The 1980s and 90s were a great time for science fiction both on television and in literature. Along with Star Trek:The Next Generation, Babylon 5 also premiered. Babylon 5 was the name of a space station out in deep space that was a port for many types of different races, some friendly and some not.

Babylon 5 started in much the same way as Deep Space 9 where people came to the station and the crew reacted to various situations. There was a deeper storyline, but nothing extraordinary. After a season or two, that changed. It became obvious that there was a deeper long term storyline that lasted years and several seasons.

Characters came and went, turned evil and back to good again. What made Babylon 5 different was it was far outside the black and white world of Star Trek. Good characters did bad things for the greater good and the writer's weren't afraid of killing of a character to two for the sake of a good plot device.

Babylon 5 was more real life. People made mistakes that they ended up regretting and not everyone stepped up to the plate when the going got tough. Babylon 5 was the anti-Star Trek. You knew that when the episode ended that the crew would make the right decision and everyone would be safe. That's wasn't the case on Babylon 5. Sure, ultimately, the battle was won, but the cost was great and more than a few people made deals with the devil to make sure of the outcome.