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Babylon 5 - 1x5 "Parliament of Dreams" - Full watch-along (Patreon)

Published:
2026-05-19 18:00:05
Imported:
2026-10

Content

Follow along with me using your own copy of the episode!

Files

Babylon 5 - 1x5 "Parliament of Dreams" - Full watch-along

Comments

Squeesher

You wanted a Londo/G'Kar episode... BEHOLD! "Berths" are the different areas available at a port (or in this case, in a "Space"port) where ships can dock, so her "Berth number" would be the place where her particular ship was docked. Also, yay Bill Mumy makes his appearance as Lennier! Since you're a gamer I'm pretty much 100% positive you've heard his voice, but I'll leave it to you to look up his voice credits. He's quite a legendary VA! "Well, well, you're finally awake." Oh god...they sent Tu'Pari to Skyrim!!!

Mark Gosine

Got our introduction to the new attachés, Na'toth and Lennier. Lennier is played by Bill Mumy of noted fame played Will Robinson in 'Lost in Space'. Good episode. Definitely one of the top episodes in this season. Oh, and it was berth number, not birth. To be fair I don't think they mentioned quarters by that term ever again. Maybe as a captain of a smaller ship, she referred to her quarters as a berth in her own parlance.

Greg

Agree with Bunny on this one -- fun episode, I enjoyed it, a lot going on, and that was a great ending. I wondered how Sinclair would solve the problem of showing Earth's faith when there are so many, and it looks like he found a good solution. Sure seems like a lot of ships come and go from B5 on a regular basis, more then I expected. Some people are like oil and water -- they just can't mix. There may be all the passion and fire in the world, but if that's all you have a relationship that is lasting you can not build. I'm curious to see what happens, if anything, between those two. Some of the most fun I had playing in the Elder Scroll's games was doing the quests for the assassin's guild so I was happy to see one be a central plot point here. Can't recall her name right now, but the second in command, the Russian girl -- we've seen her off duty before, changed into casual clothes and with her hair down, having a drink. She knows how to relax off duty and have a good time and that's again shown very well here. It's SUCH a contrast to how she is on duty, where she's proper and stern and by the books.

Harry S

Great Episode! Ivanova enjoyed the party. She is Russian. They are heavy drinkers, loud and boisterous so the party was likely close to what she was used to. Did you recognize Lennier the new Mimbari aide. Danger Will Robinson! Danger! It was Bill Mumy who played Will Robinson.

Emma

And so it begins....

Emma

The best episode so far. The final scene chokes me up - the music is a killer.

George N

IMO This isn't the best episode but it is a good episode of B5. More than anything it is the most "B5" episode we've seen thus far. It was almost a sampler platter of B5 with a little bit of everything. I prefer the two Londo episodes you've seen but if you enjoyed this one that much it's an EXCELENT sign. As for the last scene all I have to say is... IDIC ;)

Emma

In the Minbari ceremony, after Ivanova receives a piece and puts it on the plate in front of her, G'Kar also receives the little red fruit and looks suspiciously at it. In the next shot, centred on Delenn, in the background you can see Ivanova's plate and a Narn hand comes into shot and swaps the red fruit.

Emma

In the last episode, I introduced Tennyson's Locksley Hall and the dream of a Parliament of Man. In this episode, entitled The Parliament of Dreams, we find Sinclair listening to Tennyson, in particular the famous poem Ulysses. Babylon 5 is a dream given form.

Emma

Verse 12 of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (translated): A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness— Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow! A Voice in the Wilderness indeed! Catherine paraphrases the second line when she comes to Sinclair's quarters, where he rests and listens to verses. Catherine asks what does it takes to bring Sinclair into the 23rd Century, while ironically she quoted a much more ancient poem.

Emma

When Catherine arrives, we hear on the intercom that Earth Transport ship Spinoza will shortly be departing. The famous Baruch Spinoza, in his philosophical treatise Ethics, argues for a view of God that scholars interpret variously as pantheistic, panentheistic, or atheistic, and it explores the place of human freedom in a world devoid of theological, cosmological, and political moorings.

Texas Anla'Shok

This is the episode where everything begins to click together. It was number 8 in production order so by this time everyone had a better feel for the show and their characters and you can really see that comes through.

Trish

Bill mummy was on lost and space asa kid

Trish

Berth not birth nu.mber it means an area you stay at

Trish

Starts with an atheist i love it

Texas Anla'Shok

The party scene had Peter just throwing things in (literally in case of the roll). That's why the others react the way they do, they were not expecting him to do that. Claudia was nearly losing it and hides from the camera behind Peter at one point.

