The "A" List: Favorite Episodes

[Ninja_Squirrel]

The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

Okay, I know that Favorite Episode threads pop up pretty often, but I always like them. It's always fun to express your opinion about your favorite episodes.

Lately, I've spent some time grading each episode. I've rated each one on three different scales: 1 to 10 (no decimals), 1 to 5 stars (no half stars), and letter grades F to A+ (although I couldn't bring myself to give an F to any of them). Yes, I have too much time on my hands.

Anyway, listed below are the episodes I gave an A-, A, or A+. I'm guessing my opinions on seasons 1 and 5 may be the most different from others and that, despite the arc being my favorite part of the series, I may like a few of the stand-alones more than some people do.


Season 1
--------
(A-) Chrysalis

Season 2
--------
(A-) The Coming of Shadows
(A-) There All Honor Lies
(A-) Knives
(A+) Confessions and Lamentations
(A-) Divided Loyalties
(A+) The Long, Twilight Struggle
(A+) The Fall of Night

Season 3
--------
(A+) Passing Through Gethsemane
(A+) Dust to Dust
(A+) Messages From Earth
(A-) Point of No Return
(A+) Severed Dreams
(A-) Ceremonies of Light and Dark
(A+) Interludes and Examinations
(A) War Without End, Part 1
(A) War Without End, Part 2
(A+) And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
(A+) Shadow Dancing
(A+) Z'ha'dum

Season 4
--------
(A) The Hour of the Wolf
(A+) Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi
(A+) The Summoning
(A+) Falling Toward Apotheosis
(A+) The Long Night
(A) Into the Fire
(A+) No Surrender, No Retreat
(A+) Endgame

Season 5
--------
(A+) The Fall of Centauri Prime
(A+) Sleeping in Light

 

[Sigma]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

Good list.

You seem to like S3 over S4. No "Intersections of Real Time" or "Face of the Enemy" or "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" (All are A+ and most certainly top10 B5 episodes for me).

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

You seem to like S3 over S4.

I always thought I liked season 4 better too, so I surprised myself with the way the numbers worked out.

I love the 5-year story arc of B5, but to me the heart of it is in S3. While the first six episodes of S4 form my favorite mini-arc, much of the rest of S4 seems to be very transitional. Cool things happen in S4, but much of the Mars and Minbari stories blend together almost too well between episodes. I like how it's easier in S3 to pinpoint that _____ happened in episode _____. Things are just too spread out in S4.

No "Intersections of Real Time" or "Face of the Enemy" or "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" (All are A+ and most certainly top10 B5 episodes for me).

Here are my grades for those eps:

(D) Intersections in Real Time
(B) The Face of the Enemy
(B-) Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Keep in mind, I think B5, on average, is the best show ever, so I have to grade tough or they'd all be B's and A's.

 

[Recoil]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

I'd add to Season 1:

Chrysalis: A+
By Any Means Necessary: A
Signs and Portents: A-
Babylon Squared: A-

 

[Mike G]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

You guys never include the funny episodes. I give an "A" to Sic Transit Vir, Soul Mates, and A View From the Gallery.

 

[Recoil]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

Sic Transit Vir was funny? I always thought it was kinda dark...

 

[drakh13]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

I always love comparing my episode ratings with other B5 fans! Thanks for sharing them! Any chance that we'll see the rest of your ratings?

I too, have rated all of the episodes. I rated them just before S1 was released on DVD. I rated the episodes on a 0 to 10 scale, using the same grading scale that's used at my university. Not surprisingly, many episodes are 'A' episodes. To keep my list short, I'm going to list the episodes that I rated a perfect 10/10 (A+). If you want to see all of my ratings, please feel free to visit the ratings page on my website, which is located at http://babylon5.jeffcushen.com/ratings.html. Anyway, here's my list:

Season 1
Babylon Squared
Chrysalis

Season 2
The Coming of Shadows
The Long Twilight Struggle
The Fall of Night

Season 3
Messages from Earth
Severed Dreams
Interludes and Examinations
War Without End (Part One)
War Without End (Part Two)
Z'ha'dum

Season 4
Falling Toward Apotheosis
Into the Fire
The Face of the Enemy
Between the Darkness and the Light
Endgame

Season 5
And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
Movement of Fire and Shadow
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Sleeping in Light

Again, the above episodes are those that I rated 10/10. My real 'A' list is much longer.

