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andrasteI don't really have any interest in Game of Thrones - I never watched an episode of the show, and after reading an from one of the books decided that A Song of Ice and Fire was very much not for me. (It wasn't all the rape. It was the thing with the puppies.) This week I found that I have been pronouncing 'Arya' wrong for years.
However, it turns out that I am still forced to have some kind of opinion about it this week, to whit: I don't know if I am more annoyed with a) the people claiming no show with a big ensemble and lots of ongoing story threads has ever pulled off a satisfying ending, thus indicating they've never heard of Babylon 5, or b) the people responding to the question 'but what about Babylon 5???' by saying that the fifth season sucked so it doesn't count.
I don't even know where to begin with the first argument - Babylon 5 might be my favourite novel on TV, but it's hardly the only show that's pulled it off at this point even if it's the earliest live action example I've watched. I know we were all disappointed with The X-Files, but not every show runner is Chris Carter. I mean, never mind B5 or its cousin DS9, Transformers: Beast Wars managed to do it! But also I just cannot cope with genre fans who don't acknowledge how important B5 was. (People who don't like it? Fine. People who don't want to watch it for whatever reason? Also fine! There are lots of things that are important that I don't want to read/watch/listen to. But you will not catch me walking around claiming that Sons and Lovers isn't a significant book because I hated it, or that Last Year at Marienbad doesn't matter because I haven't seen it.)
As to the second group - I find them even more baffling. Yes, the pacing of the first half of B5's fifth season sucks because of the whole cancelled-then-uncancelled drama, and I won't argue that there aren't a bunch of other problems with the telepath arc. But then it course-corrects once JMS gets back to the original outline and the second half is as good as any other part of the show. (Frankly better than some. I would definitely rank it higher than the first half of Season One.) I mean, I know I am biased because the second half of Season Five has a lot of my favourite elements brought to the fore, but how does anyone watch the war the entire show has actually been leading up to and then tell people they shouldn't bother watching the season because there was a stupid song in it???
I do sympathise with the people who hate the ending because of Lennier, though. (I mean, I disagree with them entirely - I think what he does is entirely in character and the logical end of the story of his life on the station. But I do sympathise.)
However, it turns out that I am still forced to have some kind of opinion about it this week, to whit: I don't know if I am more annoyed with a) the people claiming no show with a big ensemble and lots of ongoing story threads has ever pulled off a satisfying ending, thus indicating they've never heard of Babylon 5, or b) the people responding to the question 'but what about Babylon 5???' by saying that the fifth season sucked so it doesn't count.
I don't even know where to begin with the first argument - Babylon 5 might be my favourite novel on TV, but it's hardly the only show that's pulled it off at this point even if it's the earliest live action example I've watched. I know we were all disappointed with The X-Files, but not every show runner is Chris Carter. I mean, never mind B5 or its cousin DS9, Transformers: Beast Wars managed to do it! But also I just cannot cope with genre fans who don't acknowledge how important B5 was. (People who don't like it? Fine. People who don't want to watch it for whatever reason? Also fine! There are lots of things that are important that I don't want to read/watch/listen to. But you will not catch me walking around claiming that Sons and Lovers isn't a significant book because I hated it, or that Last Year at Marienbad doesn't matter because I haven't seen it.)
As to the second group - I find them even more baffling. Yes, the pacing of the first half of B5's fifth season sucks because of the whole cancelled-then-uncancelled drama, and I won't argue that there aren't a bunch of other problems with the telepath arc. But then it course-corrects once JMS gets back to the original outline and the second half is as good as any other part of the show. (Frankly better than some. I would definitely rank it higher than the first half of Season One.) I mean, I know I am biased because the second half of Season Five has a lot of my favourite elements brought to the fore, but how does anyone watch the war the entire show has actually been leading up to and then tell people they shouldn't bother watching the season because there was a stupid song in it???
I do sympathise with the people who hate the ending because of Lennier, though. (I mean, I disagree with them entirely - I think what he does is entirely in character and the logical end of the story of his life on the station. But I do sympathise.)
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-26 10:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-26 01:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-27 06:09 am (UTC)On the other, GoT fans might be significantly less annoyed if it had ended with Daenarys locking a rival in an airlock then running away. (Cultural osmosis has not given me enough information to know who she would have been locking in the airlock, though. Sansa? Tormund? The dire wolf?)
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-28 06:32 am (UTC)Lennier's ending didn't really upset me the first time around because ?I was too invested in other characters. I suspect this time I will care a lot more.
Thank you for the insights on the 5th season. I was nervous about coming to that (I'm watching it with my husband whose never seen the show!) but you're right, it ends so well.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-31 04:53 am (UTC)I keep meaning to rewatch the whole thing from the beginning, but I just have sooooo much TV I want to watch. (The curse of the age of Netflix, I guess.)
Lennier's ending didn't really upset me the first time around because ?I was too invested in other characters. I suspect this time I will care a lot more.
One of the friends I introduced to the show loved Lennier the most, and I spent the whole time we were watching it thinking 'oh no, should I say something?' (In the end I opted not to spoil her, but in hindsight maybe I should have ...)
Thank you for the insights on the 5th season. I was nervous about coming to that (I'm watching it with my husband whose never seen the show!) but you're right, it ends so well.
The second half just brings so many threads together so beautifully - everything from Garibaldi's ongoing struggle with alcohol to Lyta's struggle with ... um, everything, really ... plays into it somehow.