Try starting with "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum," "Divided Loyalties," and "The Long, Twilight Struggle" from season 2. ("Confessions and Lamentations" will be on one of those discs. It's excellent, but doesn't have much to do with the larger story arc.)

"The Fall of Night," "Matters of Honor," and "Voices of Authority" form a bridge from there to the middle of season 3, where the payoff begins. "Dust to Dust," "Messages from Earth," "Point of No Return," and "Severed Dreams" are the turning point of the series.

When you reach "War Without End" 1 & 2, you'll want to have "Babylon Squared" handy from season 1. WWE is the second half of a story that began two years earlier.

The Lurker's Guide has an episode list that highlights all the important ones. When in doubt, watch anything listed in bold there.

Thanks, Stephanie. I'm off to Netflix.

I've just realized that if you're watching with an eye to the political parallels, you need a few more episodes:

season 1:
Mind War
Eyes

Season 2:
Points of Departure
Revelations
Hunter, Prey
And Now for a Word

I'm currently watching the series right now, and all the fans that recommended it told me that I had to watch the episodes in order, or else I wouldn't understand anything that had gone on previously. (They especially made a big deal about this when Netflix started sending me season 3 when I was only on to season 2.) Ironically, I believe the creator said several times in the first season that the episodes there weren't crucial to have in a certain order.

At any rate, going through things in order has been good so far for me!

hmmm. two schools of advice, here. I will consult with the resident sci-fi expert and see what he thinks.

I started watching the series at the end of the second season, so I had to catch up with the early stuff. I found some of it hard to watch. The writing in the first season clunks a lot. It also has some beautiful moments, and you need all of it to appreciate what's going on with Londo and G'Kar.

YMMV. My inclination is to get people hooked with the better episodes, as they can always go back to the earlier ones.