There are so many B5 episodes which are remembered so clearly. This is one of them. It reminds of the serious and intense storyline which is packaged in a wonderful sci-fi environment. This intensity still makes it my favourite series to this day, along with Robotech.
Londo's story arc was engaging and sad to watch, going from a foolish self-absorbed individual to manipulated puppet to a self sacrificing leader shows that people can change, but then again maybe he didn't because at his heart he was always truly devoted to what he thought was best the for Centauri and would pay any price to achieve it, even his own life (in a manner of speaking) to save Centauri from destruction at the end.
I knew I knew him from somewhere, but I had to look up the episode cast to remember. Amazing job of acting that I didn't immediately recognize him as the guy who played Jacob/Selmak on SG1
I remember reading years ago on Usenet, JMS himself talking about how B5 was originally shot in wide-screen. Possibly hi-def and on film, but I am not sure about the latter two...but I distinctly remember that wide screen versions of at least the live action shots exist. I know it would probably be too expensive for the copyright owners to justify, but damn it would be nice to see B5 released in a wide screen hi-def format, with modern CGI effects. "Babylon 5" is a piece of science fiction and television history. It needs to be preserved for future generations to rediscover. It probably would be a copyright nightmare, but damn, if the studio would just release the wide screen cinematic quality shots there would be fans with editing and CGI knowledge would would probably gladly take on the task of making a fan version of the wide screen and hi def shots with updated special effects shots. Could you imagine a version of B5 with "Strange New Worlds" quality space and station and space battle scenes, and planetary scenes. It would make the remastered "Star Trek" The Next Generation" look like a half-assed effort. (And I say that as a Next Generation fan.)
Agree this show needs to be remastered and rebroadcast as it was way ahead of its time and had a truly engaging storyline with amazing character arcs, Londo's being one of the best. l too am truly devoted to B5 and find it very hard to seperate it from Star Trek: The Next Gen & the remake Battlestar Galactica, each have unique points to make one better than the others but all were masterfully made (of course with the occasion dropped ball)
Ursa was my favorite Centauri character aside from Londo himself. I don't think I was ever angrier at Londo than at the end of this episode. (Ursa's kind of fine, too, ngl. I thought so then and seeing him in high def reminded me. Not many guys could rock that hair and still be charismatic af, but Carmen managed it.)
The Centauri are a better depiction of what Space (imperial) Romans would look like than the Romulans, who don't really have much resblinh Rome about them except generally being militarists
Rifa was doing good work, growing Lando's power, while at the same time eliminating his real friends. Pretty much surrounding him. also, I think this was one of the 3 chance Lando had to walk away from the growing shadow that the seer told him about.
Yeah i did cut the fighting scenes a lot. So please rewatch. The most tear jerker is sleeping in light. Which i only watched twice. And i dread to make a video about it. But it will be here in about 6-8 months.
Can you imagine this happening in ANY other show. It's like a greek or shakespearean tragedy. People compare DS9 to this but although it was much grittier and grounded than previous Trek shows, it still never reached this level of story and performances. Nothing came close until BSG.
Who on earth is the actor who plays the guy who gets stabbed in the duel?? It's driving me nuts. I've seen him somewhere...in some TV show or movie. I recognize his face but I just can't place it! Does anybody know?
That was Urza Jaddo, played by Carmen Argenziano. He played in a LOT of series i even didnt know about: Her you can find his biowww.imdb.com/name/nm0034492/ , He unfortunatly died in 2019 at age 75.
@@JK-Visions Yes...thank you. I never knew his real name, but I knew that I recognized his face and voice. Thanks to your link I was able to track it down to his role as Jacob Carter, Samantha Carter's Dad and recipient of a Tok'ra symbiont in Stargate: SG1. I'm sorry he passed.
@@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER You got the answer before l got the video, it is sad to say that many of the cast of B5 have past but heartwarming to know that they will live on in this show as l don't see it going anywhere soon, like many sci-fi shows it get got overlooked while on production and has acquired a slowly growing deeply devoted fan base over the years due to the quality of the production & amazing storyline.
A fun show, right up until they ended that war with a scolding, and Claudia Christian left. Perhaps the farthest short a show has ever fallen from it's promise.
I am not sure about that. Season 4 was quit a wrap up. Season 5 felt more like o we just got handed a new season...what are we going to do...but the books are more fun though.
@@JK-Visions Books? Was not aware. For me though, the let down of the promised war being snatched away was bad, and Claudia's replacement, while attractive, just didn't work for me.
