4 ms·

I personally found B5 to be superior to DS9. S01 was definitely an anomaly. If you set it aside then B5 had tighter narrative arcs than DS9 and generally the av

I personally found B5 to be superior to DS9. S01 was definitely an anomaly. If you set it aside then B5 had tighter narrative arcs than DS9 and generally the average quality of each episode is higher. In fact if I was to really boils down thee difference between the two I'd say B5 had better writing and DS9 had better actors.

sandyarmstrong 4y ago
IMHO, Season 1 is very strong, but Michael O'Hare's acting can be a bit cringey. I hate to speak ill of him, knowing now a little of what he was going through at the time, but still... That being said, I've tried to get into DS9, and I find that show's lead surprisingly similar. Anyway, with Season 2, the cast really came together and the experience felt more smooth. But I still find a lot to love in that first season.
- twoodfin 4y ago
  Agree. Babylon Squared and Chrysalis are two of my top five favorite episodes overall. It’s hard to put yourself back in an era before pervasive web culture hooking into every fandom. At the time it was very much, “Hey, a darker, grittier Trek on a space station, cool!” And then an episode like B^2 airs: “Holy shit, this show is not what I thought at all.”
- elsonrodriguez 4y ago
  The similarities between DS9 and B5 are not accidental. The creator of B5 pitched it to Paramount first as a trek series. They rejected the pitch, but did use some elements for DS9.
throwawaymaths 4y ago
You're kidding right? DS9 had episodes like the visitor, duet, the emissary, paradise, and hell even take me out to the holosuite, which make me cry. B5 has no such episodes for me. B5 does not, for example, have an equivalent of the moment where sisko walks back into the punishment box in an act of pure defiance.
- throwanem 4y ago
  Spoken like someone who's forgotten about Comes the Inquisitor, which, in addition to better exploring the same theme by not having the villain be doing what they're doing for the sake of an ideology so tissue-thin and blatantly hypocritical that a child of five could poke holes in it, offers the special pleasure of Wayne Alexander in a perfectly fitting role.
  - KingMob 4y ago
    Wait, isn't that the Jack the Ripper episode? I found the idea that aliens are toting Jack the Ripper around laughable, honestly. I don't remember how the rest of the episode was, but I always found that idea one of the stupidest to come out of B5.
    - throwanem 4y ago
      Oh, you're absolutely right, in the same way I'm right in saying The Best of Both Worlds is Patrick Stewart getting alien-abducted by bondage zombies and then rescued by the power of friendship. Bring enough contempt to the table, and anything at all sounds stupid. But the problem there isn't with the thing.
      - KingMob 4y ago
        Calm down, I'm a B5 fan. Just not of that episode.
        throwanem 4y ago
        I dunno, I thought it did a pretty good job explaining itself, not least in the closing scene where, as a side effect of the same sterling character work it features throughout, it literally explains itself. What did you find stupid about it?
        KingMob 4y ago
ethbr0 4y ago
The problem with DS9 is that the writers were still given enough rope to write one-off episodes that ignored central themes or plots. Which, granted, B5 still has as well, but far fewer. It's indicative that later seasons of DS9 (93-99) were structured a lot more like B5 (94-98) than TNG.

sandyarmstrong 4y ago

IMHO, Season 1 is very strong, but Michael O'Hare's acting can be a bit cringey. I hate to speak ill of him, knowing now a little of what he was going through at the time, but still... That being said, I've tried to get into DS9, and I find that show's lead surprisingly similar. Anyway, with Season 2, the cast really came together and the experience felt more smooth. But I still find a lot to love in that first season.

twoodfin 4y ago
Agree. Babylon Squared and Chrysalis are two of my top five favorite episodes overall. It’s hard to put yourself back in an era before pervasive web culture hooking into every fandom. At the time it was very much, “Hey, a darker, grittier Trek on a space station, cool!” And then an episode like B^2 airs: “Holy shit, this show is not what I thought at all.”
elsonrodriguez 4y ago
The similarities between DS9 and B5 are not accidental. The creator of B5 pitched it to Paramount first as a trek series. They rejected the pitch, but did use some elements for DS9.

throwawaymaths 4y ago

You're kidding right? DS9 had episodes like the visitor, duet, the emissary, paradise, and hell even take me out to the holosuite, which make me cry. B5 has no such episodes for me. B5 does not, for example, have an equivalent of the moment where sisko walks back into the punishment box in an act of pure defiance.

throwanem 4y ago
Spoken like someone who's forgotten about Comes the Inquisitor, which, in addition to better exploring the same theme by not having the villain be doing what they're doing for the sake of an ideology so tissue-thin and blatantly hypocritical that a child of five could poke holes in it, offers the special pleasure of Wayne Alexander in a perfectly fitting role.
- KingMob 4y ago
  Wait, isn't that the Jack the Ripper episode? I found the idea that aliens are toting Jack the Ripper around laughable, honestly. I don't remember how the rest of the episode was, but I always found that idea one of the stupidest to come out of B5.
  - throwanem 4y ago
    Oh, you're absolutely right, in the same way I'm right in saying The Best of Both Worlds is Patrick Stewart getting alien-abducted by bondage zombies and then rescued by the power of friendship. Bring enough contempt to the table, and anything at all sounds stupid. But the problem there isn't with the thing.
    - KingMob 4y ago
      Calm down, I'm a B5 fan. Just not of that episode.
      - throwanem 4y ago
        I dunno, I thought it did a pretty good job explaining itself, not least in the closing scene where, as a side effect of the same sterling character work it features throughout, it literally explains itself. What did you find stupid about it?
        KingMob 4y ago

ethbr0 4y ago

The problem with DS9 is that the writers were still given enough rope to write one-off episodes that ignored central themes or plots. Which, granted, B5 still has as well, but far fewer. It's indicative that later seasons of DS9 (93-99) were structured a lot more like B5 (94-98) than TNG.