Which episode to show a Non B5er ???

[Ranger 6 and 7/8]

Just show them the first episodes - and FORCE (;-)) them to watch the entire season one ^^ after that they will continue on their own will hehe ^^
If u show them the keyepisodes u ruin the storybuilding... and to show them SIL would be the worst thing u can do - I mean if u haven't seen a single episode u simply don't care...

Whyruss,
I have to respectfully disagree for this reason. SIL is the reason my wife loves the show now. she ad "put up" with my loyalty to the show during our courtship. Finally about a month before our wedding in 2001, she told me I had one chance to convince her the show was as good as I had been telling her it was. Now, I did consider several of the shows above, but as Jan said, i had to consider my audience.
My wife is a big love story person, so SIL made sense and it worked.
Your comment about storybuilding only comes in IF they are going to watch the entire series, and showing them a key Ep from say Season 3 or 4 wouldn't ruin anything because by the time they watch them in order they will be looking forward to watching that Ep again.

[luvB5]

I'd recommend "Revelations" mostly for them to hear G'Kar's recital of Keats' The Widening Gyre (sp?). "What rough beast . . ." That should let them know they ain't lookin' at no lightweight show. Doesn't give away the home planet as far as arc/plot/etc. either. Andreas was magnificent. I miss him.

[KoshN]

I'd recommend "Revelations" mostly for them to hear G'Kar's recital of Keats' The Widening Gyre (sp?). "What rough beast . . ." That should let them know they ain't lookin' at no lightweight show. Doesn't give away the home planet as far as arc/plot/etc. either. Andreas was magnificent. I miss him.

Similarly, Mind War is a good one for this purpose (as others have mentioned), because of G'Kar's conversation at the end with Catherine Sakai. Andreas was great, and JMS was firing on all cylinders.

[nash0819]

This is a no-brainer for me. It has to be "Chrysalis".

I had seen a few episodes of season one and thought B5 was OK but this is the episode that me sit up and take notice. I didn't become a fanatic about it until towards the end of season two but I might have missed out altogether if I hadn't been stunned by the epic scale of this episode.

The scene where the president's ship actually explodes is the focal point of the episode and has the biggest "wow! look what they just did!" factor but there is so much else going on. Morden's scheming, the start of Londo's descent into darkness, the first strike by the Shadows, Garibaldi's betrayal, Sinclair's revelations from the Line, Delenn's cocoon, Kosh's warnings and a definite feeling that something is very wrong with Earth Gov.

As Sinclair says at the end of the episode "Nothing's the same anymore". I remember jms saying something like "this is the one where we kick over all the tables that have been laid out in season one". Too right!

When your friends jaws have reversed position from the floor, you can tell them "that was the end of season one, now time to rewind to the start to see how we got there and I guarantee you will be hooked. And there are four more season enders after this one."

[Jan]

You know...that could work. I usually wouldn't recommend something that needs that much set-up but if your friends are alread SF fans, it might work since it's a good example of how B5 *doesn't* have a reset button at the end of an episode.

Jan

[Jonas]

I would recommend starting with Season 1 and show them five episodes:

The Parliament of Dreams

Mind War

And the Sky Full of Stars

By Any Means Necessary

Babylon Squared


David

That list is more or less perfect.

I would not show people stuff from later seasons. It will spoil their fun if they do decide to watch, skew their perceptions of the characters (speaking from personal experience; showed the wrong thing to someone), and not make a whole lot of sense. If they cannot appreciate B5 from the episodes above, then they can only appreciate it on the basis of spaceships and big boom-booms, and that's not really appreciating the show.

[Morden]

If they cannot appreciate B5 from the episodes above, then they can only appreciate it on the basis of spaceships and big boom-booms, and that's not really appreciating the show.

I really have to disagree here. I know lots of people who care for good TV, not only effects and explosions, who never liked much of season 1, but enjoyed the show when they gave it a second chance after remotely zipping into one of the key episodes of seasons 2,3 or 4 - then they realized what they are really missing. Sometimes it just takes a second look.
And I, being a long time B5-fan, can acknowledge that especially season 1 has some minor flaws regarding some acting, effects, stage-design (wooden walls shake ), you know what I mean, which were not so visible in the early 90s, but can raise an eyebrow or two if the show is first watched today.

[Jonas]

I really have to disagree here. I know lots of people who care for good TV, not only effects and explosions, who never liked much of season 1, but enjoyed the show when they gave it a second chance after remotely zipping into one of the key episodes of seasons 2,3 or 4 - then they realized what they are really missing. Sometimes it just takes a second look.
And I, being a long time B5-fan, can acknowledge that especially season 1 has some minor flaws regarding some acting, effects, stage-design (wooden walls shake ), you know what I mean, which were not so visible in the early 90s, but can raise an eyebrow or two if the show is first watched today.

I don't think Season 1 is half as flawed as some people claim it is - but I can imagine that Season 2 is equally good for showing, as are some standalones from Season 3. But Season 1 carries so much of what is essential to Babylon 5 - this incredible sense of mystery, tragedy and hope. I love the later seasons, but there's something about the mood of Season 1 that is quite unique.

[Zoltan]

I don't think Season 1 is half as flawed as some people claim it is [...]. [It] carries so much of what is essential to Babylon 5 - this incredible sense of mystery, tragedy and hope. I love the later seasons, but there's something about the mood of Season 1 that is quite unique.

I have the same feeling: The mood is different, mysterious as you say it. Sometimes I think it's because of Sinclair. Sometimes I think it's the sense of wonder that prevails in me having seen it as a 15 year old the first time around. And sometimes I think it's because the writers were trying different kind of stories.

I miss Sinclair.

[KoshN]

I think Season 1 is a little more raw and rough-edged than the following seasons, and that reflects the nature of the commanders, Sinclair vs. the smoother Sheridan.

Personally, I wouldn't skip over Season 1 for the world. I gained a better appreciation for Season 1 upon watching it the second time.

[Morden]

I gained a better appreciation for Season 1 upon watching it the second time.

That's what I meant. Personally I like the mysterious feeling of season 1, but I still stand for ItB to show someone to persuade him of B5's quality, if you only have one shot.