Those who have known me for any length of time know that my all-time favorite science fiction television series is Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00a0 Indeed, it is not only my favorite series but defensibly one of the most important television shows made to this date.\u00a0 Babylon 5<\/i> (Bab 5<\/i> or B5<\/i>, to fans) set a long string of firsts for TV Sci-Fi as well as television in general.\u00a0 One of these is that after almost 20 years it is still the most successfully executed serial story to make it to the small screen.\u00a0 The question becomes \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0 There have been a lot of great Sci-Fi serials since.\u00a0 What has Babylon 5<\/i> had that these others have missed?<\/p>\n
I think it comes down to two things; planning and the balance between plot and character.\u00a0 Joe Straczynski made no compromises on either of these two issues.\u00a0 He also took a uniquely realistic approach to both.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at these in order.<\/p>\n
Regarding planning, Bab 5<\/i> is likely the most thoroughly planned show in television history.\u00a0 Each season was carefully planned for the segment of the story he wanted to tell.\u00a0 Of course this is not particularly unusual.\u00a0 The difference is that he invested just as much careful planning of the entire story from season to season.\u00a0 And he did this before the first episode had even aired.\u00a0 At the outset, he had planned five, and only five, seasons for Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00a0 All were outlined before the show went live in Season 1.\u00a0 Yes, he did have contingency plan in case he only got 4 seasons.\u00a0 He also had trap doors to continue the intended story if there were unexpected cast changes.\u00a0 Also, even though he had the story planned in advance, he did leave room for the story to evolve as the show progressed.<\/p>\n
As a result, story elements could be introduced in one season but not resolved until years later.\u00a0 Then when we get the resolution, we find that this was a critical element of the story.\u00a0 This happens more than once, and it is amazing to watch how all the pieces fit seamlessly together in a massive tapestry.<\/p>\n
In contrast, almost all the shows since have taken shortcuts on the \u201cBig Story.\u201d\u00a0 They may have a set up and an ending in mind, but they wind up making up the middle as they go.\u00a0 The results are typically unsatisfying.\u00a0 We may end up with seasonal stories that are generally complete, but nothing strong pulling them together between seasons so they just fizzle out.\u00a0 Eureka<\/i> is a good example of this.\u00a0 Sometimes you end up with a weak middle story that weakens the whole continuity, such as what happened in Lost<\/i>.\u00a0 Other times you may end up with so many retcons as the writers try to maneuver out of the corner they\u2019ve written themselves into that the results are unsatisfying.\u00a0 The Battlestar Galactica<\/i> reboot is a good example.<\/p>\n
This segues nicely into the second element of great serial Sci-Fi; the balance between plot and character.\u00a0 There has been a lot made in recent years about \u201ccharacter driven\u201d stories.\u00a0 This may ruffle some feathers, but I find that to be an excuse for laziness and\/or bad planning.\u00a0 Both are equally important.\u00a0 What good is having deep, interesting, well written characters if there is not a rock solid story in which they can interact and grow?\u00a0 Likewise, even the best story without truly great characters will leave the audience uninvested.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an \u201ceither-or\u201d proposition.<\/p>\n
Babylon 5<\/i> set the standard for this, as well.\u00a0 The plot does not exist simply to serve outstanding characters.\u00a0 The characters do not exist simply to act out a stellar plot.\u00a0 Both are deeply integral to each other.\u00a0 Take away from either and the whole will fall apart.\u00a0 In Bab 5<\/i>, characters are only used where they will best serve the story and<\/i> their own development.\u00a0 Even main characters may be absent for multiple episodes.\u00a0 There are no obligatory walk-ons.\u00a0 The characters and their growth mean<\/i><\/b> something.\u00a0 Characters \u2013 even beloved characters \u2013 can be killed, or worse, to serve the story and that investment in those characters makes you feel the loss even more.\u00a0 It is a risky approach to storytelling and it is certainly much more work, but it pays off for the audience and, I believe, the writers.<\/p>\n
Since Babylon 5<\/i>, the series that has come closest to matching on these two elements has been Fringe<\/i>.\u00a0 Elements introduced early may take seasons before we see their significance.\u00a0 The show runners have been clear from the outset they know the story they want to tell.\u00a0 The characters are compelling and encased in a story that has so far been of the highest quality.\u00a0 Even the \u201ccontroversial\u201d Season 4, I believe, will be put in a master context that makes sense at the end.\u00a0 In fact, I think that season will prove important to the overall story.\u00a0 It\u2019s not perfect.\u00a0 I think everything would have been improved if they had planned the seasons (i.e. chapters) more tightly.\u00a0 Of course, we are still in the final chapter, so any judgment for good or ill is premature.<\/p>\n
The one other show that that has shown the potential to be amongst these great shows is Once Upon A Time<\/i>.\u00a0 In this case, an ensemble of amazing characters are there.\u00a0 True greatness is going to depend on the story.\u00a0 Progressing now through the second season, what I wish the show runners would do would be to let us know how many seasons they show will run and<\/i><\/b> that they know what the Big Story will be.\u00a0 If they did that now<\/i> while the excitement for the show is still increasing, I think they will find viewers make an even greater investment into the series.\u00a0 We will have confidence that they know where they are going and be willing to commit the time to the show.\u00a0 They creative team will have the comfort of a known end point in which they can focus their efforts and can concentrate on making every episode matter.\u00a0 It is a win-win for everyone.<\/p>\n
Still, the intent of Once<\/i> could be<\/b> based on the idea that the serialization is restricted to each individual season.\u00a0 It\u2019s a hybridization of sorts that could work.\u00a0 If they do take that route I hope the show runners have the discipline to know when to end it.\u00a0 I would much rather see the series end on its own term than die a slow, lingering milked-to-the-max death.<\/p>\n
With only a couple weeks left for Fringe<\/i> and only about half-way through Once<\/i> it won\u2019t be long until the questions can be answered on the respective shows.\u00a0 Expect to see at least two updates to this commentary.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see if I will be eating some crow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Those who have known me for any length of time know that my all-time favorite science fiction television series is Babylon 5.\u00a0 Indeed, it is not only my favorite series but defensibly one of the most important television shows made to this date.\u00a0 Babylon 5 (Bab 5 or B5, to fans) set a long string […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[18,26,39,46],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ymfK-3J","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}