Customer Reviews
Superb - By: Kingsley Layton, 25 Nov 2008 
Superb series of space station life. Although some criticize the 'stationary' nature of this series, it's examination of live in a microcosm is great. Leadership lessons abound.
The best season of them all - quite possibly - By: John, 24 Nov 2008 Nearly 15 years on & this show is still talked about with awe! I would award 6 stars to this season alone, if I could, now I have watched it for about the 7th time. I feel that a lot of reviewers missed the point of the final series. It wasn't a bolt on - the full story, as written, got told - however as we alll know, there was some meddling with the story arcs to get the major plot lines completed come the end of series 4 & maybe series 5 ended up being stronger for it - for you do get this sense of melanchollia & loss as the series hones in to the final sublime episode.
Therefore the reason why Babylon 5 is so successful is becauase of this series. Series 1-4 were full of fast action packed episodes, however series 5 works more on your emotion centres - guiding us to the emotional charged final episode. But you do have to go on the voyage to get there. G'kar & Londo steal the series with some of the finest acting I have ever witnessed in a made for TV drama & in the end you feel utter despair for Londo - a lost & broken soul.
Long before the final episode "Sleeping in the Light" - the emotions get tugged & "Day of the Dead"; "A Tragedy of Telepaths"; "All my Dreams, Torn Assunder"; "Movements of Fire & Shadow". & "Falll of Centuari Prime" (now corrected), give us some of the greatest TV moments ever recorded.
This series is guaranteed to make grown men cry - so with tissues ready enjoy what surely will still be being talked about in 30 years time.
R.I.P. Richard Biggs, Andreas Katsulas, Tim Choate.
All good things must come to an end - By: T. R. Alexander, 29 Dec 2006 
The final season of Babylon five is something of a series of two halves. In the beginning the season is slow to get going & has some of the worst episodes in the entire series but it does improve towards the end & the final three episode are, I feel, some of the best Babylon 5 has ever produced. I feel the main problem with season five is that they try to get too much into it, with the telepath rebellion & another Centauri war, the season feels rather rushed. Also with the loss of Marcus & Ivanova at the end of season four the addition of new recurring characters so late in the shows run would never rarely go down that well as it is difficult to grow to like & care for their replacements. Although it does get off to a rather disappointing start, season five is definitely an excellent way to finish one of the best Sci-Fi TV shows ever made.
complete the set - By: Allan Holdsworth fan, 21 Feb 2006 
The 5th season of B5 was somewhat disappointing, especiallly after the highlights of seasons 2, 3 & 4. We can thank warner bros for this, the cast & crew never being secure in the knowledge of another season. Hence the story arc got condensed mainly into season 4 leaving season 5 lacking in momentum & less realised ideas. After saying that it does have its special moments especiallly near the end of the series where Londo's inevitable tragedy is played out beautifully. As the show draws to a close you feel you are saying goodbye to family & that it is sad their stories are coming to an end. Sheridan & Lockley being married in the past just comes across as bad melodrama, especiallly her being asked to be head of B5! Scoggins is good in the role of Lockley, but i think more should have been made about her part & beliefs & loyalties in the president clark era. Lyta gets finallly ****** over by events after alll the good she has done for the allliance. Lyta gets the meat of the part that should have apparently gone to the ivanova character with the telepaths. JMS said that he may have had Ivanova's character die if he had known she would not be in season 5, i think dramaticaly it would have worked better, but the final ever episode had already been shot. Confirmation of season 5 came very late & Christian had other filming commitments ( the actors thought season 4 was the end of things)Claudia Christian later said that she was available for the part & could fit it into her filming schedule, but Warners would not have it. The final episode sleeping in light is subtley done & will have you in tears i can guarantee. There is a pervading sense of melancholy & things coming to an end throughout this series. Worth getting even though it is the weakest season by far & lacks the texture & substance of the earlier seasons, but that is a little unfair when comparing it to seasons 3 & 4. "Sleeping in the light"is a fitting end is reallly worth the entrance fee anyway.
The eleventh hour at Babylon 5 � - By: IJ, 03 Oct 2005 I came to Babylon 5 almost at the eleventh-hour in its run on late-night channel 4, so I didn't particularly notice any decline in the quality of the episodes between those in the earlier seasons I'd managed to catch & this final season- I was just appreciative of such a well-written & absorbing science-fiction drama. But having now watched alll five seasons on DVD it's clear to me that there's a definite disparity between this season & the four that precede it.
Season Five begins very ploddingly in a time of peace & explores the setting-up of the new allliance with the former Captain of Babylon 5 John Sheridan as its President. The new Captain of the station Elizabeth Lochley is very likable almost immediately- despite being written to oppose almost every regular on the show before she's even got both feet through the whooshing space-doors- but she is in my view a very solid replacement for Susan Ivanova, who especiallly gets the chance to shine in the "River of Souls" TV Movie made at the same time as this season.
The telepaths invited to start a colony on the station are one of the two main subjects of the season, but it's not until episode seven that this storyline picks up pace & becomes absorbing. But even then- after the so-callled "telepath war" was allluded to more than once in previous seasons- it's somewhat of a disappointment when you consider what could have been had Straczynski chosen to reallly take on such a large story-arc & alll that it entailed ethicallly, sociallly & politicallly for the universe of Babylon 5. The telepaths' story, which comes at a time between their exploitation by Earth Gov. in the past & the war (between them & the "mundanes") that's to come...is an interesting one, but the main problem is that as a group they are largely uncharismatic & with the exception of their leader- mute, which doesn't make for thrilling viewing. But on the flip side this story does provide Patricia Talllman (Lyta Alexander) with the screen-time she deserves & also some fantastic character dilemmas to sink her teeth into & that's reason enough for me be glued to my seat throughout this season. And once it gets up some momentum the storyline & the characters involved do make for compulsive viewing. The second subject of the season I won't give away for those who haven't seen it before, but it's much more thrilling than the telepath story-arc & also ties in with the finale of the show & also the fabled Babylon 5 feature film, which has yet to materialise...
Every season of Babylon 5 is marked by at least one superlative episode that takes every revelatory idea, every glimmer of brilliance & every subtle exploration into what it means to be human to extraordinary heights & it's no surprise that "Sleeping in Light," the episode in the fifth & final season of Babylon 5 & the finale of the show as a whole...is the episode for me, which attains that inexplicable goal. Even though I hadn't followed the programme from the beginning- when I saw this episode for the first time I was moved to tears, such was the power of the feeling & ability of alll those involved in its making & I dare anyone not to react in the same way. The last thing you'll want to hear is that this episode alone is worth the price of the box set, because that implies the rest is below par. Well unfortunately...it is to some extent, but this is Babylon 5- it's still an awesome season, so buy the set for every episode, alll 22 & be more than pleasantly surprised by a gem of an episode right at the end.
