It is very easy to get discouraged after trying to pick this show up off the shelf and dust it off, as the first season is rather terrible, boring and has easily one of the worst examples of dialog writing in sci-fi. Dialogs are a weak spot of the series in general but it gets much better as it goes. There is a lot of awkward, corny, lowbrow, fail sort of humor throughout which some might find appealing if only ironically. The acting talent is rather sketchy, with the main cast being mostly bad and the support cast, especially aliens mostly good or even great.
Story development, once it gets going, is the strength of this series. Drama with a capital D. Some awkward choices are made though as in the process of retooling of any show. As it starts to improve markedly in the middle of second season, they replace the telepath with a half baked plot and a worse actress, do the inquisition to highlight the mediocre talent of one of the main cast and then drop the Marcus-bomb, who can be described as the JJBinks of B5, cringe worthy in every scene. After the great climax of the earth and centauri subplots the resolution of the main one comes off as rather pathetic, an afterthought.
Despite being very uneven on all levels, this show is well worth a viewing or even two, but I do recommend skipping or fast forwarding through most of the first season as well as some of the choice episodes and scenes of the rest, so keep that remote handy.
Story development, once it gets going, is the strength of this series. Drama with a capital D. Some awkward choices are made though as in the process of retooling of any show. As it starts to improve markedly in the middle of second season, they replace the telepath with a half baked plot and a worse actress, do the inquisition to highlight the mediocre talent of one of the main cast and then drop the Marcus-bomb, who can be described as the JJBinks of B5, cringe worthy in every scene. After the great climax of the earth and centauri subplots the resolution of the main one comes off as rather pathetic, an afterthought.
Despite being very uneven on all levels, this show is well worth a viewing or even two, but I do recommend skipping or fast forwarding through most of the first season as well as some of the choice episodes and scenes of the rest, so keep that remote handy.