Matthew Graves (Graviton)

Bunny, I love your little finger dance for Mr. Mantis Man! :) It is a fun episode. I will also say that I was quite impressed by the writing here on several levels. You've got 3 separate storylines going in parallel yet at no point does it feel ether scattered or overstuffed. There's plenty of engaging suspense. There's genuinely funny bits of humor to give brief moments of lightening the mood. There's a new, out of the blue romantic interest brought in, which can be hard to pull off, but the chemistry is instant and palpable. And notice how the narrative device of the religious festival is used not just as an aid to the plot, but to organically further our understanding of the character of the various cultures. (i.e. Centauri boisterousness , Minbari formality, ect.) This is the old writing axiom "show don't tell" done expertly. It also strikes me that in addition to commenting on humanity, the ending can be seen as a bit of a meta commentary on the occasional tendency in sci-fi to present it's alien cultures as overly homogeneous and simplistic. Impressive stuff here.

Philip

Definitely a fun episode; glad you enjoyed it, too. We got to learn a little more about Centauri culture. Hey, you wanted more Londo. lol! I have to be careful with comments. No spoilers. :) I thought the twist with G'Kar's would be assassin had quite the interesting twist. And, yes, you were correct. G'Kar did refer in this episode that his previous aide Ko D'Ath as having died in an unfortunate airlock accident. It was already established by just the first few episodes that Sinclair was a war hero but with survivor's guilt (re: Garabaldi's talk with him in "Infection.") So it was nice to see him rekindle a relationship from his past. Julia Nickson was great as Catherine Sakai. And the ending in how Sinclair came up with a display of showing Earth's dominant religious belief system by showing there wasn't any dominant religion was especially well done!

Emma

There was a thumbing of the nose at the Planet of Hats trope

Emma

Narn have had to persevere after being occupied by the Centauri - only the strong have survived. Weaknesses such as poor eyesight are frowned upon. That I believe is why Tu'Pari is wearing human glasses - Narn don't make fixups for weaknesses, it seems.

Paul Hess

The scenes with Jeffrey and Catherine are definitely sizzling. It's not just the acting it's the writing. JMS's dialogue in the scenes are pure poetry, both literally and figuratively (literally with all the Tennyson quotes, showing depth of both characters). The scene feels like it's taken straight out of some of the most famous romance scenes from Casablanca. Where the actors really shine is taking this poetic dialog and making it seem true and real. Like Shakespeare actors struggling to make his 1500's scripts sound normal and natural. In the case of Babylon 5 they succeeded. This is not dialog you find in your typical 1990's sci-fi show. I love how Babylon 5 doesn't just make its plot and get its information across. It uses great writing to slap you in the face with it. My first sign of this when I watched it on original air was the poetry of the opening: "Humans and aliens wrapped in two million five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night". I was like "wait, TV doesn't usually sound like this".

bunnytails

You make a good point there! I agree. The dialogue is fantastic and the actors really do make it sound natural.

bunnytails

Was kind of abrupt about the previous aid to G'Kar!

Emma

The actress suffered with the contacts or the makeup, so they killed off the character and introduced Na'Toth.

Philip

Yes, I remember JMS saying that at a conv.

George N

Ian, do you re-watch this show in slow mo? I've re-watched this show a scary number of times and never noticed that!

Baulderstone

Like George, I have watched this episode a quite a few times over the years, and I've never seen that either. I just went back to watch it. I'm going to blame my failure to ever notice it on Delenn's mesmerizing intensity. I love that I have been a fan of this show for over 30 years, and there are still new things to find in it. Thanks, Ian.

Baulderstone

This is a sold pick for your favorite so far. I'd need to think about it, but it would be this or "Midnight on the Firing Line" for me. Of those two, this one is the most pure fun, and does a good job of tapping into the more comedic side of B5. It probably also helps that we are getting to know the characters by now. I agree that "theatrical" is the perfect word to describe G'kar. I really love his chemistry with Na'toth in this episode.

Baulderstone

I really admire JMS' ability to structure episodes. You can tell he is hardened veteran of TV writing. A lot of shows telling long-form story tend to over-rely on their seasonal arc, leaving individual episodes feeling unsatisfying. I like how Babylon 5 tries to make each episode a solid story in its own right, while being part of a much larger story.

Baulderstone

As a kid, Bill Mumy was also in the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life". It's one of the most memorable episodes of the show. When they made The Twilight Zone movie in the '80s, it was used for a segment in that movie that was directed by Joe Dante, the director of Gremlins. I will say nothing about the episode itself, in case you haven't seen it. BIll Mumy was also in the band Barnes and Barnes. They recorded the song "Fish Heads", which was greatly beloved by the nerds of the '70s and '80s. It became the most-played song on The Doctor Demento Show. They also produced an even stranger album for Crispin Glover, the guy who played the dad in Back to the Future. It may be the weirdest album I own, although it has a lot competition. Here is a link to the video for "Fish Heads" for anyone curious: https://youtu.be/cn73Wtem0No?si=AAg_ufHyI4xj1ug3

Emma

I wasn't the first person to notice it, but every time I rewatch it, I remember the point. There is a very quick thing to spot in another episode of Season 1. For something where you need to literally advance frame by frame to spot it, wait for Season 3.

bunnytails

Midnight on the Firing Line is excellent as well!