Crusade: 'The Path of Sorrows' and 'Appearances and Other Deceits' (1x12-1x13)

The series comes to an end with its best episode and a decent one. 'The Path of Sorrows' is the first episode that really hints at a larger world of possibility within the show, an overarching narrative that extends beyond standalone episodes. The show always had elements of that, since it drew on the mythology built up over five years of Babylon 5. That's the show's greatest asset in a lot of respects, we know the details of the Shadows and the Psi Corps, and we can understand references that would just be cryptic babble on other sci-fi shows.

A work like Babylon 5 almost demands a plethora of spinoffs and ancillary material since the universe is so richly detailed. Right from the first episode, JMS seemed to know everything that was going on with the characters and their universe, and over the course of the five years, we learned a wealth of material. I know more about the history of the Centauri Republic than I do about a lot of real nations.

But, the fully developed nature of the universe can present difficulty when making a spinoff. How much can he rely on what already exists, and how much should be new, so that new viewers can pick up the show? Ultimately, I think he finds a workable balance, new viewers could easily watch this and not miss anything. Yet, as someone who's watched B5, I did find myself wishing for more ties to the mother show.

But, before getting into musings on the series as a whole, let me go through these last two episodes. 'Sorrows' wasn't quite at the level of 'Signs and Portents' in terms of redefining what the series could do, but it did give us some much appreciated character background and set up what would likely have been a major theme of the series, the search for forgiveness. All the characters here have some bad deeds in their background, something they need to atone for, and the creature they find tries to help them come to terms with those past trangressions. The episode reminded me a bit of the Firefly episode where we flashback to where all the characters were before they came to the ship. That was a great episode, the brief snippets told us all we needed to know in a more efficient way than Lost's neverending flashback parade.

I liked the way they used the text captions to communicate the creature's pure feeling in a way that couldn't be represented by speech. It reinforces the idea that this thing is just giving the people what they want, like the cave in Empire Strikes Back, you only see what you bring with you. My favorite flashback was Mathison's, which gave us a glimpse of the telepath war. That's a piece of history we skipped over and it was great to fill it in. I would have loved to see a Lyta Alexander cameo, or at least mention, but what we got was great. Galen and Gideon's flashback were a bit more expected, but still well done. In general, I love devices like this, that force the characters to assess themselves in some way. Buffy's 'gimmick' episodes were all on some level about forcing the characters to examine themselves, be it in dreams, music or conversations with dead people. Taking the characters to a more subjective mental place is a great way to get to know them better, to understand the facade they present to the world.

'Appearances' was a less successful episode, one that, while entertaining, contains a lot of JMS's consistent writing problems. For one, the episode didn't have much tension. No one we actually knew was infected, and it was fairly obvious they'd find a way to resolve things in an easy way. That's because JMS almost always gives his characters, at least the heroes, an easy way out. People like Sheridan and Gideon always find some trick or tactic that will let them save the day without hurting anyone. Only occasionally will he force characters to make hard choices, and those are the most memorable moments of the series, the Londo arc or even the standalone in B5's first season where the kid dies. That was a bold call, this is the obvious ending. Because it's so easy, we don't get any satisfaction from the victory. It just goes by as expected. It would have been a more powerful ending to have to kill all the infected people to save the ship.

Another thing that bothered me about this episode was the use of the guy who played Neroon on B5. He looked similar and talked the same way, how can we buy him as a different character? This problem cropped up on B5 too, when they used Wayne Alexander in countless roles. That's fine if he's random alien every week, but once he played Lorien, he became too recognizable to be believable in a different role. I can understand wanting to be loyal to your actors, but it was distracting.

The biggest problem with this episode, and countless others, is that it's tough to make the audience get invested in a standalone hour of TV. The thing I love about the medium is the possibility to tell massive stories, developing characters' lives over years and years. That's what JMS did in the later years of Babylon 5, and even though you do need to set the groundwork, it's possible to have arcs right from the first year. The Sopranos managed to keep running plots going over the first season, and even if there were more standalone stories, they didn't feel as disconnected as these do. JMS should have learned from the first year of B5, that standalones just don't work as well. Even if you're doing a five year arc, put a mini arc in the front of the series to hook people.

