer (Season 2)
Tracy Scoggins as Elizabeth Lochley (Season 5)
Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander (Pilot, Seasons 2–3 recurring, Seasons 4–5 regular)
Andrea Thompson as Talia Winters (Seasons 1–2)
Recurring guests
Wayne Alexander as Lorien / Shiv'kala the Drakh / Sebastian/"Jack" / others (12 episodes)
Ardwight Chamberlain (voice)/Jeffery Willerth (in the encounter-suit) as Kosh Naranek (seasons one – four) (23 episodes)
Tim Choate as Zathras (4 episodes)
Joshua Cox as David Corwin (34 episodes)
David L. Crowley as Lou Welch (7 episodes)
Robin Atkin Downes as Byron (9 episodes)
William Forward[51] as Lord Antono Refa (6 episodes)
Robert Foxworth as General William Hague (2 episodes)
Denise Gentile as Lise Hampton (9 episodes)
Melissa Gilbert as Anna Sheridan (2 episodes)
Lenore Kasdorf as ISN Reporter (3 episodes)
Walter Koenig as Alfred Bester (12 episodes)
Wortham Krimmer as Emperor Cartagia (5 episodes)
Damian London as Regent Virini (9 episodes)
Leigh McCloskey as Thomas (2 episodes)
Marjorie Monaghan as Number One (7 episodes)
Julia Nickson-Soul as Catherine Sakai (3 episodes)
John Schuck as Draal (2 episodes)
Marshall Teague as Ta'Lon / Nelson Drake (6 episodes)
Louis Turenne as Brother Theo / Draal (5 episodes)
John Vickery as Neroon / Mr. Welles (6 episodes)
Ed Wasser as Morden / Guerra (14 episodes)
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as William Edgars (4 episodes)
Beata Pozniak as Dr. Katya Petrova Fielding (7 episodes)
In addition, several other actors have filled more than one minor role on the series. Kim Strauss played the Drazi Ambassador in four episodes, as well as nine other characters in ten more episodes.[52] Some actors had difficulty dealing with the application of prosthetics required to play some of the alien characters. The producers therefore used the same group of people (as many as 12) in various mid-level speaking roles, taking full head and body casts from each. The group came to be unofficially known by the production as the "Babylon 5 Alien Rep Group."[53]
Having worked on a number of television science fiction shows which had regularly gone over budget, creator J. Michael Straczynski concluded that a lack of long-term planning was to blame, and set about looking at ways in which a series could be done responsibly. Taking note of the lessons of mainstream television, which brought stories to a centralized location such as a hospital, police station, or law office, he decided that instead of "[going] in search of new worlds, building them anew each week", a fixed space station setting would keep costs at a reasonable level. A fan of sagas such as the Foundation series, Childhood's End, The Lord of the Rings, Dune and the Lensman series, Straczynski wondered why no one had done a television series with the same epic sweep, and concurrently with the first idea started developing the concept for a vastly ambitious epic covering massive battles and other universe-changing events. Realizing that both the fixed-locale series and the epic could be done in a single series, he began to sketch the initial outline of what would become Babylon 5.[54][55]
Once I had the locale, I began to populate it with characters, and sketch out directions that might be interesting. I dragged out my notes on religion, philosophy, history, sociology, psychology, science (the ones that didn't make my head explode), and started stitching together a crazy quilt pattern that eventually formed a picture. Once I had that picture in my head, once I knew what the major theme was, the rest fell into place. All at once, I saw the full five-year story in a flash, and I frantically began scribbling down notes. —J. Michael Straczynski, 1995[55]
Straczynski set five goals for Babylon 5.[56] He said that the show "would have to be good science fiction" as well as good television – "rarely are shows both good [science fiction] and good TV; there're [sic] generally one or the other [emphasis in original]." It would have to do for science fiction television what Hill Street Blues had done for police dramas, by taking an adult approach to the subject. It would have to be reasonably budgeted, and "it would have to look unlike anything ever seen before on TV, presenting individual stories against a much broader canvas." He further stressed that his approach was "to take [science fiction] seriously, to build characters for grown-ups, to incorporate real science but keep the characters at the center of the story."[57] Some of the staples of television science fiction were also out of the question (the show would have "no kids or cute robots").[58] The idea was not to present a perfect utopian future, but one with greed and homelessness; one where characters grow, develop, live, and die; one where not everything was the same at the end of the day's events. Citing Mark Twain as an influence, Straczynski said he wanted the show to be a mirror to the real world and to covertly teach.[54]
Described as a "window on the future" by series production designer John Iacovelli,[59] the story is set in the 23rd century on a large O'Neill Colony named "Babylon 5"—a five-mile-long, 2.5 million-ton rotating colony designed as a gathering place for the sentient species of the galaxy, in order to foster peace through diplomacy, trade, and cooperation. Instead, acting as a center of political intrigue and conflict, the station becomes the linchpin of a massive interstellar war. This is reflected in the opening monologue of each episode, which includes the words "last, best hope for peace" in season one, changing to "last, best hope for victory" by season three.
The series consists of a coherent five-year story arc taking place over five seasons of 22 episodes each. Unlike most television shows at the time, Babylon 5 was conceived as a "novel for television", with a defined beginning, middle, and end; in essence, each episode would be a single "chapter" of this "novel".[60] Many of the tie-in novels, comic books, and short stories were also developed to play a significant canonical part in the overall story.[61] The cost of the series totalled an estimated $90 million for 110 episodes.[62]
Creator and showrunner J. Michael Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes of Babylon 5, including all 44 episodes in the third and fourth seasons;[63] according to Straczynski, a feat never before accomplished in American television.[64] Other writers to have contributed scripts to the show include Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Kathryn M. Drennan, Lawrence G. DiTillio, D. C. Fontana, and David Gerrold. Harlan Ellison, a creative consultant on the show, received story credits for two episodes.[65] Each writer was informed of the overarching storyline, enabling the show to be produced consistently under-budget. The rules of production were strict; scripts were written six episodes in advance, and changes could not be made once production had started.[66]
Though conceived as a whole, it was necessary to adjust the plotline to accommodate external influences. Each of the characters in the series was written with a "trap door" into their background so that, in the event of an actor's unexpected departure from the series, the character could be written out with minimal impact on the storyline.[67] In the words of Straczynski, "As a writer, doing a long-term story, it'd be dangerous and short-sighted for me to construct the story without trap doors for every single character. ... That was one of the big risks going into a long-term storyline which I considered long in advance;..."[68] The character of Talia Winters was to have undergone a transformation into a Psi Corps secret agent, having been revealed as a "sleeper", whose true personality was buried subconsciously, and who acted as a spy, observing the events on the station and the actions of her command staff.[69] When Winters's portrayer Andrea Thompson left the series, this revelation was used to drop the character from the series.