@@PtolemyJones "the promised war" Then you are one of those people who want empty spectacle over storytelling. Sharidan's Alliance had gathered allies among both the Younger Races and the Old Ones and even the First One, to stand against both Shadows and Vorlons. The fleet of the Younger Races would never have survived an actual battle, and Sheridan knew that. The entire point of their Last Stand was to "shout sense" into the Vorlons and Shadows, to show them their war over ideology was doomed and their attempts to manipulate the Younger Races would no longer work. Vorlons and Shadows wanted to see themselves as the "saviours" who were "helping" the Younger Races evolve... the point was showing them that they were doing harm rather than good.
@@TF2CrunchyFrogWhat we got wasn't a story, it was empty and vapid. Some ancient race shows up and hand-waves the bad guys away? Everything you mentioned was made pointless as a result. Ick...
Easily one of my favorite storylines. ⚔️ So purdy. Unfortunately it looks so good I don't want to watch my DVD's. Even my more recent video files don't look this good.
It was season 2 episode 17 Knives. I really had to look it up for it felt like it was at the end of season 2 but it was in the middle lol. So many good stories its hard to remember.
I am not rushing it but perhaps it looks like it. But it is difficult because there is so much information. Thanks for your info. I will try and make it better.
These people's story was wildly overshadowed by JMS's bad, bad judgement on style. "Let's make an aristocratic, pale skinned, liver spotted, goofy hair alien". I'm blown away every time this crosses my path that no one said, "lets just make the aliens... alien looking, not ridiculous".
Once you get over that it's actually fun. In season 1 it was indeed hard to look past the strange looks. But the story makes up for it later. But the goofy Centauri don't make you think they were butchers later on. So that's a surprise.
@@JK-Visions The story is pretty good, until towards the end, when there's Lord of the Rings extras, who have psychic powers living in the basement or something (JMS and style again). This shows story was pretty good in the middle seasons IIRC. 2,3,4
I think, in a way they are meant to represent certain aspects of humanity just like all alien races in fiction. In this case they represent pompousness, intrigue, corruption, decadence and living in past glories.
@@kallemattiwaris2422 They're an effective caricature of euro aristocracies/monarchies, but I'm not sure you'd find euro centric anything in Alpha Centuri.
You must have missed the part where the Centauri, if you look at their anatomy and physiology, are actually far more "alien" and _far less_ similar to humans than, say, the Minbari or even the Narn! Also you must've missed the many non-humanoid aliens in the _Babylon 5_ series, from the Vorlons and Shadows to that praying-mantis insectoid Trakallans or the tentacle-faced Pak'Ma'Ra. But sure, go on, stay obsessed with your strawman argument. And how much money do you think a TV show in the 1990s got for make-up and special effects? Why do you think all space-alien protagonists that were regular main characters on other Scifi TV series like Star Trek, Stargate, Farscape, Andromeda, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who etc were designed in a way to be playable by actors wearing costumes or make-up and facial prosthetics, while shows like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly just dispensed with aliens altogether? Also, the humanoid shape - upright land snimals, with sensory organs on top, legs to walk on and arms or similar appendages thatends in hands or similar phalanges able of both gripping and fine manipulation - is a good shape in terms of "function dictates form" if you want to have a species that develops tools and technology to eventually go fly into Space. Aquatic species usually develop flippers and face massive issues in developing a tool-based civilisation as they can't make fire underwater and thus can't smelt ores into metal... you can't make spaceships from wood and kelp.
@@JK-Visions the regulars were fine, although sheridan was often playing to the cheap seats, it was the guest stars and supporting cast that tended to ham it up. The dialogue didnt help, good to read but sounded over dramatic too often.
Vere's words are wise at the beginning.
To restore a glorious past without learning from it is pointless.
Yep, happens in our world too a lot lately.
That time that Selmack was undercover on the far side of the galaxy :)
There are so many B5 episodes which are remembered so clearly. This is one of them. It reminds of the serious and intense storyline which is packaged in a wonderful sci-fi environment. This intensity still makes it my favourite series to this day, along with Robotech.
Londo's story arc was engaging and sad to watch, going from a foolish self-absorbed individual to manipulated puppet to a self sacrificing leader shows that people can change, but then again maybe he didn't because at his heart he was always truly devoted to what he thought was best the for Centauri and would pay any price to achieve it, even his own life (in a manner of speaking) to save Centauri from destruction at the end.
I guess total power corrupts totally if you get the change. But he did want the Centauri to do it themselves.
RIP Carmen Argenziano. I forgot he was in this show.
I knew I knew him from somewhere, but I had to look up the episode cast to remember. Amazing job of acting that I didn't immediately recognize him as the guy who played Jacob/Selmak on SG1
This guy was so right about cartagia...londo helped create all the conditions for his own downfall...
Reminds me of a friend I had years back, shouted some sense into me over stepping too far into the dark and made me step back over a line.
