Brent Watches Day of the Dead - Babylon 5 For the First Time | 05x08 | Reaction
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Join Brent as he does his first watch of the Babylon 5 Season episode, "Day of the Dead." In this one, G'kar goes camping, Lennier gets a look at his future, we get some insight into Lockley's past, and Penn and Teller try their hardest to disappear, but can't. So join Brent as he dives into his first watch of this episode.
And be sure to catch our main show, Babylon 5: For the First Time, when Brent is joined by Jeff to take a deep dive into the episode, searching for those Star Trek-like messages, and seeing if they should have watched it sooner. New Episodes drop on Mondays.
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My biggest regret of Claudia leaving the show is that we never got Talia in "Day of the Dead"
The joke about reebo and zooty not being funny is very clever.
If i say a joke punchline from Monty Python or Steve Martin, you'd laugh but someone 200 years ago someone would look at you like youre mad.
But thats the point, they had a whole public career we dont know about so of course we dont get the joke but everyone there does.
I do like the idea of Shakespeare watching the Dead Parrot sketch. I think he would find it funny, honestly.
I love the fact that Lochley is confused by Kosh's message, but Sheridan just nods and is like "got it, ok!"
And we are too. We're all like "Yep, that's Kosh."
one of the strengths of JMS's writing is that he doesn't just write nebulous bullshit to sound mysterious. it actually means something if you have all the relevant information. for lochley it's nebulous bullshit cuz she doesn't know that sheridan is fated to die in 20 years, or that the end of the shadow war was a new beginning for the younger races. like the president i knew exactly what kosh meant when this first aired.
Of note; this ep was written by Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Good Omens), breaking JMS's long writting streak on the series.
If I recall correctly Penn Juliette publicly praised Babylon 5 as a show to watch, which prompted an invitation as a guest to the show. As for the strange shift in tone, you could attribute to the unseen celebrity who wrote it, Neil Gaiman. It was the only episode he wrote for the series.
And the only episode in the last three seasons not written by the Great Creator, JMS.
@@duaneswab3420 If memory serves, JMS wrote all but about a dozen of the total 110 or so episodes. Most written by others would be first and second seasons until JMS got into his groove. It was nice to see a couple of Trek TOS alumni in the mix with David Gerrold and D.C. Fontana.
I do enjoy this episode for what it is, which is definitely a weird-ass story.
I do love how the Brikiri accomplish putting part of the station in their solar system is never really explained, since they do not seem to be especially more technologically advanced than the other younger civilizations in the show.
Poor Dodger, comes back from the dead and still cannot get some from Garibaldi.
Their not really strong tech wise, their more like B5's version of the Ferengi, as well known trader race and super capitalists... even their huge green ships are from the side cannon (lore not weapons) super multi purpose and arent really that strong even compared to people like the Drazi... but they got some interesting parts to them culture wise... I like the mystery personally.
Always liked the Brakiri and it was nice to see something more from them.
I like that the deeply spiritual Minbari's humour essentially boils down to puns and double entendres
My understanding is Penn & Teller were in this episode because they liked B5.
As for Lennier, apparently Bill Mumy found the makeup process arduous, and stayed on a 13-episode per season contract because of it.
Zooty, Zoot, Zoot!
I once would have described season 5 pretty literally as the extension of a series that was supposed to have been wrapped up, past its wrap-up. But later re-watches have changed me to figuring that the way it worked out, with the kinds of episodes season 5 gave us, is more like a whole new series struggling through its first season.
For a long time since the end of season 2, this is the first episode which was *not* written by JMS, but by Neil Gaiman.
One of my favorite episodes of season 5
This is one of my favorite from S5. The guest stars and character development for Lochley are great.
Yeah, this one's weird. But it does do some good work for the series. You mentioned Lennier & Morden. I think this also fills out Lochley more. She's more in control now because once she was very out of control. Be curious to hear both your reactions to this one.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! It's great to hear how different characters evolve.
The 65 fish! 🤣
In all seriousness, I liked this episode a lot, it did a few things. For Lennier, it said to him to beware of what you wish for, you may get it. Garabaldi and Londo, a chance to say goodbye properly. I also liked the discussion on racial humor. I find it interesting and disturbing that humor is based on pain.
This was one I realy was waiting for to see how they react.
This is my favorite episode of the entire series.
I'm amazed that Brent doesn't comment on this being written by Neil Gaiman, the only episode in 3 years not written by JMS.
