Please, blather all you like! I have only had a handful of B5 conversations in my life, due to (1) my being so new to it, and to LJ, plus (2) no-one here in Belgium seems to know the show, so you would have to try very hard to make me grow tired of talking about it! :)
Re: the final two seasons... Well, for me it was a little different, since I'd already been spoiled about much of it, and knew more or less how the Londo/G'Kar storyline would end. But I do understand what you mean, and would probably have felt the same way had I come to s5 unspoiled.
For one thing, I also think that JMS's choice of telling the story of Londo's and G'Kar's death in s3, before we even knew the context, or the history of their relationship, took away most of the impact of that moment. I've tried rewatching that episode (War Without End, it was), but even now that I know the context, that emotional sledgehammer that I was hoping for still didn't happen. What about you - have you reached that episode yet in your re-watch run?
On the other hand, Londo's and G'Kar's final moment at the end of s5, where G'Kar tells Londo that he can forgive him (though not the rest of his people), was everything I had hoped for, and more. I also knew that this would be their last scene together, so I just said my goodbye to them right then and there.
And how could Sheridan just leave without a goodbye to his own son?!
Hadn't even thought about that, but you're right - that sounds like a serious case of bad storytelling. On the other hand, I recall having read somewhere that JMS planned to do a follow-up on that storyline, in a spinoff maybe, but it just never happened.
Don't know if you're aware of this, but part of the story did make it on paper, in Peter David's "Legions of Fire" trilogy. This continues with the story immediately after Londo accepts the Keeper, up to the point where Vir succeeds him as emperor. It also touches upon the issue of David and the baby Keeper. I really enjoyed reading those books, though I wouldn't go so far as to praise them as masterpieces of writing (there's nothing but raving reviews about them on amazon, however, so I might be alone in that opinion). To me they felt a bit like they were written on autopilot, with some forced dialogue, a bit of a contrived plot sometimes, and so much Londo bashing that in the end I simply got immune to it (as in "Whoops, the Keeper is hurting him again. Oh, now he's down on the floor screaming in agony. Okay, can we just get this over with and move on with the story please?" :) ) They're of okay quality, though, and they really tie up a lot of dangling ends. So if, after your re-watch, you're still hip-deep in frustration, I'd recommend to pick up the trilogy. It helped for me, anyway! :-)
Re: (Here via hobsonphile)
Please, blather all you like! I have only had a handful of B5 conversations in my life, due to (1) my being so new to it, and to LJ, plus (2) no-one here in Belgium seems to know the show, so you would have to try very hard to make me grow tired of talking about it! :)
Re: the final two seasons... Well, for me it was a little different, since I'd already been spoiled about much of it, and knew more or less how the Londo/G'Kar storyline would end. But I do understand what you mean, and would probably have felt the same way had I come to s5 unspoiled.
For one thing, I also think that JMS's choice of telling the story of Londo's and G'Kar's death in s3, before we even knew the context, or the history of their relationship, took away most of the impact of that moment. I've tried rewatching that episode (War Without End, it was), but even now that I know the context, that emotional sledgehammer that I was hoping for still didn't happen. What about you - have you reached that episode yet in your re-watch run?
On the other hand, Londo's and G'Kar's final moment at the end of s5, where G'Kar tells Londo that he can forgive him (though not the rest of his people), was everything I had hoped for, and more. I also knew that this would be their last scene together, so I just said my goodbye to them right then and there.
And how could Sheridan just leave without a goodbye to his own son?!
Hadn't even thought about that, but you're right - that sounds like a serious case of bad storytelling. On the other hand, I recall having read somewhere that JMS planned to do a follow-up on that storyline, in a spinoff maybe, but it just never happened.
Don't know if you're aware of this, but part of the story did make it on paper, in Peter David's "Legions of Fire" trilogy. This continues with the story immediately after Londo accepts the Keeper, up to the point where Vir succeeds him as emperor. It also touches upon the issue of David and the baby Keeper. I really enjoyed reading those books, though I wouldn't go so far as to praise them as masterpieces of writing (there's nothing but raving reviews about them on amazon, however, so I might be alone in that opinion). To me they felt a bit like they were written on autopilot, with some forced dialogue, a bit of a contrived plot sometimes, and so much Londo bashing that in the end I simply got immune to it (as in "Whoops, the Keeper is hurting him again. Oh, now he's down on the floor screaming in agony. Okay, can we just get this over with and move on with the story please?" :) )
They're of okay quality, though, and they really tie up a lot of dangling ends. So if, after your re-watch, you're still hip-deep in frustration, I'd recommend to pick up the trilogy. It helped for me, anyway! :-)