Essential Episodes of Babylon 5

[EATERoftheDEAD]

I have never seen this show and that is a travesty that needs to be rectified.

The fine community here at Trek BBS has been wonderful in helping me put together 'essential' viewing guides in the past, even for shows that defy the concept such as the Six Million Dollar Man. So now I come to you all and ask for your help again. My searching of the internet has produced surprisingly little for folks that want to experience this show without sitting down for every single episode.

So, if you needed to put together a list of essential episodes that touch upon the high-points of the series, show the story of the series, and really let me experience this show without sitting down for all 110 episodes, what would you choose?

This is the only list I found in my searches and it seems okay, but instructs to watch the entirety of Season 4, which seems a tad too all-inclusive.

Season 1
101 Midnight on the Firing Line
106 Mind War
108 And the Sky Full of Stars
113 Signs and Portents
118 A Voice in the Wilderness Part 1
119 A Voice in the Wilderness Part 2
120 Babylon Squared
122 Chrysalis

Season 2
201 Points of Departure
202 Revelations
208 A Race Through Dark Places
209 The Coming of the Shadows
213 Hunter, Prey
215 And Now For A Word
216 In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum
219 Divided Loyalties
220 The Long, Twilight Struggle
222 The Fall of Night

Season 3
301 Matters of Honor
305 Voices of Authority
306 Dust to Dust
308 Message from Earth
309 Point of No Return
310 Shattered Dreams
314 Ship of Tears
315 Interludes and Examinations
316 War Without Ends Part 1
317 War Without Ends Part 2
320 And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
322 Z’ha’dum

Season 4
All of them

Season 5
509 The Kingdom of the Blind
510 A Tragedy of Telepaths
511 Phoenix Rising
513 The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
516 All My Dreams Torn Asunder
517 Movements of Fire and Shadow
518 The Fall of Centauri Prime
520 Objects in Motion
521 Objects at Rest
522 Sleeping in Light

 

[Jan]

Essential episodes - all of them. Assuming you want to be able to see why the fans still love it 20+ years later. Why do anything else?

Season 4 is completely serialized so skip anything at your own peril.

Jan

 

[OmahaStar]

My searching of the internet has produced surprisingly little for folks that want to experience this show without sitting down for every single episode.

There's a reason for that. Every single episode is essential in some way or other to the overall story. There are no exceptions.

Yes, there are a couple stinker episodes, but even they tie in to the arc in major ways.

 

[Forbin]

Yeah, pretty much every ep has one or two little continuity things, some of which don't pay off until later seasons. And there are so many little character moments all through the show, it'd be a shame to miss any.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, B5 is one of those that doesn't really have skippable episodes. Even the ones that seem skippable at the time turn out to have implications down the road.

Besides, if you've never seen the show, why wouldn't you want to watch everything?

 

[EATERoftheDEAD]

110 episodes is roughly 82.5 hours, that's why I like watching condensed TV shows. I fully admit there are some shows that just can't be condensed, Veronica Mars I'm looking at you, but some are better when the chaff is cut away. I watched an essential version of DS9 and it was fantastic. It allowed me to catch up with the show and really get the DS9 experience in the span of watching maybe 2 seasons instead of 7.

I love long form storytelling in shows and I rember when B5 was airing several of my friends raved about it. However, for the same reason I didn't really get to see DS9 until recently. When it aired I had recently moved out on my own and things like cable subscriptions or television at all really, were a little outside my budget. With the internet now a thing, I can go back and watch these classics, however, it can be really time consuming and with all my adult responsibilities watching every episode of a show isn't always feasible. It recently took me a REALLY long time to get through all three seasons of Veronica Mars. It was worth it, don't get me wrong, but I thought explaining WHY I prefer to do essentials when possible might help.

When I sought out a condensed DS9 there were folks that said very similar things about there not being any episodes to miss because there are, little things here and there that tie in later and so on, but I found the condensed version perfectly watchable and enjoyable. I get that B5 was written very differently than DS9, I'm just using that as an example.

 

[RoJoHen]

I can honestly only think of maybe one or two episodes in B5 that you could skip. I've watched the show 5 or 6 times all the way through, and each time I've thought about skipping and only watching the "essential" episodes, only to realize that damn near every episode falls into that category.

 

[OmahaStar]

When I sought out a condensed DS9 there were folks that said very similar things about there not being any episodes to miss because there are, little things here and there that tie in later and so on, but I found the condensed version perfectly watchable and enjoyable. I get that B5 was written very differently than DS9, I'm just using that as an example.

One thing you should consider going in is that every episode was planned out in advance - before the first episode was filmed. Every episode is important, even if it doesn't seem so at the time, because of the overall arc.

There are at least four podcasts that are currently being released, involving Babylon 5. In each episode, they have someone who is a long-time fan, along with someone who has never seen the show before, discussing one episode at a time. The release schedule for these podcasts is generally one per week, or one every two weeks.

It might not be a bad idea to grab the season 1 DVDs and then listen with one (or more) of those podcasts. 42 minutes out of a week isn't a huge commitment, and you'll be done in a little over two years.

 

[EATERoftheDEAD]

Thanks for convincing me to just watch the whole thing guys, that's what I'm going to do. I will likely be binge watching it, which is how I digest television shows. So five seasons, if it holds my interest, should take me six to nine months or so of watching in my down time.

