Michael Garibaldi's journey across Babylon 5

So like last month's episode on Susan Alvanova, we're going to talk about the character, talk about the performer, and then we're going to get into his journey across the five seasons.

But let's start with Michael Garibaldi.

And you said, oh, that he's one of your favorite characters.

What is it about Garibaldi that really resonates with you? And what do you think of Jerry Dawes' performance?

To answer those in reverse order, I think Jerry Doyle's performance is amazing considering he did not have this deep background of acting experience.

And I know it's very easy for, and you see this with new podcasts coming along, new fans, and bless them for jumping on board.

Babylon 5 was such a hard thing to bring new audiences to for a very long time because the DVDs were terrible.

The DVDs made a show that didn't look bad to begin with, it made the show look terrible.

Yeah, the compression to DVD was absolutely awful.

Yeah, and...

You know, at the same time that those DVDs were coming out, I was soaking up like every new classic Doctor Who DVD, which is still to me the gold standard for bonus material, how well it's remastered, and so on.

And just watching Babylon 5 be treated like that was heartbreaking.

And, you know, it led to a very long time of making it impossible to get new fans in to bring in new people to the fandom.

Because they're like, oh, you mean that show that looks like ass? And, you know, for the purposes of the DVDs, they weren't wrong.

But a lot of these people who are new to the fandom, straying somewhat closer to the point, you hear a lot of people saying, oh, you know, it's like Wishap Bruce Willis.

And I think Jerry is so much more than that.

I think Jerry is more than that as a performer and as a person.

I have very deep disagreements with the man's political direction later in life, but that's neither here nor there.

That doesn't affect my enjoyment of his work as this particular character.

As for Garibaldi himself, JMS said going in, this is going to be about human beings with flaws.

It is not going to be about idealized Starfleet officers.

Hey, I enjoy watching the shows about idealized Starfleet officers too.

But Garibaldi really seemed to be kind of the nexus of that kind of storytelling early on and then later on as well.

Everyone got to show the dents in their armor, but Garibaldi's were on display very early.

Even in the pilot, it's made very clear that his career is on thin ice.