First thing I did was to flip out the stand-alones, which traditionally have taken up the first 6 or so episodes of each season; between two years, that's 12 episodes, over half a season right there. Then you would usually get a fair number of additional stand-alones scattered across the course of the season. So figure another 3–4 per season, say 8, that's 20 out of 44. So now you're left with basically 24 episodes to fill out the main arc of the story. —Straczynski, J. Michael, 1996[70]
Ratings for Babylon 5 continued to rise during the show's third season, but going into the fourth season, the impending demise of network PTEN left a fifth year in doubt. Unable to get word one way or the other from parent company Warner Bros., and unwilling to short-change the story and the fans, Straczynski began preparing modifications to the fourth season in order to allow for both eventualities. Straczynski identified three primary narrative threads which would require resolution: the Shadow war, Earth's slide into a dictatorship, and a series of sub-threads which branched off from those. Estimating they would still take around 27 episodes to resolve without having the season feel rushed, the solution came when the TNT network commissioned two Babylon 5 television films. Several hours of material was thus able to be moved into the films, including a three-episode arc which would deal with the background to the Earth–Minbari War, and a sub-thread which would have set up the sequel series, Crusade. Further standalone episodes and plot-threads were dropped from season four, which could be inserted into Crusade, or the fifth season, were it to be given the greenlight.[70] The intended series finale, "Sleeping in Light", was filmed during season four as a precaution against cancellation. When word came that TNT had picked up Babylon 5, this was moved to the end of season five and replaced with a newly filmed season four finale, "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars".[71]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5 Babylon 5 is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Television. After the successful airing of a backdoor pilot movie, Warner Bros. commissioned the series as part of the second-year schedule of programs provided by its Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN).[1] The pilot episode was broadcast on February 22, 1993 in the US. The first season premiered in the US on January 26, 1994, and the series ultimately ran for the intended five seasons. Describing it as having "always been conceived as, fundamentally, a five-year story, a novel for television," Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes, and served as executive producer, along with Douglas Netter.[2]
Set between the years 2257 and 2281, it depicts a future where Earth has sovereign states, and a unifying Earth government. Colonies within the solar system, and beyond, make up the Earth Alliance, and contact has been made with other spacefaring races. The ensemble cast portray alien ambassadorial staff and humans assigned to the five-mile-long Babylon 5 space station, a center for trade and diplomacy. Described as "one of the most complex programs on television," the various story arcs drew upon the prophesies, religious zealotry, racial tensions, social pressures, and political rivalries which existed within each of their cultures, to create a contextual framework for the motivations and consequences of the protagonists' actions.[3] With a strong emphasis on character development set against a backdrop of conflicting ideologies on multiple levels, Straczynski wanted "to take an adult approach to SF, and attempt to do for television SF what Hill Street Blues did for cop shows."[4]
Generally viewed as having "launched the new era of television CGI visual effects,"[5] it received multiple awards during its initial run, including two consecutive Hugo Awards for best dramatic presentation,[6][7] and continues to regularly feature prominently in various polls and listings highlighting top-rated science fiction series.[8][9][10] Not appearing on American television since 2003, it continues to be shown in international markets such as Fox in the UK, the TV4-ScifFi Channel in Sweden, and the FBC TV channel in Fiji.[11] Initially written by Straczynski, DC began publishing Babylon 5 comics in 1994, with stories that closely tied in with events depicted in the show, with events in the comics eventually being referenced onscreen in the actual television series.[12] The franchise continued to expand into short stories, RPG games, and novels, with the Technomage trilogy of books being the last to be published in 2001, shortly after the spin-off television series, Crusade, was cancelled. All rights except for a possible movie are controlled by Warner (movie rights are retained by Straczynski).
At the beginning of the series, five dominant civilizations are represented. The dominant species are the Humans, Minbari, Narn, Centauri, and the Vorlons. "The Shadows" and their various allies are malevolent species who appear later in the series. Several dozen less powerful species from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds appear, including the Drazi, Brakiri, Vree, Markab, and pak'ma'ra. The station's first three predecessors (the original Babylon station, Babylon 2 and Babylon 3) were sabotaged or accidentally destroyed before their completion. The fourth station, Babylon 4, vanished 24 hours after it became fully operational.[13]
Babylon 5 TV seasons and films
1993–2007
In order of series chronology:
2245–48 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2256 • Babylon 5 station commissioned
2257 • The Gathering (Pilot)
2258 • Signs and Portents (Season 1)
2259 • The Coming of Shadows (Season 2)
2260 • Point of No Return (Season 3)
2261 • No Surrender, No Retreat (Season 4)**
2261 • Thirdspace (2nd film)***
2262 • The Wheel of Fire (Season 5)†
2263 • The River of Souls (3rd film)
2265 • The Legend of the Rangers (5th film)
2266 • A Call to Arms (4th film)
2267 • Crusade (spin-off series)
2271 • The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark
2278 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2281 • Babylon 5 station decommissioned
* The framing story is set in 2278.
** The final episode of the season includes scenes of future events up to 3262 and beyond.
*** The story is set between the two wars in season 4.
† The final episode of series is set in 2281.
