It's the dawn of the third age of mankind. It's 2257 and it's the last of the Babylon stations deep in neutral space. It's a port of call for a variety of alien species. Jeffrey Sinclair is the commander. He's still haunted by the Battle of the Line. The remaining Earth forces were gathered in a final battle against the Minbari. Despite destroying most of the remaining Earth forces, the Minbari surrendered without explanation. Laurel Takashima is the second in command. Lyta Alexander is the newly arrived telepath. Michael Garibaldi is the security chief. Delenn is a Minbari. Humans made first contact with the Centauri. The Narn do not like the Centauri after overthrowing their enslavement. The Vorlons are a mysterious powerful race and their ambassador Kosh Naranek is the last to arrive. Kosh is poisoned and Sinclair is blamed.
I was never a big Babylon 5 fan although I stayed with it for long stretches. It always seemed to me to be a slightly inferior Deep Space Nine. It doesn't help that it came out slightly after DS9. It felt always a step behind. The best idea from the pilot is the Battle of the Line. I found that battle to be mysterious, poetic, and full of possibilities. This pilot movie is a lot of expositions with a functional TV story. It holds the promise of a solid sci-fi TV show although it's not something extraordinary. Second season lead Bruce Boxleitner is superior to Michael O'Hare although I wish they kept Tamlyn Tomita around. I have nothing against Claudia Christian, and I can certainly understand the complexity of contracts and TV casting.
I was never a big Babylon 5 fan although I stayed with it for long stretches. It always seemed to me to be a slightly inferior Deep Space Nine. It doesn't help that it came out slightly after DS9. It felt always a step behind. The best idea from the pilot is the Battle of the Line. I found that battle to be mysterious, poetic, and full of possibilities. This pilot movie is a lot of expositions with a functional TV story. It holds the promise of a solid sci-fi TV show although it's not something extraordinary. Second season lead Bruce Boxleitner is superior to Michael O'Hare although I wish they kept Tamlyn Tomita around. I have nothing against Claudia Christian, and I can certainly understand the complexity of contracts and TV casting.