DS9 was fairly good but B5 was way beyond though.
Babylon 5 had a realistic universe with trade, oppression (Psy-corp, Narns), religion, plus character arcs that spanned the entire season. Londo going from throw-away ambassador to emperor, G’Kar from struggling to his people to literal savior who walks away from the kingship, Talia/Lyta from loyal member of the core to the one who leads the revolution.
I thought it was interesting that Ivonova was a Russian Jew, struggling at several points with her faith, like telling a visiting rabbi the alien food was allowed because the Torah didn’t forbid it. In contrast, everything Roddenberry did was atheist or anti-theist; that is even true of the “Planet Earth” pilots.