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Amanda Wong @amandawtwong.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Holy shit, I'm so excited that Zack is covering Babylon 5.

And yet I watched this twice, and I very much enjoyed the experience both times. I’m cutting the show a little slack just because I know how well-loved it is (and because I suspect I will be singing its praises more fully further on), but I also just kind of love the jankiness. You watch enough TV over a long period of time, you get used to different kinds of badness, and modern television mostly suffers from well-polished pointlessness, actors and directors and writers working too hard to convince us that dead material really does still have life in it.

The clumsiness of “Midnight” is different. It feels more like talented people doing their best with limited resources; and there’s an exciting sense of the crew figuring it out as they go. It reminds me a little of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but this is far more confident from the start–the people behind the scenes (and the ones in front of them) clearly believe in what they’re doing, and there’s a lot of charm in watching them figure out how to do it. I’ll take awkward vitality and passion over bland competence any day of the week.

The Handlen, The Zack, And The Crypt@zhandlen.bsky.social

All right, here we go--my thoughts on "Midnight on the Firing Line," the first episode of Babylon 5's first season (for subscribers only):

Babylon 5, "Midnight on the Firing Line" | Season 1, Episode 1 | Zack Handlen Writes

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asmodeaus.bsky.social @asmodeaus.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

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