PODCAST · tv
The Audio Guide to Babylon 5
by Chip, Erika and Shannon
This is a book club without books, an episode-by-episode walkthrough of one of the most influential and important modern SF series. Each podcast begins with a spoiler-free discussion of the episode for new viewers, then we give listeners a jumping-off point and switch to a discussion of how the episode fits into the five-year history of the show.
Episodes
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Episode 112: “Sleeping in Light”
It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for. Steven Schapansky joins us for the Babylon 5 finale. We’ll be back, after a good long hiatus, to cover the spinoff episodes and movies. Thank you so much for joining us on this journey. (This episode is dedicated to the memory of Kay Sudderth.)
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Episode 111: “The River of Souls”
The station may be emptying out, but we’re not quite done yet. Jason Snell reminded us this Babylon 5 “movie” aired before the series finale, so we’re dutifully covering it now–and making Jason join us. He’s our very own Ian McShane. (We still like him, or he’d be our Martin Sheen.)
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Episode 110: “Objects at Rest”
Final departures, fateful errors, and a first-and-last message to a child. Not to mention THE SHOT. Which SHOT are we talking about? Find out as we discuss the penultimate-penultimate story of Babylon 5’s fifth season!
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Episode 109: “Objects in Motion”
So many feels: a huge chunk of our cast reaches their points of departure and Babylon 5 approaches the fall of night. JMS’s endgame is in sight.
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Episode 108: “Wheel of Fire”
So we can all just breathe now that the conflict with Centauri Prime is over, right? You would be wrong, friend! See Lyta go rogue as she’s never gone rogue before. See John and Delenn realize they’re going to have to add a dependent to their tax status once they’re on Minbar.. See Garibaldi…
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Episode 107: “The Fall of Centauri Prime”
What more can we say? Lizbeth Myles joins us as all of Londo’s chickens come definitively home to roost.
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Episode 106: “Movements of Fire and Shadow”
All year long, Sheridan and Delenn have been trying to pull together a historic political alliance. They’ve been contending with not only the forces of history, but the fundamental forces of people. In “Movements of Fire and Shadow” it all comes to a head. Boom today, and the promise of more…
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Episode 105: “And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder”
Reckoning. War. One of the most powerful episodes of Babylon 5 ever, during the underrated Season 5. So powerful, in fact, that our Control Group, one Steven Schapansky, demanded to be let on the podcast…
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Episode 104: “Darkness Ascending”
Things are ramping up: Lennier, the hero. Lyta, the opportunist. Garibaldi, the watched. Londo, the lonely. The threads are all coming together as we approach the end of Babylon 5….
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Episode 103: “Meditations on the Abyss”
Almost the full ensemble gets together for what might be the calm before the storm, with lots of character beats in an episode that–spoiler alert–we all pretty much believe is FABOO.
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Episode 102: “The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father”
“I want to see the TV series set in the HR department at Psi Corps.” –James Thomson
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Episode 101: “Day of the Dead”
The legendary Neil Gaiman made his American television debut writing the only episode of B5 not authored by Joe Straczynski since late Season 2. Was this mystical character piece too much of a departure from the “house style”? What the heck was Morden doing in Lennier’s quarters? We bring back…
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Episode 100: “The Ragged Edge”
This episode has epic ’90s computer matte compositing of a balcony, set to a particularly stirring Christopher Franke score! Oh, and Garibaldi does the secret agent thing, hamstrung by his return to the bottle; G’Kar becomes the Narn Pope; Franklin gets a job offer (name-checking a character not...
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Episode 99: “Phoenix Rising”
It’s the end of the Byron arc, in dramatically tragic fashion–which means it is of course time for our own harbinger of doom, Jason Snell, to return to delight in misfortune.
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Episode 98: “A Tragedy of Telepaths”
The two threads–the telepath colony crisis and the secret Centauri attacks on ISA ships–get pulled tighter together, with an unexpected rescue of Na’Toth (the real one!) and an entirely expected return of Bester. We’d call it the calm before the storm, but it’s not very calm….
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Episode 97: “In the Kingdom of the Blind”
No more pastels for the Regent, no. Damian London portrays a very different Regent from the sweet old man we used to know as Londo begins to suspect very dark things are afoot in his supposedly liberated world. It’s an episode full of delightful double acts (Londo/G’Kar), palace intrigue, clumsy...
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Episode 96: “Secrets of the Soul”
As Steven discovers a long-buried secret about an Alliance race, Byron discovers an even more deeply buried secret about telepaths in EVERY race–just as life is getting even rougher for his followers in Down Below. How is the telepath story arc faring, now that we’re looking at it 20 years later?...
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Episode 95: “Strange Relations”
We all come together in a better place to find a roomful of singing telepaths, an irritated Bester, an irritated Lochley, an irritated Garibaldi, and (thank heavens) a gleefully mischievious Delenn and G’Kar. How’s that master plan of Sheridan’s working out now, eh?