Ultimately, the series, while entertaining, is futile viewing. It doesn't lead anywhere, and the characters don't go through much growth. While it's more rewarding on an episode by episode basis than early B5, that doesn't make it particularly worthwhile. I thought Dureena was a great character, and Galen had a lot of potential, but that's pretty much all the show was, potential. It works best as a dessert after B5, giving you a final jaunt through the universe before moving on.

That said, the Lost Tales film could change that. Some of the elements here will likely return there, and maybe that film will tie this series closer to the mythology. I'm eager to see Galen back, and I'd love to see Dureena or Gideon appear in a future film. Though, there's a bunch of B5 characters I'd prefer to see first.

B5 succeeded because of its scope, watching all the pieces of this elaborately constructed narrative fall into place. It was never a show that was about the moment, it was all about the big picture. Yet, with Crusade, all we have is moments, and that's not enough to satisfy.

Next up, I'll finally reach the end of the Babylon 5 universe, with Legend of the Rangers, leaving me all caught up for the imminent arrival of new material. Look for that review soon.

Crusade: 1x09-1x11

Crusade continues in much the manner as it was going, with a mix of strong and okay episodes. However, I’m starting to lose patience with it, a few arcs keep me interested, but the fact that it isn’t going anywhere does affect the viewing experience. I’d imagine it was different for first time viewers, who had gone a year without Babylon 5, an episode like ‘The Rules of the Game’ must have been positively ecstatic, at last returning to the station where it all started. However, now, I was there a couple of months ago, and while it’s nice to be back, the nostalgia factor isn’t quite enough to make all the episodes work.

‘Each Night I Dreamt of Home’ does have an ace up its sleeve in terms of nostalgia factor, the return of Doctor Stephen Franklin, whose dramatic entrance is spoiled a bit by seeing his name in the credits. Still, it’s nice to have him back even if he is stuck behind glass the entire episode. His presence brings to the fore one of the issues with the series, we know that the Drakh plague won’t actually destroy Earth, we’ve already seen Stephen twenty years in the future in ‘Sleeping in Light.’ This doesn’t kill the tension, but it’s an out for the audience, we know the happy ending is coming, it’s just a matter of getting there.

The episode itself is pretty good, particularly the climax which cuts between a space battle and Franklin’s attempt to save the other guy. That said, the Drakh still look goofy here, not matching the darkness of their appearance in the latter days of Babylon 5. That guy who stuck the keeper in Londo was a scary dude, these ones, not so much.

I want to take a second to address the uniform issue. With this viewing order, they switch frequently, and it’s baffling to me that people seem to prefer the grey and red ones to the blank uniforms. The grey and red ones don’t look good, and even if the black ones were TNT imposed, they were a good choice. Maybe I’m confused with the different episode orders and people actually like the black ones, I know I do.

Anyway, ‘Patterns of the Soul’ is up next, an episode that reunites Dureena with some more of her people and gives us a guest appearance from Brian Thompson, a.k.a The X-Files’ Alien Bounty Hunter. This episode doesn’t work so well. They try to do good work with the planets, but ultimately they wind up feeling stagy, Battlestar Galactica’s tact of going out into the woods creates more convincing alien worlds. But, I don’t think there’s one shot in the entire Babylon 5 universe that was actually taken outside the studio.

I don’t really have too much to say about this one, these episodes all sort of blend together, even moreso than early B5 did. That’s largely because the plots are very similar, go to an alien planet that might have a cure for the plague, find out they don’t, move on. That’s the problem with the series, and even if they would cure the plague in season two, we’ve still got a bunch of similar ones here.

