”And so, it begins… Here we are. The end of the first season. “Chrysalis” is more than just an awesome season finale, however. It’s the episode that sold me on Babylon 5. It’s the episode that showed me there was something worth tuning into on a regular basis instead of the sporadic basis I had been watching the show originally. In short, it’s awesome. I’ve spent a lot of the past few... 

Alright ladies and gentlemen, buckle in. This is going to be a long ride. For many people, “Signs and Portents” is the start of the major story arc in Babylon 5. It’s my hope that, over the course of this series so far, I’ve shown that some story elements go all the way back to the first episode (“Midnight on the Firing Line”). This is definitely a game changer, however, with so much story... 

In Star Trek: First Contact, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has a speech about how, in the future, they’ve transcended such things as material greed; everyone works for the common good of mankind, with humanity’s focus on material possessions having been eliminated by the Trek era. Every time I hear that speech, I think, “Bullshit.” I mean, seriously: who wants to be a janitor for the common... 

It’s been a good run. ”And the Sky Full of Stars” revealed a key point of Earth history and revealed to viewers what happened during Sinclair’s missing time in the Battle of the Line. ”Deathwalker” touched more on the history of Earth and reminded us that the cryptic Vorlons are an ever-present threat. ”Believers” gave Franklin a chance to shine and presented on of Babylon 5’s moral... 

With Star Trek in the ‘60s, Gene Roddenberry showed that science-fiction can be used as a powerful medium of social commentary – a tradition J. Michael Straczynski carried on with Babylon 5 more than once. “Believers” is the first such episode, where Babylon 5 really dives into a topic that of some importance to contemporary audiences. While it is at times a bit heavy handed, “Believers”... 

Oh, those wacky Vorlons. They spend so much time attempting to be cryptic, and then we get an episode like this where they really let their hair down a little… proverbially of course. The Vorlon interactions are the highlight of “Deathwalker,” but the episode carries on the momentum of the previous episode’s exploration of human history as well as exposing some of that moral gray area that... 

So far we’ve looked at episodes that are among my favorites and among my least favorites. Sooner or later, however, there have to be some episodes that are in the middle – episodes that leave you feeling, “meh,” as we might say on the podcast. “The War Prayer” is one of those episodes. It offers a few interesting things into the world of Babylon 5, but it’s mostly a stand-alone episode... 

“Mind War” is one of those episodes I have in my head that I dislike greatly. The truth is that it’s a pretty good episode, albeit one of those “Star Trek” episodes – a story that seems like it would be more appropriate in the annals of Trek than on this show. Of course, part of that is because Star Trek: Voyager followed suite with a similar storyline for one of its characters (Kes).... 

If “Infection” is my least favorite Season One episode, then “The Parliament of Dreams” ranks up there as one of my favorites for the season. The episode is the first time G’Kar is really put at the center of a story (as I’ve mentioned previously, I was a big G’Kar fan), reveals some of culture of the different alien races, and even gives the Commander a romantic connection, although... 

When it comes to Babylon 5, you tend to fall into one of two camps: you are a Londo fan or a G’kar fan. Both have excellent storylines over the course of the series, but they are so dramatically different (spiritual transcendence vs a fall from grace) that people only tend to really connect with one of them. You can appreciate both, but the themes behind the characters are so diverse, people tend...