Babylon 5

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by moreorless

I do actually think season 1 becomes more interesting in retrospect when you can see what grows from it and indeed seeing the show with a slightly different style to it.

Definitely. You certainly catch more the second time around because a lot of things are in motion in the first year that only become apparent in hindsight. I don't know how many times I've run through the complete series at this point, a lot, but I always end up catching something new when re-watching.

What I think Babylon 5 really got right in terms of its arc was focus on the slow build and then end relatively fast, somewhat forced on it by threats of cancelation but as far as season 4(and the season 5 finale was filmed in season 4 to potentially be used then so you could go straight to that) anyway I don't think the big plots outstay their welcome.

Also it's ability to catch you off-guard

[Show spoiler]like the conclusion to the Shadow war - all built up to a climactic battle royale and then Sheridan ended up talking his way through it!

. Or,

[Show spoiler] when they retake Mars and you're thinking what a great episode, hold on, there's 10 minutes left, wtf, they're carrying on to Earth? Now?!

. In hindsight, I'm glad season 4 and season 5 turned out the way they did. The first half of season 5 suffers possibly, but the second half of season 4 is absolute dynamite, the pace of storytelling is just break-neck!

I remember watching DS9 via renting those 4 episode VHS tapes from Blockbuster.

I remember renting DS9, and TNG originally, before it aired on BBC2. I watched TNG and hated it. "Where's Kirk, who's this bald tw*t?!" Similarly though, years later, I watched the first 4 episodes of DS9 and had a similar reaction. I ended up loving TNG, and still do. DS9 though, well that was the pinnacle of Trek for me.