Why Babylon 5 Season Five Is Awesome

I realise I haven't been posting much lately - RL has been kicking me repeatedly in the head, I'm afraid. In the last week alone, I found out I failed last semester's exams, my grandmother was briefly hospitalized and my toaster broke. However, talk of my favourite TV show will usually summon me back to fandom. (For the record, Babylon 5 is my favourite TV show. Doctor Who is my favourite multi-genre multi-medium ... thingy. I can't just count the TV show when there are so many awesome audios and books and comics.)

Now, someone on my flist was asking what TV show she should watch next. Many commenters recommended Babylon 5, but with the caveat that the fifth season wasn't as good as the rest. This is one of those statements that makes me grind my teeth every single time I see it, and I see it a lot. Because while it does have some weak points, Season Five of Babylon 5 also contains many of my favourite parts, and I don't just mean the ones involving the people in my Dreamwidth icon. So I decided to make a list.

( Full of GIANT SPOILERS for the end of the show. Seriously, you do not want to click this unless you've already watched the whole thing. )

So with all the above, I just can't accept that Season Five is the weak point of Babylon 5. It has its flaws, but on the whole it's a triumphant conclusion despite the circumstances under which it was written and made.