I just watched Midnight on the Firing Line and I liked it, but it felt like I was missing out on some setup. Should I watch The Gathering first? I read somewhere that I shouldn't because it spoils later developments.

 

[EATERoftheDEAD]

As an aside, I've noticed long-form shows tend to fall into one of three categories.

There are the ones that are serialized and don't have episodes that can be skipped if you want to smoothly follow what is going on. 24 is an extreme example of this, though Veronica Mars is also a good example. These shows should not be confused with what I call 'soap opera style' shows such as Game of Thrones because the plots and stories don't ever really resolve, they just keep going.

Then there are the shows where not every episode ties into the metaplot or character arcs but the non-essential episodes are still excellent and thus there is little point in skipping episodes. Buffy the vampire Slayer is a fantastic example of this because in six and a half seasons there was only one bad episode and even it was gold compared to a lot of television.

Finally, there are shows that have skippable episodes and not much is missed when these episodes are left out. The episodes might be stinkers or just super stand alone. Deep Space Nine was a good example of this as whole plotlines could be cut from the viewing, such as the Mirror Universe arc, without having any impact on the main storylines of the show.

 

[Forbin]

Actually I thought there was a LOT of chaff in DS9, but it was still fun to rewatch the whole damn thing anyway.

 

[RoJoHen]

I just watched Midnight on the Firing Line and I liked it, but it felt like I was missing out on some setup. Should I watch The Gathering first? I read somewhere that I shouldn't because it spoils later developments.

Yes, I would definitely watch "The Gathering" first.

 

[tomswift2002]

I just watched Midnight on the Firing Line and I liked it, but it felt like I was missing out on some setup. Should I watch The Gathering first? I read somewhere that I shouldn't because it spoils later developments.

Yes, I would definitely watch "The Gathering" first.

Or, chronologically, "In The Beginning" occurs before "The Gathering, but it does reveal plot spoilers, so you might want to watch it closer to Season 4.

But the second episode of Season 1 ("Soul Hunters") sets up the B5 movie "River Of Souls".

Otherwise, the B5 movies "Thirdspace", "Lost Tales" and "Legend Of The Rangers" are really the only skippable B5 stories. The B5 movie "A Call To Arms" picks up a thread from Season 5 of Babylon 5 and sets up what occurs with it in "Crusade". So "A Call To Arms" is a B5 story, but it is also the pilot for "Crusade".

But otherwise, each episode of B5 contains an important plot point. The Season 1 episodes are very episodic, but that was how Straczynski planned out the series, to have the 1st episodic and dropping seeds for the future arcs of Seasons 2-5.

 

[Forbin]

In the Beginning's framing story takes place during War Without End, so there's no point in watching it before that. in production order it was made after season 4, and has spoilers thru 4 (I think), so it's best to watch it after Season 4 and deal with it as the flashback it is.

 

[Harvey]

The framing story of "In The Beginning" takes place between the episodes "Objects at Rest" and "Sleeping in Light." It's always made the most sense to me there, although some fans insist on watching it at the beginning, others insist on watching it in the middle of season four, and I'm sure others still have yet another placement for it.

It wouldn't be Babylon 5 fandom without some disagreement over which order is best (see, also, Crusade, which is out of order in any order).

 

[EATERoftheDEAD]

I'll go back and watch The Gathering tomorrow before getting back into the series proper. I think i will wait to watch any of the movies until I have finished the series. Or do some of the movies tie in imortantly during the run of the series?

 

[Forbin]

Just remember that the gathering was a pilot film, and they made a lot of little changes for the series.

 

[OmahaStar]

Just remember that the gathering was a pilot film, and they made a lot of little changes for the series.

A lot lot. Even as a pilot, The Gathering is almost unwatchable. The first episode, "Midnight on the Firing Line" serves as a second pilot, setting up everything you need to know about the universe and moving on.

I've introduced six people to the series in the last year. With one, I started with The Gathering - she wouldn't watch another episode after that. The others, I started with Midnight, and then they went back to watch The Gathering after the end of the first season, when they had already seen how good the series becomes. All five of them finished the series.

If you are going to start with the Gathering, it DOES get better.

 

[EATERoftheDEAD]

Yeah, The Gathering was wooden and clunky in pretty much every aspect. I don't feel like it was awful enough to not watch any more of the show however. My problem with watching Midnight on the Firing Line first is it doesn't feel like a set up of a show and that I was supposed to already know who all these people were and what was going on in the grand scale. The Gathering, however, has that establishing feel to it, even if it isn't the best even when compared to other mid-90s sci-fi television. I'm intrigued and will certainly continue watching it, I'm interested to see where it goes from here.

When it comes to prequels and what not, I have found it is usually best to watch or read them in the order they were made. Jumping around in order can make for some clunky storytelling and perhaps revealing plots or characters that don't make sense or spoil later happenings. There are exceptions to this, such as the Lucas era Star Wars films, which are best watched in the machete order.

 

[Forbin]

When it comes to prequels and what not, I have found it is usually best to watch or read them in the order they were made. Jumping around in order can make for some clunky storytelling and perhaps revealing plots or characters that don't make sense or spoil later happenings.

I agree!