The television series takes its name from the Babylon 5 space station, located in the Epsilon Eridani star system, at the fifth Lagrangian point between the fictional planet Epsilon III and its moon.[14] Babylon 5 is an O'Neill cylinder five miles long and a half-mile to a mile in diameter. Living areas accommodate the various alien species, providing differing atmospheres and gravities. Human visitors to the alien sectors are shown using breathing equipment and other measures to tolerate the conditions.[15]
The five seasons of the series each correspond to one fictional sequential year in the period 2258–2262. Each season shares its name with an episode that is central to that season's plot. As the series starts, the Babylon 5 station is welcoming ambassadors from various races in the galaxy. Earth has just barely survived an accidental war with the much more powerful Minbari, who, despite their superior technology, mysteriously surrendered at the brink of the destruction of the human race during the Battle of the Line.
During 2258, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair is in charge of the station. Much of the story revolves around his gradual discovery that it was his capture by the Minbari at the Battle of the Line which ended the war against Earth. Upon capturing Sinclair, the Minbari came to believe that Valen, a great Minbari leader and hero of the last Minbari-Shadow war, had been reincarnated as the Commander. Concluding that others of their species had been, and were continuing to be reborn as humans, and in obedience to the edict that Minbari do not kill one another, lest they harm the soul, they stopped the war just as Earth's final defenses were on the verge of collapse.
Meanwhile, tensions between the Centauri Republic, which is an empire in decline, and the Narn Regime, a former dominion which rebelled and gained freedom, are increasing. Ambassador G'Kar of the Narn wishes for his people to strike back at the Centauri for what they did, and Ambassador Londo Mollari of the Centauri wishes for his people to become again the great empire they once were. As part of these struggles, Mollari makes a deal with a mysterious ally to strike back at the Narn, further heightening tensions.
It is gradually revealed that Ambassador Delenn is a member of the mysterious and powerful Grey Council, the ruling body of the Minbari. Towards the end of 2258, she begins the transformation into a Minbari-human hybrid, ostensibly to build a bridge between the humans and Minbari. The year ends with the death of Earth Alliance president Luis Santiago. The death is officially ruled an accident, but some members of the military, including the staff of Babylon 5, believe it to be an assassination.
At the beginning of 2259, Captain John Sheridan replaces Sinclair as the military governor of the station after Sinclair is reassigned as ambassador to Minbar. He and the command staff gradually learn that the assassination of President Santiago was arranged by his then-Vice President, Morgan Clark, who has now become president. Conflict develops between the Babylon 5 command staff and the Psi Corps, an increasingly autocratic organization which oversees and controls the lives of human telepaths.
The Shadows, an ancient and extremely powerful race who have recently emerged from hibernation, are revealed to be the cause of a variety of mysterious and disturbing events, including the attack on the Narn outpost at the end of 2258. Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari unknowingly enlists their aid through his association with their mysterious human representative Mr. Morden in the ongoing conflict with the Narn. The elderly and ailing Centauri emperor, long an advocate of reconciliation with the Narn, unfortunately has insufficient control to prevent others from instigating war against the Narn Regime. When the emperor dies suddenly during a peace mission to Babylon 5, a number of conspirators, including Ambassador Londo Mollari and Lord Refa, take control of the Centauri government by assassinating their opponents and placing the late emperor's unstable nephew on the throne. Their first act is to start open aggression against the Narn. After a full-scale war breaks out, the Centauri with the help of the Shadows through Londo eventually conquer Narn in a brutal attack involving mass drivers, outlawed weapons of mass destruction. Towards the end of the year, the Clark administration begins to show increasingly totalitarian characteristics, clamping down on dissent and restricting freedom of speech. The Vorlons are revealed to be the basis of legends about angels on various worlds, including Earth, and are the ancient enemies of the Shadows. They enlist the aid of Sheridan and the Babylon 5 command staff in the struggle against the Shadows.
The Psi Corps and President Clark, whose government has discovered Shadow vessels buried in Earth's solar system, begin to harness the vessels' advanced technology. The Clark administration continues to become increasingly xenophobic and totalitarian, and gradually develops an Orwellian government style, including an organization called Night Watch which targets citizens who hold views contrary to those of Clark's regime.
Sheridan and Delenn's "conspiracy of light" works to uncover clues about how to defeat the Shadows. During a mission near Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter, their ship is seen by an Earth Alliance vessel, but not recognized. Though they escape and no shots were fired in the encounter, President Clark uses it as an excuse to declare martial law. This triggers a war of independence on Mars, which had long had a strained political relationship with Earth. Babylon 5 attempts to avoid conflict with Earth, but in response to civilian bombings on Mars, concerns with Night Watch, and illegal orders meant to oppress their populations, they choose to declare independence from Earth, along with several other outlying Earth Alliance colonies. In response, the Earth Alliance attempts to retake Babylon 5 by force, but with the aid of the Minbari, who have allied with the station against the growing Shadow threat, the attack is repelled.
Becoming concerned over the Shadows' growing influence among his people, Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari attempts to sever ties with them. Mr. Morden, the Shadows' human representative, tricks him into restoring the partnership by engineering the murder of Mollari's mistress while putting the blame on a rival Centauri House. Open warfare breaks out between the Shadows and the alliance led by Babylon 5 and the Minbari. It is learned that genetic manipulation by the Vorlons is the source of human telepathy, as it is later discovered that Shadow ships are vulnerable to telepathic attacks. Displeased at the Vorlons' lack of direct action against the Shadows, Captain John Sheridan browbeats Vorlon ambassador Kosh Naranek into launching an attack against their mutual enemy. Kosh's deeds lead to his subsequent assassination by the Shadows.
