Babylon 5: Season 3 (1996)

Point of No Return (1996)

22 episodes, approx 44 mins each.

"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But, in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope… for victory. The year is 2260."

Season 3 is bursting at the seams with story. I can only summarise, or the spoilers will be huge. The Shadow War continues to strike a cold tendril into the heart of the Alliance. Some of the major races exchange powerful blows. Capt. Sheridan is forced to take matters into his own hands. There's a second threat to the station that must be dealt with in a more subtle and secretive manner. A thread that was first introduced a year ago has a crippling effect on station procedure. Franklin has problems. A number of old faces return. Established relationships are put to the test and favours are called in. Something from Season 1 gets resolved… kind of. And more…

J. Michael Straczynski penned every episode of S3, which means every episode has something that helps complete the bigger picture. I've said in a previous review that I believe he changed the nature of small screen sci-fi, and it's never more evident than in year three.

He still finds time to introduce a new face to the cast; the newcomer is forced to play an Aragorn role as Straczynski's Lord of the Rings fascination hits again, this time with a sledge. Sometimes it irritates me, but I couldn't hate the new addition even if I wanted to.

Season 3 has the best ending of any of the five years. It could have been more visually impressive had the budget allowed, but the writing is top-class.

Special mention goes to composer Christopher Franke, who scored every episode over the five year run. The music is as much an essential character as the humans or aliens are.

The stand-out episodes this time are: Dust to Dust (Ep.06), which has some crucial G'Kar story; Messages from Earth / Point of No Return / Severed Dreams (Ep.08-10) are notable because the trio form the only three-parter of the entire series; War Without End Parts I + II (Ep.16-17) tie-in with Babylon Squared (S.1: Ep.20); and finally, everything from Ep.15-22, because every one of them leads to the finale, so you need to see them all.

There's nothing terrible in year three, but I would class Passing Through Gethsemane (Ep.04) and Exogenesis (Ep.07) as the weakest that it has to offer.