Hang in there. It really does get better after another few episodes
This is a great episode! :)
I like this episode, the only one in seasons 3,4,5 not writen by JMS, but by Neil Gaiman.
What they said in this episode about only seeing a joke as a joke, and serious looking things only seriously, reminds me of a Danish 20th century poet/philosopher Piet Hein who said that, in essence in one of his short poems.
Be seeing you!
The way you feel about Byron is how I felt about Vic Fountain in Deep Space Nine. It actually made me stop watching the show... I could not stand his character and they kept including him in everything!
That was R. Berman's Rat Pack love fest and he failed to capture the rat pack vibe.
Consider the themes of the weird, dark, fun episode. Consider that this perspective on comedy and just general perspective is applicable to so much, including where the show is going. It's about outcomes, posthumous and otherwise. It's about the end of the series and the long arc of lives/life. I won't say it's a favorite episode of mine, but I will say it's way better than the Byron arc. And it absolutely fits with several other season five episodes about the big picture and looking at our small lives in the grand scheme.
Brent, check out the opening credits.
There's the STARRING section: Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan, Jerry Doyle. They're hired to do all 22 episodes of the season.
Then there's the ALSO STARRING section, where Bill Mumy is. Those actors appear in fewer episodes. I believe they were hired for 13 and paid for 13, but weren't necessarily in 13 episodes.
So no, Bill Mumy is not a guest star, he's a season regular in a secondary capacity.
Incorrect: Jurasik and Katsulas are in only 13 episodes each in S1 with the same WITH credit. The credit placement is part of contract negotiations, as is number of episodes, but they are not related. In S5, TNT actually tightened the budget and B5 had to cut costs, which meant several actors who had been on a 22 episode contract for S4 dropped back to S5. Episode production was also cut by one day (so if S4 had six days to film an episode, S5 had only five). JMS claimed they could pull it off, but it seems likely that some of the poorer performances in S5 could have been improved with that extra time. Hard to say.
@@davidainsworth6685 Reread my comment. I specifically stated it wasn't the case from the start, as you pointed out.
In any event, I'll edit out the part about them, because it's really not relevant for the point I'm trying to make.
This is definitely a weird little episode, and some hate it, some love it. It was directed by Neil Gaiman. Penn and Teller play the comedy duo Rebo and Zooty, but we the audience do not understand why everyone finds them to be funny. They're funny because everyone knows them, and there are inside jokes we the audience do not understand, because we've never seen their shows. But they're professionals at it, they know how to make almost anyone laugh. Londo who hated them started enjoying their jokes after talking to them a little. It's like those old comedies, from like the 16th century or something, we nowadays don't understand all the jokes from that time, what the context is. Same here but for the future. We do not know what the context is for all the jokes, but we know it's a classic. But if you don't like their jokes, hey, there's Lochley who also doesn't like their jokes. We're connecting with Lochley in this episode a lot. Feeling what she feels, both about Rebo and Zooty and the Day of the Dead. She saw her best friend, who committed suicide, and Tracy Scoggins does an amazing job playing a reaction to that. Honestly, I have no idea what you and Jeff are gonna discuss about this episode. I feel like it's more of a joy on the rewatches, to really feel all the nuances and inside jokes, but for a first time it's incredibly weird. I personally always look forward to this episode in season 5, but it's more because it's a niche episode, not one of the peaks.
It's not meant to be a mystery why everyone finds them funny. Lockley's direction was: the way women watch men laughing at the Three Stooges. Humor is subjective and some people (like Brent) just don't get some flavors.
It was written by, not directed by, Neil Gaiman.
@@cutthr0atjake my mistake. You're right.
Ond of my favourite episodes. A chance for different people to have a chance to amend or to learn. Also about the differences that cultures have in their approach to understanding. Amazing stuff. I also see a connection between the humour being a personal experience based on what we have lived and also each persons experience being personal to them to those trapped in the alternate space, so a nice link and cross over. Trouble I think for Brent is you are watching this through a very different world to what we watched back then. We have the impact of nothing like this back when this first came out including all the internet noise too. Everything was fresh and new. Probably partly why every episode holds something special to me to this day.
Zooty!!! Surprise guest appearances! Fun episode, one of the few in Season 5.
