• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

Story Arc highlights...

B

BGLamb

New member
Hi,

A friend of mine has lent me the whole 5-series of babylon 5 recently and I'm finally going to get a chance to watch it properly next week.

I caught a few when they were on TV originally, nd have been really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, my time-span is going to be limited, and I'm only going to get a chance to watch maybe half of the episodes.

I was wondering if you guys had any pointers on which ones are worth watching, and which ones are worth missing.

Obviously, anything integral to the overall story-arc is a must, but I've no idea what's what without reading episode-synopses' and that would kinda spoil it.

Let me know what you all think.
 
Is there a reason why you feel you have to watch the whole thing in a certain amount of time? Because I honestly think that you simply won't get anything out of the series without actually watching the series. There are so many things that seem to be offhand, incidental remarks or events that turn out to be important that you really can't, or shouldn't at least, cherry pick. Fans have tried to find episodes with absolutely no arc-related stuff and they couldn't.

Jan
 
This seems to be the classic dilemma among fans. If you don't watch every episode, which ones do you leave out? Everyone's got a different answer. Jan's right that the whole series is valuable. Season one is a lot of build up, and season five is a lot of aftermath. The middle three seasons are the real core of the show. But, without season one, you may not understand the middle as much, and without season five, you may not feel as much payoff.

Off the top of my head, these are the episodes that are the most important or my most favorite (the ones with an asterisk are the really crucial ones)...

Prequel Movie:
* In the Beginning (but, do you watch it first or later; another classic fan dilemma)

Pilot Movie:
* The Gathering

Season One:
- Midnight on the Firing Line
- The Parliament of Dreams
* Mind War
** And the Sky Full of Stars
- Deathwalker
** Signs and Portents
* A Voice in the Wilderness, part 1
* A Voice in the Wilderness, part 2
*** Babylon Squared
- The Quality of Mercy
*** Chrysalis

Season Two:
** Points of Departure
** Revelations
- The Geometry of Shadows
- Soul Mates
*** The Coming of Shadows
- GROPOS
- There All Honor Lies
- And Now For a Word
*** In the Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum
- Knives
- Confessions and Lamentations
- Divided Loyalties
*** The Long Twilight Struggle
- Comes the Inquisitor
*** The Fall of Night

Season Three:
- Matters of Honor
- Passing Through Gethsemane
* Voices of Authority
** Dust to Dust
*** Messages From Earth
*** Point of No Return
*** Severed Dreams
* Ceremonies of Light and Dark
- Ship of Tears
*** Interludes and Examinations
*** War Without End, part 1
*** War Without End, part 2
- Walkabout
* And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
** Shadow Dancing
*** Z'Ha'Dum

Season Four:
*** The Hour of the Wolf
*** Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
*** The Summoning
*** Falling Toward Apotheosis
*** The Long Night
*** Into the Fire
- Epiphanies
- The Illusion of Truth
* Atonement
** No Surrender, No Retreat
** Face of the Enemy
** Between the Darkness and the Light
*** Endgame
** Rising Star
* The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Season Five:
- No Compromises
- The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
* Darkness Ascending
* And All My Dreams Torn Asunder
** Movements of Fire and Shadow
*** The Fall of Centauri Prime
* Wheel of Fire
** Objects in Motion
** Objects at Rest
*** Sleeping in Light

"Tough Calls"
- Seasons 1 & 2 have a few clunker episodes, but sometimes even they have important stuff in them
- There are probably excellent or important episodes I left out because I don't immediately associate the subplots or great moments with just the episode titles (and, I'm tired right now). Again, this was off the top of my head.
- To me, the middle five eps of s4 (between Atonement and No Surrender) blend together. I can never remember which episode is which, so I left them out. You would need to see at least one of them.
- I left out Intersections in Real Time because it's one of my Top 3 Least Favorite Episodes, but it is kind of important. (Also, a point of contention among fans; some count it as one of their favorites.)
- Season one's Soul Hunter is another of my bottom three but also somewhat important.
- I left out a lot of early s5. Most fans agree that the telepath subplot is a week point in the series, but if you skip as much of early s5 as I left out, you'll be lost on Lyta's character by the time you get to Wheel of Fire.
- They may not be crucial to the story arc, but I count Passing Through Gethsemane and Confessions and Lamentations as being the two best and most un-skipable stand-alone episodes.
 
I know what you're saying Jan, and I'm definately a completist at heart who'd love to watch the whole thing. I'm just being visited by a friend who's only going to be in the country for a week. Rather than watch the first 2 series and miss the last 3, I'd like to try and get as much as possible watched through-out, since I don't know when I'll get another chance to watch it.

Thanks for that list Ninja Squirrel. It looks like a good starting point.
 
The Gathering is really crucial to watch? No offence, but to me it's amazing this show got made after how crappy this pilot episode was.
 
if you are watching it for the first time you simply can't cherry pick stuff,because when you do view it in full you will feel completely cheated.
 
ALeafOnTheWind said:
The Gathering is really crucial to watch? No offence, but to me it's amazing this show got made after how crappy this pilot episode was.
Click to expand...
I think it is. It sets up the mystery/motivation of the Minbari for one and nicely showcases all of the main characters.

