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?
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First season is a touch rough… 2-4 are a masterclass on scifi. Fifth season is so so. They thought that tbs was going to cancel them so they wrapped up on the 4th season… Only to be renewed last minute.
Here’s the viewing order The Gathering Seasons 1-4 Thirdspace In the Beginning Season 5 River of Souls A Call to Arms Crusade Legend of the Rangers Lost Tales
It’s hands down the best scifi show.
Here’s the lurkers guide http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/
Enjoy op!
Yes, 100%. It is by far my favorite show.
The first season is rough to get through, especially the first half. But the payoff is 100% worth it.
It’s funny that one show can have some of the absolute worst acting and dialog in TV history, while also having some of the absolute best acting and dialog in TV history.
Even if everything else sucked (and it does NOT), the show would be worth watching just for the character development and story arc of Londo and G’Kar. Hell, just the burning elevator scene is worth watching the whole show for. 😁
Londo: “Help! Can anybody hear me?!”
G’kar: (quietly) “I can hear you.”
You forgot/overlooked ‘The Road Home’ on the end
The first season is a lot of world building and one off episode stories. They all move forward character motivation and the world, but it is the most difficult part to get through for most people. Once season 2 gets going, it pretty much doesn’t stop til halfway through season 5.
I’d easily say that B5 is as good or better than almost any other sci fi show ever made. It’s absolutely a product of it’s time, but at the same time it is so forward thinking in terms of an ongoing multi season story arc that survives multiple major characters leaving the production with few hiccups. It is almost prescient in some of the scenarios that are explored, particularly in the back half of season 4.
I don’t know if another show has done a better pairing than Londo and G’Kar. By all measures, I probably watched B5 way too young, but I adored it at the time and found it amazing on a rewatch a handful of years ago. Typing this makes me want to watch it again
Agreed. Had a hard time pushing through season 1 but when the link between season 1 and season 2 occurred, I was hooked. Great overarching and intertwining storylines with amazing character development.
IMO watch the first 2 seasons. If it doesn’t move you by then, it probably won’t and you can say you’ve given it a fair shot.
Look up a “necessary episodes only” watch list.
Babylon 5 is excellent… eventually. Most of season 1 is supremely skippable, and much of it absolutely should be skipped. Season 2 gets a lot better, and by season 3 you’ll be watching every episode.
I didn’t really enjoy the episodes/season dealing with the Earth separatists. Much rather have earth - alien conflict.
Loved me some Londo.
I feel like Londo and G’kar carried the show with their acting chops.
Personally the instant it turned into a Star Trek bridge doing space fighting stuff I instantly lost interest, like a switch turning off.
I wanted political maneuvering and explorations of the toll it takes on those who do it. There are a billion “officers on the bridge of a ship giving orders” shows.
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.
The first season of the show absolutely comes across like store brand Star Trek. The production values and effects look a bit weaker, some of the acting is a bit soap opera-ish, and it’s often self-contained adventures of the week.
Seasons 2-4 are some of the best Sci-Fi put to television. You might feel like Season 1 is “gotta get through it” and…on repeat viewings of the show, there’s at least four Season 1 episodes that truly are dead ends that might contain some world building but I still just skip them. TKO chief among them.
Babylon 5 is a weird show for me. When it was first running, I religiously watched it. If I couldn’t watch it live, I got upset and went around my circle of friends to see who’d recorded it so I could watch it as quickly as possible. Up to Season 4 I was gripped. (Season 5 was “meh” because of production shenanigans.)
Years later I watched them on DVD and … the magic was gone. Watching one episode after another, without separating them by a week, just took the shine off of it. I didn’t even finish watching the episodes on DVD; I think I made it to mid season 3 (and the amount I watched slid down and down up to that) before not bothering to continue. I eventually gave them all to a friend of mine and never watched the show again.
I can’t think of a single show I’ve ever watched that had that weird impact on me: first loved, second bored. Usually shows I loved I keep loving, shows I was bored by remained boring, and very occasionally a show I thought was boring the first time got more interesting on second viewing. But B5? It’s the only one that goes this way.
Looks like the consensus is…yes, give it another go (though a few warned that, yeah, it may not be all people promise).
Alright, once I can afford it and things stabilize I think I will. Thanks for the input!
Similar question: I was a huge fan of B5 when it came out but time has moved on, production values have changed, and I do tend to like edgier shows like The Expanse. I wonder if I should watch it again or f it’s best left in my nostalgia
IIRC you stopped just before the worst episode of all, the fourth. Episode 6 and 8 are worth it and it gets better from there.
It is much more like an old school daytime TV Soap Opera in acting style and overall production style than like other SF shows. This is really jarring. Acting very inconsistent. Crappy production values. Like, huge CRT screens being used everywhere? Really? At this same time, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine knew that hundreds of years in the future, nobody would use huge boxy CRT screens. They depicted thin tablets and terminals even though 1990s tech wasn’t able to do that yet. There are so many things like this that jarred me out of the story.
The development of a few characters was cool, but it was like suffering through a mountain of junk to get the good crumbs. The plot had a lot of “I can see it coming a mile away”.
Not worth it IMHO, if you already tried it and didn’t like it.
The best lines are mostly Carl Sagan quotes, which I appreciated, but that isn’t enough.
YES!
Do you like political intrigue and mystery set in a sci fi universe? That’s the backstory that runs through the later seasons.
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