Star Trek: 11 Huge Comparisons Between Deep Space 9 And Babylon 5

Straczynski planned Babylon 5 like a novel for television with each season being a chapter. As a precaution against actors not being available for every episode, he wrote in "back doors" for every character that allowed actors to depart with minimal impact on storylines. He also foreshadowed future long-running story arcs in the first season's standalone episodes.

For example, the antagonistic relationship between Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari and Narn Ambassador G'Kar foreshadowed the war between their two peoples. The arrival of the mysterious Mr. Morden laid the groundwork for the show's major arc the Shadow War. The antagonism between Babylon 5's first officer Susan Ivanova and telepath Talia Winters set up later antagonism between Babylon 5's crew and Alfred Bester, an operative of PsiCorps, the Earth government agency that trained and regulated telepaths.

Although Deep Space Nine's first season consisted of standalone episodes, writers Ira Steven Behr and Ronald Moore pushed for serialization. Plot lines and story arcs built on elements established in the first season.

Major plot lines included the Bajoran recovery from the Cardassian occupation, the development of the rebellious Maquis, Quark's interaction with the Ferengi government, and the Dominion War. Those arcs grew from seeds planted in such first season episodes as Emissary, Past Prologue, Duet, The Nagus, and Vortex.