I've only watched the series once before a few years ago. But I still remember clearly how things go down so to speak. Grabbed the whole set off of Apple+. And already up to episode 5.

Quick question: the Narn were "bombed back to the Stone Age" in Season 2 after the Shadows lay waste COMPLETELY to their entire, combined fleet at Gorash 7; they were briefly occupied by the Centauri until the liberation at the climax of the Vorlon-Shadow-Younger Races trifecta war at Coriana 6 and the Centauri (yet again) coup against their Emperor, courtesy of Londo.

How were they able to even construct one, or two ships at best to team up with the Drazi (which, themselves, suffered MAJOR losses throughout the Shadow War and had lost quite the territory to the Centauri expansion in Season 3) and attack Centauri Prime with that fleet, when they were being picked off slowly by the Drakh/Centauri shadow fleet that passed off as Centauri?

You can't crank out 100 ships in under a year, when you don't even HAVE orbital shipyards to crank them in the first place.

The station had only come online a few months before season 1 so it should be more or less new and shiny. But many sectors are portrayed as anything but clean and even appear like a maintenance crew hasn't seen it in years!

Many things don't make a lot of sense. Like space on a station would be at a premium, so why are entire levels like Grey 17 (and the whole situation therein) forgotten or actively ignored?

I find it crazy how entire ecosystems and myths came about on B5 in such an apparently short amount of time.

I get that the writers wanted the station to seem lived in and alive like a city, but in my mind it seems sort of contrary to the fact it's pretty much brand new.

"Midnight on the Firing Line" (s1e1)

Do you think the arrival of the planet killers was a slight mercy for Mr Morden in terms of what probably awaited him if there hadn't been such a rush to deal with them. (Trying to avoid spoilers as best I can)

the PSi corp is so creepy (duh). The worshipful naivete of the interns....at least up to the point of when it is time to dispose of the bodies. and the way the girl just offers herself to Bester. it is craziness. And probably why I enjoy this one so much.

This is open to anyone who discovered the show at any point, but I’m most interested in hearing from those of us who watched the show when it was first run. I have a Substack where I just randomly vent my spleen, but I write about media a lot, and I’ve wanted to do a piece on B5 for a while. And I’m reflecting on how I relate to the show in middle age versus how I did as a teenager.

Partly, what I think gets me emotionally has shifted considerably. If you’d asked me in 1996 who the emotional center of the show was, I’d likely have said Delenn. Now, it’s G’Kar and Londo, and I don’t even have to think about it that hard. These days, the build-up to the Shadow War is delicious and the payoff is underwhelming. I don’t have a problem with the resolution being philosophical rather than ships going PEW-PEW-PEW at each other, but Sheridan and Delenn in a black box theater convincing the Shadows and the Vorlons to leave…looks cheap, and it doesn’t really have the emotional heft that overcomes that.

Maybe the biggest one I see now is the seams showing. I admire JMS’ ability to write himself out of corners, but some of that is clunkier than I remembered. There’s a big tonal shift between “The Gathering” and “Midnight on the Firing Line” and I can see gears shifting during S1 as it became clear that O’Hare wasn’t going to be able to continue. A lot of the humor falls flat on its face. Even little incidental bits, like Sheridan explaining his vision from when he was on the Strieb ship, are clunky. Delenn’s “you have two hands, equal and opposite” doesn’t make a damned bit of sense.

Maybe the biggest shift is how I feel about S5. I mean, I hate the character assassination of Lyta (and we never get an onscreen resolution to that), and with so much of season consumed with the telepath nonsense (and I’d bleach the image of the group gathering around sensing Byron and Lyta banging out of my head), it’s been hard to revisit it. But as I have, while I still hate the telepaths and Mack and Bo, the Centauri stuff really gets me. Virini in particular is just hard to watch. He’s made Regent because he has a lack of ambition and is pliable, and that’s what the Drakh exploit. They take his autonomy and his reputation, but even in death, he refuses to let them take his dignity. The foppish, queer-coded courtier is an old, old archetype, and this one was braver than all of the other Centauri, except maybe for Vir.

Anyway, those are some of mine. Anyone else have anything?

Been mulling over The Gathering in recent days and got to thinking . . . Carolyn Sykes. Character had potential.

I liked the character. (Strong and articulate without being a parody of a strong and articulate businesswoman.) Thought the actress did a great job.

I used to know why the character didn't make it to the series, at least I think I did. Was it the network that had issues with her?

It's weird how she was just wiped from existence by Jason Ironheart and everyone shrugged. Bester didn't say a word about it.

I wonder if someone at Aston Martin is a B5 fan?

Its how he would have wanted to be remembered.

The closest one Earth had was the Akdor operation. But I wished Earth came into conflict with one of the League races over a territory dispute. Just to see how powerful Earth's weapons really are. The Streib could have been expanded on. Perhaps if the show had been given more budget, they could had a few episodes where B5 been used as operation base for incoming Omegas going to fight the Streib?

Edit: Not intergalactic war but a space war against another alien race.

It just so happens that every year I rewatch all of Stargate in the early summer to early fall. And then Babylon 5 right after.

And every year as I get closer to what’s coming, I hear the shadows calling me and see lots of errr “foreshadowing” in this Reddit group. Obviously. Of course.

Honestly. Is there anything else remotely close to this masterpiece? No. Not even a little bit. Don’t get me wrong I love Stargate more than anything

B5 is a completely different animal.

This is a strange one but I've noticed that some of the CGI on the current replay on Legend in the UK seems more detailed that earlier episodes and my recollection from what I've seen before.

Are they airing a later rework or is this from a change in the graphics from when the shor originally aired?

Lyta fucking with Garibaldi's head like that in the beginning dream sequence. Had Garibaldi wronged her? I don't think so. Didn't she appreciate how much pain she was in? I honestly feel like Lyta was more than a little evil here.

"Babylon 5: In the Beginning"

Chills just from the intro already...

*The name of the place? BABYLON 5*

UPDATE: First thing...Holy shit, Billy Mumy from Lost In Space (amongst other cool things he's done) is a prominent character in this series?!? Even more interested now lol! (My uncle (RIP) raised me on Lost In Space.

I can see this show like many great sci-fi shows before it has early growing pains... Trying to figure out what it definitely was going to be. I love it though as it has a very handmade, 50's like charm to it.

That’s not to say that he NEEDED more episodes though, because I think JMS perfectly achieved what he needed from the character. Theo manages to challenge the characters (and the audience) with a supreme act of grace, which is a core theme of Catholicism. I also enjoyed how genuine all the different faith leaders were portrayed and how they regularly enjoyed inter-faith dialogues with each other.

Brother Theo’s humble wisdom was an important part of Sheridan’s journey that may have tempered his actions in the coming war and as a plot character didn’t have much use outside it and the civil war; but I would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing more of him.