The final episode features that aforementioned return to Babylon 5. This was a fun episode, largely because we actually get some strong character moments, for both Lochley and Gideon and for Max. Lochley and Gideon are a lot of fun together, both totally committed to the job, but secretly wanting each other. Their relationship is a lot more believable than much of what we saw on B5, and it helps to humanize both characters. I’m assuming this would have been a major thread in the series, considering Tracy Scoggins place in the opening credits.

It’s good to be back on B5, even if this does end up feeling a lost Babylon 5 episode. That’s not a bad thing though, obviously it wouldn’t work long term, but checking in for an episode is great. I’d have liked to seen Dureena off ship, but the limited cast does allow for a closer focus on the characters who are in each episode.

So, with two episodes to go, I’m not expecting any sort of resolution. The show has a lot of potential, but being cut down so early meant that none of these episodes are leading anywhere. JMS is a writer who’s all about buildup, it’s possible stuff we saw here would pay off in great, unexpected ways. Certainly I wouldn’t have expected all the elements of B5 season to come back like they did, but we’ll never know. It’s not the fault of the people making the show, but it comes off as a kind of pointless viewing experience. But, as a way to ease out of B5, it’s nice. And, perhaps the Lost Tales stuff will bring back some lost Crusade plots. The issue isn’t so much a lack of resolution, it’s that we didn’t even get to the point where there’s plot points to be resolved.

Crusade: 1x06-1x08

Crusade rocks on with three episodes that are of pretty much the same quality as the previous ones. The show is much stronger than Babylon 5’s first season, but it remains hobbled by the fact that almost every episode has the same structure, and it’s tough to really care about the standalone situations introduced in each episode. But, on a moment by moment basis, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m going to be sad to reach the end of the show without receiving any kind of meaningful closure.

‘The Long Road,’ like all too many episodes, begins with a mysterious direction from Galen, which prompts him and Gideon to go investigate a mysterious small town. The setup here reminded me a lot of The Wicker Man, with its secretive town, and innkeeper’s daughter. Unfortunately, the story did not lead to Gideon being seduced by the daughter in the night while she bangs on his wall, nor did it lead to him dressing up in a bear suit and beating up some women. But, we have a guest appearance from Edward Woodward, star of the original Wicker Man movie. He looks a lot older.

Like a lot of Crusade episodes, this was a good story that didn’t quite have enough material to fill the whole 45 minutes. Like a lot of early Babylon 5, the story drags on a bit, either with an extended coda that spends too much time wrapping things up, or just a series of extraneous developments that don’t add to what we’ve already seen. It’s a lot harder to write a consistent run of satisfying standalones than a big arc, and a lot tougher for the viewer to engage with. We have no particular reason to care about this town, and in the end, it’s mainly interesting for what it reveals about our characters. Considering the technomages supposedly left the galaxy, we sure do run into a lot of them around. They seem to be the all purpose way to show that a story is meaningful.

Next up was ‘Ruling from the Tomb,’ which brought back Captain Lochley, finally justifying her place in the credits. While Lochley was never a critical character on Babylon 5, she seems to be a JMS favorite, cropping up in most of the TV movies, and also in the upcoming Lost Tales. While I think it’s a big mistake to put her in Lost Tales, as one of only two Babylon 5 characters returning, she’s a good fit here. Having a Sheridan or Delenn on would be overwhelming, in the same way that it was to have Buffy on the first season of Angel. She was sucha strong presence that I wanted to see their old dynamic played out, ‘I Will Remember You’ was more like an episode of Buffy than an episode of Angel.

Lochley’s interaction with Gideon is fun, particularly their discussion of Sheridan. He has become such a legend in the galaxy, ordinary people can’t understand him as a human being in the same way we do. That’s something they played with in the later years of Babylon 5, and it works even better here, when he’s not actually there to counteract that perception. Lochley knew him back before he was an icon, and is able to puncture the myth.

