Babylon 5

[MarkB]

Note for UK satellite viewers: If this thread revival has inspired you to check out the series, FX are currently screening it in their weekday evening slots, and are due to rotate back to season 1 on 22nd September.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The important ones to watch are:

Midnight on the Firing Line
The Parliament of Dreams (optional)
Mind War
And the Sky Full of Stars
Signs and Portents
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II
Babylon Squared
Crysalis

There is some stuff throughout the first season that becomes important later, but much of it's scattered, and might not matter much if you skip it. There are of hints and stuff I really didn't notice until watching some of the episodes again.

I would add to this The Quality of Mercy, for a few reasons:

Spoiler

The alien machine, the Minbari exception for lying, stim addiction, Franklin's overall rebelliousness, and the hilarious Londo/Lennier playing poker scenes

. While only the first is really a big plot point, the rest inform a lot about the direction the show takes. Additionally, it's right in that last group of important episodes (Wilderness, B-Squared, Mercy, Chrysalis) that casual viewers may as well watch it. Finally, it showcases how JMS will set things up years before they come to fruition.

 

[Orius]

I'd say really, there's only 1 element to Quality of Mercy that's really important, and that it probably won't matter too much if the episode is skipped. Said element is covered pretty well in the later episodes where it's important.

Anyway, Season 1 isn't terribly bad, just fall back on the list I gave if the episodes start feeling dull.

 

[Sutekh]

I enjoyed the entire first season as I thought Sinclair was a particuarly good character. I never did like the character of Sheridan who was meant to be more 'heroic' or 'action based' than Sinclair, who seemed soft spoken but was direct and forceful when he needed to be. I also always preferred Talia as the telepath.

What happened to Sinclair later was interesting but i thought he was a wasted character.

I enjoyed Seasons 2-4, but did not enjoy 5.

 

[Plane Sailing]

What happened to Sinclair later was interesting but i thought he was a wasted character.

I agree. I remember at the time that there were some rumours of contractual issues, IMDB says that the actor wanted to leave, who knows what the real story was. I would have been hugely pleased if Sinclair had grown in all the plot hooks from series 1 through to the end though.

I enjoyed Seasons 2-4, but did not enjoy 5.

I disliked season 5 immensely, and wouldn't bother ever watching it again. The loss of Ivanova, replacing her with a character with a 'magically produced' relationship with Sheriden, none of that worked for me. I felt that the closing episode of Season 4 (when they didn't know whether there would be a season 5) was a perfect end to the series.

Cheers

 

[Merkuri]

I disliked season 5 immensely, and wouldn't bother ever watching it again. The loss of Ivanova, replacing her with a character with a 'magically produced' relationship with Sheriden, none of that worked for me. I felt that the closing episode of Season 4 (when they didn't know whether there would be a season 5) was a perfect end to the series.

I was told that the series climaxed in season 4 because when the show was originally created the main writer, J. Michael Straczynski, planned out five seasons. Then the show wasn't doing so good at the end of the first season, so they asked him to cut it back to 4 seasons. He complained, but cut back his epic plot. Then it started to get popular in seasons 3 (or somewhere thereabouts), and they asked him to bring it back to 5 seasons. He complained again, because things had already been put in motion, and the show had too much momentum for it not to climax in season 4, so he largely kept the 4-season script and just added a fifth "epilogue" season on the end.

So the way I understand it, they knew very well that there would be a season 5, but Straczynski didn't want to punish the viewers by drawing out his grand ending, which is why it looks like the series was going to end in season 4.

I spent one summer marathon-watching seasons 1-4 of this show, and the person lending me the videos told me not to bother with season 5, so I largely haven't seen it, and I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

 

[jonesy]

Season 5 has one of my favourite episodes, Objects in Motion, which has an awesome reveal at the end for season 4 fans

Spoiler

I'm talking about the video conference and Number One. =)

.

And Sleeping in Light is a pretty heartwarming ending to the series.

But the rest of season 5? I don't even remember what happened. Centauri something. Telepath something. Garibaldi did what? G'Kar went where? Just a blur.

 

[John Crichton]

S5 is a mixed bag but by no means did I consider it a waste of time. A few WTF eps mixed in with some other things that I really like that have already been mentioned in this thread.

 

[stonegod]

S5 has the "true" ending to the series (planned since the beginning of the show, and actually filled in S4). Day of the Dead is good, and written by Neil Gaiman. I liked the Lennier arc, but I'm a sucker for

Spoiler

heroic falls from grace

. The rest is meh. But yes, anything with Lochley is forgettable.

 

[Umbran]

I was told that the series climaxed in season 4 because when the show was originally created the main writer, J. Michael Straczynski, planned out five seasons. Then the show wasn't doing so good at the end of the first season, so they asked him to cut it back to 4 seasons.

My understanding of it was similar, but the issue arose at the end of Season 3. At that point, they would commit to a 4th, but not yet a 5th, season. So, the compacting was done very late in the game, not early on.

Add to this the fact that Claudia Christian's (Ivanova's) departure was not part of the plan.