Chicago Sun-Times technology columnist and renaissance geek Andy Ihnatko rejoins us as various stuff hits the fan. Shadow ships on Mars? Shadow ships on Ganymede? A desperate mission into the solar system? Things getting worse at Earthdome? Yeah. Stuff meets fan.
We read the comments. We know that many of you question the worth of “Exogenesis.” But perhaps there’s another perspective out there, perhaps shared by some of your co-hosts, revolving around the unlikely word, “pleasant.” Also, Chip makes the single stupidest title joke in the history of the podcast.
Bester’s back! Just in time for a thrilling police procedural…er, no. Because the telepathic drug plot is just the means to an end: a wholly unexpected and powerful confrontation between Londo and G’Kar. Is the episode really All That? With G’Kar screaming “All of it!” inside Londo’s mind, does it have to be?
In which Tiki Gods are real, not-Aragorn REALLY gets on Susan’s nerves, a PR consultant has extreme ideas about transparency and exposure, and an intercepted phone call brings the two major plot arcs of Babylon 5 crashing together. (Hey, do you like B5AG? Please leave us a review on iTunes!)
From the Long Island Who convention on, well, Long Island: here’s the audio of Chip and Erika’s panel, “The Whovian Guide to Babylon 5.” Mild spoilers for the series are ahead as a roomful of Doctor Who and B5 fans compare and contrast the two series and look back on a beloved moment in time … Continue reading Extra: “The Whovian Guide to Babylon 5” from Long Island Who →
This is possibly one of the best done-in-one episodes of B5: meaty, great sci-fi concept, cultural commentary, well directed and (mostly) acted, psychological drama, and a surprising amount of fodder for the spoiler section. And because someone dies horribly in it, that means it’s time for that cheery soul Jason Snell to join us again!
This is the trail mix of Babylon 5 episodes: a little chunk of plot here, a chewy nugget of insight here, a scattering of tasty character development, and an A-plot that doesn’t really hold everything together. Which is why it’s a trail mix and not an energy bar. And now Chip’s hungry.
THESE ARE CHAOTIC TIMES, CAPTAIN! This is NYPD BLUE in Space, listeners! And it turned out better than we expected–although we were all looking forward to watching the famous Elevator Scene again…
New season! New ship! New title sequence! New characters! Babylon 5 takes an assured step forward as Captain Sheridan and Delenn take the fight to the Shadows, while Morden’s malign influence spreads to the capitals of Centauri Prime and…Earth. How do we celebrate this momentous episode? With another stupid song parody. “White Star (A Babylon … Continue reading Episode 45: “Matters of Honor” →
The second season finale ends with a bang (alas, Centauri warship; alas, core shuttle) and a whimper (alas, kind of, Keffer). How does “The Fall of Night” do in wrapping up a season and whetting the appetite for season three? Let’s ask our returning Control Group!
The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 welcomes Lynne and Michael Damian Thomas of Uncanny Magazine and numerous SF podcasts to talk about “Comes the Inquisitor”! As you might expect, the five of us go on at great length about whether a Creepy Victorian Antagonist makes this too Star Trekky an episode, a pivotal elevator scene, the … Continue reading Episode 43: “Comes the Inquisitor” →
The Narn-Centauri war comes to a shocking end, Draal gets a makeover, and John Sheridan takes a shower. Pretty routine episode, if you ask me.
For a couple of years now, those of us who have seen the entire run of the series have waited for this moment: “What did Steven think of what happened to Talia Winters?” Sadly, Steven couldn’t join us for this one, but our intrepid moderator Erika reports on the Control Group’s reaction (heh, I just … Continue reading Episode 41: “Divided Loyalties” →
Jason Snell rejoins us, which means we have a better than 50-50 chance of this being a really depressing episode. Many Markab died to bring you this podcast. Plus, in the spoiler section, Chip uses the words “arc,” “crucible” and “stealth” in completely nonsensical order.
So perhaps you’d like to know what a good chunk of this TV series is all about. RELEASE THE FLOODGATES. (Apologies for a few audio glitches in Shannon’s track.)