Former station commander Jeffrey Sinclair returns to Babylon 5 to enlist the aid of Captain Sheridan, Delenn, Ivanova and Marcus in stealing the Babylon 4 space station and sending it 1,000 years back in time to use it as a base of operations against the Shadows in the previous Minbari-Shadow war. Undergoing the same transformation as Delenn at the end of Season 1, Sinclair transforms into a Minbari and is subsequently revealed to be the actual Valen of Minbari legend, rather than simply a reincarnation. Meanwhile, as a result of the unstable time travel, Sheridan sees a vision of the downfall of Centauri Prime when it is attacked by Shadow allies after the Shadow war, and he becomes determined to prevent that future.
Sheridan and Delenn begin a romantic relationship, but their lives and the war are interrupted by the sudden reappearance of Sheridan's wife, who was presumed dead after taking part in an archaeological expedition to Z'ha'dum years prior. She tells Sheridan that the Shadows are not evil, hoping to bring him back with her and recruit him to their cause. He soon realizes that her mind has been tampered with and corrupted by the Shadows, but accepts her offer to visit Z'ha'dum because he hopes it will save the galaxy sooner and prevent the downfall of Centauri Prime. He takes with him a pair of nuclear warheads, which he uses to destroy their largest city, and is last seen jumping into a miles-deep pit to escape the explosion.
Shadow vessels appear at the station, but disappear after Sheridan's attack. However, after they leave, station personnel realize that Garibaldi, who left in a fighter to defend against the vessels, never returned.
In 2261, the Vorlons join the Shadow War, but their tactics become a concern for the alliance when the Vorlons begin destroying entire planets which they deem to have been "influenced" by the Shadows. Disturbed by this turn of events, Babylon 5 recruits several other powerful and ancient races (the First Ones) to their cause, against both the Shadows and the Vorlons. Captain John Sheridan returns to the station after escaping from Z'ha'dum and reunites the galaxy against the Shadows, but at a price: barring illness or injury, he has only 20 years left to live. He is accompanied by a mysterious alien named Lorien who claims to be the first sentient being in the galaxy, and who breathed life into Sheridan at Z'ha'dum. Once Sheridan returns, he and Delenn formalize their relationship and begin planning to marry, though most of their plans are put on hold due to the ongoing war.
Hours before Sheridan's return, Garibaldi is rescued and returned to the station, in rather dubious circumstances. Over the course of the next several months, he becomes markedly more paranoid and suspicious of other alien races and of Sheridan than he was before, causing worry among his friends and colleagues. After the Shadows are defeated Garibaldi leaves his post as security chief and works on his own as a "provider of information". He begins working for one William Edgars, a Mars tycoon, who is married to Garibaldi's former love. While he works ever closer with Edgars, he becomes increasingly aggressive toward Sheridan and eventually leaves Babylon 5.
Centauri Emperor Cartagia forges a relationship with the Shadows. With the reluctant help of his enemy G'Kar, Londo Mollari engineers the assassination of Cartagia and repudiates his agreement with the Shadows. In exchange for G'Kar's help, Londo frees the Narn from Centauri occupation. Londo afterwards kills Mr. Morden and destroys the Shadow vessels based on the Centauri homeworld, in an attempt to save his planet from destruction by the Vorlons. Aided by the other ancient races, and several younger ones, Sheridan lures both the Vorlons and the Shadows into an immense battle, during which the Vorlons and Shadows reveal that they have been left as guardians of the younger races, but due to philosophical differences, ended up using them as pawns in their endless proxy wars throughout the ages. The younger races reject their continued interference, and the Vorlons and Shadows, along with the remaining First Ones, agree to depart the galaxy in order to allow the younger races to find their own way.
Minbar is gripped by a brief civil war between the Warrior and Religious castes. Delenn secretly meets with Neroon of the Warrior caste and convinces him that neither side can be allowed to win. She tells him that she will undergo a ritual wherein she will be willing to sacrifice herself, but will stop the ritual before she actually dies. When Neroon sees that she actually intends to go through the entire ritual, he rescues her and sacrifices himself instead, declaring that, although he was born Warrior caste, in his heart he is Religious caste.
As part of the ongoing conflict between Earth and Babylon 5, Garibaldi eventually betrays Sheridan and arranges his capture in order to gain Edgars' trust and learn his plans. Garibaldi later learns that Edgars created a virus that is dangerous only to telepaths. It is then revealed that after Garibaldi was captured the previous year, he was taken to the Psi Corps and re-programmed by Bester to provide information to him at the right time. Bester releases Garibaldi of his programming, and allows him to remember everything he has done since being kidnapped. Edgars is killed and his wife disappears, but is reunited with Garibaldi after the end of the war.
Sheridan is tortured and interrogated by those who hope to break him and turn him into a propaganda tool for Earth's totalitarian government. Fortunately, Garibaldi is able to help free Sheridan and return him to the campaign to free Earth. An alliance led by Babylon 5 frees Earth from totalitarian rule by president Clark in a short but bloody war. This culminates in Clark's suicide and the restoration of democratic government due to Susanna Luchenko (played by Beata Poźniak) becoming president of Earth's Alliance. Mars is granted full independence, and Sheridan agrees to resign his commission. The League of Non-Aligned Worlds is dissolved and reformed into the Interstellar Alliance, with Sheridan elected as its first president and continuing his command of the Rangers, who are to act as a galactic equivalent of United Nations peacekeepers. Londo and G'Kar enter an uneasy alliance to help both their races as well as Sheridan in forming the Interstellar Alliance. During the Battle Ivanova is critically injured, promised only a few days to live. Marcus, who had fallen in love with Ivanova, finds the same alien healing device used to revive Garibaldi at the beginning of the second season, and uses it to transfer his life energy into Ivanova, causing her to live and him to die. This causes her immense emotional anguish, and she chooses to leave Babylon 5.
Sheridan and Delenn complete their marriage ceremony while en route to Babylon 5, where they will head the Interstellar Alliance for the next year.
