I am completely, utterly, and in all other ways, addicted.

I blame my friends for this. I never would have known about it. I never would have cared! I never would have had any idea who JMS is. Well, no such luck.

Now, however, I am dreaming about Minbaris, Narns and various other aliens found on B5. Help me.

Not only are the graphics outstanding, but the character development, subplots and all other aspects of B5 are superb. I'm a latecomer to the whole thing -- I sat down with this Evil Group sometime in September, and watched "Walkabout," which we received ahead of time from England. After that, it was all over. We've even created a mailing list for ourselves and our addiction. In short, we're screwed.

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I had seen bits of two episodes before: "Points of Departure" and "Interludes & Examinations." I remembered only tiny fragments of either of them as I watched "Walkabout." Naturally, I had a lot of questions. When I saw my first two episodes when they originally aired, there was so much going on that I didn't have any context for, and didn't have anyone to ask, I don't think I paid very close attention. Doh!

Now I'm waiting for season four to start. "Z'ha'dum" was incredible, and the first four episodes of the fourth season were very good indeed. I haven't watched all of the other seasons yet, so I have something to occupy my time, thankfully. I've watched most of season one now, and am about midway through season two. I never want it to end. It's rather an interesting perspective, knowing how season three ends while watching the earlier shows for the first time. I wish that I'd started watching B5 sooner, so I could have watched it all unfold. But hearing things like "I will not go down easily, and I will not go down alone" come out of Sheridan's mouth, and knowing what that means is just ... well, amazing, I guess. To see things even in the pilot movie that get brought around into these incredibly complex subplots is just crazymaking. I'm in awe.

In short, I'm hooked.

Granted, JMS has to compromise a bit, it seems, to conform to what the public wants to watch, but there are episodes that just pick me up, slap me around, stick a knife in my heart, twist it several times, then put me down, step back, and blink innocently at me. "The Coming of Shadows" was one such episode, as was "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," (despite the fact that the damn song is now permanently ingrained in my DNA.) Some episodes, like "ATRCONHP" are creepy as hell; cross-cutting between the scene on Narn and the crew singing the gospel song....shudder! Then, there are others that are just generally inspiring, such as "Grail."

Some of my favorite episodes (and why they are) are posted here.

It's happening.

When I first sat down with these folks, I was amazed that the titles of shows were bandied about so handily, with everyone knowing exactly what happened in that episode. However. I'm starting to do it, too. I say again, most sincerely: Help Me. (For those of you who haven't reached that stage yet, a list of all of the episode titles and short blurbs about them can be found here.)

I was compelled to write to JMS about the thoughts swirling around in my head, and he responded politely after only a few days. Sort of a little thrill knowing he's spoken to me. What can I say, I'm easily made happy. The more I learn about him, the more I want to drag him out and have him download at me for several eons. He's written some novels that I'm trying to get my hands on.

Jennie, Heather and I are so addicted that we went dressed as "The One" for Halloween. See our pictures for the full story.

There is a rift of sorts in the group, the 1/3 v. the Not 1/3...I don't want to put any spoilers here, so click here to find out what the nature of the rift is. I'll forewarn you -- it concerns the final episode of season three, "Z'ha'dum."

One thing that Jennie points out is the real-life-like situations on B5, and this is certainly one area that has provoked a lot of thought that applies to life. This discussion has lead several of us down an interesting tangential path regarding evolution in general. Often after watching our episodes, we'll sit around and talk about the processes and undercurrents in the show -- we can relate to them, because JMS has done such a good job of making the show very real. No, we're not flaming nerds without lives (well, ok, some of us are -- it's 5:15am, and here I am...) who live in the land of Make-Believe and think that B5 is real (well, ok, Iain once said, in all seriousness, "Well, if *Morden* were here..." but that was an isolated incident, and he's been severely punished) but we recognize patterns that occur in day to day life. It's the subtle detail in conjunction with the elaborate plot points that really brings the whole together so well. A facial expression, a slight movement of the hands...the casting is excellent, and JMS is, well...we all know about JMS.

Anyhow.

We're not the only ones who are hooked, certainly. And we're not even The Most Hooked of All. As I have been searching for my own domain name, I ran through a couple of B5 names, just out of curiosity. What I found terrified me -- they are *everywhere* -- just try looking for a couple. Not many of them have websites yet, but if you use "whois ____.com" you'll see what I mean. One website, however, is definitely in the grips of the shadows. Please check out http://www.whatdoyouwant.com and then have those people flogged, because I don't think they realize what it is they're doing.

I'm designing this site primarily for the beloved members of the b5-l group, but I welcome any and all comments from folks anywhere. Mail me; this is a living, breathing, community site, which I hope will turn into a good reflection of the mini-community we have formed together through Stilyagi and various other functions.

So anyhow, I'm amassing a series of links here.

The Standards

The Lurker's Guide to Bab5 This is the definitive Must See site for Bab5 folk. Beware reading any episode guides for those shows you haven't yet seen -- some do contain spoilers.

The "Official" Site
IMDB's Links for JMS
IMDB's Links for Harlan Ellison
IMDB's Links for Bruce Boxleitner
IMDB's Links for Claudia Christian
IMDB's Links for Mira Furlan
Poll 5 Episode Breakdown
Babylon 5 Grid Epsilon Guide History compiled from JMS postings.
JMS' Answers and Info about Babylon 5
JMS Archives on CompuServe
JMS Archives on GEnie
WB's Bab5 Site
Babylon 5 Store

Humor

You Know You've Been Watching Babylon 5 Too Much When
Mr. Garibaldi's Second Favorite Thing in the Universe.
The Shadows Information Office A kinder, gentler view of the Shadows.
Bab5 Humor Index
Ummm..."Grey 17 is Missing" as Acted Out by Pumpkins...?
Kosh Quotes
Ask Kosh
Church of Joe
The Cat & Dragon Babylon 5 Merchandising Program

Original & Creative Endeavors

WXON Action Page A local (Detroit area) page trying to gather support for Babylon 5.
Adam's Babylon 5 Page
PHOAKS alt.tv.babylon-5 page
Bab5 Links
Intersection - Babylon 5 Information about videos available in the UK, and reviews of each episode.
Babylon 5 Addicts Page I think this one was made especially for our group.
Paul's Bab 5 Page Outstanding. Includes an Unofficial Ed Wasser (you know..."what do you want?") Fan Club.
Doc's Babylon 5 Pages
A German Site Watch for the title translation if you speak German.
Just generally links
Ranger Sightings
Bab5 Peeks Lots of stills, some spoilers (but not on the first page.)
Melanie's Babylon 5 Homage Page
Babylon 5 Fan Club -- The Station
Shaydim: A Stellar Adventure
The Athena Sci-Fi Archives
Barbara Pfeiffer's B5 Page

Multimedia

Babylon 5 Resources: Online Through the Lurker's Guide
StellarCom Regional listings
The Zocalo
aus.sf.babylon5's web page

Jump. Jump NOW.

Those of you familiar with my other site will likely recognize this beast -- it's eventually going to be a navbar sort of thing. It's (again, "eventually") going to have little scripts describing what it goes to. For now, you'll just have to cope with the file names.