 

[Sigma]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

My ratings

Season 1
----
(A-) Signs and Portents
Others:
(B) And The Sky Full Of Stars
(B+) Chrysalis

Season 2
----
(A+) The Coming of Shadows
(A-) All Alone in the Night
(A+) And Now For a Word (S2 top3)
(A-) In the Shadow of Z'ha'Dum
(A+) The Long, Twilight Struggle
(A+) The Fall of Night

Season 3
----
(A+) Message from Earth
(A) Point of No Return
(A+) Severed Dreams (without doubt my favorite episode of B5)
(A+) Interludes and Examinations
(A-) WWE p1
(A-) WWE p2
(A+) Z'ha'dum (best finale)
Others:
A lot of B+ or B episodes.

Season 4
----
(A) The Hour of the Wolf (best season opener)
(A) Whatever Happened to Mr.Garibaldi
(A-) The Summoning
(A-) Falling Toward Apotheosis
(A) The Long Night
(A) Into the Fire
(A-) Moments of Transition
(A) No Surrender, No Retreat
(A+) The Face of the Enemy
(A+) Intersections in Real Time (my S4 favorite episode)
(A-) Between the Darkness and the Light
(A+) Endgame
(A+) The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
Other: All episodes are better than B-

Season 5
----
(A) And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder (very good direction)
(A+) Sleeping in Light
Other:
(B+) In the Kingdom of the Blind
(B) Phoenix Rising
(B+) Darkness Ascending
(B) Movements of Fire and Shadow
(B-) The Fall of Centauri Prime
(B) Objects at Rest

 

[macmaccaman]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

Hmmm A List eh?

1 War Without End
2 Interludes & Examinations
3 Signs&Portents
4 Face of the Enemy
5 Z'Ha'Dum
6 Endgame
7 Intersections in Real Time
8 Babylon Squared

Thats prob my top eight, cant remember what else to make it a top ten. My list misses out S5 as I havent seen that, and Severed Dreams cos I think its overated.

 

[PillowRock]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

Sic Transit Vir was funny? I always thought it was kinda dark...

It was kinda dark.

It was also very funny. I would put the scene where Vir asks Ivonova for advise with women right up there in the funniest 3 or 4 bits / scenes in the entire series.

Funny and dark are not mutually exclusive, to my taste anyway. The disconnect between Lyndisty's (sp?) manner and what she was saying in certain scenes was both chillingly dark / scary and very funny. It is a tricky balancing act (both in writing and performance) to do both at the same time, but it can be done (and I think was done in this case).

 

[Shaal Mayan]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

I will add one more to season one and it's a personal favorite of mine Born to the purple.

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

Re: The \"A\" List: Favorite Episodes

If you want to see all of my ratings, please feel free to visit the ratings page on my website, which is located at http://babylon5.jeffcushen.com/ratings.html.

Originally, I only graded each episode on a 1 to 5 star scale. In fact, it was your site that inspired me to also use letter grades and the 1 to 10 numerical scale. I especially like your 10-episode average graph. The curve is a nice visual representation of how you feel the series progressed upward as it went. I guess if I graphed it, it would look more like a bell curve with the peak in the center.

I rated the episodes on a 0 to 10 scale, using the same grading scale that's used at my university.

That looks like a unique scale. I've never seen an "E" grade before. I also wanted to use both +'s and -'s, so I came up with the following letter/number/star conversion:

A+ = 10 = *****
A = 9 = *****
A- = 9 = ****
B+ = 8 = ****
B = 7 = ***
B- = 6 = ***
C+ = 5 = ***
C = 5 = **
C- = 4 = **
D+ = 3 = **
D = 3 = *
D- = 2 = *
F = 1 = *

Thanks for sharing them! Any chance that we'll see the rest of your ratings?

It would be going too far to list all of them, but in my scale both A-'s and B+'s convert to 4 stars, and I consider all 4 & 5 star episodes to be my personal favorites. So, I'll list my B+'s as A List Honorable Mentions:

S1 (B+) Deathwalker
S1 (B+) The Quality of Mercy
S2 (B+) Revelations
S3 (B+) Matters of Honor
S3 (B+) Walkabout
S5 (B+) And All My Dreams Torn Asunder
S5 (B+) Objects at Rest

I have no B+'s in Season 4, but I do have five B's and five B-'s. In my first thread, I listed my A+'s and A's and later mentioned Intersections as being a D. The remaining three grades in Season 4 are C+'s.

Again, let me emphasize that B5 is better than most stuff out there, especially sci-fi, so a B5 B is like an A compared to most shows, and a B5 A is like a perfect score with extra credit.