Do You Have To Be A Fan of Science Fiction To Enjoy Babylon 5?

[nx01a]

All I can add is that Babylon 5 remains the gold standard for space opera. A 5 year storyline plotted from the beginning with fantastic characters who actually evolve, epic concepts, and fantastic space battles. I literally cannot recommend it more highly.

[Zero Hunter]

These two alone make the show well worth watching. G'Kar and Londo are both some of the best characters in Sci-Fi

[nx01a]

These two alone make the show well worth watching. G'Kar and Londo are both some of the best characters in Sci-Fi

Best frenemies/bromance in sci-fi played by two of its best actors! RIP Andreas Katsulas!

[marshal88]

babbling on-5. it's a political show wrapped in a sci-fi setting between the different races.

[Powerboy]

It helps, especially now. IMO, part of its power lay in Star Trek, with its rosy new of human destiny, owning so much of of the space-future-history turf. B5 seemed like the first one to come along that let future humans, even heroic space soldiers, be people. That's no longer so unique a thing.

Also, if you try it, you really have to hang in there for the first 2/3 of S1. Some of the writing was a bit tedious, but they were laying important plot groundwork and it does begin to pick up speed.

I'd say the same. At the time, it was a counter to the perfect humans Star Trek tended to present. I remember Sheridan making a comment about the official story in the B5 universe that humans had evolved and become better or something like that and his response was, more or less: What? No greed? No jealousy? No hate? No putting yourself ahead of others? Tell me. When did all of this just magically happen? When did humans just magically stop being humans?

Now, with DS9 (which borrowed B5's premise to put it mildly though they branched away from each other), Discovery, Picard, and so on, B5's then more realistic premise probably doesn't stand out as much.

[Powerboy]

All I can add is that Babylon 5 remains the gold standard for space opera. A 5 year storyline plotted from the beginning with fantastic characters who actually evolve, epic concepts, and fantastic space battles. I literally cannot recommend it more highly.

It was a ground breaker. It explored concepts in depth. In a time when most sci fi shows would resolve a situation in an episode and then act like there were no consequences, like it might as well have never happened, B5 dealt very seriously with things.