What is the correct time to watch the 4 feature length episodes or movies?

Based on the air dates, it looks like In The Beginning should be watched between seasons 4 and 5. Thirdspace between a two part 5x17 and 5x18. River of Souls between 5x19 and 5x20. And A Call to Arms at the very end.

I've made sure not to read any kind of description of these, so I don't know if they are part of the main story or unrelated stories. So should I watch exactly the same as they aired, or is there a better order?

B5Erik could probably be more precise, but...

In The Beginning covers events that happen before Season one, so it's first chronologically.

Thirdspace occurs (if I remember correctly) sometime during Season four. Evidence: the command staff wears the Minbari-supplied navy blue uniforms and Susan Ivanova is still around.

River Of Souls happens during or around Season five (the babealicious presence of Elizabeth Lochley)

And you have it right about A Call To Arms.

All the ones not on DVD would be welcome.

Thanks - I guess I just need precise locations for Thirdspace and River of Souls.

And please, no spoilers. I'm only now starting season four.

Okay, here's the proper viewing order for the movies.

In the Beginning -- this technically takes place about ten years before the series begins, but it contains spoilers for later seasons. It originally aired between seasons four and five, so if you want to avoid spoilers it should be viewed only after you've seen season four.

Thirdspace -- this takes place early in the fourth season, probably around eps 7-13 of that season. It doesn't really fit perfectly anywhere in the fourth season, but probably the best fit is directly after episode 6 (Into the Fire) and before episode 7 (The Illusion of Truth). It originally aired around the middle of season five.

River of Souls -- this takes place between "Objects at Rest" and "Sleeping in Light" in season five. It originally aired around the time they were originally broadcasting these eps, too.

A Call to Arms -- this also takes place between "Objects at Rest" and "Sleeping in Light," but also some time after "River of Souls." It also served as a lead in to the aborted "Crusade" series.

Brian_92gsr,

To answer your question, I believe you should watch them (more or less) in the order in which they were aired. IMO, the only reason to watch In the Beginning earlier than its original broadcast is if you need convincing of how incredible the story is before sitting down to watch. If you've already made up your mind to watch the show, no sense spoiling stuff that's much better when revealed slowly over a few seasons. You say you've already seen up to Season 3, so I guess it doesn't matter too much.

Also, while 'Sleeping in Light' does take place chronologically after River of Souls and A Call to Arms, I'd recommend watching it right after 'Objects at Rest.' This is certainly debateable, but unless there is a compelling reason otherwise (the network shuffled the eps or something), I tend to lean towards watching things in the order in which they were broadcast. I think 'Sleeping in Light' works best as a one-two-three with 'Objects in Motion' and 'Objects in Rest'.

If I were building a definitive order, it'd likely go like this.

The Gathering
Season 1: Signs and Portents
Season 2: The Coming of Shadows
Season 3: Point of No Return
Season 4: No Surrender, No Retreat I
Thirdspace (Either directly after 'Into the Fire' or after 'The Illusion of Truth' ... anywhere between 'Into the Fire' and 'No Surrender, No Retreat' would be fine though)
Season 4: No Surrender, No Retreat II
In the Beginning
Season 5: Wheel of Fire (I'd watch 'Phoenix Rising' before 'Day of the Dead', even though their aired flipped - doesn't really matter as 'Day of the Dead' is a stand-alone, but it flows better that way)
The River of Souls
A Call to Arms
Crusade
The Legend of the Rangers

Hope that helps.

das

Hopefully Warner finds it's way to release them all on DVD.

Maybe they'll release a sixth boxed set with eps 1-13 of Crusade, A Call to Arms, Legend of the Rangers, Thirdspace, and River of Souls. That works out to 21 hours of television programming, and would cover six DVDs.

Or they could just put out a smaller Crusade box, and two movie double features covering the four remaining movies.

But, this is Warners, and I'd rather they just put out a sixth box, as I don't fully trust them to put out all of the remaining material.

Also be cool if they could include the three unproduced "Crusade" scripts in with Crusade as well.

I've seen those floating around the net, BTW, if you didn't get a chance to read them when they were originally available.

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but it's my exact question. I'm about to end a heck of a run watching DS9 (incredible Trek, really, and what an amazing way to watch a series...beginning to end, no reruns, no summer long breaks) and would like to start up B5.