Good to hear. But Londo went 1 step to far i am afraid. Coming up in the next few videos;)
I remember reading years ago on Usenet, JMS himself talking about how B5 was originally shot in wide-screen. Possibly hi-def and on film, but I am not sure about the latter two...but I distinctly remember that wide screen versions of at least the live action shots exist. I know it would probably be too expensive for the copyright owners to justify, but damn it would be nice to see B5 released in a wide screen hi-def format, with modern CGI effects. "Babylon 5" is a piece of science fiction and television history. It needs to be preserved for future generations to rediscover. It probably would be a copyright nightmare, but damn, if the studio would just release the wide screen cinematic quality shots there would be fans with editing and CGI knowledge would would probably gladly take on the task of making a fan version of the wide screen and hi def shots with updated special effects shots. Could you imagine a version of B5 with "Strange New Worlds" quality space and station and space battle scenes, and planetary scenes. It would make the remastered "Star Trek" The Next Generation" look like a half-assed effort. (And I say that as a Next Generation fan.)
Yeah, i would be totally for that. I would even be willing to help them for free:)
Agree this show needs to be remastered and rebroadcast as it was way ahead of its time and had a truly engaging storyline with amazing character arcs, Londo's being one of the best. l too am truly devoted to B5 and find it very hard to seperate it from Star Trek: The Next Gen & the remake Battlestar Galactica, each have unique points to make one better than the others but all were masterfully made (of course with the occasion dropped ball)
. . . And unlike a reboot, however well-intentioned and written that would be, you get the advantage of keeping the original cast this way.
In the end Londo did what no one else could do, save Urza Jaddo family.
He saved many other families. Including Lord Reefas. Londo is a master in turning a curse to a blessing and vice versa.
Thank you dude..I loved this show as a kid and I hope you continue doing what you do
Thanks, though some people don't see the joy of it. Think I am infringing something. But i really only use stuff which is already there.
One of the best episodes of the best science fiction series.
Ursa was my favorite Centauri character aside from Londo himself. I don't think I was ever angrier at Londo than at the end of this episode.
(Ursa's kind of fine, too, ngl. I thought so then and seeing him in high def reminded me. Not many guys could rock that hair and still be charismatic af, but Carmen managed it.)
I also liked the actors who played lord refa and cartagia and of course vir. But Ursa did a fabulous job indeed!
The Centauri are a better depiction of what Space (imperial) Romans would look like than the Romulans, who don't really have much resblinh Rome about them except generally being militarists
I remember this episod it was a sad really sad ones bring to my mind something I will like to forget it was sad...
Rifa was doing good work, growing Lando's power, while at the same time eliminating his real friends. Pretty much surrounding him.
also, I think this was one of the 3 chance Lando had to walk away from the growing shadow that the seer told him about.
Good reply..but it wasn't one of the 3.
This was a tear-jerker......Kinda hated myself for enjoying this.
Yeah i did cut the fighting scenes a lot. So please rewatch. The most tear jerker is sleeping in light. Which i only watched twice. And i dread to make a video about it. But it will be here in about 6-8 months.
@@JK-Visions Already did.
Can you imagine this happening in ANY other show. It's like a greek or shakespearean tragedy. People compare DS9 to this but although it was much grittier and grounded than previous Trek shows, it still never reached this level of story and performances. Nothing came close until BSG.
Like the Klingons,the centauri follow a fuedal system like the Japanese.
Who on earth is the actor who plays the guy who gets stabbed in the duel??
It's driving me nuts. I've seen him somewhere...in some TV show or movie.
I recognize his face but I just can't place it! Does anybody know?
That was Urza Jaddo, played by Carmen Argenziano. He played in a LOT of series i even didnt know about: Her you can find his biowww.imdb.com/name/nm0034492/ , He unfortunatly died in 2019 at age 75.
@@JK-Visions Yes...thank you. I never knew his real name, but I knew that I recognized his face and voice.
Thanks to your link I was able to track it down to his role as Jacob Carter, Samantha Carter's Dad and recipient of a Tok'ra symbiont in Stargate: SG1.
I'm sorry he passed.
@@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER You got the answer before l got the video, it is sad to say that many of the cast of B5 have past but heartwarming to know that they will live on in this show as l don't see it going anywhere soon, like many sci-fi shows it get got overlooked while on production and has acquired a slowly growing deeply devoted fan base over the years due to the quality of the production & amazing storyline.
Mollari is set to go to his final destination for right or wrong. 👑 👸
Make Centauri Great Again.
A fun show, right up until they ended that war with a scolding, and Claudia Christian left. Perhaps the farthest short a show has ever fallen from it's promise.