Keep in mind that "The Gathering" was a pilot setting up an entirely new universe. It didn't have the luxury that the later Treks did, in that many of the specifics of the universe are already well known. In order to do that, the story had to be fairly basic but I do like that it's not just a straightforward mystery.

Jan
 
Why don't you watch the first two seasons or so, then run out and buy the rest on DVD as you have time? They aren't _that_ expensive as some DVD sets.
 
Depending upon your location, you may easily be able to buy or rent B5. There may even be someone from this board local to you that might be willing to lend them to you. ;)
 
BGLamb said:
I know what you're saying Jan, and I'm definately a completist at heart who'd love to watch the whole thing. I'm just being visited by a friend who's only going to be in the country for a week. Rather than watch the first 2 series and miss the last 3, I'd like to try and get as much as possible watched through-out, since I don't know when I'll get another chance to watch it.
Click to expand...

Watch them from the beginning, in this order, and get as far as you can before your friend leaves. Then rent[1] the rest, and finish.

The Gathering (pilot) [2257]

Season One ("Signs and Portents") [2258]

Midnight on the Firing Line
Soul Hunter
Born to the Purple
Infection
The Parliament of Dreams
Mind War
The War Prayer
And The Sky Full Of Stars
Deathwalker
Believers
Survivors
By Any Means Necessary
Signs and Portents
Grail
Eyes
A Voice in the Wilderness - Part 1
A Voice in the Wilderness - Part 2
Babylon Squared
The Quality of Mercy
TKO (why not right after Signs and Portents ?)
Legacies
Chrysalis


Season Two ("The Coming Of Shadows") [2259]

Points of Departure
Revelations
The Geometry of Shadows
A Distant Star
The Long Dark
A Spider in the Web
A Race Through Dark Places
Soul Mates
The Coming of Shadows
GROPOS
All Alone in the Night
Acts of Sacrifice
Hunter, Prey
There All the Honor Lies
And Now For a Word
Knives
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Confessions and Lamentations
Divided Loyalties
The Long, Twilight Struggle
Comes the Inquisitor
The Fall of Night

Season Three ("Point of No Return") [2260]

Matters of Honor
Convictions
A Day in the Strife
Passing Through Gethsemane
Voices of Authority
(this was originally meant to air before "Passing Through Gethsemane," but since the events of this episode tie into the beginning of "Dust to Dust," and aren't mentioned at all in "Gethsemane," the initial airing order is actually an improvement)
Dust to Dust
Exogenesis
Messages from Earth
Point of No Return
Severed Dreams
Ceremonies of Light and Dark
A Late Delivery From Avalon
Sic Transit Vir
Ship of Tears
Interludes and Examinations
Walkabout
War Without End, Part One
War Without End, Part Two
Grey 17 Is Missing
And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
Shadow Dancing
Z'ha'dum


Season Four ("No Surrender, No Retreat") [2261]

The Hour of the Wolf
Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
The Summoning
Falling Toward Apotheosis
The Long Night
Into the Fire
Epiphanies
The Illusion of Truth
Thirdspace (TV Movie) [obviously in 2261]
Atonement
Racing Mars
Lines of Communication
Conflicts of Interest
Rumors, Bargains and Lies
Moments of Transition
No Surrender, No Retreat
The Exercise of Vital Powers
The Face of the Enemy
Intersections in Real Time
Between the Darkness and the Light
Endgame
Rising Star
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Season Five - ("Wheel of Fire") [2262]

No Compromises
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
The Paragon of Animals
A View from the Gallery
Learning Curve
Strange Relations
Secrets of the Soul
In the Kingdom of the Blind
A Tragedy of Telepaths
Phoenix Rising
The Ragged Edge
Day of the Dead
The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
Meditations on the Abyss
Darkness Ascending
And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
Movements of Fire and Shadow
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Wheel of Fire
Objects in Motion
Objects at Rest
River of Souls (TV Movie) [2263]


The Legend of the Rangers [pilot movie and series late 2265 to late 2269; "just under 3 years after the events of 'Objects at Rest.'" This means it will be set in late 2265]


A Call to Arms (TV Movie) [January 2267]


Crusade [January 2267 - December 2271 was planned]
This ordering, which JMS specified, ignores the uniform change in favor of maintaining continuity of storyline, except that I moved War Zone to position 1.

War Zone (chronologically takes place immediately after A Call to Arms.)
Racing the Night
The Needs of Earth
The Memory of War
The Long Road
Visitors from Down the Street
The Well of Forever
Each Night I Dream of Home
Patterns of the Soul
The Path of Sorrows
Ruling from the Tomb
The Rules of the Game
Appearances and Other Deceits



Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (Direct-to-DVD, #1 of 1) [2271]
Over Here
Over There (contains a flashforward to 2301.)


In the Beginning (TV Movie) [2278] (The present tense of Londo as narrator is that of Londo releasing Sheridan and Delenn, and Londo & G'Kar choking each other at the end, and this has to happen between Crusade and "Sleeping in Light."
"In the Beginning" was told by Londo in ~2278.)


Sleeping in Light [2281].




[1]By then, you'll probably want to buy them all anyway. ;) This is a show you'll want to watch at least a few times through, start to finish. Of all of the above, there's only one thing I'd avoid, The Legend of the Rangers TV movie/pilot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 359 (members: 1, guests: 358)

Share this page

Back
Top