This episode features one of the typical standalone issues that plagued numerous Babylon 5 first season episodes, namely a mysterious character from someone’s past returns, bringing danger. In this case, it’s a character from Trace’s past, yet, Trace has only been in one episode, so we don’t really care that he had a religious affiliation in the past. I’m not sure if it’s a result of the screwy viewing order, but it’s odd that Trace just all of a sudden returns here, after not being seen since ‘War Zone.’

The religious guy falls prey to another classic JMS standalone problem, the generally wrong, but morally ambiguous character who forces the characters to assess some kind of universal debate, in this case the validity of religion. Gideon’s way of defeating him, by revealing that the plague will kill everyone within a year, would likely have some really bad consequences, like causing a panic on Earth. They never talked about that, how they would take back what he said. Wouldn’t you be suspicious that the government was trying to cover up the truth about the plague by claiming Gideon was just lying?

The stuff with Dureena and Max in the bar was fun, and gave some nice character shading to those two. They have a fun dynamic, Dureena has the most energy of all the characters on the show, and has the potential for a Londo like journey through moral ambiguity. However, I guess we’ll never see that.

And finally, we’ve got ‘The Well of Forever,’ another Galen gives a mysterious direction episode. This one also suffers from having about thirty-five minutes of content, and seemingly retreading some previous Galen stuff. The intent was clearly to make Galen more human by revealing this loss in his past, but it doesn’t quite work. It’s such an obvious way to build sympathy, it feels transparent. It’s also a bit of a copout at the ending, with a “Don’t do that again,” but no real consequences admonition by Gideon.

One of the interesting things here was more insight about how the Psi Corps has been restructured. That was cool to see, but again, we’ve got a trickery on the part of the Captain that lets everyone get what they want easily. I was talking about The Sopranos the other day, and realized that David Chase really hates his characters, but is fascinated by them. I think one of JMS’s problems is that he’s too in love with all his characters, and won’t let them do really ambiguous things. Everyone has to have pure motives.

The only characters he wrote who weren’t like that were Londo and G’Kar, and it’s no coincidence that they’re by far the best characters on either series. Morally ambiguous characters work because they make you want them to be better. If characters are always good, as in the case of Sheridan, you want to see them do bad things, and that works agans the moral universe of the series. It can be fun, as in Buffy season six, where I loved Buffy’s flirtation with darkness, but the closest we got to that here was Garibaldi’s season four arc, which was wiped out by the reveals at the end of the season.

With Londo, I always wanted him to do the right thing, and it was awful when he aided Morden in season two. The brilliance of his arc was to have him do the right thing for a brief moment, and then have everything go to shit by the end of the fifth season. JMS never put his human characters through that same kind of trauma, and the way this episode goes, it’s clear that the character he writes as good are given too wide boundaries, frequently getting too easy resolutions to their issues.

I’ll add that the visuals in this episode, and the series as a whole, have been fantastic. The effects made a big jump from Babylon 5, and make me eager to see what they bring out in The Lost Tales.

So, these episodes were strong, but no quite to great. The show has a lot of potential, and I would love to be proven wrong about these characters and their potential for moral ambiguity and complexity. Dureena is one of the more interesting people JMS has created, and Galen has a lot of potential if he moved beyond cryptic phrase sprouting guy and got real development. I’m eager to see more, it’s a shame there’s only five episode left.

Crusade: 1x03-1x05

The Needs of Earth, Memory of War, Visitors From Down the Street

These three episodes, with one exception, continue a strong opening run for the series, a much stronger opening than Babylon 5, which also hints at the potential depth of these characters. But, the last of these just fails on nearly every level, hitting depths not seen since Babylon 5’s first season.

‘The Needs of Earth’ touches on a lot of classic JMS themes, and has some good stuff, but drags into preachiness during the episode’s second half. However, the opening, in which Dureena and Gideon go to rescue the guy on the planet is very strong. Dureena is my favorite character on the show, I like her rage, and the way that rage can lead her to reckless action. Last time, I said she reminded me of Faith, and that comes across even stronger here. She’s always prone to dangerous action, putting herself at risk to help others. But, it’s unclear whether this is a purely selfless act, or if she actually wants to put herself in danger as punishment for not being there when her world was destroyed.

