Can I skip season 1 of Babylon 5 and jump right into season 2?
 

Or will I be hopelessly confused and miss out on references to previous storylines, characters, etc.?

That's a hard question.

You COULD jump into season 2 - since season 1 is a lot of set up and isn't as "interesting", but yes, I'd think you'd miss out on some significant setup. Especially in 2-3 major things, which I won't mention.

Here's one way to look at it. Would you like to start watching the Lord of the Rings movies about the point where they

(Assuming you've seen the LOTR movies, of course, otherwise the above IS a spoiler for the first movie).

You definitely could do that, but would miss some of the setup.

NO!! It's like watching Empire Strikes Back without having seen Star Wars.

Season 1 does lack in the "HOLY S**T" coolness of Seasons 2 through 4. But it does lay down the solid bedrock for the rest of the show.

If you've never watched the show, start with Season 1. Trust me, you won't regret it. Plus, if you skip directly to season 2, you'll miss some of the cooler episodes like Babylon Squared, And The Sky Full Of Stars, and of course Signs and Portents (first appearance of <SPOILER!!>).

And there are a few episodes in later seasons that almost depend on you having seen S1 (War Without End pt 1 and 2 comes to mind)

It's possible; like the others have said, the first season sets up some of what happens. You would probably be able to understand what happens after season 1 without seeing, but it would lessen it.

That being said, if you just see season 1 once, you probably don't have to see it again. Maybe rent season one and then buy the seasons after?

Possible yes, but when you see how good the show is you will almost certainly want go back and learn the setups and backstories.

Moving to TV Talk.

Of course, if you haven't started, you could get season 2 now, watch it, get excited, go buy season 1, watch season 1, then watch season 2.... and STILL be posting here saying "when the HELL will season 3 come out on DVD?"

Can I skip season 1 of Babylon 5 and jump right into season 2?
 

NO

There will be a hole in your mind.

What you don't indicate in your post is -- why you would want to do this?

Babylon 5 isn't like Law and Order... moreso than just about *any* other TV show, B5 is a continuous story. With a beginning, middle, and end. While Seasons 2-4 may be more "exciting" than the other two (because they get to avoid the need to start/wrap things up), B5 is incomplete without them.

In theory, you could certainly watch Season 2 first. I can't imagine anyone recommending that.

Thanks for all the responses. I will do the right thing and watch the first season before tackling the second. More DVDs to catch up on! It's all good, I suppose.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth Rusty James •<HR SIZE=1>I will do the right thing and watch the first season before tackling the second.<HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

And so it begins ...

das

:up:, <B>Wizdar</B>

I think you could start with season 2 if you really wanted to...the only episodes I consider somewhat necessary from season one are "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis" (this is one of the best eps in the series anyhow in my opinion). You would probably be able to gather what happened in Chrysalis as you watched through season two but it would somewhat diminish the impact of seeing events as they rolled out.

Michael

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth fiver •<HR SIZE=1>I think you could start with season 2 if you really wanted to...<HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

Absolutely. You could also rip your own nipples off while listening to Celine Dion sing Diane Warren's entire collection of work ...

das

Yes. Season one is a little weak and unless you KNOW it's gonna get better, it's easy to give up on. Season 2 gets everything going and since Season 1 is mostly independent setup eps, it's easy to just go back later without missing too much.

D

I don't think anybody really mentioned it, but you should really start with the pilot The Gathering. A whole lot of Season 1 plays off the pilot and if you're going to watch B5 at all, you need to see everything. Just don't get too turned off by all the bad/over-acting. It improves.

Wizdar's quote has sooooo many meanings to your answer ;)


Oh, and be sure NOT to flip over that pilot disc and watch In the Beginning for quite a while.

I wouldn't if I were you but in theory you could. It won't be nearly as much fun trust me - when I first watched the show I came in on season 2 and had no way of catchign up at the time.

