Season two of “Babylon 5” opened with something of an outrage, as they replaced one of the main characters. At first this annoyed me, even though I didn’t think I liked the replaced character much, and the replacement seemed even duller than the original one. However, as time progressed, I realised that both replaced and replacement were okay. Perhaps a little bland at times, but not every character can be a freak show. And while neither of them is my favourite on the show, they’re pretty far away from being my least favourite character, too. Delenn makes sure of that. Also, if “B5” was a cathedral, these two would have been the carrying arc in a season each.

Anyway, as is natural, season two sees a deepening of the show’s main plot arc. More is revealed of the Shadows, the Light, and all that stuff, while we see a development of events where the races dance to the pipes of the Shadow, and things look more or less bleak. The Epic Fantasy parts of the plot are also becoming more and more apparent, and in the season’s final episodes, these take on almost ridiculous proportions. But hey, we all love professionally executed Epic Fantasy, especially when there’s a side-plot, or sub-plot, if you will, that seems more like a good old political thriller.

Underlying all of the action is a consistently liberalist theme, and practically every episode have a kind of a moral that can be seen in light of this. Amazingly enough, this isn’t done at the expense of realism, as none of the uncomfortable sides of this (basically) moral philosophy are left out. Of course, I am biased in this, as I myself am quite liberal, to say the least, but I have to admit that it’s fun seeing a television show that deals with and takes a stand in relation to political philosophical dilemmas in such a way as this. I’ve heard a lot about how especially season three of BSG supposedly deals with stuff like this, so I’m looking forward to seeing that and comparing it to this.

As for the characters, they continue to be among the most solid I have seen, outside of a Whedon show. Both Talia and Dr. Franklin get some additional depth in this season, and Vir is climbing my list of favourite comic sidekicks at prodigious rates. Ivanova and Garibaldi continue to be my favourites, in that order, but Londo and G’kar give them stiff competition. Delenn, however, has yet to convince me, as she seems to break down every time she’s under even the slightest pressure. I understand that it’s been a rough year for her, but it’s still annoying when she breaks into tears as often as she does, and that she’s not cooler than she is. Because the character have a lot of promise, and if only she could calm down and learn to control her emotions, she’d be neat. However, it seems as if at least the religious cast of the Minbari are an emotional bunch, so… :\

All in all, a great season, which also saw the first “B5” episode to bring tears to my eyes, as Vir tried to tell G’kar he was sorry, to which G’kar replied by cutting his hand with a knife, drawing a dozen or so drops of blood, and saying “dead” for each one. Great scene, and I felt for them both.

Now I am looking forward to starting on season three, but first, I think I’ll watch the last episodes of BSGs2.