Well, we didn’t hate it. “Knives” is a return to the A-plot/B-plot style of which we saw so much in Season 1. Could either plot have carried an episode on its own? How stunningly effective was the Prime Time Entertainment Network’s trailer? How do you pronounce “Knives”? And what element led Chip to splutter, “It’s … Continue reading Episode 38: “Knives” →
We interrupt this program to bring you a show within a show! How novel! But does “And Now for a Word” hold up as a projection of future journalism? Does it advance the story arc? Is it a good introduction to B5 itself? And how about that lovely video transfer?
Sheridan’s framed for murder, Londo’s symbolically cast…in a bad light, Vir’s about to be cast from the station, a new Deep Space Franchise is born, and Lennier’s got family trouble. Just another typical day on Babylon 5!
Hunter, comma, Prey. Your humble hosts pretty much agree that this is not only a good episode, it’s the first episode of Babylon 5 that is purely arc-driven: it’s all about what came before and sets up what is to come. Let’s talk about conspiracies, singing ships and hapless doctors!
The long-awaited Ivanova Dance edition of B5AG is here! Did anything else happen in this episode? As a matter of fact, quite a lot. Weep for G’Kar. Curse Londo. Snicker with Taq. Boom. Shubba-lubba. And, as always, don’t miss our spoiler and non-spoiler discussion threads!
This is possibly a first in Babylon 5 history: the B5AG crew cites Ross Perot in an otherwise serious critical analysis. Meanwhile, Captain Sheridan is all alone in the night, Delenn is all alone in the night, a pilot whose call sign may as well have been “Dead Meat” is all alone in the night, and … Continue reading Episode 33: “All Alone in the Night” →
Paul Winfield comes onto the station as General Richard Franklin (no relation to the Doctor Who actor, sorry) and brings 25,000 ground pounders with him as, one episode after the Narn-Centauri war began, our favorite space U.N. quickly takes on a decidedly military tone. Is “GROPOS” underrated? Were you squirming in your seats at Garibaldi and … Continue reading Episode 32: “GROPOS” →
In every story worth its salt, there’s at least one pivot point. We’ve already had a couple in Babylon 5. This one won a Hugo. That made it a perfect time for our Control Group, Steven Schapansky of Radio Free Skaro and Lazy Doctor Who, to come back once more. “He said…pick a target.”
Does the love quadrangle drive your three co-hosts to delight or delirium? Talia is given a chance to escape her destiny with the Psi-Corps, but is her reunion with her ex a dream or a date with destruction? Don’t despair: The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 is taking on “Soul Mates”!
It’s the most pivotal turning point (wait, that’s redundant) yet for Talia Winters, as an underground band of telepaths forces her to face the truth about PsiCorps. All this, a dinner date, Ivanova managing to somehow not kill her commanding officer from his couch, and Bester, too: it’s “A Race Through Dark Places.”
Talia Winters…is back! San Diego…is a wasteland! John Sheridan is…a truther? (Absolutely not!) And there’s something sinister lurking within the station–an eponymous spider…in the web… (Note that we had some audio issues with this recording–not too bad, but a little off our preferred standard. Zathras apologizes.)
Guest actor Dwight Schultz is more tortured than “Howlin'” in his turn as a former soldier grappling with ghosts in his head and an invisible stalker who likes to snack on human organs. Meanwhile, Dr. Franklin needs to revisit his medical ethics training and a cryogenically suspended visitor from another century is most emphatically not Buck … Continue reading Episode 27: “The Long Dark” →
Does Babylon 5 have a footwear agenda? Does Delenn need to pick up a copy of Leadership Lessons for the Newly Follicled? And how about that happy-go-lucky Captain Sheridan who has taken to gnawing his executive staff’s heads off? It’s just another day in hyperspace for the calm, collected crew of the EAS Cortez. (No it’s not … Continue reading Episode 26: “A Distant Star” →
The most bitter, vividly remembered conflict in all of Babylon 5 history is barely contained in “The Geometry of Shadows”! But in the cold light of reason, are the Drazi color wars actually entertaining or does the memory cheat? Plus, in Spoiler Space, Chip monologues like no one’s business (or, alternatively, like no one’s listening) on Technomages. … Continue reading Episode 25: “The Geometry of Shadows” →
Revealed! The fate of G’Kar! Revealed! The fate of Delenn! Revealed! The fate of Garibaldi! Revealed! The fate of the Guy What Shot Garibaldi! Yeah, not much happens in this one.
