Babylon 5 had some awful filler episodes (TKO being the prime example) which never should've been made.
This is true. But that was mostly in the first season where quite a few episodes were written by others, and JMS didn't yet have the clout to fend off the worst of studio meddling.
I do always tell first-time watchers of B5 to just skip TKO. Thankfully it has nothing to do with the overarching plot.
Update, I just looked up the writer of TKO. Several of the earlier weaker episodes were his. He also wrote Born to the Purple, Deathwalker, Eyes, A Spider in the Web, GROPOS, and Knives. Some good concepts, but definitely not series highlights because of the clumsy writing. Frankly I'd put them all in the bottom 10% of the series.
This is true. But that was mostly in the first season where quite a few episodes were written by others, and JMS didn't yet have the clout to fend off the worst of studio meddling.
I do always tell first-time watchers of B5 to just skip TKO. Thankfully it has nothing to do with the overarching plot.
Update, I just looked up the writer of TKO. Several of the earlier weaker episodes were his. He also wrote Born to the Purple, Deathwalker, Eyes, A Spider in the Web, GROPOS, and Knives. Some good concepts, but definitely not series highlights because of the clumsy writing. Frankly I'd put them all in the bottom 10% of the series.