Entertainment
How Dueling Space Station Shows Created Sci-Fi’s Best Decade
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
The mid-1990s were a golden age of space opera. Two of the best shows of this genre were Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine and the independent series, Babylon 5. Both shows centered on a space station with all the drama, diplomacy, and war of such a setting. The conflicts of both shows are compounded by the existential horror of knowing there are forces at play that are larger and incomprehensible than the “human” mind can process.
We are introduced to both settings following major conflicts, and the recovery that comes after is often dark and filled with its own dread. Both series confront the harsh realities of war and occupation. The depth of the stories expressed is what makes these two shows stand out above the rest. Both ask us questions on guilt, innocence, and the price of survival.
The Name Of The Place Is Babylon 5
Babylon 5 begins in the aftermath of the Earth-Minbari War with an unsteady peace on the titular neutral-zone station. The Narn Homeworld was recently liberated from the Centauri Republic. Other minor powers are shown wanting a voice in station politics and to stop any wars. As the series progresses, the stakes are continually raised, with much of it framed by the Narn-Centauri conflict reigniting.
Overarching the politics of these various alien races are the machinations of the galaxy’s eldest races and the games they play. The Vorlon Empire has existed for millions of years and wanted to bring order to a chaotic galaxy. Resisting them is an even older species: the boogeymen of the series, the Shadows, with ships as black as the void of space. It is considered an ill omen to see even a shadow of their vessels. This ancient species believed that evolution began through chaos and conflict. Believing in the power of flesh and bioengineering, their ships were alive.
From the start of the series, audiences can feel the depth of lore. The ideologies of the Vorlon and the Shadow feel like universal truths. In Babylon 5’s clever cyclical storytelling, the young replace the old. Conflict will always happen. Order will always stand against disorder as the interests of the various alien species collide.
Come To Quark’s, Quark’s Is Fun
Meanwhile, at the start of Deep Space Nine, the Federation has taken over the former Cardassian station, Terok Nor, now known by the titular Starfleet designation. The station becomes the hub of new exploration when a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant is discovered nearby.
Early seasons build on the recovery of Bajor and continued issues with the Cardassian Union. Meanwhile, the plot slowly introduces the Dominion threat, first through the Vorta and later through their Jem’Hadar shock troops. Eventually, it becomes a fully blown war, taking up the later seasons of “DS9.”
The story of Deep Space Nine is not typical of many shows set in the Star Trek setting. It has a long, continuously evolving plot despite having individual episodes like any other Star Trek show. Characters experience true devastating loss, with episodes showing lists of lost vessels with crew either confirmed killed or missing. It cast the long, dark shadow of war across the remaining seasons of the show, raising questions about morality and ethics in the face of an unrelenting enemy and the lines they are willing to cross to ensure victory.
Parallel’s Beween DS9 And B5
There are many similarities between these two series: themes, settings, and conflicts, starting with the Earth-Minbari War and the Cardassian withdrawal of Bajor. Simmering tensions brewing between groups leads to active war in both series. Even the elder alien races are comparable: the Vorlons and the Shadows in the universe of Babylon 5 mirror DS9’s Dominion, led by the shapeshifting Changelings who view solids as bringing chaos and disorder.
Another parallel between the two shows is that we, as fans, are treated to some of the best dramatic acting in all of science fiction. Scenes between the Narn ambassador G’Kar and the Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari on Babylon 5 reveal a history that predates what we are initially shown, as seen in their emotion and pain over the love for their people and their home worlds. It mirrors the ongoing verbal duel between Captain Sisko and Gul Dukat as they debate their roles in history, how they will be remembered, and the motivations of their actions.
Babylon 5 Journeys Into Darkness Deep Space Nine Avoids
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two shows was the tone. Babylon 5 showed us a darker, more dystopian future. Despite the darkness, sorrow, and loss during Deep Space Nine, the characters remained Starfleet. They still acted nobly even when an easier path existed but crossed moral or ethical lines. Babylon 5 showed us more clearly the flaws, the inhumanities, and failures in its main characters.
The similarities between the shows eventually led to a lawsuit, but the creator of Babylon 5 ultimately decided not to pursue it so that both shows could succeed. We should be thankful that, as fans, we got to experience a quality of programming that is lacking in current productions.
All that we have been lectured on, with modern norms pushed into places where they really don’t fit, like questions on race, colonization, and violence: these were all handled on two 1990s space stations with nuance lacking in modern science fiction. Fans of one will vastly enjoy the other, and both series are the real inclusive utopias today’s programming only wishes it could aspire to.
Check them out where you can: Deep Space Nine is part of Paramount Plus’s Star Trek collection, and Babylon 5 just got absorbed by YouTube.