Click on the picture to watch Babylon 5 for free on theWB.com
Have you ever noticed that TV isn’t quite as epic and awesome as it used to be in the 80’s and 90’s? I remember watching Star Trek the Next Generation and then Star Trek Deep Space 9 when it came out. They were totally engrossing shows that made me want to watch every week. Well lately the only shows that I really wanted to see every week include LOST and Battlestar Galactica. But recently I have been looking for another TV show to watch that had a good universe like Star Trek Deep Space 9. I was talking with a friend and he told me to check out Babylon 5. Babylon 5 is a very cool show that has some similarities with Star Trek Deep Space 9. It lasted 5 seasons long and was very enjoyable to watch. The show is free to watch on theWB.com so click here if you want to stream it on your computer. There are commercials on theWB.com but it is a lot less then there are on regular TV. And also the commercials are only 30 seconds long at the breaks. Also you can lower the volume of the commercials, which is good because they are usually pretty loud.
There are a lot of things that I like about Babylon 5. The characters and the story are great. The setting is good too, at least the space station is. The planet that they are near isn’t mentioned very much in the show. The show is about this space station called Babylon 5. It is basically a trade port and a place for ambassadors from different worlds to come together and make decisions on politics, trade and military issues. Babylon 5 is guarded by a couple wings of fighter-craft called Star Furies. The fighter-craft are cool because they are fast and maneuverable and they make the battle scenes of the show more believable. The show has a great plot that revolves around political intrigue but there is lots of action and battle scenes as well. The characters are well developed and each one has his/her own back-story and personality quirks. There is a character called Michael Garibaldi who is the security chief of the station. He is a really cool character because he has flaws and because he has an interesting way of looking at situations. Garibaldi also is portrayed by an excellent actor, Jerry Doyle.
The space station, Babylon 5 itself is about five miles long and has hundreds of thousands of humanoid sentient beings doing business and living their lives every day. The station is owned by Earth Dome which is basically the Earth Government often referred to as “Earth Gov.” In this show Earth is more corrupt than in Star Trek and there is often political problems brewing within Earth Gov. Also the Babylon 5 universe still uses the concept of money, so economics is a big issue in the show. At one point the station has to deal with disgruntled union dock workers and strikes. It makes for interesting episodes and it gives a face to the internal workings of the station.
The space battles and fly-by cut scenes are all done by computer generated images (CGI). Although the ships and battles aren’t as impressive as the ones you see in Star Trek Deep Space 9, the CGI does a good job of getting the story and action across and you will get used to them after a few episodes. Babylon 5 excels in its use of aliens and creatures. There are all sorts of different aliens on the show. Some look like people. Others look like bugs. Other aliens look like they have bone protruding from the back of their heads. And some aliens are made of primarily energy. Overall you will be impressed with the aliens in the show and they breathe life into the station and make it feel large and populated. There are a few primary alien races that have specific ambassadors on the show and they are well acted and all look very different. There is one character in particular called G’Kar. He is a really cool reptilian ambassador who is portrayed by an excellent actor, Andreas Katsulas. G’Kar has many interesting things to say in the show and is always entertaining when on-screen. A lot of wisdom comes out of this character’s mouth.
I loved watching this show late at night on my laptop. It was such a good show that I eventually started getting the disks on Netflix and brought the disks over to a friends house. We had a lot of fun watching the show. But I had a friend recommend that we only watch seasons 1-4. The reason why he told me to do that is because the show was only intended to have 4 seasons. But I found Babylon 5 on theWB.com and I was really happy I did because season 5 although not as exciting as season 3 or 4, was still a great season to watch. And season 5 did a great job of wrapping up the show and giving it a sense of finality.
Another reason why I loved the show Babylon 5 is because it had many links and connections between episodes. Plotlines intertwined quite often and in some episodes you will see something happen that was a result of some other small or insignificant event in a previous episode. So the show really rewards you for watching it consistently and for remembering what happens. Overall this is a great show and since you can watch it at the theWB.com there is no real reason not to check it out. If you like Sci-Fi then this show is a must see. If you liked Star Trek Deep Space 9 you will probably love this show. If you are new to Sci-Fi, Babylon 5 is a good place to start because there is a lot of humor and the characters are good.
-Tyler