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Babylon 5 Episode guide
By John T Burt
Updated January 2004
B5 is best when watched quickly (4 to 5 episodes a week) in B5 chronological order, and almost every episode is watched. My series grade is A- or B+.
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Notes below : Second Viewing, Lurker's Guide, Data Structure, Viewing Comment, My Favorite
SECOND VIEWING 2003
About the 4th season of the original broadcasts, I decided B5 might be very good if the episodes were watched days apart instead of weeks and months. So I recorded the entire series, which was in reruns at that point. In the summer of 2003 we started watching it again. We watched almost every show and movie in B5 chronological order. It took us 6 months to finish, averaging about 4.6 hours a week.
The show IS better watched quickly and some of the results were interesting.
- The long term stories were vital to making most of the episodes interesting.
- Watching it in chronological order does work.
- Although the overall the average grade for the series would probably be only about a B, my personal grade for the series is now A- or B+.
- The movies were not as good as the series episodes.
- You could see how Straczynski struggled to provide a reasonable ending for season 3 in case there was no season 4. He succeeded.
- In season 4 he formally finished of the major wars in case there was no season 5. In season 5, the secondary long term themes were wrapped up.
- Season 1 was not that interesting, so I can see why the show didn't inspire me initially. Seasons 2 and 3 were the best. Season 4 was good, but was basically all war. Season 5 was the lease pleasant.
THANK YOU
My thanks to the Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 at http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/ for keeping me informed during the show's irregular initial broadcast and for allowing me to use their informaton in this guide. This guide was made after the series was almost complete and without them I would not have had the necessary data.
The Data Structure
Note that the seasons are broken up per the story line not the initial broadcast date.
| SE |
The episode number within a season. |
| Ep |
The continuous episode number, most match the Lurker's Guide. Specials will be inserted into the chronology by using decimal fractions. |
| Gd |
My A, B, C, D, F grade for the show. Many of the grades were done from memory. When I rewatch the show I will regrade it and update this entry. |
| * |
Shows that move the main story along as marked in the Lurker's Guide. |
| Title |
The show titles as listed in the Lurker's Guide. |
| Summary |
Many are summaries from the Lurker's Guide that I edited for content and length. A few are quotes from the Guide and a rest are original to me. When I watch the series again, I will update them. The purpose is to remind me what happened in the episode. |
| Date |
The first air date as listed in the Lurker's Guide. |
A comment
Babylon 5 was difficult to watch when it was first broadcast. The first network split the seasons before the end of the each annual story making fans wait a good three months to see the conclusion. The show tended to be moved around a lot and was preempted regularly. There was also the threat it would be cancled and the long term story never completed.
For those and other reasons the show was not always fun to watch and I did not make an episode guide as it was broadcast. Now that it is in reruns and can be watched several times a week by those of us with VCRs, it will be a lot better. And if you are watching it for the first time and can watch it that way, enjoy!
My favorite.
My favorite thing about Babylon 5 is the fact that the X-wing fighters turned using real physics. Not only was it correct, it was also fast, efficient and beautifully done. I've been waiting for that to happen in a SciFi show for many, many years.
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