As a Sci-Fi fan I’ve been a huge fan of shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, Terminator: TSCC, Star Trek, etc. I keep hearing Babylon 5 is awesome.
I was too young at the time to watch the series when it was on. But then as an older teen/ young adult I decided to give it a try. Everything was so cringe it was hard to get through 3 episodes. IMO the whole vibe was “safe…” maybe even a bit corny–not the intense, exciting, politically-tense space opera that I was told it was.
So maybe the beginning episodes are just world-building? What do other people think?
I’d suggest getting through the first season and into the second. It gets much, much better. the first season is mostly worldbuilding- there’s narrative arcs, but they’re mostly focused on setting the stage, so to speak.
As mentioned, season 1 is a bit rough, but the latter seasons wouldn’t be so good without that foundation.
another comment- it was mid-90’s CGI, so do give it some grace for that. But given the CGI technology of the time… they set a huge number of records. It should also be noted that the reason the two first seasons seem so similar, between B5 and ST:DS9 is that JMS pitched the show to UPN first, gave them an early show bible that they had for… a long time. They declined and decided to basically rebrand that as star trek (and viola, DS9). The two shows do diverge dramatically at the second season. b5 was first, though.
ETA: also, I’ve been thinking about the show a lot with Israel-Palestine stuff, being a bit comprable to the Centari-Narn stuff. not, like 1:1, but, specifically, Delenn asking “when does it end”, and the rant about that. funny the things that stick with you.