Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season

Meanwhile Delenn came increasingly into conflict with her own people and, paralleling her relationship with Sheridan, Garibaldi became involved with his ex-fiancée Lise Hampton (Denise Gentile), while an intense platonic love grew between Ivanova and Marcus Cole. On an unstoppable wave fuelled by roller-coaster plot twists and spectacular action shows from "No Surrender, No Retreat"--when Sheridan avows to overthrow EarthGov--to "Rising Star"--when the aim is realized--Babylon 5 achieved a consistent excellence rare in television. Yet within that run "Intersections in Real Time" stood out as a bold experiment; essentially a two-hand drama taking place entirely within one dimly lit room. Beyond this a major character died and Sheridan and Delenn married before the season finale again broke with expectation. In "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars," a future descendant of humanity one million years hence reviews excerpts from the history of Babylon 5. In one sequence set in 2762, a Brother is devoted to the preserving of history some time after the "Big Burn". A homage to Walter M Miller's classic A Canticle for Leibowitz, Sheridan and Delenn have themselves become the stuff of legend. --Gary S. Dalkin

Perhaps the three regular cast members that shine the brightest are the consistantly excellent Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar, Peter Jurasik as G'kar's sworn enemy Londo and, surprisingly, Steven Furst as Londo's adjutant Vir. Furst is particularly moving as his character is forced more and more to cope with the distressing changes that are happening around him. The guest actors are by and large quite good, with Wortham Krimmer as the mad Emperor Cartagia and Ed Wasser as Mr. Morden standing out. Unfortunately, and I'm sorry for breaking my promise not to name names, Walter Koenig as Psi Corp heavy Bester continues to be less of a menace and more of a major annoyance as he has been in past seasons of BABYLON 5. If they had to get a TREK vet to do the role, couldn't Brent Spiner or George Takei have been approached? Either would've been better than Koenig.

Caveats notwithstanding, BABYLON 5 continued to flourishin it's fourth season---and it's given full flower here on DVD.


Ah, the best was yet to come!   June 21, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This season of B5 is bittersweet for fans, because it was both the best of seasons and the worst of seasons. The best, because it had some of the most moving moments in the whole B5 canon (the scene where the Liberation Fleet jumps out of hyperspace to Earthspace, with the music reaching it's height, is indelible).

The worst because both the shadow war AND the earth war each their conclusion, prematurely, in this season. It is one slam-bang episode after another, as JMS fought was he thought was the fight to tell the last two seaons in one season - it left the cupboard bare for season five, but it left us with a powerful season of TV!

I won't bother with a show-by-show description of what happens. Others, better qualified than I, will surely do so. But I will share what i think were the highlights of the season:

1. Sheridan's speech when arriving at earth was extremely well-written and delivered. Though Boxleitner has been called "wooden" in his style, this speech was a vindication for him.

2. The whole thread having to do with Sheridan's sacrifice on Zha'ha'dum was well-done. Not overplayed by anyone, it still cast a delicious pall over the season, making all choices seemingly minor in comparison.

3. The end of the Shadow War was well-handled. It showed that the enemy was not the one most alien in body, but the one most alien in mind, that was the foe. In the end, we understood the Shadows and Vorlons but never understood Bester or Clark. The former were beaten by reason, the latter only by force.

4. Tactics, especially those at Proxima Three, were interesting and important. It is a rare show that show more than just shooting until one side figures out a dodge to win against imposible odds. Sheridan's forces and tactics had this one won from the start - the cost was the only variable.

There are some poorly-done elements. The Shadows and Vorlons are pathetic at the end. Lorien was a bit TOO deus ex machina for my tastes. Jerry Doyle is a bit too much overtaxed by the script, as is Patricia Tallman (both needed a couple of more episodes to make charactor changes believable).

However, the season as a whole is magnificent. The intro sequence alone is worth the price of admission. This is must-get for B5 fans and TV sci-fi fans alike.


best season   April 26, 2004
I liked this season best and feel that it is a great addition to any and all collections.

However all B-5 sets are only $35.00 - $45.00 at CD warehouse. Why shop amazon when their competition is so much cheaper?


Audio and video problems.   April 22, 2004
After reading reviews of all the box sets and some of the problems some people have had,I just wanted to add my experiences.
I too had a few occasions where the picture would break up and even freeze as someone else has mentioned.
I removed the dvd from the player and cleaned it useing a cd/dvd spray cleaner.When I reinserted the dvd and played it again I had no further problems.
I have encountered this on one or two other brand new dvds of other shows and in each instance a good cleaning solved the problem.
The discs never look dirty or scratched and are always played fresh out of the case which leads me to believe it may be a coating of something that cant be seen by the naked eye but is detectable by the players laser.
It may not solve everyones problem but its worth trying before returning the discs for an exchange and then encountering the same problem.
I hope this helps as the series itself is great and nothing is more frustrating then having a problem in the middle of watching it.


Poor DVD Quality   April 14, 2004
I have purchased all 4 seasons that were available. Every one of them have discs that are faulty. They "freeze" or skip scenes. Those scenes will not play. Pretty poor.

I have even tried these on other DVD players...same results.

Oh yes, and ever try to get someone to acknowledge this problem and correct it? Not happening.