Babylon 5 (Season 5)

As I mentioned in my last review, Babylon 5 was originally meant to be cancelled by Season 4, so JMS had to cram many of the important resolutions into that season. As a result, Season 5 is in this odd place where it had to extend and deal with most of the storylines that were originally cut out from Season 4, resulting in a season that, while not bad, feels a dull, calm, and slow-paced for quite a bit of its runtime.

Season 4 had been building up to this big Telepath war, so it was obvious that this final season would be dealing a lot with it. However, I was surprised and disappointed to find that it's the least interesting storyline in the whole season. The main premise is that this telepath named Byron has arrived to B5 to form a colony, not a bad idea for a running subplot, but this is the main storyline of the first half of the season. This ended up leading to a consistently mediocre level of quality, there were still no cheesy standalone episodes like the first few seasons, but the pacing was insanely slow compared to Seasons 3 and 4, and the amount of genuinely great episodes was just rare in this first half. It doesn't help that Byron himself is a really annoying and stuck-up character, and his cult of telepaths just comes off as creepy and frustrating more than sympathetic. I wasn't all that crushed when Byron died halfway through the season. Season 5 also introduces a replacement for Ivanova, Elizabeth Lochley, who while not a bad character, isn't nearly as dynamic, likable, and interesting as the one she replaces. Between the dull telepath colony story arc and the focus on trying to force the viewer to like Lochley, this first half was rough...

While the telepath arc was weak, however, the rest of the season was actually pretty great, and did right by the characters. Londo and G'Kar were particular highlights here, with amazing material even during the season's first half. Their dynamic has always been one of the best parts of the show, so the fact that they got to spend a lot of time together this season was excellent. The Drakh war is easily one of the best arcs in the series, slowly building throughout most of the season until Londo has to confront his fate and be emperor to save Centauri Prime. Even after the Drakh war ends, though, the final few episodes do a great job of giving every single character the goodbye they deserve and need, while passing the torch to the new team of Babylon 5. There's a real sense of finality to this final stretch of episodes, there's no big final battle, no insane action scenes, it's just character drama and satisfying resolutions, and I think that's really great. As rough as that telepath arc was, the final third of this season is still so satisfying and strong that it makes the whole season worth watching.

Despite the slow first half, the second half of Season 5 actually had a bunch of really great episodes:

And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder: This is the point at which I start to really feel bad for Londo, because this episode solidifies just how out of the loop he is. The meeting in the first half is just plain tense, as the evidence piles up, the Centauri want Londo to blame the Narns, and the chance of war becomes increasingly more likely. I also really liked the ending where Londo gets himself arrested protecting G'Kar, a great example of how their relationship has evolved.

The Fall Of Centauri Prime: This episode is just tragic, there's no way around it. Londo's story is a tragedy, plain and simple. There's just so many heartbreaking scenes with him, the destruction of Centauri Prime, the reveal of the Drakh, the Regent's death, Londo's goodbye to G'Kar, and his big announcement. I admire that this show doesn't give a solution at the last minute, this has been Londo's fate from the beginning, and the show stuck by this.

Wheel Of Fire: I don't like Lochley that much, but this was probably her best episode. She really put herself out there trying to help Garibaldi, and her persistence was admirable. This is also the start of where things start to head to a close, Garibaldi reunites with Lise, Delenn is pregnant, G'Kar and Lyta leave, there are some pretty big moments for these characters here. 

Objects At Rest: This episode is pretty low-stakes and pretty focused on resolutions, but it could have worked as a series finale incredibly well by focusing on the passing of the baton to the new crew of Babylon 5. It feels really fitting that as everyone leaves, they all end up finding someone perfect to take their place (Vir for Londo, Lochley for Sheridan, Tessa for Garibaldi, Hobbs for Franklin, and Ta'Lon for G'Kar). And the scene where everyone says goodbye to Sheridan and Delenn is very sweet.

Sleeping In Light: This was a great series finale, bittersweet yet satisfying. It's painful that not all of the characters were able to come to the reunion, that Sheridan had to die, and that Babylon 5 blew up, but what I love about this ending is that it makes it clear that the cast made the world a better place in these five years. Babylon 5 wasn't destroyed in some sort of disaster like it was initially predicted, it was destroyed because it did its job. Once again, this finale wasn't a big final battle, really there's no action here whatsoever, Sleeping In Light is a farewell tour that punches you in the gut and ends the show on a beautiful note. 

Overall, Babylon 5's fifth and final season isn't bad, and never reaches the lows of the first two seasons, but it feels pretty underwhelming coming after Seasons 3 and 4, especially with its overlong and weak telepath arc. However, this season has a stellar second half, a great series finale, and a ton of satisfying and deserving character resolutions that still make it worth the watch.

3/5 Stars

My ranking of the Babylon 5 seasons is:

1. Season 4: While maybe a bit rushed, Season 4's fast and relentless pace gives the series' main conflict a climactic, exciting, and dramatic season-long resolution.
2. Season 3: Though it still has a few duds, Season 3 feels like the most important season, bringing all of the simmering tensions and plot points to a pretty dramatic and impactful head.
3. Season 2: It's really the Centauri and Narn stuff that makes Season 2 so great, a truly compelling and well-executed tragedy that showed off just what Babylon 5 could do.
4. Season 5: That Telepath arc kinda blows, but the second half is genuinely great, especially with the Centauri Prime stuff and the series finale.
5. Season 1: Season 1 may be cheesy, slow-paced, and uneven, but it does a good job at laying the groundwork for the rest of Babylon 5, and that finale is absolutely worth the build-up.

My ranking of the Babylon 5 finales is:

1. Sleeping In Light: Really just the perfect ending for Babylon 5. Fairly subtle and small-scale, but also satisfying and emotional.
2. Z'ha'dum: Coming after one of the biggest space battles in the series, I love how personal Sheridan's big confrontation with the Shadows was, though it still ends with a planet blowing up.
3. Chrysalis: What a truly masterful season finale, taking all of the disparate plot threads from Season 1, tying them into a bow, and leaving a ridiculous amount of cliffhangers that need to be resolved.
4. The Fall Of Night: While not as explosive as the other finales, the episode has a great sense of dread to it, and the reveal of Kosh's true appearance is fittingly grand for a finale like this.
5. The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars: This finale had a really neat concept to it, but when you're pitting it against some of the most dramatic and twisty episodes of the show, it's gonna fall short.

Favorite Episode: Severed Dreams