Babylon 5 Series Review

Babylon 5 (1994-1998)

Watch Babylon 5 Season 1 on Amazon Video Season 1 - 22 episodes (1994)
Watch Babylon 5 Season 2 on Amazon Video Season 2 - 22 episodes (1994-95)
Watch Babylon 5 Season 3 on Amazon Video Season 3 - 22 episodes (1995-96)
Watch Babylon 5 Season 4 on Amazon Video Season 4 - 22 episodes (1996-97)
Watch Babylon 5 Season 5 on Amazon Video Season 5 - 22 episodes (1998)   
Created by: J. Michael Straczynski
Starring:  Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Stephen Furst, Andreas Katsulas, Peter Jurasik, Jerry Doyle, Bill Mumy, Claudia Christian, Michasel O'Hare
Rated: TV-PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
In the mid 23rd Century, the Earth Alliance space station Babylon 5, located in neutral territory, is a major focal point for political intrigue, racial tensions, and various wars over the course of five years.

Verdict
What this show does is so impressive. It's like a novel in how the first seasons setup the great war while still developing these characters. It's a space opera and I mean that as a compliment. It's a broad story that balances a galactic war with characters that grow and develop almost every episode. This tackles tough issues, and it's hard not to like these characters by the end. Their personal journeys are so intriguing and they change so much by the close of the show. The writing is top notch.
At first I thought this was a knock-off Star Trek, but it becomes so much more, telling a story much bigger than Star Trek ever managed. This show is so entirely underrated.
Watch it.

Review
I started watching this show many years ago, but the characters, especially Londo, just seemed cartoon-ish. That and this seemed like a Star Trek: The Next Generation knock off. I subsequently read that I should watch a handful of episodes before passing judgement. I'm glad I did. This is an amazing show. It really starts to shine in the second and third seasons, but the first did a lot of groundwork. The fourth season is solid too. While I like the fifth season, it just felt tacked on, especially with how the fourth season finale wrapped the entire series.

Lennier, Delenn, G'kar, Susan Ivanova

Season 1
This definitely got better as it went along. The characters will grow on you, though at first this seemed a bit corny. The episodes mostly stand alone, but what I didn't realize is that these episodes are filling in backstory for everyone. You get to know these characters and their past. This is darker than Star Trek. Different alien species all gravel through this space station. We get into aliens with differing beliefs, a dock worker's strike, PTSD, alcoholism and much more. These are real world issues operating under the guise of sci-fi. Being a show from the '90s, there are a lot of episodes, but they're solid episodes.

G'kar

Season 2
This season had more interlocking stories, and conspiracies. This show is so big. From how big the space station feels to what's happening in space and on Earth. This season was a lot more engrossing. The foundations of the world were present in the first season, but now they're being uncovered. We learn about the first people and the shadows that are a precursor to a galactic war. The second season was  pivot point that took the show from not bad to something really special.

Garibaldi, Stephen Franklin, and Susan Ivanova

Season 3
The breadth of this show is impressive. The overarching story had to be planned from the beginning with things only hinted at in the first season coming back in full force now. The show has become a lot darker. As light hearted as I thought this was to start, this season proves that wrong.

Season 4
It's amazing how big this story is and how the earlier seasons fit into what's become a space epic. The development we've seen in these characters has turned characters I'd written off into very interesting people. Londo and G'Kar especially have amazing arcs in the series. From warring races to friends. The fallout between their races is a recurring story.
This deals with a lot of heavy issues. There is a civil war, a war against the shadows, and we still have warring species. While season 2 developed a dark undertone, it was still mostly the adventures of this station. Season 3 erupted into a war for survival. Season 4 is the aftermath, and that war changed a lot of characters. This show is an amazing, epic saga. This is my favorite season, but it's foundations are the other seasons.

Sheridan, Garibaldi, Delenn, Lennier

What's strange about this season is that we get a series finale. One of the last episodes talks about the futures of these characters. I have to imagine the show didn't think they would get renewed so they wrapped the story.

Season 5
This season is weird in that the show wrapped up so perfectly in season 4. This seems like a scramble to continue a new story. It's not bad, but different. We get a one off episode that focuses on two maintenance guys. It's interesting to see the world from a different perspective, but previous seasons never felt like they had the time for side adventures. I do like the new issues of this season with a new alliance and try to align the worlds though.

I really love this show. It's severely underrated. I'm a big fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Babylon 5 does some things Star Trek never tried. Babylon 5 should be in any conversation about best sci-fi television series. This show did a fantastic job of building characters. They changed, they grew. I never would have imagined liking Londo and G'kar as much as I do, but they had an absolute journey. There are a lot of characters in this, each with a unique journey. Don't just wait for this show to find you, seek it out.