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Comment by dsr_ | Hacker News Reader

I selectively rewatched B5 this summer with one of my kids, who had never seen it before.

It holds up very well, actually, once he got past the blocky CGI. The characterization is wonderful, the plotting ridiculously tight -- episodes that look like they are just Monster of the Week filler are not; a few episodes are clearly setting up something Big and then just barely get referenced.

The growth in G'Kar and Vir is amazing; the relationship between G'Kar and Londo legendary.

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Londo's arc by itself is remarkable, walking a tightrope between comic relief and villain and sympathetic protagonist. And it all works, it's never trite or forced. He's a great character because he's all those things in different mixes, and you understand him and his changes.

Lots of genre fiction has broadly similar characters, but I nearly always hate them, and I love Londo.

I think that part of what keeps Londo sympathetic is that, for all that he makes terrible choices and goes to some dark places, he's not doing it from self-interest. He wants to do what's best for his people.

In a weird parallel with a later highly-regarded genre character, he actually has a lot of similarities with Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender. Particularly in the whole arc of rejected chances to do the right thing.

I did a full rewatch this year. Including some of the obscure feature films.

The series is incredible. I agree with all your comments, but will also add that B5 is probably the best well told time travel story I've ever seen.

The tight plotting is, in a sense, something that makes it difficult to recommend to people these days. Because there really are some clunky episodes, particularly early on, but they all have something important going on, even if just in the C plot, so you can't easily give someone a simple list of must-watch episodes.

...and episodes like Severed Dreams or And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place just don't land the same way if you've missed those character moments or buildup.

Vir was a kicked puppy most of the time, ended up with solid steel cojones, somehow still looking like a kicked puppy. When he tells Morden how he wants to see his head on a pike and wave is just a jaw dropping moment. I really enjoyed the series arc. In many sci fi series I find the spicy characters get bland over time as they eventually settle their differences, but B5 always kept that settling hairline-thin, especially between G'Kar and Londo.

If you read the books Vir also draw's a knife on G'Kar.

> G'Kar and Londo

Elevator scene:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwF5BBL26I

There are so many wonderful scenes between them, but that may be the best.

I'll always prefer visual effects that are somewhat realistic vs aeroplanes/boats in space that every non B5/Expanse show does

Expanse stands above for being realistic, in my mind. What about it did you dislike? The ships were well designed as far as space crawlers go, with central ladders instead of hallways, accurate acceleration effects, correct orbital mechanics, correct portrayal of vacuum and sound. I could go on. It was hard scifi.

He was referring to everything _except_ B5 and the Expanse.

> a few episodes are clearly setting up something Big and then just barely get referenced.

Usually because of cast availability -- Sinclair's girlfriend, f.ex. would have been caught on Z'ha'dum but the actor had to leave, so she was cut; the telepath switcharoo; etc

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