Babylon 5The last, best hope for peace.
Babylon 5 is a five-mile long space station located in neutral space. Built by the Earth Alliance in the 2250s, its goal is to maintain peace among the various alien races by providing a sanctuary where grievances and negotiations can be worked out among duly appointed ambassadors. A council made up of representatives from the five major space-faring civilizations - the Earth Alliance, Minbari Federation, Centauri Republic, Narn Regime, and Vorlon Empire - work with the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to keep interstellar relations under control. Aside from its diplomatic function, Babylon 5 also serves as a military post for Earth and a port of call for travelers, traders, businessmen, criminals, and Rangers.
CreatorJ. Michael Straczynski
Midnight on the Firing Line
Jan 26, 1994
When the Narn attack a Centauri colony, Londo and G'Kar nearly come to blows. Meanwhile, raiders are attacking transport ships near the station.
Soul Hunter
Feb 2, 1994
A badly damaged ship is brought into the station and the strange alien inside is identified as a soul hunter - an immortal race who can sense death and supposedly steal someone's soul.
Born to the Purple
Feb 9, 1994
Londo unknowingly falls for a beautiful slave, whose owner wants her to steal sensitive information. Garibaldi discovers that someone is using a restricted communications channel.
Infection
Feb 16, 1994
Dr. Franklin gets a visit from an old friend and former mentor, xenoarchaeologist Dr. Vance Hendricks who wants Franklin's help to analyze some organic artifacts he found on a dead world. But the artifacts seem to have a will of their own and start to manipulate Hendricks' assistant.
The Parliament of Dreams
Feb 23, 1994
Sinclair's old flame, Catherine Sakai, arrives during a week-long festival when humans and aliens demonstrate their dominate religious beliefs. An old enemy sends an assassin to kill G'Kar.
Mind War
Mar 2, 1994
The Psi-Cops arrive at the station to capture a rogue telepath, Talia's old Psi Corps instructor. Catherine Sakai is warned not to survey Sigma 957 by G'Kar.
The War Prayer
Mar 9, 1994
A racist group is terrorizing non-humans on Babylon 5. Meanwhile Londo has trouble with two young Centauri who want to break with tradition by ignoring their arranged marriages, and instead marry for love.
And the Sky Full of Stars
Mar 16, 1994
Sinclair is kidnapped and interrogated by two men determined to prove he betrayed earth during the Battle of the Line.
Deathwalker
Apr 20, 1994
Na'Toth attacks an alien woman that has just arrived on the station, claiming that she is the Dilgar war criminal Jha'dur - known as Deathwalker. Meanwhile, Talia is hired by Kosh to oversee some rather strange negotiations.
Believers
Apr 27, 1994
An alien couple comes to Dr. Franklin with their fatally ill son. The child could be cured by a simple operation, but the parents' religion specifically forbids it. Meanwhile, Ivanova escorts a damaged star liner through raider territory.
Survivors
May 4, 1994
There is an explosion in one of the fighter bays just days before the president is to visit Babylon 5. A dying man implicates Garibaldi, which is just what the head of presidential security wants to hear, as she blames him for her father's death.
By Any Means Necessary
May 11, 1994
The station's dock workers stage an illegal strike after an accident in the docking bays. G'Kar tries to take part in a Narn religious ceremony, but must find a replacement G'Quan-Eth plant that was destroyed in the accident.
Signs and Portents
May 18, 1994
A Centauri noble comes to Babylon 5 to transport an important relic in Londo's possession back to the homeworld. And a mysterious man visits all the alien ambassadors asking them an unusual question.
TKO
May 25, 1994
Garibaldi is surprised when an old friend comes to Babylon 5 to fight in the "Mutai" - a savage alien fighting arena. Meanwhile, Ivanova has trouble dealing with her father's death.
Grail
Jul 6, 1994
A man comes to Babylon 5 asking the alien ambassadors for information that can help him with his quest to find the Holy Grail, while a Downbelow gangster gives security problems by mind-wiping all who oppose him.
Eyes
Jul 13, 1994
Sinclair's decisions the last year catch up with him, when an internal affairs investigator arrives to test the crew's loyalty to Earth Force with the help of a telepath. And Lennier shows great interest in Garibaldi's attempt at assembling a 1990's motorcycle.
Legacies
Jul 20, 1994
A Minbari war cruiser comes to Babylon 5 to display the body of a recently dead Minbari leader, while Ivanova and Talia battle for the fate of a young girl with newly discovered telepathic powers.
A Voice in the Wilderness (1)
Jul 27, 1994
Strange signals start coming from Epsilon 3, the planet below Babylon 5. A science ship is sent to investigate, but is fired upon by a defense system on the planet. Meanwhile, Garibaldi worries about a lover he left back on Mars, when fighting breaks out there.
A Voice in the Wilderness (2)
Aug 3, 1994
The situation heats up when an Earth Force heavy cruiser arrives to "protect Earth's interests", and the fusion reactors on Epsilon 3 start going out of control, and may blow up the planet and Babylon 5.
Babylon Squared
Aug 10, 1994
Babylon 4 reappears at the same place it disappeared four years before, and Sinclair and Garibaldi lead an expedition to evacuate its crew. Meanwhile, Delenn is summoned by the Grey council. They inform her that they have selected a new leader - her.
The Quality of Mercy
Aug 17, 1994
Dr. Franklin investigates an unlicensed medical practitioner in Downbelow, while Londo takes Lennier for a tour of Babylon 5's seedier locales. And in the brig, a convicted murderer waits for his sentence to be carried out - the death of personality.
Chrysalis
Oct 3, 1994
The Centauri are about to withdraw from a quadrant of space because the Narn are harassing them, when Londo gets an offer to take care of the problem. Meanwhile, Garibaldi tries to find out what his informant stumbled upon that got him killed.
Sierbahnn
@Sierbahnn
I think it would be very difficult for me to summarize all of my impressions from the Babylon Five series. It's too long and it's too involved and it's too important. What the writer has done with this work is simply outstanding. It outpaces all similar shows like the contemporary Deep Space Nine by so many miles that it makes the other look amateurish. The things you get to learn in season one pay off in season three which makes you think very hard about the stuff that you might have learned in series two and what this might mean for series four. This is the genius of writing a show and only altering things based on circumstance, not shifting writers out left and right and not having a coherent vision. I could go on about the casting of this, but suffice it to say that there's a reason that certain days are dark now that we have lost many of the cast members for this show. They brought something that hasn't been had since. It is true that the effects in this show has aged, but it is more than three decades old. And if you look at the way Star Trek looked at that time or after (which is the only comparable show budget-wise and scope-wise) this looks remarkable. The big strength of this show is its characters. They are memorable, they are engaging, and they are written with such care and precision that they live on even if their respective actors are no longer with us. I lament that not more people have watched this show in its entirety. I think many would benefit from its stories. All I can do is tell you that I believe that it is a good idea to actually sit down and watch the five seasons and the handful of movies because I think genuinely that it will make your lives better.