I am not sure about that. Season 4 was quit a wrap up. Season 5 felt more like o we just got handed a new season...what are we going to do...but the books are more fun though.
@@JK-Visions Books? Was not aware. For me though, the let down of the promised war being snatched away was bad, and Claudia's replacement, while attractive, just didn't work for me.
@@PtolemyJones same here. I could not stand the new actor.
@@PtolemyJones "the promised war"
Then you are one of those people who want empty spectacle over storytelling.
Sharidan's Alliance had gathered allies among both the Younger Races and the Old Ones and even the First One, to stand against both Shadows and Vorlons. The fleet of the Younger Races would never have survived an actual battle, and Sheridan knew that. The entire point of their Last Stand was to "shout sense" into the Vorlons and Shadows, to show them their war over ideology was doomed and their attempts to manipulate the Younger Races would no longer work. Vorlons and Shadows wanted to see themselves as the "saviours" who were "helping" the Younger Races evolve... the point was showing them that they were doing harm rather than good.
@@TF2CrunchyFrogWhat we got wasn't a story, it was empty and vapid. Some ancient race shows up and hand-waves the bad guys away? Everything you mentioned was made pointless as a result. Ick...
Easily one of my favorite storylines. ⚔️ So purdy. Unfortunately it looks so good I don't want to watch my DVD's. Even my more recent video files don't look this good.
Yes i am afraid the dvd's do look a bit pale comared to this. I am trying out 4K AI upgrading. That's even more stunning but takes tons of time.
@@JK-Visions Thanks for sharing a bit of that with us. _It's terrific!_
What episode was this?
Season 4 I imagine 🤔
It was season 2 episode 17 Knives. I really had to look it up for it felt like it was at the end of season 2 but it was in the middle lol. So many good stories its hard to remember.
Honesty, Vir would have been a better attache for Urza.
As always. The upscaling is very good.
However, the editing is, unfortunate. Lando can not be rushed.
I am not rushing it but perhaps it looks like it. But it is difficult because there is so much information. Thanks for your info. I will try and make it better.
A great episode somewhat spoiled by Carmen Argenziano's ridiculous overreacting.
These people's story was wildly overshadowed by JMS's bad, bad judgement on style. "Let's make an aristocratic, pale skinned, liver spotted, goofy hair alien". I'm blown away every time this crosses my path that no one said, "lets just make the aliens... alien looking, not ridiculous".
Once you get over that it's actually fun.
In season 1 it was indeed hard to look past the strange looks. But the story makes up for it later. But the goofy Centauri don't make you think they were butchers later on. So that's a surprise.
@@JK-Visions The story is pretty good, until towards the end, when there's Lord of the Rings extras, who have psychic powers living in the basement or something (JMS and style again). This shows story was pretty good in the middle seasons IIRC. 2,3,4
I think, in a way they are meant to represent certain aspects of humanity just like all alien races in fiction. In this case they represent pompousness, intrigue, corruption, decadence and living in past glories.
@@kallemattiwaris2422 They're an effective caricature of euro aristocracies/monarchies, but I'm not sure you'd find euro centric anything in Alpha Centuri.
You must have missed the part where the Centauri, if you look at their anatomy and physiology, are actually far more "alien" and _far less_ similar to humans than, say, the Minbari or even the Narn! Also you must've missed the many non-humanoid aliens in the _Babylon 5_ series, from the Vorlons and Shadows to that praying-mantis insectoid Trakallans or the tentacle-faced Pak'Ma'Ra. But sure, go on, stay obsessed with your strawman argument. And how much money do you think a TV show in the 1990s got for make-up and special effects? Why do you think all space-alien protagonists that were regular main characters on other Scifi TV series like Star Trek, Stargate, Farscape, Andromeda, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who etc were designed in a way to be playable by actors wearing costumes or make-up and facial prosthetics, while shows like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly just dispensed with aliens altogether?
Also, the humanoid shape - upright land snimals, with sensory organs on top, legs to walk on and arms or similar appendages thatends in hands or similar phalanges able of both gripping and fine manipulation - is a good shape in terms of "function dictates form" if you want to have a species that develops tools and technology to eventually go fly into Space. Aquatic species usually develop flippers and face massive issues in developing a tool-based civilisation as they can't make fire underwater and thus can't smelt ores into metal... you can't make spaceships from wood and kelp.
Someone should tell the Ukrainian Loyalists that.
The overacting is real…
Emotional, Shakespearean,goofy,but most people do like it though.
@@JK-Visions the regulars were fine, although sheridan was often playing to the cheap seats, it was the guest stars and supporting cast that tended to ham it up. The dialogue didnt help, good to read but sounded over dramatic too often.
@@probablynotmyname8521
It's a like an Italian style. I know for part of my family in law are from Italy;)