He actually was but not as this character. Also Babylon 5 is on par with ds9, and I hold ds9 to absurd lly high regard. First season is rough especially on the first watch but since b5's general plot was planned out years before shooting you notice on rewatch how much of what you thought that was random bullshit was very subtle set up. It doesn't have optimistic space communist future but it does space geopolitics better than ds9 anyway. Babylon 5 kicks ass

[–] someone@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago

Even if B5 isn't space-communism-utopia. it at least lays out how to spot fascist projects early on and why fascists need to be extra-judicially shot before they gain power. JMS wasn't affected by end of history brainworms nearly as much as many of his contemporaries. It's like the love child of DS9 and Umberto Eco's 14 points essay.

Between that, laying the blame for so many societal problems (like poverty and homelessness) explicitly at the feet of capitalism, and the pro-unionization episode early on, I think it's a very worthwhile watch (skipping TKO) for anyone on this site.

[–] someone@hexbear.net 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There are an incredible number of guest appearances from Star Trek alumni, one of them an amazing recurring antagonist played by Walter "Pavel Chekov" Koenig himself.

Koenig puts in 100%. His character is that best kind of villain: someone who thinks he's the good guy, actually has understandable motivations that might make him right, and doesn't go in for over-the-top cartoonish villainy.

Andreas Katsulas (the occasional Romulan Admiral Tomalak) has a starring role. His 5-season arc is a masterpiece of screenwriting. He gets to show off his fantastic acting skills.

[–] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago

Koenig got such a good role with Bester and also absolutely knocked it out too

[–] BelieveRevolt@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I recently got an urge to rewatch Babylon 5 and started torrenting it, need to get back on that. This time I know which episodes to skip, TKO and the one with Robert Englund living at the bottom of the station are definitely on the shortlist.

[–] someone@hexbear.net 3 points 3 months ago

the one with Robert Englund living at the bottom of the station

I think that episode is still worth watching just for Marcus. He gets some great scenes in it. It's easy enough to fastforward past the cult stuff.