I’ll keep making this argument until its commonly understood: The best B5 viewing order is:

• Seasons 1-4
• Series finale (Season 5, Episode 22, Sleeping in Light)
• The rest of Season 5 (but only if you really want to)

I went into B5 thinking it would be a cheap copy of Deep Space Nine.

Well, it certainly was a very cheap production, I was able to produce better-looking graphics on a 133MHz Pentium.

But the story grabbed me and I ended the series with genuine sadness that it was over. Babylon 5 is the real deal.

I never finished it.

I followed a viewing guide, watched the odd feature length episode where it was supposedly appropriate, and watched through to the penultimate episode.

It advised to watch Crusades and sweep up anything else that hasn’t been watched before watching the final episode…

…but Crusade was so awful (in my fifteen year old opinion) that I never finished the spin-off series, and never got to see the finale of B5.

Shame really, but perhaps better for my health. The other half and I quite often sat down to dinner with an episode on and easily polished off a bottle or two of wine most nights.

I don’t remember disliking season 5 like I’m seeing here. But holy cow did I despise season 1. I enjoyed the series overall but I would never recommend season 1 to anyone.

Earlier this year, I went through a re-watch, which included the new-to-me animated movie. I managed to make it through season 5, but I could not make it through Crusade. I struggled through three episodes of Crusade and stopped.

Cedar Cove?

I liked it more and more through the shadow war thing but the second half of that season was so bland I just quit the show. I really liked season 2 and the first half of 3 but I didn’t hear that the rest lived up to that height.