The fact that Babylon 5 was a heavily serialized sci-fi series was groundbreaking in the 1990s, but, what often gets forgotten is that like other TV shows of the era, each season necessitated at least 20 episodes. And that meant certain big story arcs became very, very slow burns. Today, fans of different shows might complain about a “filler episode” in a nine-episode season, but in the ‘90s, shows like Babylon 5 were nothing but “filler episodes.” Which meant, secretly, they weren’t.
Because instead of waiting to reveal various plot turns in one or two big episodes, Babylon 5 silently planted massive pivots in several fairly innocuous episodes. And exactly 30 years ago, during the week of March 1, 1995, Babylon 5 dropped an underrated, nearly forgotten episode, that was, nonetheless, quietly changed the entire direction of the series.