This episode is an attempt at B5 expanded universe with a spinoff featuring Ribo and Zooti
Cards on the table. I've never re-watched series 5 until now. This was one of many episodes that annoyed me at the time. Actually, watching it again now, I enjoyed it much more, in contrast to the Byron stuff which is still annoying. Once you get where (and who) this one is coming from, it's actually quite fun. I think the only problem is that it fails to stick the ending. This is something that is a bit of a running theme for Gaiman, in my opinion. Great ideas, less sense of direction.
Except the final episode. Which originally was the final episode of season 4, and then a whole season was squeezed in.
Name is David, into magic and lives in Vegas....hmmm....Copperfield?
I said, I can't say his last name....::wink::
@@Babylon5FortheFirstTime He who must not be named
will you also be watching the Babylon 5 movies?
We will, after the series proper.
Nice to see a more positive reaction compared to Megas... somehow he disliked this one big time, for some reason.
This was always one of my favorite episodes of the show personally (its weird learning from alot of comments its more disliked than liked by people, since it wasnt that way back in the early days, so no idea why the attitude towards this ones shifted so much in the last few decades), its not all that weird honestly, just a break from the main story with some insight into some characters and species customs.
It is what it is, and thats all it really needs to be... sometimes a cigar, is just a cigar.
weird because it was guest written by Neil Gaiman. hang in there on the episodes, probably renew patron subscription in may :)
Neil Gaiman saving season 5 single handedly.
Yeah, the first half of season 5 is a rough patch. They had to stretch out ideas that were supposed to be subplots, and make some stand-alone episodes (this episode being a clear front runner of those), to fill screen time because they crammed the end of the Earth Civil War and the founding of the ISA into the end of season 4. And Byron was a poorly executed character to try to hang so much weight on. In a few episodes things do pick up as they get the narrative back on track moving towards the end of the series.
First half of the season is rough. There is some good in it, but I think if it were edited so it was half as many episodes going over things, it would have worked better. I like the ideas, just the execution is too drawn out.
This episode and a view from the gallery are my two favorite season 5 episodes. That alone should tell you the quality of season 5 overall. I think they were breaks from the monotony of Byron.
Just the fact this didn't have Byron in it…
This episode is a great microcosm of season 5.
Wasted potential Pen and Teller.
Needing to see two awesome characters interact. Lenner and Mordian
And well spoilers on my thoughts with the others ... Let's just say signs and portents done badly.
On the plus minimum Byron. So plus.
Ow and this is one of only like three episodes of this season I really like overall.
I also liked this episode. I have been concerned about the feeling of the wind going out of the sails. UPN didn't do Babylon 5 any favors by cancelling it during Season 4's run, while the show was still being written. So you got what was supposed to take us through the middle of Season 5 (the Earth Civil War was supposed to end around episode 8-10 of Season 5, IIRC.) There was more story to tell, but what was supposed to fill the last 12-14 episodes of the Season had to be expanded to fill an extra 8-10 episodes that kinda just needed to be filled.
It's the nature of the beast. It's even worse today with shows being cancelled without warning after seasons are over, while future seasons are being written, never to be seen. Star Trek: Prodigy had the full season written, voiced, and animated, and it got cancelled rather than being broadcast; I don't get that. (It was picked up by Netflix apparently, if I'm recalling correctly.)
Anyway, without spoilers, I think just knuckle it out. It'll get better.
Definitely. We didn't get this far to drop off now.
PTEN, not UPN and it wasn't as much cancelled as the whole PTEN network of syndicated shows was now gone.
@@kevindean0000 Right. I always get the two confused. UPN was one of the networks that destroyed PTEN (in part because one of the PTEN partners pulled out to focus on UPN instead), so it gets some of the blame for Babylon 5's false cancellation.
This episode was written by Neil Gaiman. That is why it is weird. If you know Gaiman you know he never does anything in a normal way. JMS was a comic book writer too so some of his guest writers were comic book writers at the time.
This is one episode I skip on every rewatch. The stunt casting annoys me too much to enjoy it. Compared to Byron, vanilla may seem exotic, but this episode is my least favourite of the entire series.
Oh wicked, bad, naughty evil Zoot!
She must be spanked!
I always quite liked this episode. One of the better ones from the first half of S5. Certainly better than the Byron snoozefest.
One thing this episode is meant to be is an expression on the fact that comedy is difficult to get beyond the culture it is found in; we would not find the same things funny as those in the past did, and so it is meant to show the future will have a different sense of humor.
