Babylon 5
The Wheel of Fire
TV Flash files “The Wheel of Fire” as hour 107 of 110 in the TV Flash guide — Babylon 5 (1994–1998) on PTEN/TNT, season 5, episode 19, aired 1998-11-04, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E19: listed hour 107 of 110 in the Babylon 5 guide, hour 19 of 22 in season 5. It aired 1998-11-04 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Fall of Centauri Prime” (S05E18). Next is “Objects in Motion” (S05E20).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Earth Force orders the arrest of Lyta for financing terrorism against the PSI Corp. Meanwhile. Sheridan confronts Garibaldi about his drinking, and G'Kar struggles with his growing mass of worshippers.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Wheel of Fire sit in the Babylon 5 guide?
S05E19 is listed hour 107 of 110 — hour 19 of 22 in season 5, season 5 episode 19.
When did Babylon 5 S05E19 air?
The Wheel of Fire aired 1998-11-04 and is listed at 60 minutes.
What is distinctive about its structure?
It was planned as a multi-year novel-like arc rather than mostly standalone episodes — five seasons designed as one composition.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Diplomats and soldiers on a massive station, plotted as a five-year novel when American sci-fi TV still defaulted to reset buttons. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the bulk himself: foreshadowing, payoffs, fascism, faith, and the forever DS9 comparison. Neutral ground until history refuses neutrality. Serialization with actual architecture.
The first useful thing *Babylon 5* does is refuse the reset button. Diplomats and soldiers aboard a massive space station navigate wars, prophecies, and alliances across a deliberately planned multi-year arc. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the vast majority of the series (1994–1998 on PTEN, later TNT association for continuation) as a novel for television — foreshadowing, payoffs, political sci-fi with unusual long-range architecture for 1990s American TV. Humanity's place among alien powers becomes a stage for…
Filed against
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- Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar
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