Crusade - The Complete Series (DVD, 2004, 4-Disc Set)

This is a spin off of the Babylon 5 TV series. However, you don’t really need any knowledge of the Babylon 5 series to enjoy it. To best understand this series, watch the prequel movie "A Call to Arms" first.

An alien species has infected Earth with a deadly virus. If a cure isn’t found, everyone on Earth will be dead within five years with only the few humans who were on other planets, battleships or space stations at the time of infection being whose left of humanity. The new proto-type battleship “Excalibur” with Captain Mathew Gideon’s (Gary Cole) goal is to explore other species and sources for a possible cure. They are to go anywhere and do whatever it takes to succeed in that goal.

It is too bad this series was cut short. It was interesting and Gary Cole made a great lead actor—not your typical stuffy military-type at all. He cheats, he lies, he speaks his mind regardless of rank, and he breaks the rules--but always for the right reasons.

The worst part is that the series just stops mid-stream/mid-season. They should have finished out the season and found a way to wrap things up. So what if it was only a one-year series? At least the viewers wouldn’t have been left just hanging with no conclusions or closures. They talk about fan/viewer loyalty—how about reciprocating some of that loyalty to the viewers??? Don’t get us hooked just to slam the door in our faces!! I liked the series very much and would have liked to see it continued.

In talking about Crusade, one must first recognize the fact that we are talking about a series that was cut short before it even aired. Only 13 episodes were produced of the show and of those 13 a handful do not do the series or its predecessor, Babylon 5 justice.

True to form J. Michael Stracynski (hereby referred to as "JMS") set about to tell us a story, albeit one not as tightly plotted as Babylon 5 or as driven by multiple story arcs, but a story nonetheless. A story meant to further the Babylon 5 universe, but a story that was cut short.

Captain Matthew Gideon is perhaps the most flawed. He's a gambler, he doesn't take anything from anyone, he's angry over the loss of a ship he served on, but most of all he's determined. For all that though, he's not one to jump into things head on, he more prefers to have an ace up his sleeve. That `ace' being, at least some of the time, his mysterious `Apocolypse Box,' which started sowing seeds of doubt. There is Dureena, the thief with a code of honor. Dureena is trustworthier than Eilerson, despite her background. She does provide the important role of being the one person who can pick locks, sneak in and out of places, and search alien worlds for the cure. And don't forget Galen, who is the most interesting. He's a Technomage, which means he uses science and technology to simulate magic. That means he's the one with the ability to save the crew and spy on them when needed. He rescued Gideon 10 years in the past, when his ship was destroyed and now cares for him as if Gideon were a stray cat he took in and yet more times than not, it seems he needs Gideon more than Gideon needs him.

It's a shame all this potential was left in the limbo good shows go when they are taken off the air. Even more so when you learn how the first season was to end. Without spoiling things (in the case of some miracle resurrecting the series), it seems that a lot more people than we thought are using the Shadow tech that the virus is based on. President Clark's Shadow enhanced ships in `Between the Darkness and the Light' was just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, it's a lot more recent use of Shadow technology than another group in the Babylon 5 universe that bases what they do on that same technology. The former group, at the end of the season though, was willing to protect their secret use of the Shadow tech at any cost.

For now though, we are left with 13 episodes, most of which do make for good television as stand-alone episodes. And yet, they could have been so much more...

This was a spin off of the award winning Babylon 5 series by JMS. It never really had a chance and had basicaly been canceled by TNT before it ever aired. Instead of allowing the writer to produce a continuation of the story, TNT wanted a more edgy, violent version. Even though the produced episodes were changed mid production as you can tell by the changes in uniforms, it still manages to tell a great story. If this series would have been picked up by a network who was willing to give great science fiction a chance this show would have been a very popular 5 year series instead of just 13 episodes. All we as can fans can do is hope one day more stories will be told in this universe without the input of people who know nothing about science fiction (TNT). I love the special effects as well as the way the crew work together. It became very believable in just a short time for me. Everyone who enjoys space based science fiction should give this series a look. The Babylon 5/Crusade universe while not as perfect a world as the Star Trek universe is, seems to be a more believable future.

This short lives series on TNT only hinted at the brilliance that was unfolding. Alas poor JMS had to pull it from TNT to prevent it from becoming another T&A show. As others have said, it's a real shame it didn't finish it's 5 year story. Caitlin Brown (Na'Toth) from Babylon 5 reprised her role as a member of the thieve's guild. Richard Biggs made an appearance in the series. Quite significantly as his choice on this show condemned him to earth with the rest of the infected. Richard Biggs passed away a few years ago so this is a fitting closure to his B5 character.
Make sure to watch Babylon 5: A Call To Arms first. It lays out the whole reason for Crusade. Also you'll learn that Excalibur had a twin ship in that movie. In any event Crusade was not given the proper respect on TNT. Maybe JMS will someday finish Crusade. As it is, it's great viewing for B5 and SciFi fans alike.

Coming from the same group that made Babylon 5, Crusade comes off hard to watch. I'm not sure they had a plan. The first 4 episodes deal with Galen and techno-magic. I thought they were looking for a cure for the Drakh plague??? But still, I'm a Babylon 5 fan and had to have this for my collection. 13 episodes, they get better as they go along. The Excalibur is a cool ship, the special effects aren't bad.