Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is in my opinion a classic syfi show that ended too soon, with 5 great seasons, and spawning several films and a spin off show. Babylon 5 offers a great way to escape into a wonderful exciting story, the universe of endless potential. A true 90's show, with a great cast, and the effects for the time it was made were amazing. I grew up on this show as a kid and was obsessed, the war with the shadows was thrilling when I was young, and still wish I could have more episodes to this day.

Even though the final season was rather slow, and glossed over a lot of plot lines that probably would have been more interesting, it was still better than most science fiction, and any on television other than the earlier seasons. Other than the final season and scattered weak episodes, the series is the best television science fiction, and near the best dramatic television, and competes with the best movie science fiction.

The action in the series is mostly about the Shadow war, but the real key is the intrigue between the characters, and the personal growth of the characters. Londo is one of the best dramatic characters in any series. He starts as an ambitious schemer who drinks too much, but develops a conscience as he learns the consequences of his ambitions, and finally ends up as a tragic character who reached even beyond his early ambitions, but at a cost that he regrets deeply.

Maybe some day there will be a better science fiction series. But for now this is the level of story-telling television science fiction should try to reach.

Babylon 5 is one of the TV shows we all wish we had come across sooner. as a massive star trek fan i saw the first few episodes of b5 in its initial run and immediately thought it was below par. at the urging of a friend i came back to it a few years later.... wow! to say i was impressed was an understatement, i immediately began to re-watch the whole series and saw he genius of the story arc and character development. in addition to this the use of aliens that looks alien, use different gasses to breath, are more advanced technologically and (shock) actually speak a language other than English was a joy! the battle scenes were wonderful, well beyond anything i had seen before and as for londo and g'kar, if there are 2 finer characters in all of television then that TV show is doing well. funny, awe inspiring, intelligent and emotional b5 has it all, the only drawback being that sometimes the walls are a little flimsy, sometimes the effects are a little below par, but willing suspension of disbelief is necessary in sci-fi, and b5 is no exception. is b5 a work of genius? definitely, without question yes, but could parts of it be better? those niggly little things that gnaw at us i'm afraid would have brought b5 up a notch, but it remains , without question, one of the finest shows, not just sci-fi, but shows that i have ever seen!

Babylon 5 is the greatest science fiction show in the history of television.

A bold statement I know, especially when one considers the original series of Star Trek which is certainly the genre's most celebrated. It's true to say that Star Trek has had a much greater cultural impact and has lasted longer than any other SF show, but when watching it again, it has dated. I'm not questioning the brilliance of some early episodes - they're still well written and thought provoking - season 1 of the old series is still fantastic. However, Babylon 5 is the Star Trek for today in that it deals with issues in a modern context. Whereas ST was a bunch of cleverly disguised morality plays about 1960's issues like communism, nuclear war and racial prejudice, B5 deals with social control, economics, war, governmental corruption, social psychology and spirituality. Although the issues discussed in Star Trek haven't gone away, they're not foremost in the psyche of mr average anymore.

Alongside the fact that B5 discusses issues at the forefront, it has many other virtues. The main one is that the story continues from episode to episode - even now when I re-watch season one (just released on DVD) I can see events taking shape that will lead to major plotlines in future years. I'm not just talking about Data gradually becoming more human or Worf tussling with the dying Kilingon Empire every 7 or 8 episodes ... I'm talking about characters and plots that can be seen to be evolving each week without an obvious good guys vs bad guys scenario.

I can't remember how many times I've watched a B5 episode and had a flashback to an earlier one - the sudden realisation of the importance of an event that seemed insignificant is very satisfying. Even in the 5th series, you'll be thinking back to an episode in series 1 and feeling smug that you got it.

'Ahhhh! That's what it meant!' You'll be saying that a lot.

The characters are wonderfully fleshed out by some great actors. They're complex beings who have to deal with temptations and failings as well as triumphs and successes. Sometimes things go deeply wrong and (get this Trek Fans) IT'S NOT SORTED OUT BY THE END OF THE EPISODE!! That's right - people change realistically - everything's not reset each week! Don't get me wrong - I'm a huge Trek fan myself, but it's always irked me that everything is just so hunky dory (don't people have arguments on the enterprise?)

It's very satisfying to see a character that you've come to know and love wrestle with their morals and sometimes make the wrong choices (just like we all do.) In the end, we all knew the various crewmembers of the Enterprise would do the right thing. You can't say the same for the characters on B5 - they're fallible and thus much more interesting.

There's many other great things about the show, but for me, the story and the characters are the most important. Sure, I know it doesn't look as expensive as Star Trek and yes I know it's hard to get into because it's not a whole load of 'one shot' episodes! If you like Star Trek and consider yourself intelligent - step up to the next level and watch B5!

I guarantee that if you stick with it for a while, you'll be glad you did because the payoffs are enormous. If My girlfriend can like it - anyone can....

Bored by today's generic, soul- and lifeless mass productions I check out some of those gems of long gone times. Babylon 5 beats every show today marketed under the label of sci-fi easy: likable and interesting characters, suspenseful storylines and good old action and fine fx work make Babylon 5 a lighthouse shining amidst the ocean of mediocrity and worse. Top and gets better with every decade of the decline of the entertainment industry.