15 November 2006

Thursday Thirteen

I realise it is not Thursday yet, but it is in Australia and the Pacific Rim, so I must be channeling blogs from over there (and it is one of my favorite places on earth, sooo..). Anyway, I decided to participate in this exercise and put off posting some depressing war-related poem... I can do that any old time :) So now, I give you 13 reasons Babylon 5 is better than Star Trek. Just a quick note to the Trekkers: I am also a Trek fan, so don't get all twisted by this... just in the name of good fun and logical conclusions.

1. Plot, Babylon 5 had an actual story arc instead of self-contained episodes. (and we won't get into the convenient story arc Deep Space 9 manifested not long after B5 aired)
2. Shadows are far cooler than the Dominion.
3. Vorlons are far cooler and more enigmatic than say, Tholians and less annoying than Q's.
4. Some of the technological leaps are actually possible in 200 years, unlike, say teleportation.
5. Alfred Bester... wait, he was Chekov too.. hmm. But he's much cooler as Bester.
6. Purple vs. Green (if you've seen the episode you understand :)
7. Technomages.
8. Z'ha'Dum... one of the coolest, evil planets ever.
9. Star Trek: Voyager
10. Sleeping In Light... a much better send off than Enterprise.
11. A whole fleet of White Stars (how many Defiants showed up... not near as many :)
12. Vorlon Planet Killers and Shadow Death Clouds.
13. G'kar (may he rest in peace).

I hope I haven't confused too many people for not as many know about the goodness of Babylon 5. And in the interest of fairness, I will reciprocate for the Trekkers next week (assuming Thanksgiving festivities allow it.)

C.

13 comments:

Girlie said...

I've never seen Babylon 5. I wanted to, but that guy with a gold coin on his head...I can't get past him. So I watch Battlestar Gallactica...or my husband watches while I sit and read next to him.

I'm more the Grey's Anatomy type. :)

Great list, even if I didn't get most of it. I do know that word "Star Trek!"

Knitting Maniac said...

Dude... Battlestar FANATIC here ... so I haven't seen Babylon 5 yet.

Thanks for stopping by the TT!

jedimerc said...

Thanks y'all for stopping by, and I am a BSG fan myself, both old and new, but I grew up with B5 and Star Trek (ok, well I was an adult when B5 came out but...), and they have the most obvious comparisons :)

Natsthename said...

I never watched Babylon 5, so I can't agree or disagree. BUT, I do watch Battlestar Galactica, and I'd love to see that comparison. IMHO, Battlestar would kick ass.

jedimerc said...

Ah, BSG fans just jumping out of the woodwork, lol :) Tell you what, next week I will compare the old BSG vs. the new BSG. But it does kick some major ass compared to Star Trek... from a plot perspective, I think it falls a little short on B5, but not by much. What really helps BSG is the acting... very superior performances so far.

Lyndon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lyndon said...

I tried watching Babylon 5, but I could never really get into it.

Strange because it was written by one of my favorite writers, J. Michael Straczynski.

jedimerc said...

He's written some great stuff aside from B5: I really liked his work on Spider-Man and his current run on the Fantastic Four. I will say, the 1st season of B5 is tough to get into, but once season 2 got rolling I could not stop watching :)

Anonymous said...

Hehe, I haven't seen it. I think it would be right up my alley though. It's on my list :)

Janet said...

I'm sorry but all Babylon 5 related posts are just babbling to me.:(

jedimerc said...

kristarella: B5 should be on everyone's list :)

janet: That's ok, most posts related to Grey's Anatomy, Lost or Desperate Housewives all sound the same to me as well :) (about the only show on ABC I like is Boston Legal)

Becky said...

I don't watch either, so I'll have to take your word for it:)

jedimerc said...

Ah, I'm just nerding out. I will probably throw out a similar comparison for Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Trek, or Battlestar (new vs. old).