If you get the season 2 DVD, skip the introduction and the commentary since it gives spoilers for later seasons.

You have to watch season 1. I first watched season 1 on Sci-fi and thought it was ok. After i saw the rest i watched it again and i noticed a ton of stuff i didnt remember. Every single season 1 episode has at least a few lines that come up in later episodes/seasons. The very little things you may not think are important are. Even in that episode no one like called TKO someone is forshadowed

capt

As someone who up until last night had only seen the pilot and the first season on DVD, I just watched the 1st episode of season 2 last night and I believe I'd have been a little lost without the previous episodes. And even if I could've understood the basic plot without the first season, I sure wouldn't have been as appreciative of the some revelations that I learned in that episode.

By missing Season One you would not know who Sinclair is and the role he play in the future episodes. Season One eposition is integral to the who babylon Five Story Arch.

As a recent "B5 Virgin" (I just started watching this show when the season 1 set came out), I don't understand why people say season 1 isn't that good. I loved it. This makes me think that perhaps seasons 2-4 are really, fantastically, wonderfully incredible to make season one look "boring" in comparison.

I truly enjoyed "The Gathering" and season 1. Not boring at all. I just got season 2 and anticipate hours of great enjoyment.

Question: I don't remember all the details from each episode of season 1 (sometimes it's better to watch a shop as it is slowly doled out to you - seeing it all at once can make it harder to remember it all. It's better to digest an episode for a week before moving on.) How much infor should I have stored in my head when watching season 2? I know what generally went on, but from people's comments it seems like what appear to be off-hand comments in many episodes become very important later on.

Well, this is certainly no indication, as demonstrated by my posts in the 24 thread (i.e. there are several holes in my mind), but I watched this from the first airing and each time it reran. And, perhaps it’s a blessing having a faulty memory, but each of the first three reruns I found myself connecting even more dots from the first season. Which is one reason I feel this is the best SciFi epic ever. (I’m gonna have to watch TKO again. I didn’t think there was anything pertinent to later events.)

I don’t understand those who don’t see all the character development and such that goes on in the first season. I’m wondering if many are buying into that Star Trek myth that it takes a season or three for a show to grow legs. Yes, it gets better down the line. That doesn’t mean that the first season wasn’t pretty damn_good by any means.

Stock up on those chips, or nuts, or whatever you’re pushing these days.

And WHERE THE HELL ARE MY SEASON TWO DISCS, ALREADY, MR. MAILMAN?!?

I think people just forewarn about the first season to make people give it a chance. I love the first season too (even though there are some stinkers *cough* 'TKO'), but I've heard many people say, "Oh ... I watched the first few episodes of that show but never got into it." It's just a precautionary measure, but probably not a necessary one.

<B>Bandoman</B>, you're likely fine on the info. The show isn't confusing if you're not paying attention ... it's just that there are many, many layers, and like all great works of art, you find new depth to it with every viewing. It scores incredibly high on a scale of repeat viewing, as I think it gets better each time I watch it.

Oh, and yes, Season 2 is that damn good ... but it's nothing compared to Season 3! :)

das

Bandoman, I'm sure your memory will be fine! I'm currently on my third run of watching the entire series and still pick up plenty of little things I missed. JMS really knew what he was doing.

But, IMO, the 2 most important first season episodes are "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis". They're certainly all important in some way, but these two even moreso.

TKO may be a so-so episode, but it's pretty important in Ivanova's character development, and it does contain some pretty cool foreshadowing. (Walker tells Garibaldi 'Watch your back!' for one...)

Re first sentence - exactly. And seasons 3 and 4 make 2 look boring. Season 5 - that's another story - some love it, some don't.

As for "how much info" - if you watched the episodes, just go with the flow - you'll remember "enough". But finally, when it is all over - you'll want to rewatch and say over and over - "oh my god - they said THAT in season 1 and it wasn't OBVIOUS what that meant?"