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?
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 ChrysalisI 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.