I was going to go by Das' order of viewing but just needed 2 clarificaitons:
-I don't get the listing at season 4
From here http://epguides.com/Babylon5/ , I only see "No Surrender, No Retreat" listed once.

-does the story wrap up nicely at the end of Call to Arms or will Crusade and Legend of the Rangers be necessary? (I don't want to start this if I can't finish).

Please advise. Thank you!

Pardon the confusion. Those are the titles of the seasons, which incidentally are also titles of episodes within those seasons. My use of I and II was simply to denote that Thirdspace IMO fits within the 4th season aka "No Surrender, No Retreat". As the parenthetical notes, you can put it anywhere between the episode named 'Into the Fire' and the episode named 'No Surrender, No Retreat'. Directly after 'Into the Fire' probably makes the most sense dramatically, but it's a stand alone work that fits loosely into that season, so you have many options.

The story wraps up with Season 5. Everything else is gravy. It will make more sense once you watch the show. A Call to Arms is essentially the pilot telefilm for Crusade, and To Live and Die in Starlight is the pilot telefilm for Legend of the Rangers. You don't "need" to watch any of it, but you'll probably want to.

Feel free to start yet another thread on your journey. The more the merrier.

das

And so it begins ...

thanks das. much appreciated!

just wanted to say i'm finally starting this. Just finished The Gathering. Let's see how this plays out (and how long it takes )

Stick with it. Eventually you'll regret waiting three and a half years to get into it. And if you're like me, you'll hit a stretch where you think to yourself, "do I have time to watch just one more episode?"

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countr...er/eplist.html But stick with das's recommendation of watching In The Beginning between seasons 4 & 5.

The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 is a very valuable resource for the series, whether it's your first time viewing it or not. It has a Cliff Notes-like reference to every episode, which helps you notice the details and subtleties without giving too much away. That is, if you don't read ahead.

whoa! thank you for that lurker's guide. I always like reading about episodes after i watch them. though looks like i have to tread lightly; those aren't just cliffs notes...they're full on dissertations!

Just finished "Into the Fire". As I'm headed off for vacation again, I think I'll go on hiatus at this point. 3 1/4 seasons in one month isn't too bad though (may have been faster if i didn't read every Lurker's Guide episode analysis/breakdown )

And yes, I have enjoyed the series thus far.

(Is it wrong that I think pre-chrysalis Delenn was more attractive than afterwards? Although, "...he is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives be somewhere else!" was pretty hot.)

Just Watched In The Beginning and The Gathering... I guess I will proceed. Is this still the recommended viewing order?

Or should I wait until the Blu-Ray?

This is the thread I always point to when someone asks the viewing order. das always knew well about stuff like this.

No, you messed up like I did. I believe it's The Gathering the on to season 1. As a result I think watching In the Beginning first gave me an impression that the series was better than it actually was. Not that it's not good, but as you continue to watch you'll see pieces fall into place. The entire time I was thinking it all tied back to those first episodes, but in reality that never aired until Season 4/5.

Man, watching In the Beginning before having seen through Season 4 makes me cry. Das' viewing order is still pretty definitive.

If it hadn't been for In The Beginning I probably would have never given the rest of the series a chance. I just happened to catch it and really enjoyed it. Also isn't it a prequel?

It's a prequel but it gives away some stuff the characters didn't learn until season 4.

I very much doubt B5 will ever be released in Blu-Ray. Too many issues.

It's only chance is if they put cash into redoing the outside space shots/battles. All the masters got butchered and would not fit in with the rest of the show if remastered. They could make it look better probably... but far from good.

Exactly. There is a lot of stuff that is very carefully revealed over the course of those 4 seasons about the events that led all of these characters to where they are now, and In the Beginning was kind of a "see, it really does all come together and make sense" kind of a movie. Seeing it upfront will detract from some of the enjoyment of trying to figure out what's going on in the early seasons.

If, as you say, you wouldn't have watched the rest of the series if you hadn't seen In the Beginning first, then that will just be a necessary evil. As das said years ago, that's pretty much the only reason to ever watch it first.

Just finished season 2, great show so far. I remember watching it when it first came on but being bored by all the talking (I was 9 at the time).

Does this show have a satisfying ending or am I setting myself up for disappointment?

While season 5, for a variety of reasons, is not up to the levels of the seasons before it, the ending is one of the best series finales I've ever seen (I would put it 2nd only to Six Feet Under).