I think one of the major issues with her character going forward is that eventually her dangerous behavior should catch up with her. So far, she is able to go through this really dangerous situations with few negative consequences, and I’d like to see her struggle either physical or moral dilemmas. Getting hurt during one of her stunts would be an obvious way to show the consequences of what she’s doing, but a more interesting tact would be to put her in real moral conflict with Gideon and the others on the ship. They indulge her mysterious ways because things always work out in the end, but what about when they don’t? That’s the problem we frequently see with these super capable characters, like your Jack Bauer or Sidney Bristow, what happens when they buck the system and fail?

But, considering we’re five episodes into the series, it’s probably a bit early for that. However, going forward, I’m not sure if JMS would have pushed her to a more ambiguous place. Watching Babylon 5, the first season had a very traditional Manichaean conception of good and evil. Then, in season two, Londo and G’Kar both went to really dark places, shockingly so. However, he never put the human characters through that same kind of journey. His biggest mistake with the series was pushing the reset button on Garibaldi after he went through his traitor arc in season four. Season five would have been much more interesting if Garibaldi had to make up for his transgressions.

Anyway, once this guy gets back to the ship, we go into a reverie about the power of art, and the importance of preserving culture. To some extent, this story gets a bit sappy, particularly with the doctor’s comments on the music. But, the basic idea is great, and I do enjoy JMS’s journeys into philosophical musing. I just wish he was a bit more subtle about it.

As a side note, even though I generally enjoy the music on the show, it was notable that the music in the alien porn video didn’t sound very different from what we usually get. There is a certain porn quality to this score, but I still think it was a smart decision to switch composers. It helps give this series its own unique identity. While it has elements of Babylon 5, Crusade has quickly established its own universe.

Next up is ‘The Memory of War,’ which features yet another mysterious lost civilization. I’m glad that the Drakh plague was only going to take two seasons to cure because I’d imagine going to random planets that are deserted, but full of thematically relevant mystery would get old after a while. What is interesting here is Galen, who for the first time feels like a real character rather than a cryptic plot device. He has the most potential of any character on the show, and it’s good to get more time with him.

The production values on the show are a big jump from Babylon 5. While the effects aren’t always completely convincing, for a TV show in 1999, they’re great, and allow JMS to tell bigger stories than he could back on Babylon 5. The climax with the giant machine was a particularly strong sequence, though I’m a bit unclear on the motives of the zombiefied people, particularly Dureena during that scene. Plus, it bothered me to spend so much time with those obvious redshirts during the mission. I was just waiting for them to die.

Despite those issues, this is the strongest episode of the series to date. Dureena’s walk on the invisible bridge was cool, and there was some strong character development. So, it’s a shame that the next episode was so ridiculously bad. I’m a big X-Files fan, and I believe JMS is too, so this should have been a great episode. However, The X-Files parodied itself so much, and so well, it’s tough to say something original. This episode plays like someone who only has surface knowledge of the series, giving us the most obvious jokes, and not working as a story outside the parody.

A large part of my issue with the episode is the casting of the aliens. Why is the Mulder British? It makes it feel like a vague caricature of Mulder, rather than a sharper parody, and the Scully is a non-entity. The Smoking Man is just generically evil, not the quiet menace of the actual character. These characters hit only the general qualities of The X-Files characters, and that means it’s not as funny to see them do stuff. I would love to see a near exact analogue of Mulder crop up on this ship, but this guy only captured a small piece of the character. Plus, those dreadlock tentacles just looked so stupid, it took away credibility for me.

