Babylon 5 marathon

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I pulled the old B5 DVDs out of the shelf. It's the first time I can watch ALL of it in one marathon since I now own even the movies.
What order would you recommend? Don't worry with spoilers I've seen it all before at least once.

 

[DanCPA]

first to last

 

[RoJoHen]

Agreed.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Yeah, well I figured that. But I would kind of like the movies in places that matches the story chronologically.

 

[RoJoHen]

Some people know this better than I do. There is a definite order if you want, but I just stick all the movies at the end.

 

[Lindley]

I suppose you could put Thirdspace just before Atonement. Other than that, nothing special you need to worry on, order-wise.

 

[Booji]

There is an alternate order you can use for season 1 that makes things jive a bit better. Unfortunately, Websense is blocking me from the sites that give the order. I'm sure Jan could help you out.

 

[RandyS]

You can watch in any order you like, but I do this:

In The Bginning
First 4 seasons up to "Atonement"
Thirdspace
Rest of 4th season, all of 5th up to "Objects at Rest"
River of Souls
Call to Arms
Legend of the Rangers
The Lost Tales
then go back to 5th season for "Sleeping in Light".

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

That sounds like a plan! thx.

 

[Lindley]

Personally, I feel SiL is best after OaR....anything else breaks the flow.

 

[Jan]

I agree with Lullaby that the best emotional experience is gotten by not breaking the viewing of Sleeping in Light off from the rest of the main series but I know a lot of people want to watch in strict chronological order. Here's a good list from the Lurker's Guide. If you want to stick to strict chronological order, though, you should put "In the Beginning" between the Lost Tales and 'Sleeping in Light' since that's when the framing story takes place.

Jan

 

[Harvey]

I always liked putting In The Beginning between Objects at Rest and Sleeping in Light, but your mileage may vary.

River of Souls, Legend of the Rangers, The Lost Tales, Call To Arms, and Crusade would all break up the flow between Objects at Rest and Sleeping in Light, though. Best left to their own thing.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Why not watch them backwards while standing on your head eating corn chips?

 

[Neroon]

This is my preferred order, as it resolves a few of the inconsistencies seen in earlier lists. One difference though.... I tend to prefer watching "In the Beginning" after Season 4, since that was the way I first experienced it. Getting some of the mysteries filled in later worked well. But... viewing it firstr doesn't really detract from the experience.

 

[JoeD80]

JoeD's patented season one order, based on early jms posts, script dates, and my crazy head (actually doesn't match my earlier attempts, but I have new reasons which I won't bore you with yet)):

Midnight on the Firing Line
Soul Hunter
Born to the Purple
Believers
Infection
The War Prayer
The Parliament of Dreams
Survivors
And the Sky Full of Stars
Mind War
Grail
Signs and Portents
Deathwalker
By Any Means Necessary
The Quality of Mercy
Eyes
TKO
A Voice in the Wilderness Part I
A Voice in the Wilderness Part II
Babylon Squared
Legacies
Chrysalis

 

[Harvey]

JoeD's patented season one order, based on early jms posts, script dates, and my crazy head (actually doesn't match my earlier attempts, but I have new reasons which I won't bore you with yet))

Since your list doesn't quite match the lurker's guide list (which worked wonders for me upon my second viewing of the series), I'm curious, where's it all derived from? You kind of indicate here, but what's the process, exactly?

 

[JoeD80]

The quick breakdown is this: I once saw a jms note that listed the first five episodes, and then found a couple more for where "Parliament", "And the Sky" and "Mind War" were originally planned (7, 9, and 10). Then found some other messages which mentioned when which writers were working on what scripts, e.g. Believers, The War Prayer, and Survivors were the first three outside scripts done. End of the season from "Signs and Portents" on is based on the first time jms posted the schedule for the end of the season, with Deathwalker slightly moved because of when it was written and because Delenn is off-station in that episode as well as Quality and Eyes.

 

[RandyS]

Personally, I feel SiL is best after OaR....anything else breaks the flow.

Only if you're going for emotional impact, but the OP clearly said he wanted to watch the show in chronological order.

 

[Harvey]

Personally, I feel SiL is best after OaR....anything else breaks the flow.

Only if you're going for emotional impact, but the OP clearly said he wanted to watch the show in chronological order.

I still think In The Beginning is the perfect emotional (and chronological) bridge between the two, but your mileage may vary.

If the OP is going for chronological order, the best one I've been able to cook up so far is the following:

Follow the Lurker's Guide order (posted by Neroon above), placing Thirdspace before Atonement in season four and re-ordering some episodes to make the flow more coherent.

But after Objects at Rest watch:

River of Souls

Legend of the Rangers

Call To Arms

Crusade (many episode orders possible, but my preferred here):
War Zone (01)
The Needs of Earth (11)
Racing the Night (09)
The Memory of War (10)
Visitors from Down the Street (12)
Ruling From the Tomb (06)
Each Night I Dream of Home (13)
The Long Road (02)
The Well of Forever (03)
The Path of Sorrow (04)
Patterns of the Soul (05)
The Rules of the Game (07)
Appearances and Other Deceits (08)

The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark

In The Beginning

Sleeping in Light (5x22)

 

[Neroon]

I pulled the old B5 DVDs out of the shelf. It's the first time I can watch ALL of it in one marathon since I now own even the movies.
What order would you recommend? Don't worry with spoilers I've seen it all before at least once.

Something to consider is how many times you've watched the series as a whole. After a time, the surprises are no longer that, so you might want to see the story from a different focus. For me, the series has always been about the sheer emotional impact of what these characters do. That might be one reason for watching "Sleeping In Light" after "Objects At Rest". Otherwise, you get a break in flow for various characters, but then that may not be what you're after. For example, placing SiL where you do, there is no Delenn after that in any of the other movies or "Crusade". That being based upon my own preference for "In The Beginning" being watched after S4. Watching "SiL" last results in a long stretch without her. OTOH, Garibaldi is peppered throughout, with appearances in "A Call to Arms" and "River of Souls".

There are quite a few permutations, here.