In the season finale, the events of 100, 500, 1000, and one million years into the future are shown, depicting Babylon 5's lasting influence throughout history. Among the events shown are the political aftermath of the 2261 civil war, a subsequent nuclear war on Earth involving a new totalitarian government in the year AD 2762, the resulting fall of Earth into a pre-industrial society, the loss and restoration of humanity's knowledge of space travel, and the final evolution of mankind into energy beings similar to the Vorlons, after which Earth's sun goes nova.
In 2262, Earthforce Captain Elizabeth Lochley is appointed to command Babylon 5, which is now also the headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance. The station grows in its role as a sanctuary for rogue telepaths running from the Psi Corps, resulting in conflict. G'Kar, former Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, becomes unwillingly a spiritual icon after a book that he wrote while incarcerated during the Narn-Centauri War is published without his knowledge. The Drakh, former allies of the Shadows who remained in the galaxy, take control of Regent Virini on Centauri Prime through a parasitic creature called a Keeper, then incite a war between the Centauri and the Interstellar Alliance, in order to isolate the Centauri from the Alliance and gain a malleable homeworld for themselves.
Centauri Prime is devastated by Narn and Drazi warships and Londo Mollari becomes emperor, then ends the war. However, the Drakh blackmail him into accepting a Drakh Keeper, under threat of the complete nuclear destruction of the planet. Vir Cotto, Mollari's loyal and more moral aide, becomes ambassador to Babylon 5 in his stead. G'Kar also leaves Babylon 5 to escape his unwanted fame and explore the rim. Sheridan and Delenn move to a city on Minbar, where the new headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance are located, while celebrating their first year of marriage and the upcoming birth of their son, and mourning the loss of dear friendships. Garibaldi marries and settles down on Mars, where he and his wife share ownership of a prominent pharmaceutical company. Most other main characters, including Stephen Franklin and Lyta Alexander, leave Babylon 5 as well.
As shown in flash-forwards earlier in the series, the next several years include the reign of Londo Mollari as Centauri Emperor. Sixteen years later, Londo sacrifices his life to rescue Sheridan and Delenn from the Drakh, in the hope that they in turn can save Centauri Prime. To prevent the Drakh from discovering his ruse, he asks G'Kar, now an old friend, to kill him, but Londo's Keeper wakes up and forces him to kill G'Kar in return. They die at each other's throats, in accordance with Londo's vision many decades earlier, and Vir Cotto succeeds him as emperor, free of Drakh influence.
Three years after Londo's death, Sheridan himself is on the verge of death and takes one last opportunity to gather his old friends together. Shortly after his farewell party, Sheridan says goodbye to Delenn, though in Minbari fashion they use the word "goodnight" to signify their hope of an eventual reunion. Sheridan then takes a final trip to the obsolete Babylon 5 station before its decommissioning. He returns to the site of the final battle between the Vorlons and the Shadows and apparently dies, but is instead claimed by The First One, who invites him to join the other First Ones on a journey beyond the rim of the galaxy. Babylon 5 station is destroyed in a demolition shortly after Sheridan's departure, its existence no longer necessary as the Alliance has taken over its diplomatic purposes and other trading routes have been established. This final episode features a cameo by Straczynski as the technician who switches off the lights before Babylon 5 is demolished.
Throughout its run, Babylon 5 found ways to portray themes relevant to modern and historical social issues. It marked several firsts in television science fiction, such as the exploration of the political and social landscapes of the first human colonies, their interactions with Earth, and the underlying tensions.[16] Babylon 5 was also one of the first television science fiction shows to denotatively refer to a same-sex relationship.[17][18] In the show, sexual orientation is as much of an issue as "being left-handed or right-handed".[19] Unrequited love is explored as a source of pain for the characters, though not all the relationships end unhappily.[20]
Neither the Vorlons nor the Shadows saw themselves as conquerors or adversaries. Both believed they were doing what was right for us. And like any possessive parent, they'll keep on believing that until the kid is strong enough to stand up and say, 'No, this is what I want.' —J. Michael Straczynski, 1997[21]
The clash between order and chaos, and the people caught in between, plays an important role in Babylon 5. The conflict between two unimaginably powerful older races, the Vorlons and the Shadows, is represented as a battle between two competing ideologies, each seeking to turn the humans and the other younger races to their beliefs. The Vorlons represent an authoritarian philosophy: you will do what we tell you to, because we tell you to do it. The Vorlon question, "Who are you?" focuses on identity as a catalyst for shaping personal goals;[22][23] the intention is not to solicit a "correct" answer, but to "tear down the artifices we construct around ourselves until we're left facing ourselves, not our roles."[24] The Shadows represent a philosophy of evolution through fire, of sowing the seeds of conflict in order to engender progress.[25] The question the Shadows ask is "What do you want?" In contrast to the Vorlons, they place personal desire and ambition first, using it to shape identity,[23] encouraging conflict between groups who choose to serve their own glory or profit.[26] The representation of order and chaos was informed by the Babylonian myth that the universe was born in the conflict between both. The climax of this conflict comes with the younger races' exposing of the Vorlons' and the Shadows' "true faces"[21] and the rejection of both philosophies,[23] heralding the dawn of a new age without their interference.
