B is for BABYLON 5

BABYLON 5 is the only TV show I know that started out with a definitive Beginning, Middle, and Ending.

The plot-threads were carefully interwoven through the episodes, lending depth and realism to the entire epic.

What GAME OF THRONES is to Fantasy, BABYLON 5 was to Science Fiction.

The Big Questions of Existence were studied through character studies of the various characters. 

Each major character had his own arc.

G'Kar who started out a buffoon, ended up a sensitive, wise prophet of his People.

Londo who started out a friend of Earth found himself a prisoner of his ambitions -- become emperor, he ended up a slave of those he thought his pawns.


Creator J. Michael Straczynski wrote the bulk of Babylon 5, a science-fiction epic set onboard a space station.

Just think:

one writer, producing most of the episodes of a 5 year long series!

Mr. Straczynski shopped his series around long before Paramount hatched DEEP SPACE NINE, though that series got off the ground first.

In fact, he presented it to Paramount, who passed on it and then "created" DS9! 

Hollywood.


Unlike Star Trek and other sf series,

Babylon 5’s characters often shifted their allegiances and outlook, many changing and even completely reversing their original position over the course of the series.

Like GAME OF THRONES, B5 had characters with flaws whose mistakes had life-long consequences.

 Doctor Franklin battled addiction to “stims”, little shots of stimulants he used to get himself through his too-busy days (sound familiar?)

while the chief of security was a recovering alcoholic and

Sheridan’s second in command hid a deep, dark secret of her own.

Even the aliens were far from friends.

Then there are the ones who wait in the shadows and say nothing, watching, observing, calculating,

and who are quite happy to see thousands, even millions die to achieve their mysterious ends.

B5 praised the LITTLE GUYS:

A good example of this is season five’s “A view from the gallery”,

where the story takes place from the viewpoint of two  maintenance workers who go about their normal day

as the people we have come to know as the stars of the show run back and forth dealing with crises.

SOMETIMES THE GOOD GUYS DIE

Over and over, major characters died, letting the viewer know that no one was sacred -- that in real battles not every hero returns.

What is your favorite Science Fiction TV show?