The high standards achieved by 'Babylon 5' are well exemplified in this truly exceptional concluding episode of Series 4. Writing, production and acting at this level are a standing reproach to the expensive drivel of the new 'Star Trek: Discovery.' The difference is fundamentally one of maturity: The earlier sci-fi epic is grown-up drama, while the current one has regressed the genre on TV to the level of excitable adolescents, infatuated with shiny toys, and carelessly killing off or giving out-of-character words and deeds to un-formed, unreal persons as unstable and undecided as themselves. 'Star Trek Discovery' is a parody of science fiction, and of drama. 'Babylon 5' is an enduring classic of the genre, and one of the finest - possibly THE finest - of all long-form dramas. I doubt that even the magnificent reboot of 'Battlestar Galactica' can quite match it for sheer heroic grandeur.
I know there will be those who place the cult that is the 'Star Wars' franchise above all of these in the sci-fi firmament. I cannot criticise these films myself, since I early developed an instinctive aversion to that saga. But I suspect that if I did bother to expose myself to the entire length of 'Star Wars' I would only end up arriving at the very same negative judgement on the subject as that made by a senior member of 'sciforums.com', writing under the very apt moniker 'Killjoy' in 2005.
I hope this person does not mind my quoting their view, as follows:
' - - - my vote goes to Babylon 5 for it's dealing with moral dilemmas more intricate than the nigh-infantile level of Star Wars, better character development, (and) a better plotline - - -'
The dire 'Star Trek: Discovery' has already widely been derided as closer to this juvenile 'Star Wars' universe, than to the far deeper and more interesting
constellation it has both radically departed from, and parodied.
There have been many fine sci-fi sagas on TV, such as 'Farscape' (startlingly inventive, with fully-characterised alien beings), 'The Invaders' (producing some of the same paranoia as cinema's 'The Body Snatchers,' but developing a fascinating underground politics of resistance), 'Earth, Final Conflict' (with its aliens often more sympathetic than the humans, and portrayed as more tragic than diabolically evil, as well as having an interesting 'ancient aliens' back-story rooted in Celtic mythology), and 'Star Gate 1' (which, unlike the camp original series of 'Battlestar Galactica,' managed the imaginative feat of making spacefaring Ancient Egyptians seem believable, through sheer good writing!). And all of the 'Star Trek' family - before the misbegotten 'Discovery' - had episodes of real distinction (though they became rather too cosy, which may be what tempted the makers of 'Discovery' to go for edgy, the only drawback being it turns out they couldn't write to save their lives!).
Charles Chilton's original radio sci-fi for the BBC, his 'Journey Into Space' serials, and their sequel, 'Space Force.' are quaintly dated and therefore cannot be expected to compete with the more modern speculative imaginings for visual media, although they are nevertheless very effective adventures in the genre, and can still be appreciated as a well crafted 'alternative reality' for the medium of radio. They certainly annoy me less than the too-often whimsical 'Lost In Space' type of surreal 'science-fantasy' seen in the 'Doctor Who' canon , but I wouldn't want to deny that this long-lived BBC children's series did produce a number of fine dramas over the years, but mostly it was a sort of cosmic fairy-tale with little dramatic heft.
The great Nigel Kneale's work for TV, The 'Quatermass' Trilogy, and the truly Lovecraftian Horror-Sci-Fi story 'The Stone Tapes', is of legendary reputation, and is, in terms of consistent excellence, probably unmatched. Kneale was lucky to find his home at the BBC, a public service broadcaster that tended, once any writer had an idea green lit for production, to keep faith with their creative talents. By contrast, Straczynski, writing 'Babylon 5' for Warner, suffered the production interference typical of financially nervous big American studios. However, to their credit Warner did not cancel the slow-burn first series, and also later relented on cancellation after the fourth to allow a final series. But when unhindered by such restrictions, and also working at peak inspiration in the later series, Straczinsky is at his best and creates scene after scene as magnificently realised, as full of convincing characters and as compelling and memorable as anything in Nigel Kneale's opus. Probably, though, Straczynski has the edge because of his deep, abiding commitment to a moral universe: 'Babylon 5' seems at times almost like a re-imagined version of Milton's metaphysical literary epic-in-outer-space, 'Paradise Lost.'
To my mind, none of the actual science-fiction discussed comes close to the sublime operatic grandeur envisaged in 'Babylon 5' - of which, as I say, this episode is a towering example. We are lucky indeed that the entire saga is available now on DVD.
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