The notion that the war was about "killing your parents"[21] is echoed in the portrayal of the civil war between the human colonies and Earth. Deliberately dealing in historical and political metaphor, with particular emphasis upon McCarthyism and the HUAC,[27] the Earth Alliance becomes increasingly authoritarian, eventually sliding into a dictatorship. The show examines the impositions on civil liberties under the pretext of greater defense against outside threats which aid its rise, and the self-delusion of a populace which believes its moral superiority will never allow a dictatorship to come to power, until it is too late.[28] The successful rebellion led by the Babylon 5 station results in the restoration of a democratic government, and true autonomy for Mars and the colonies.[29]
What interests me, what I wanted to do with making this show, was in large measure to examine the issues and emotions and events that precede a war, precipitate a war, the effects of the war itself, the end of the war and the aftermath of the war. The war is hardware; the people are at the center of the story. —J. Michael Straczynski, 1997[30]
The Babylon 5 universe deals with numerous armed conflicts which range on an interstellar scale. The story begins in the aftermath of a war which brought the human race to the brink of extinction, caused by a misunderstanding during a first contact situation.[13] The Babylon 5 station is subsequently built in order to foster peace through diplomacy, described as the "last, best hope for peace" in the opening credits monologue during its first three seasons. Wars between separate alien civilizations are featured. The conflict between the Narn and the Centauri is followed from its beginnings as a minor territorial dispute amplified by historical animosity, through to its end, in which weapons of mass destruction are employed to subjugate and enslave an entire planet. The war is an attempt to portray a more sobering kind of conflict than usually seen on science fiction television. Informed by the events of the first Gulf War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Soviet invasion of Prague, the intent was to recreate these moments when "the world held its breath" and the emotional core of the conflict was the disbelief that the situation could have occurred at all, and the desperation to find a way to bring it to an end.[31] By the start of the third season, the opening monologue had changed to say that the hope for peace had "failed" and the Babylon 5 station had become the "last, best hope for victory", indicating that while peace is a laudable accomplishment, it can also mean a capitulation to an enemy intent on committing horrendous acts, and that "peace is a byproduct of victory against those who do not want peace."[32]
The Shadow War also features prominently in the show, during which an advanced alien species attempts to sow the seeds of conflict in order to promote technological and cultural advancement. The gradual discovery of the scheme and the rebellion against it, serve as the backdrop to the first three seasons,[33] but also as a metaphor for the war within ourselves. The concurrent limiting of civil liberties and Earth's descent into a dictatorship are "shadow wars" of their own.[34] In ending the Shadow War before the conclusion of the series, the show was able to more fully explore its aftermath, and it is this "war at home" which forms the bulk of the remaining two seasons. The struggle for independence between Mars and Earth culminates with a civil war between the human colonies (led by the Babylon 5 station) and the home planet. Choosing Mars as both the spark for the civil war, and the staging ground for its dramatic conclusion, enabled the viewer to understand the conflict more fully than had it involved an anonymous colony orbiting a distant star.[16] The conflict, and the reasons behind it, were informed by Nazism, McCarthyism and the breakup of Yugoslavia,[27] and the unraveling of the former Balkan country also served as partial inspiration for another civil war, which involved the alien Minbari.[35][36]
The post-war landscape has its roots in the Reconstruction. The attempt to resolve the issues of the American Civil War after the conflict had ended, and this struggle for survival in a changed world was also informed by works such as Alas, Babylon, a novel dealing with the after-effects of a nuclear war on a small American town.[37] The show expresses that the end of these wars is not an end to war itself. Events shown hundreds of years into the show's future tell of wars which will once again bring the human race to the edge of annihilation, demonstrating that mankind will not change, and the best that can be hoped for after it falls is that it climbs a little higher each time, until it can one day "take [its] place among the stars, teaching those who follow."[38]
If you look at the long history of human society, religion – whether you describe that as organized, disorganized, or the various degrees of accepted superstition – has always been present. And it will be present 200 years from now… To totally ignore that part of the human equation would be as false and wrong-headed as ignoring the fact that people get mad, or passionate, or strive for better lives. —J. Michael Straczynski, , 1993[39]
Many of Earth's contemporary religions are shown to still exist, with the main human characters often having religious convictions, including Roman Catholicism, including the Jesuits, Judaism and the fictional Foundationism, which was created after first contact with alien races.[40] Alien beliefs in the show range from the Centauri's Bacchanalian-influenced religions,[39] of which there are up to seventy different denominations,[41] to the more pantheistic, as with the Narn and Minbari religions.[42] In the show's third season, a community of Cistercian monks takes up residence on the Babylon 5 station, in order to learn what other races call God,[43] and to come to a better understanding of the different religions through study at close quarters.[44]
References to both human and alien religion is often subtle and brief, but can also form the main theme of an episode.[45] The first season episode "The Parliament of Dreams" is a conventional "showcase" for religion, in which each species on the Babylon 5 station has an opportunity to demonstrate its beliefs,[39] while "Passing Through Gethsemane" focuses on a specific position of Roman Catholic beliefs,[46] as well as concepts of justice, vengeance and biblical forgiveness.[47] Other treatments have been more contentious, such as the David Gerrold-scripted "Believers", in which alien parents would rather see their son die than undergo a life-saving operation because their religious beliefs forbid it.[39] When religion is an integral part of an episode, various characters can be used to express differing view points. Such as in "Soul Hunter", where the concept of an immortal soul is touched upon, and whether after death it is destroyed, reincarnated or simply does not exist. The character arguing the latter, Doctor Stephen Franklin, often appears in the more spiritual storylines as his scientific rationality is used to create dramatic conflict. Undercurrents of religions such as Buddhism have been viewed by some in various episode scripts,[48] and while identifying himself as an atheist,[39] Straczynski believes that passages of dialog can take on distinct meanings to viewers of differing faiths, and that the show ultimately expresses ideas which cross religious boundaries.[49]
A major theme in Babylon 5 is the concept of sacrifice for a greater cause. Kosh sacrifices his life for a first victory against the Shadows. John Sheridan is ready to die at Z'ha'dum. Delenn is ready to die in the starfire wheel to restore Minbari society. Marcus Cole gives his life to save Susan Ivanova. Londo Mollari willingly accepts complete enslavement by a Drakh keeper to save the Centauri from annihilation. Many minor characters also willingly give their lives such as the crew of Drazi or Minbari ships in the final confrontation with the Shadows to save the Army of Light's leaders, some Centauri staying back at the island of Selini to allow the destruction of the Shadow warships, and so on. Captain Ericsson of White Star 14 is knowingly given a false report detailing the opening of an Army of Light base on Coriana VI at approximately the same time as the Vorlons' arrival. It is a suicide mission; he is to intrude into Shadow space and engage the Shadows as if on a real raid, so that when the Shadows destroyed his ship and discovered the file, they would be convinced the report is true and rush to Coriana. By forcing a direct confrontation, Sheridan believes he can finally get the Vorlons and Shadows into a position where he can resolve the war. Ericsson grimly accepts the mission and gives a final Anla'Shok salute to Delenn before signing off. "Some of us must be sacrificed if all are to be saved." is the spiritual epiphany experienced by G'Kar. This reflects the Vorlon philosophy in contrast to the self-interest philosophy of the Shadows.
