Hooked On A New (Old) Series - Babylon 5

I am now officially hooked on this series. I'd never seen any of it before, but I'm loving it now! In maybe a month we've gotten through the first two seasons and just started watching the third this morning. I think we're averaging about two or three episodes a day.

I'm loving the overall atmosphere and connecting arc of all the episodes - not to mention the characters.

The series premise is as follows (from the first season):

In 2257 A.D., the Earth Alliance places a massive space station, Babylon 5, into orbit around a planet in a neutral corner of a distant galaxy to serve as a refuge for anyone seeking sanctuary from the tyranny of the hostile federations that dominate the outermost regions of space. In this strange, exotic and dangerous world, humans and aliens strive to build a new and better future.

Elements of Babylon 5 remind me of Stargate SG1, which I watched my way through a few years ago - kind of want to re-watch some of them again too soon - but this is most definitely it's own series.

From the start there are hints of the greater story-arc, even though there are also a number of episodes that more or less stand on their own. However, into the second season those stand-alone episodes become fewer and fewer, while the overarching arcs become stronger and stronger.

While the graphics are somewhat dated, the storylines certainly aren't. Peel away the alien facades and you will find the issues that we as a world are grappling with today like racism, fear of the "other", hatred, working conditions, poverty and so much more. Despite that, the stories told in the episodes are not simply allegorical in-your-face messages. Don't ask how many times we've found ourselves putting in another disc because we both want to know what's going to happen next!

The Season Two finale was a good example of that. I'm really glad that we're watching now with the complete series in our possession. Waiting for the next season to start would have been a form of torture I think!

Moments of laughter mixed with absolute edge of the seat questions of what's going to happen next. If Babylon 5 was a book, I'd be saying it was one I couldn't put down. It's definitely the equivalent as a TV series!

Personal opinions here so your mileage may vary greatly, but I'm definitely preferring the Narns and their attitudes to those of the Centauri - at least those of the Centauri we've seen so far! Looking forward to seeing the moment when Londo truly realizes how badly his choices have messed things up and to see him trying to make amends.

Also looking forward to learning more about the Rangers and their role in things to come - have only seen a few episodes with them so far. I can't help but wonder what historical reference will come up next either - last one I saw and I still believe it to be an omen was the line about "peace in our time" on the signing of the nonaggression treaty between Earth and the Centauri. Somehow I can't see anything good coming of that at all.