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?

  • Blackout
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    41 year ago

    This was the list I found. I will give it a chance too.

    Story Arc essential ones

    Midnight on the Firing Line
    Soul Hunter
    And the Sky Full of Stars
    Survivors
    Signs and Portents
    A Voice in the Wilderness
    Babylon Squared
    The Quality of Mercy
    Chrysalis
    
    
    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      I managed to dig up the list I used when I was rewatching it with my wife.

      • 1.01 Midnight on The Firing Line

      • 1.06 Mind War

      • 1.08 And The Sky Full of Stars

      • 1.13 Signs And Portents

      • 1.18 A Voice In The Wilderness (1)

      • 1.19 A Voice In The Wilderness (2)

      • 1.20 Babylon Squared

      • 1.22 Chrysalis

      • 2.01 Points of Departure

      • 2.02 Revelations

      • 2.08 A Race Through Dark Places

      • 2.09 The Coming of Shadows

      • 2.13 Hunter Prey

      • 2.15 And Now For A Word

      • 2.16 In The Shadow of Z’ha’dum

      • 2.19 Divided Loyalties

      • 2.20 The Long, Twilight Struggle

      • 2.22 The Fall of Night

      Personally I would very much skip Soul Hunter. It’s a bad episode, and it’s plot relevance is only for one of the movies. I’m also really not convinced that Survivors is strictly necessary. I guess on that one I’d say give it ten minutes, and if you’re not digging it then skip.

      From Season 3 through season 4 just watch every episode, it’s a really solid show by that point. Season 5 is basically a coda. Watch or skip based on how you’re feeling by that point. The main plot functionally resolves at the end of season 4 because of network fuckery.