Now, you may say, just chill out, it’s a funny episode. I did like some of the role reversal alien stuff, but it was too close to The X-Files for me to take seriously as an episode on its own, but not focused enough to work as parody. So, it falls into the nebulous realm of bad parody, which is just reproducing the original in a different context and expecting it to be funny. It’s the same kind of thing as Date Movie or Epic Movie, which mix random pop culture characters together and assume that just the presence of a Willy Wonka analogue is hilarious.

But, other than this episode, the show is going well. I’m still wondering where Lochley is, she’s in the credits, but hasn’t appeared in any episodes yet. And, I’m not looking forward to the inevitable disappointment that the unresolved end of the show will hold. But, at least we’ve got The Lost Tales up, which will give us more Galen and perhaps some resolution to the lingering questions of the series.

Crusade: 'War Zone' and 'Racing the Night'

Just a quick note, I’m watching the show with this order, there’s so many floating around, and I can’t really judge for myself which is the best until I’ve seen the show. But, it was recommended, and I’ll roll with it. Onto the series…

The spinoff is always tricky territory. How can you simultaneously please fans of the original series, and create something original that can attract new viewers? This conflict seems to be at the core of JMS’s issues with TNT during the production of the series, and it’s also a tension inherent in the series itself. After a five year journey through Babylon 5, do we have the energy left to invest in another five year saga? Does JMS? We’ll never know for sure, since the show was cut down before its time, but I’ve still got a ways to go, and so far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how Crusade’s been going.

That said, I don’t know that Crusade would have ever grown into a show as strong as Babylon 5. I think there’s a basic flaw in the premise, which is pretty much the same as Star Trek and most other sci-fi shows. While the Drakh plague provides a structural element, a goal, it doesn’t change the fact that the series’ premise will inevitably lead to a threat of the week, which will presumably be dealt with in the episode, and then left behind. While there can be interpersonal growth, I don’t think we could ever have the sustained build of the Narn/Centauri War or the Shadow War. Babylon 5 provided a center for action, and even when things spread across the galaxy in the later seasons, the characters weren’t on the move, they were in developed places where story could be built.

Now, it’s obviously difficult to assess a series from two episodes, after two episodes I wasn’t a fan of Babylon 5, but I could see the potential for something great. Here, I think the series is pretty good, but I don’t know that it could ever be much more than that. The strength of Babylon 5 was never the standalone plots. It was the way narrative arcs crescendoed over seasons, leading to these massive battles like ‘The Long Twilight Struggle’ or ‘The Fall of Centauri Prime.’ That’s what made the series special for me.

The other thing that made it special was two characters: Londo and G’Kar. Right from the first episode, they outshone the makeup and created fully believable, charismatic, morally ambiguous characters. As I mentioned many times in my reviews, the human characters very rarely captured my interest, primarily because they lacked any real sort of moral ambiguity. It’s early to say, but so far, nobody’s jumping out with G’Kar/Londo potential.

Galen would be the obvious point of interest, and was set up well in A Call to Arms, but so far, he’s been there just to be ambiguous and intercede at a crucial point in the story. He reminds me a lot of early Kosh, but having him do stuff like save Gideon in ‘Racing the Night’ makes it difficult to justify his lack of involvement at other times. I’d rather see him fully involved, but with some limits on his power. He is the most charismatic character here, and I want to know more about him, but I worry that he’s going to be used as a crutch for the writers.

Captain Gideon has a bit more attitude than Sheridan or Sinclair, and Gary Cole is certainly a stronger central presence for the series than Michael O’Hare was. I think JMS learned a lot about writing believable characters during his time on Babylon 5, and this show feels much more real, and much fresher than the early days of Babylon 5. That makes sense, it was six years later, but it’s also a result of his growth.

The other character I’m most interested in so far is Dureena. She’s the most morally ambiguous figure, and is a type we haven’t seen before in the B5 universe. I’d like to see her relationship with Galen further developed, in ‘Racing the Night,’ we find out that she wants technomage training, and I’m guessing that she would have become Galen’s apprentice if the series had went on. I’m getting a very Jedi vibe from Galen, and I think it would have been cool to explore his techniques in a more in depth way. As it is here, she’s mainly in an action role, which works fine. She’s definitely a post Buffy heroine, particularly reminding me of Faith.