The subliminal and subconscious play a very significant role in the Babylon 5 universe. Every single major character experiences, on at least one occasion, some altered state of consciousness in which he or she receives some sort of important mental message. This could either be one that further fleshes out the character for the benefit of the viewer, or one of transcendental and transpersonal nature that anticipates important further developments in the storyline. Some of these signs and portents resemble lucid dreams, but many are quite bizarre and "dreamlike", frequently in a spiritual context.
Substance abuse and its impact on human personalities also plays a significant role in the Babylon 5 storyline. The station's security chief, Michael Garibaldi, is a textbook relapsing-remitting alcoholic of the binge drinking type; he practices complete abstinence from alcohol throughout most of the series (with one notable exception) until the middle of season five. He only recovers physically and socially and breaks the cycle at the end of the season. His eventual replacement as Chief of Security, Zack Allen, was given a second chance by Garibaldi after overcoming his own addiction to an unspecified drug. Dr. Stephen Franklin develops an (initially unrecognized) addiction to injectable stimulant drugs while trying to cope with the chronic stress and work overload in Medlab (stemming from the Markab extinction), and wanders off to the homeless and deprived in Brown Sector, where he suffers through a severe withdrawal syndrome. Executive Officer Susan Ivanova mentions that her father became an alcoholic after her mother had committed suicide after having been drugged by the authorities over a number of years. Captain Elizabeth Lochley tells Garibaldi that her father was an alcoholic and that she is a recovering alcoholic herself.[50] Among the aliens, Londo Mollari is at least a heavy abuser of alcohol, mostly in the form of the Centauri national drink, Brivari (though in Centauri culture, sobriety, as opposed to drunkenness, is considered a vice).
Numerous other references to substance abuse and drug dealing are scattered throughout the storyline, including Dust, a white powder with a black-market presence comparable to cocaine. "Dust" turns out to be a "designer drug" developed by Psi Corps and placed into the black market as an experiment to see if psychic abilities could be brought out in "mundanes" (non-telepaths).
Perhaps ironically, Jeff Conaway, who played Zack Allen, had his own very real addiction issues for most of his adult life. Co-star Bruce Boxleitner stated unequivically that during Conaway's tenure on the show, he was the consummate professional, always coming to work on time and sober, and that his death due to pneumonia and encephalopathy due to his drug use was tragic, and Zack Allen was, in a sense, a mirror for Conaway.
Cast
Mary Kay Adams as Na'Toth (Season 2)
Julie Caitlin Brown as Na'Toth (Season 1 regular, Season 5 guest)
Richard Biggs as Dr. Stephen Franklin
Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan (Seasons 2–5)
Jason Carter as Marcus Cole (Seasons 3–4)
Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova (Seasons 1–4)
Jeff Conaway as Zack Allan (Season 2 recurring, Seasons 3–5 regular)
Jerry Doyle as Michael Garibaldi
Mira Furlan as Delenn
Stephen Furst as Vir Cotto
Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari
Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar
Bill Mumy as Lennier
Michael O'Hare as Jeffrey Sinclair (Pilot–Season 1 regular, Seasons 2–3 recurring)
Robert Rusler as Warren Keffer (Season 2)
Tracy Scoggins as Elizabeth Lochley (Season 5)
Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander (Pilot, Seasons 2–3 recurring, Seasons 4–5 regular)
Andrea Thompson as Talia Winters (Seasons 1–2)
Recurring guests
Wayne Alexander as Lorien / Shiv'kala the Drakh / Sebastian/"Jack" / others (12 episodes)
Ardwight Chamberlain (voice)/Jeffery Willerth (in the encounter-suit) as Kosh Naranek (seasons one – four) (23 episodes)
Tim Choate as Zathras (4 episodes)
Joshua Cox as David Corwin (34 episodes)
David L. Crowley as Lou Welch (7 episodes)
Robin Atkin Downes as Byron (9 episodes)
William Forward[51] as Lord Antono Refa (6 episodes)
Robert Foxworth as General William Hague (2 episodes)
Denise Gentile as Lise Hampton (9 episodes)
Melissa Gilbert as Anna Sheridan (2 episodes)
Lenore Kasdorf as ISN Reporter (3 episodes)
Walter Koenig as Alfred Bester (12 episodes)
Wortham Krimmer as Emperor Cartagia (5 episodes)
Damian London as Regent Virini (9 episodes)
Leigh McCloskey as Thomas (2 episodes)
Marjorie Monaghan as Number One (7 episodes)
Julia Nickson-Soul as Catherine Sakai (3 episodes)
John Schuck as Draal (2 episodes)
Marshall Teague as Ta'Lon / Nelson Drake (6 episodes)
Louis Turenne as Brother Theo / Draal (5 episodes)
John Vickery as Neroon / Mr. Welles (6 episodes)
Ed Wasser as Morden / Guerra (14 episodes)
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as William Edgars (4 episodes)
Beata Pozniak as Dr. Katya Petrova Fielding (7 episodes)
In addition, several other actors have filled more than one minor role on the series. Kim Strauss played the Drazi Ambassador in four episodes, as well as nine other characters in ten more episodes.[52] Some actors had difficulty dealing with the application of prosthetics required to play some of the alien characters. The producers therefore used the same group of people (as many as 12) in various mid-level speaking roles, taking full head and body casts from each. The group came to be unofficially known by the production as the "Babylon 5 Alien Rep Group."[53]
Having worked on a number of television science fiction shows which had regularly gone over budget, creator J. Michael Straczynski concluded that a lack of long-term planning was to blame, and set about looking at ways in which a series could be done responsibly. Taking note of the lessons of mainstream television, which brought stories to a centralized location such as a hospital, police station, or law office, he decided that instead of "[going] in search of new worlds, building them anew each week", a fixed space station setting would keep costs at a reasonable level. A fan of sagas such as the Foundation series, Childhood's End, The Lord of the Rings, Dune and the Lensman series, Straczynski wondered why no one had done a television series with the same epic sweep, and concurrently with the first idea started developing the concept for a vastly ambitious epic covering massive battles and other universe-changing events. Realizing that both the fixed-locale series and the epic could be done in a single series, he began to sketch the initial outline of what would become Babylon 5.[54][55]
