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A number of comics, novels, toys and spin-off films as well as an aborted series, Crusade, followed.
Although it aired for five seasons and completed its story, Babylon 5 never really gained the mainstream traction that shows such as Star Trek did, but remains a cult classic nevertheless. Written almost wholly by J Michael Straczynski, the series was a much darker, gritter science fiction effort that predated similar efforts such as Battlestar Galactica and much of post-9/11 television in terms of style. A number of comics, novels, toys and spin-off films as well as an aborted series, Crusade, followed. As always, these are just ten of the best, not the ten best, episodes.
Signs And Portents
Season One, 18 May 1994
There may not have been a huge amount of action in this episode, but it was crucial to the overall development of the further plot. It introduced, obliquely, the Shadows, Mr Morden, and foreshadowed (no pun intended) the Narn-Centauri War.
Babylon Squared
Season One, 10 August 1994
A perennial fixture on top ten lists such as these, ‘Babylon Squared’ was a mind-bending, reality-warping episode that mastered the art of raising questions for long-running arcs well before Oceanic 815 crash-landed on a time-shifting island.
Chrysalis
Season One, 3 October 1994
The finale of the first season also saw the departure of Sinclair as the station’s commander, the transformation of Delenn into a Minbari-Human hybrid, the assassination of Earth President Santiago and more. A moving, and deeply important instalment.
In The Shadow Of Z’ha’dum
Season Two, 10 May 1995
Morden has been a shadowy, elusive presence on the station up until this point, but finally, we start to get some answers. Babylon 5 always excelled at presenting infodumps gracefully, and this is a fine example of that, where we learn the framework of the verse.
Severed Dreams
Season Three, 1 April 1996
Dramatic, action-packed and well-written, ‘Severed Dreams’ is possibly the best episode of Babylon 5, and always a fan favourite. The Earth Alliance civil war is kicked off in style here, complete with the kind of space battle you’d never see in Star Trek.
Z’ha’dum
Season Three, 28 October 1996
A climactic moment features some brilliant (for the time) CG work, good acting from the ever-reliable Bruce Boxleitner, plot development and one of the most beautiful scores in the entire series. A truly vintage episode of the later Babylon 5 era.
Into The Fire
Season Four, 3 February 1997
After all of the feints, heavy losses, pitched battles and more of the last few years, the Vorlons and the Shadows finally get a fat lip from the younger races and told to bugger off. It’s a little cheesy, but man, what an incredible space battle.
Endgame
Season Four, 12 October 1997
Along with ‘Severed Dreams’ this was one of the best episodes of the series as a whole. Its complex, multi-layered story added to some great action as Sheridan and his alien allies launch their final attack to topple the neo-fascist regime of President Clark.
The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars
Season Four, 27 October 1997
Many fans consider this to be the actual ending of Babylon 5, and I’m inclined to agree. Unlike most shows, B5 actually gave us a full conclusion not only for the crew, but also for the entire human race as a whole. Far reaching, and very satisfying.
Movements Of Fire And Shadow
Season Five, 17 June 1998
The true reason behind the Centauri attacks (as if we didn’t already know) is revealed, and one of the darkest plotlines of the entire series comes full circle, eventually leading to the destruction of Centauri Prime and the proof that you just shouldn’t bargain with the Devil.
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A great series and I am currently rewatching it every night on FX at 5pm – I think they are on season three just now! Has ScifiNow looked back on this classic show? If not you should, and Crusade wasn’t bad either! :)
We had a complete guide in issue 25 and a modern classic in one of the earliest issues, number three I believe. And yeah, I liked Crusade too. Killed too early, unfortunately.
What did you think of the TV movies? A Call To Arms has to be the best.
I can’t believe you left out the shows with Soul Hunters!
In my mind the best Science Fiction series ever and one that is massively underrated. I still miss it and sincerely hope that we see JMS back soon.
The Soul Hunters? Really? Not a fan, has to be said.
And the TV movies were mixed for me. I liked the Lovecraftian touches of Thirdspace, A Call To Arms was cool, and In The Beginning was great. The Lost Tales really sucked, though.
I was a late viewer to B5, when I realised how good it was I couldn’t believe I’d waited so long to check it out. The series is well known for being very serialized and I really like it for that, I like any show that has the guts to be serialized. But the irony is that the serialized format being its best quality in some ways made it one of its biggest failings. Any story that wasn’t related in some way to some kind of overall story that was going at the time (basically bits of season one and all the movies and spin-offs bar In the Beginning and the third Lost Tale) simple aren’t that good. Without realising it JMS created an amazing sci-fi show were standalone stories just didn’t function well and were not all that interesting.
My favorite episode is probably the one where Londo says something like: “When I first came to B5 I had all the choices in the universe but no power. Now I have all the power but no choice at all”. I always get chills when I hear that.
I also like “War without end” Part I & II, very good ones.
Favorite movie is “In The Beginning” I just wish it was 30 min. longer, because it feels somewhat rushed.
Crusade should have been given a chance, it was good.
The last episodic movie JMS did, released only on DVD, was really bad, and had too much christian theology in it for my taste.
I remember B5 as an exciting breath of fresh air after the bland trek-verse. I think think last two series were hampered down by some clumsily self-conscious mythologizing. It was always a mistake, I thought, to resurrect Sheridan after Z’Ha’dum (as with Starbuck in BSG, in retrospect). Sheridan was a much less interesting character than Ivanova, Delenn). But when it was good, it was terrific.
Good selection but I would like to see Sleeping in Light in the mix. It still brings a tear to the eye, even 11 years on.
Good choices. Enough shows for a top 20 or 30.
I was totally hooked on this show, too. I need to dig it out again and watch these classic episodes. Wasn’t there another spin-off the JMS was working on that he had to abandon? I’d have to trawl through JMSNews to find the details. Are ‘The Lost Tales’ and ‘Legends of The Rangers’ really that bad?
This show had a reality based on physics and a fiction based on imagination not found in very many shows. For me the Golden Age spanned the original broadcast and the first reruns. I deeply miss the characters, the mythos of the known galaxy and how one could escape for a time in another’s storytelling. I still wait for Mr. Strzynski (spelling may be off) to come up with yet another blockbuster show only this time let it complete after 8 years. As we would say in the Navy: Bravo Zulu, job well done!
Best series of all time for me, followed after a while by heroes, followed after a while by the 4400 and then nothing for a looong time.. better off ted? (but thats comedy)
It is basically, about almost everything. Politics, society, religion, spirituality, corruption, (human) nature, economics, and so on etc. It makes partial and full references to lots of things, i even caught some castaneda quotes. Going to watch it for the third time in the coming weeks.
Id like to mention S2 EP9 here, ‘The coming of shadows’. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517697/
Late disclaimer: DO NOT read the synopsis on IMDB if your watching for the first time, some spoilers in there.