Science Fiction

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'By Any Means Necessary' - In 1994, Sci-fi show Babylon 5 aired an episode about exploited dock workers on the station forming a militant union, using slowdown tactics, and enacting a wildcat strike (www.youtube.com)

submitted 2 months ago by ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/41960577

After bouncing off the show a couple times over the years, I finally sat down and gave it an earnest try, and found that I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would (for reference, I could never enjoy DS9), and this episode in particular really got me hooked to the series overall. I think it did a good job of showing the effectiveness of unions, and more surprisingly, went as far as to depict the government as wanting nothing more than to violently suppress it after delivering empty promises.

Apparently all the episodes are slowly being uploaded to youtube now due to the efforts of the creator of the show, with one new episode every 3 days. If you've ever been interested in trying Babylon 5, now is a good time to start :)

Here's a link to the season 1 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGVW-aDczak&list=PLGTv90eS-e4I

Personally I enjoyed all of season 1, but the prevailing view is that it really gets its footing in season 2, but I have to say, season 1 has tons of great setup that pays off if you watch through it.

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[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

Babylon 5 is one of the best SciFi TV shows ever made.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

This was a golden episode. “Never hand someone a gun unless you’re sure where they’re going to point it. You’re mistake.”

Classic Sinclair.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

It's a great show. It talks with depth and feeling about rising authoritarianism, fascism, interacting with other faiths, faith vs. medicine, forgiveness, betrayal, war and peace. It's a wonderful show.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 months ago

The whole series is absolutely worth watching. I've been through it twice. Always glad to see people discovering it years later.

This isn't confirmed, but it's widely circulated that JMS, the guy who made the show (J. Michael, I can't spell his last name, but I can say it), pitched the idea to Paramount during the run of Star Trek: The Next Generation. They turned down his idea, saying that Star Trek needs to be set on a ship, and then called in their writers to begin work on Deep Space Nine, based on ideas he presented. Either way, they are both great shows that are worth watching, and the viewers win for having both, whether it's the choice between one or the other (since you can't go wrong with either), or both.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What hit me in particular, while watching B5 for the first time during lockdown, was the pandemic episode.

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

There are so many. I still reference "Green! ... Purple!".

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago

Ah, a man of Drazi culture, i see.

[–] Zathras@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

One of my favorite episodes! However I think my top one is "And the Rock Cried Out No Hiding Place". Sweet, sweet revenge.

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 1 points 1 month ago

...to a banging gospel choir.

[–] securus777@fedinsfw.app 7 points 2 months ago

B5 is the greatest! Love seeing more people learning about it. MJS is working on something new to the universe last I heard. Glad you gave it another chance!