Once I had the locale, I began to populate it with characters, and sketch out directions that might be interesting. I dragged out my notes on religion, philosophy, history, sociology, psychology, science (the ones that didn't make my head explode), and started stitching together a crazy quilt pattern that eventually formed a picture. Once I had that picture in my head, once I knew what the major theme was, the rest fell into place. All at once, I saw the full five-year story in a flash, and I frantically began scribbling down notes. —J. Michael Straczynski, 1995[55]
Straczynski set five goals for Babylon 5.[56] He said that the show "would have to be good science fiction" as well as good television – "rarely are shows both good [science fiction] and good TV; there're [sic] generally one or the other [emphasis in original]." It would have to do for science fiction television what Hill Street Blues had done for police dramas, by taking an adult approach to the subject. It would have to be reasonably budgeted, and "it would have to look unlike anything ever seen before on TV, presenting individual stories against a much broader canvas." He further stressed that his approach was "to take [science fiction] seriously, to build characters for grown-ups, to incorporate real science but keep the characters at the center of the story."[57] Some of the staples of television science fiction were also out of the question (the show would have "no kids or cute robots").[58] The idea was not to present a perfect utopian future, but one with greed and homelessness; one where characters grow, develop, live, and die; one where not everything was the same at the end of the day's events. Citing Mark Twain as an influence, Straczynski said he wanted the show to be a mirror to the real world and to covertly teach.[54]
Described as a "window on the future" by series production designer John Iacovelli,[59] the story is set in the 23rd century on a large O'Neill Colony named "Babylon 5"—a five-mile-long, 2.5 million-ton rotating colony designed as a gathering place for the sentient species of the galaxy, in order to foster peace through diplomacy, trade, and cooperation. Instead, acting as a center of political intrigue and conflict, the station becomes the linchpin of a massive interstellar war. This is reflected in the opening monologue of each episode, which includes the words "last, best hope for peace" in season one, changing to "last, best hope for victory" by season three.
The series consists of a coherent five-year story arc taking place over five seasons of 22 episodes each. Unlike most television shows at the time, Babylon 5 was conceived as a "novel for television", with a defined beginning, middle, and end; in essence, each episode would be a single "chapter" of this "novel".[60] Many of the tie-in novels, comic books, and short stories were also developed to play a significant canonical part in the overall story.[61] The cost of the series totalled an estimated $90 million for 110 episodes.[62]
Creator and showrunner J. Michael Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes of Babylon 5, including all 44 episodes in the third and fourth seasons;[63] according to Straczynski, a feat never before accomplished in American television.[64] Other writers to have contributed scripts to the show include Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Kathryn M. Drennan, Lawrence G. DiTillio, D. C. Fontana, and David Gerrold. Harlan Ellison, a creative consultant on the show, received story credits for two episodes.[65] Each writer was informed of the overarching storyline, enabling the show to be produced consistently under-budget. The rules of production were strict; scripts were written six episodes in advance, and changes could not be made once production had started.[66]
Though conceived as a whole, it was necessary to adjust the plotline to accommodate external influences. Each of the characters in the series was written with a "trap door" into their background so that, in the event of an actor's unexpected departure from the series, the character could be written out with minimal impact on the storyline.[67] In the words of Straczynski, "As a writer, doing a long-term story, it'd be dangerous and short-sighted for me to construct the story without trap doors for every single character. ... That was one of the big risks going into a long-term storyline which I considered long in advance;..."[68] The character of Talia Winters was to have undergone a transformation into a Psi Corps secret agent, having been revealed as a "sleeper", whose true personality was buried subconsciously, and who acted as a spy, observing the events on the station and the actions of her command staff.[69] When Winters's portrayer Andrea Thompson left the series, this revelation was used to drop the character from the series.
First thing I did was to flip out the stand-alones, which traditionally have taken up the first 6 or so episodes of each season; between two years, that's 12 episodes, over half a season right there. Then you would usually get a fair number of additional stand-alones scattered across the course of the season. So figure another 3–4 per season, say 8, that's 20 out of 44. So now you're left with basically 24 episodes to fill out the main arc of the story. —Straczynski, J. Michael, 1996[70]
Ratings for Babylon 5 continued to rise during the show's third season, but going into the fourth season, the impending demise of network PTEN left a fifth year in doubt. Unable to get word one way or the other from parent company Warner Bros., and unwilling to short-change the story and the fans, Straczynski began preparing modifications to the fourth season in order to allow for both eventualities. Straczynski identified three primary narrative threads which would require resolution: the Shadow war, Earth's slide into a dictatorship, and a series of sub-threads which branched off from those. Estimating they would still take around 27 episodes to resolve without having the season feel rushed, the solution came when the TNT network commissioned two Babylon 5 television films. Several hours of material was thus able to be moved into the films, including a three-episode arc which would deal with the background to the Earth–Minbari War, and a sub-thread which would have set up the sequel series, Crusade. Further standalone episodes and plot-threads were dropped from season four, which could be inserted into Crusade, or the fifth season, were it to be given the greenlight.[70] The intended series finale, "Sleeping in Light", was filmed during season four as a precaution against cancellation. When word came that TNT had picked up Babylon 5, this was moved to the end of season five and replaced with a newly filmed season four finale, "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars".[71]
