2. Babylon 5 - 'Sleeping In Light'
A show as epic as Babylon 5 needed an epic finale, and 'Sleep In Light' certainly does that. Set years after the end of the Earth and Shadow Wars it deals with the final days of John Sheridan and the station itself. In defeating the Shadows early in season four, Captain Sheridan learned he would have twenty years and then simply...stop. Jump forward twenty years and we see the cost of surviving Zha'dum. He saved the galaxy from the Shadows and Vorlons, freed Earth from tyranny, formed the Interstellar Alliance, became President of the galaxy...all actions that he wouldn't have been able to perform had he perished after the nuclear explosion on the Shadow's home planet at the end of season three. His reward for his heroics was to marry Delenn, have a son David and live for many happy years on the Minbari homeworld. But now his destiny had finally caught up with him. Sheridan 'dying' / joining Lorien beyond the rim was a magnificent end for this character and it is only fitting that when he goes, so does the station. Because as much as this episode is about Sheridan's final days, its also a celebration of the characters who fought to get here, coming together to say their farewells to their former commander on Minbar and Babylon 5 as it is decommissioned. It is a bittersweet history for these characters. Vir is now the Centauri Emperor, having helped to defeat the Drakh at some point between season five's 'Objects At Rest' and 'Sleeping In Light'. Susan Ivanova has got everything she wanted. She's a high-ranking general in Earthforce but has obviously never fully recovered from Marcus Cole's death. Stephen Franklin is equally a high-ranking speciality in his field as Head of Xenobiological Research. Tragically, while the character lived into his sixties, the actor Richard Biggs did not. Michael Garibaldi has everything. He's rich and successful. He has the love of his life Lise and a talented daughter. It is great that a show like Babylon 5 had the vision to show us what happened to these characters after the major events, giving us great closure (and success and happiness) on many some of the very best characters in the show. For me, what made this finale so good was how gut wenching it could be. While there is no major drama or action, it instead serves to give us one final farewell. It is an episode filled with powerful emotional moments. Delenn and Sheridan's final farewell. (I'm going out for a Sunday drive). Ivanova finding peace in her new role as Ranger One. The final moment of series as Delenn looks out to the light, the ghost of John Sheridan next to her. The final title sequence montage showing the characters in their early years and (those that survived) 20 years later. (It's a shame that they didn't re-edit to show characters from every series like Talia or Lochley, but that's a small gripe) But noting was as powerful as the destruction of Babylon 5 itself. Who could have though an exploding space station could bring a tear to your eye? It's a stunning sequence. Out characters (Zach Allen included) leave the station. Garibaldi picks up a forgotten glass from the Zocolo. Series visionary Joseph Michael Straczynski himself rather aptly playing a cameo as a technician, literally turning off the lights, And then the explosion, Christopher Franke's amazing score playing over it, tearing its way through the station. And this is that brilliant ending. Take a look at that sequence below. As stunning finale to one of the most innovative and epic sci-fi shows of all time...