Season 4 - No Surrender, No Retreat
Aug. 23rd, 2009 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyLast night I finished season 4.
So how was season 4 (No Surrender, No Retreat)?
Season 4 is better than I remembered, but not as good as seasons 2 or 3. I never liked Lorien or the end of the Shadow War. I was very disappointed with how little Ivanova it contained as well. Also, it held fewer "twist" elements than earlier episodes. Admittedly, as the series approaches the end, this is hardly surprising, but still something of a shame. Also, Sheridan's manipulation of others is real irritating in the middle.
Characterwise, no new main cast, although Zack and Lyta are both now in the title sequence. On the occasional characters - Bester (of course), Neroon and Lise are all very welcome. Pity that the monks never make a reappearance.
Season 4 does have its moments. I liked the assassination of Emperor Cartagia by Vir and I liked Neroon's entire sequence. The ships that Ivanova faces in Between the Darkness and the Light are beautifully designed (and unexpected), and the very gentle romance between Zack and Lyta was a lovely touch. Also, the tragic love affair and ending of Marcus and Ivanova was, perhaps, the finest part of the season. It had me in tears and I cared about it in a way I just didn't with Sheridan and Delenn.
There is one worthless episodes in season 4 - namely Intersections in Real Time (aka Sheridan's torture episode) and I just couldn't bring myself to watch it again. So I skipped it out and simply didn't miss it (there's enough of Sheridan's treatment in the two episodes around it to more than give a detailed picture of what's going on).
On the "not so good" episodes, my nominations are:
I don't own season 5 (because it sucks), so that's the end of my B5 watching.
So how was season 4 (No Surrender, No Retreat)?
Season 4 is better than I remembered, but not as good as seasons 2 or 3. I never liked Lorien or the end of the Shadow War. I was very disappointed with how little Ivanova it contained as well. Also, it held fewer "twist" elements than earlier episodes. Admittedly, as the series approaches the end, this is hardly surprising, but still something of a shame. Also, Sheridan's manipulation of others is real irritating in the middle.
Characterwise, no new main cast, although Zack and Lyta are both now in the title sequence. On the occasional characters - Bester (of course), Neroon and Lise are all very welcome. Pity that the monks never make a reappearance.
Season 4 does have its moments. I liked the assassination of Emperor Cartagia by Vir and I liked Neroon's entire sequence. The ships that Ivanova faces in Between the Darkness and the Light are beautifully designed (and unexpected), and the very gentle romance between Zack and Lyta was a lovely touch. Also, the tragic love affair and ending of Marcus and Ivanova was, perhaps, the finest part of the season. It had me in tears and I cared about it in a way I just didn't with Sheridan and Delenn.
There is one worthless episodes in season 4 - namely Intersections in Real Time (aka Sheridan's torture episode) and I just couldn't bring myself to watch it again. So I skipped it out and simply didn't miss it (there's enough of Sheridan's treatment in the two episodes around it to more than give a detailed picture of what's going on).
On the "not so good" episodes, my nominations are:
- "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?" - It just doesn't contain much plot movement and has a lot of dull Lorien stuff.
- "The Illusion of Truth" - This is the Evil ISN episode and it's depressing and over-done.
- Rumors, Bargains and Lies - This is the episode where Sheridan tricks the League of Non-Aligned Worlds into agreeing to let the Rangers patrol their borders and it simply isn't believable. However, the other plotline, Neroon's presence saves this from ranking as awful.
- No Surrender, No Retreat - A very good first battle against Clark's forces.
- Into the Fire - This is the conclusion of the Shadow/Vorlon War, but it gets a nomination from me because of the stuff on Centauri Prime - Morden's death (and Vir's reaction), plus Londo ordering Vir to kill him to save the planet from the Vorlon fleet.
- Between the Darkness and the Light - Ivanova's disastrous command and Garibaldi's survival and rescue of Sheridan.
- Endgame - A good ending to the Earth War, plus Marcus' sacrifice.
- The Deconstruction of Falling Stars - I enjoyed this season end and felt, because of the "Vorlon" bit at the end, that it was a better ending than Sleeping in Light.
I don't own season 5 (because it sucks), so that's the end of my B5 watching.
