# Babylon 5 86 Hacker News commenters recommended Babylon 5 and 21 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Fans praise its character arcs, foreshadowing and storytelling that pays off across seasons. Critics agree its dated effects are the main drawback. ## Why people recommend it - Foreshadowing that pays off (5 comments): "there's some very important episodes that set up major plot arcs that you don't get to appreciate until later on" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47014938)) "But the pay off in seasons 3 and 4 is huge if you take the time to let affection grow for the characters." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47002342)) "Season 1 has so many moments of character building and foreshadowing that pay off in later seasons" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47004996)) - Well-written memorable characters (4 comments): "Honestly brilliant, taking a couple of murderers of the week and giving them lead roles in a show." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47013234)) "the character arcs of Londo and G'Kar are possibly the best of any drama that I've seen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47015028)) "Every character in Babylon 5 was imbued with an origin, a narrative, and a destiny." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299829)) - Themes relevant to today (3 comments): "B5 is literature. B5, by contrast, returns again and again for full episodes to the topic of the soul-rackingly difficult moral requirement" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47017970)) "I heartily recommend watching the series, not just for the parallels with some of our current circumstance, but because it's a good story" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47007326)) "Everyone should re-watch. I was very surprised how many subjects were covered that had bearing to todays world." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47013974)) - Ahead of its time (3 comments): "It was really ahead of its time, closer to something like Game of Thrones than anything else at the time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47012806)) "it did so so well that it forced other shows like DS9 to also have seasonal story arcs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47012266)) "the only show in the 90s that actually had any sort of physics based space combat" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48227886)) ## What people warn about - Dated visual effects (4 comments): "It was too ahead of its time and like many series from that period, the lack of computer power for special effects was showing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47014694)) "Babylon 5 can't. This is for both the space effects and the technology effects in the space ships themselves." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47017541)) "It's let down by its effects which even appeared ropey at the time. However, some good storylines." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47013946)) - Rushed season 4 (2 comments): "the aspect that suffered the most from the originally planned S4 and S5 being condensed into one season" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033897)) "S4 felt quite rushed and seemed to be missing a lot more than just secondary plot developments" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033185)) - Uneven season 1 acting and lighting (2 comments): "keep in mind the first season of B5 the lighting of ships is very bright and doesn't look very good. But S2 with the new captain I think they default to nighttime and it looks better as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47025514)) "Some of the acting in season 1 is great, I would just say there are some spots where it kinda briefly falls through the floor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47002922)) - Remasters and 4:3 framing (2 comments): "I thought it looked great. They just do the whole thing in 4:3 which is maybe not the ideal solution" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47015585)) "half-assed remasters with all the CGI parts simply cropped to be widescreen and then upscaled" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49964057)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Halt and Catch Fire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/halt-and-catch-fire.md): 166 recommend - [Silicon Valley (TV series)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silicon-valley.md): 52 recommend - [Andor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/andor.md): 52 recommend - [The Wire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wire.md): 39 recommend - [Star Trek: Strange New Worlds](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-strange-new-worlds.md): 34 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Babylon 5", https://hackerapproved.com/p/babylon-5/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).