One of my major issues with the first two episodes, if any episodes can actually be called first in this screwy ordered series, is that they both feature a variation of JMS’s obsession with archaeological digs, and ancient cultural objects found via excavation. This showed up occasionally in Babylon 5, showed up a lot in the TV movies, and now returns again. It seems like the premise of the series will allow JMS to rely a bit too much on the random ancient civilization plots to provide material for episodes.

The production value throughout was a lot higher than most Babylon 5 episodes. Effects have come a long way, and ‘Racing the Night’ in particular had a lot of impressive sequences. However, I think there’s more stuff designed just to show off the effects, like Gideon’s ride through the city. The best effects moments in B5 were the ones that actually forward the narrative, here JMS is using them more for spectacle, and the effects aren’t good enough to justify that.

The weakest effects are the Drakh in ‘War Zone,’ looking like really lame costumes, and the PPG blasts aren’t much better. Having the major foe be so goofy looking takes you out of the world of the story. But, in general, it’s a big improvement from even the best work on Babylon 5.

The credits of the show were an interesting change of pace from B5. The goal seems to be to provide a lot of quick exposition about the show’s premise, and it does that effectively. I like the tie in to the Vorlons/Shadows, with the questions “Who are you” and “what do you want.” I was surprised to see Captain Lochley in the credits, she hasn’t turned up yet, but presumably she’ll be in a bunch of episodes down the line.

I approached the show as something totally different from B5, so I take references to the universe as a bonus, not an expectation. It was really cool to see the Brakhiri and Drazi back at the beginning of ‘Racing the Night.’ I think B5 ended at the right time, so it’s not like Buffy, where I was desperate to see some more of the characters. Other than Londo, I have no particular need to see the people from Babylon 5. It’d be a nice bonus, but it’s not a necessity. The only character who would really fit on the show is Marcus, but alas, he was cut down before his time.

Reading about ‘War Zone,’ it’s clear that JMS was not happy to have to make this episode. On the one hand, I totally sympathize with his anger at network meddling. He’d proved that he could make a popular show, and if left to his own devices, Crusade would have probably kept a lot of the B5 audience. However, I also think he’s a bit of a petty guy, going back to B5. I don’t know the full story about Keffer back in season two, but it seems like he refused to develop this character and then killed him off just to spite the network. Watching season one, I was thinking that he could have used a Han Solo style character, with some attitude, and maybe he should have used the studio suggestion to his advantage, not done something that was somewhat baffling for a viewer, have this guy around for a while, not develop him, then kill him. You can see similar behavior when he puts in the title at the end of ‘Deconstruction of Falling Stars,’ giving a petty chastising to all the critics who said the show wouldn’t survive.

Now, I don’t know the full extent of the TNT involvement, maybe it was really awful, but I can’t help but think that he could have run with their requests, not just bitched about them. If they wanted him to make an episode introducing the characters, then use it as a chance to give some more in depth characterization. Certainly, these people still had a ways to go in ‘Racing the Night.’ I’d imagine his resistance had at least some part in the show being cancelled. Of course, it’d probably be better to go down with the show he wanted to do then compromise his vision. But still, I think there’s some midground between total rejection and online bitching at TNT, and just accepting their suggestions outright.

All this and I feel like I’ve barely touched on the episodes themselves. I was entertained, but not wowed. I feel like B5, even at its worst, had a sense of purpose and build. Here, it’s good in the moment, but I don’t know that it will all click into something bigger. B5 had a closed universe, a few groups who we got to know in depth. Here, it’s such a big world, I feel like we can never get that mastery. And that’s the ultimate flaw I see with the series as it moves forward. Of course, it never actually did move forward, so it didn’t become a problem. If nothing else, it’s a huge jump in production values and acting from the vast majority of B5.