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Episode 94: “Learning Curve”
We use the word “spackle” a few times in this podcast. We like that word. Rolls off the tongue. MEANWHILE, for the second episode in a row the stars of the show aren’t our regulars. What’s up with that? Is it worth it to get the delightful Turhan Bey back? It’s a deep dive into … Continue reading...
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Episode 93: “A View from the Gallery”
DEPLOY THE GREEK CHORUS! Two never-before-seen minor characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern their way through the space station and their cast. In Spoiler Space for the previous episode, our intrepid podcasters expressed their dread of “A View from the Gallery.” Was it misplaced? Did the memory...
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Episode 92: “The Paragon of Animals”
Telepath politics. Gunboat diplomacy. Newlywed apartment living. Doesn’t sound like much. SPOILER ALERT: We absofragginlutely loved this episode.
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Episode 91: “The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari”
It’s the second episode of a brand new season with a brand new status quo, so what do you do? Ignore all the new people and new situations, and do a character study about alllll of the bad decisions one man made over four years. It’s Londo’s “Come to Jesus moment” paired with Lennier’s “I’m …...
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Episode 90: “No Compromises”
Somewhat to their surprise, the cast and crew and showrunner got their fifth season. But to quote some guy way back in the first, “Nothing’s the same anymore.” Sheridan’s wearing a suit, not a uniform. Ivanova’s gone. There’s a new face in the command center wearing a regulation Earthforce…
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Episode 89: “Thirdspace”
Creepy Cthulhu aliens from beyond Firstspace and Secondspace! This Untold Tale of Babylon 5 was produced after the fourth season when they had no hint there would be a fifth. Is this a better “movie” than “In the Beginning”? Does it actually fit into Season 4’s continuity? Where the deuce has…
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Episode 88: “In the Beginning”
Four years into BABYLON 5, JMS took a mulligan with a brand new prequel movie that served as a pilot for the series’s relaunch on the TNT network! Is it a better beginning to B5 than the original pilot, “The Gathering”? Does it strain credibility to have our cast of characters interacting during...
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Episode 87: “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars”
It’s a season finale, and it’s entirely cuckoo bananapants! We look into the distant future of the B5 universe along with our traditional season-ending appearance by our beloved Control Group, Steven Schapansky. Plot points are seeded for Season 5, soapboxes are climbed upon, and (spoiler alert)...
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Episode 86: “Rising Star”
Boy howdy, does this feel like the last episode of the entire series! Where could B5 possibly go from here? (We’ll talk about that in spoiler space, of course.) Jason Snell was actually at the studio when they were editing “Rising Star,” so he joins us for a peek behind the scenes!
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Episode 85: “Endgame”
So. Much. Happens. Y’all. All of Sheridan’s planning comes together and the Earth Civil War is at an end. Did it happen too fast, or was the payoff worth the buildup? Join us!
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Episode 84: “Between the Darkness and the Light”
It’s a little known fact that American television regulations were changed following the initial broadcast of this episode because it was determined that so. much. stuff. happening in a single episode was hazardous to viewers’ health. The cards are on the table. The rescue mission is underway.…
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Episode 83: “Intersections in Real Time”
Welcome to John Sheridan’s darkest ordeal. Good morning. (Artificial daylight comes on.) Shall we begin?
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Episode 82: “The Face of the Enemy”
Steven Schapansky rejoins us because (1) Mike Vejar and (2) Michael Garibaldi–as we find out just exactly WHAT has been going on underneath Steven’s favorite character’s shaved pate. That sadistic so-and-so Bester is back, and your intrepid podcasters question whether we should have sympathized...
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Episode 81: “The Exercise of Vital Powers”
Two out of three podcasters surveyed loved “(The) Exercise of Vital Powers.” Worldbuilding! One out of three didn’t. Lots of talking! Find out who’s on which side, and where we all stand on the issue of Sudden Telepathy as a Plotline Resurgence.
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Episode 80: “No Surrender, No Retreat”
Well, Sheridan promised us last episode that things would get super serious. JMS wastes no time; there’s a reason all of Season 4 shares a title with this episode. Too much, too quickly, too soon? And how did you feel when G’Kar refused Londo’s drink?
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
This is a book club without books, an episode-by-episode walkthrough of one of the most influential and important modern SF series. Each podcast begins with a spoiler-free discussion of the episode for new viewers, then we give listeners a jumping-off point and switch to a discussion of how the episode fits into the five-year history of the show.
HOSTED BY
Chip, Erika and Shannon
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 have?
The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 currently has 33 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 about?
This is a book club without books, an episode-by-episode walkthrough of one of the most influential and important modern SF series. Each podcast begins with a spoiler-free discussion of the episode for new viewers, then we give listeners a jumping-off point and switch to a discussion of how the...
How often does The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 release new episodes?
The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 has 33 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Audio Guide to Babylon 5?
You can listen to The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Audio Guide to Babylon 5?
The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 is created and hosted by Chip, Erika and Shannon.
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