Sleeping in Light 

Nearing the end of his 20 year life extension, Sheridan bids his farewells to all his friends and family, while the now obsolete Babylon 5 is prepared for decommissioning.

Director:

J. Michael Straczynski

Writers:

J. Michael Straczynski (created by), J. Michael Straczynski

Stars:

Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Boxleitner	...	President John Sheridan
Claudia Christian	...	Gen. Susan Ivanova
Jerry Doyle	...	Michael Garibaldi
Mira Furlan	...	Delenn
Richard Biggs	...	Dr. Stephen Franklin
Bill Mumy	...	Lennier (archive footage)
Jason Carter	...	Marcus Cole (archive footage)
Stephen Furst	...	Vir Cotto
Jeff Conaway	...	Zack Allan
Patricia Tallman	...	Lyta Alexander (archive footage)
Andreas Katsulas	...	G'Kar (archive footage)
Peter Jurasik	...	Londo Mollari (archive footage)
Wayne Alexander	...	Lorien
Romy Rosemont	...	Publicist
David Wells	...	Commander William Nils

Storyline

20 years after he visited Z'Ha'Dum, Sheridan knows his time is short and gathers his old comrades together. Afterwards he takes personalized White Star to Babylon 5 where it's going to be decommissioned shortly. The final leg of his journey takes him to Coriana 6 where they ended the Shadow War, and meets with one last person. The old command staff gather on Babylon 5 to watch its decommissioning.

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Plot Keywords:

series finale | death of main character | reunion of old friends | 23rd century | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the maintenance worker (executive producer, J. Michael Straczynski) shut down the lights, everyone on the set was in tears.

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Goofs

During Sheridan's last supper, Emperor Vir comments that the Pak'ma'ra have beautiful singing voices to which Sheridan sounds surprised. However in "There All the Honor Lies" Ambassador Kosh shows Sheridan 'one moment of perfect beauty' which is a choir of singing Pak'ma'ra on Babylon 5 as part of his training for the oncoming Shadow War.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michael Garibaldi: [voiceover] The Interstellar Alliance, based on the Homeworld of the Minbari Federation, was founded in the Earth year 2261 shortly after the end of the Shadow War, 20 years ago. Twenty years of history. Those of us who survived have seen it all and those of us who understand have been waiting and dreading the arrival of this day.

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Crazy Credits

In the final episode, "Sleeping in Light", there were no opening credits, just the name of the episode. The closing credits, in addition to having the normal closing credits, had the opening credits placed there as well as pictures and titles of every crew member flashed at a few frames per second (listed below): And now, for those of you that have been archiving this ISN Special Documentary, the people responsible..... Composer Special Effects Make-up Art Department Graphics and Swing Department Sound Department Camera Crew Animation and Compositing Prop Department Producers Post Production Post Sound Special Effects Make-up Sound Department Stand-Ins Production Office Grip Department Production Department Script Supervisor Accounting Department Wardrobe Department Lighting Department Casting Department Construction Department Special Effects Department Assitants to Producers Stunt Department NDEI-Office Staff Make-up Department Catering Producers

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Connections

References Babylon 5: Z'ha'dum (1996)

User Reviews

Incredible Finale to an Incredible Series

Babylon 5 was groundbreaking in many ways, not the least of which was its incredibly consistent high quality of writing and acting. Most of the episodes were written by series creator, J. Michael Straczynski, and there are moments throughout the entire series which are simply breathtaking.

But this, the final episode, rightly trumps them all. I truly believe that a finer 45 minutes of of TV (or cinema, for that matter) has never been produced. It's as if Joe took all the joy, all the sorrow, all the victory, all the tragedy, all the passion of the entire series, distilled it down to its purest essence, and put it into this episode. I've lost count how many times I've seen this episode, and it takes my breath away every time.

But be warned: you have to watch the entire show to get to this episode. As Joe always says, "It's about the process." You can't "read ahead" on this one -- you won't get it.

If you have never seen B5, do yourself a favor. Start from the beginning, and watch it. It doesn't matter if you're a sci-fi fan. If you're a human, with feelings, it will touch you.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 1998 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babylonian Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1