Rebo and Zooty are intentionally written this way. You the viewer are part of the group that 'doesn't get it'. We all know that artist or group that everyone loves but we don't see what the appeal is. Here, JMS it putting you into that role, where everyone finds Rebo & Zooty hilarious and you don't find it funny at all.
As mentioned, this was written by Neil Gaiman (who JMS named the Gaim race after him)
This episode was written by Neil Gaiman and not JMS.
The first episode for a long time since the end of season 2 not written by JMS.
@@Nikioko Yep. Specifically, the first since "Knives".
On All Souls' Day, in my culture, we go to the graves of our loved ones, soldiers, and famous people from our history. We light dozens of candles that burn long into the night. Of course, religious ceremonies take place on this day in cemeteries.
At night, we visit cemeteries again to admire the view of thousands of burning candles and candles on the graves of our compatriots. Millions of lights are lit in thousands of cemeteries throughout Poland.
"I'm not gonna tell you my friend David's full name 'cause he didn't say I could put it out there, but he started the first and, to this day, biggest website for selling brass knuckles". Fortunately there's nothing ridiculously specific in that statement that somebody could use to figure out who he is.
you would have to work quite hard though, lots of websites selling brass knuckles and loads of people named David.
"Why does each person get the person they got?"
Because Neil Gaiman thought it would be cool. That was essentially it.
Zoot Zoot 65 for life!
I too love Penn and Teller, and they are most welcome as guest stars. I just wish this episode had given them more to do, and some funnier material.
I liked the concept behind them, with them having studied and researched the different ways that different species view and experience humor. It was a nice nod to the very real likelihood that if we ever did encounter alien species, their culture would likely be SO alien to us that even certain concepts that we feel as universal would likely be almost incomprehensible to us.
Neil Gaiman is an award-winning sci-fi author and his material.... is mind stretching. That's what you saw here. Many fans dislike this episode but I think it's one of the best.
This is the first episode not written by JMS since Knives in season 2, so the change of tone shouldn't be a big surprise.
The end of the beginning is known only to two people in the show. I wont spoil it, but its mentioned after an event.
Oh, my Kosh 🤩🤩🤩🤩 now I remember... but no spoilers 😉
Was this vid shorter than usual? I think Neil Gaiman was supposed to have written an episode already much earlier, but he was too busy, and was only able to do it this season. This is one if the best episodes of the season, although maybe I would have prefered Penn & Teller to appear in different episode, so half of this Gaiman ep wouldn't have been "wasted" on them.
These videos are generally around 15 minutes. But sometimes the episode and the reaction requires it to be longer. Sometimes shorter. We try to let the show itself dictate the length
As both JMS and Penn Jillette are staunch atheists, they probably met through the skeptics community
It is a great episode.
It helps to be aware of ADCs in-general (that's After-Death-Communications) and their extreme common-ness. There's pretty decent sociological research done on the topic mostly focused in Europe. Somewhere between 20% and 30% of persons between the ages of 40 and 80 report having had some kind of ADC. Prevalence isn't limited by faith-tradition (and Europe, where we have the best stats, is pretty secular compared to the world-at-large). The type of ADC varies widely, from otherwise unexplained smells (unique pipe-tobacco or cologne, for example) suggestive of the departed person's presence, to disembodied voices, to actual visible or tangible apparitions. A small minority (~5%) involve conveying "veridical" information (i.e., information that the dead person would have a reason to know, but which the living person experiencing the ADC had no ability to know, and which was verified thereafter, and which was too specific to be purely-by-chance guessing).
There are some fun studies out there, worth reading.
Anyway, it's fun to watch this episode if you're aware how commonplace this kind of thing is! ...but it isn't normally triggered by weird real-estate arrangements. 🤣
It was written by Sandman author Neil Gaimon, so expect strangeness.
Season 5 does get better, but yeah. The first half is rough.
Lennier got the poo end of the stick here lol.
It should have been Marcus. I can only assume he wasn’t available.
@@sdfried4877He (Jason Carter) was not; that was why they used Morden (Ed Wasser). Marcus would have been the proper foil to prod Lennier about unrequited love and duty.
@@stuartwald2395 Unlike Morden, who couldn’t care less, Marcus would have been hard to face. He also betrayed his oath when he deserted Sheridan’s forces for love.
Penn and Teller?, you mean Rebo and Zootie