My own suggestion to you would be to go through it sequentially from the beginning, but that's just the way I am. Ends and beginnings of storylines overlap, and sometimes interconnect.
Except for the first week of eps (which I saw at the '89 Fest), I never saw the pre-Barn eps until they were on Sci-Fi. I'd always been led to believe that they were so different from the post-Barn eps and in many ways were quite boring. But I couldn't have been more fascinated when I watched because I found them far from boring and I was amazed at how so many elements of the show that actually continued throughout were introduced and developed in the pre-Barn era - not to mention how several characters were written so much better. I would totally agree that watching from the beginning would be the best way to go because having all the info from those eps totally enriches what's to come.
What struck me about the first year of DS was how much it influenced the movie, in subtle but significant ways.
Exactly! When people say the storyline of the film is nothing like the original series I always scratch my head and wonder if we've seen two totally different films because I see so much of the original series in the film...
Put my watching on hold for a bit to watch a couple other series (including Orphan Black -- wow, what an interesting show).
(God yes! I love
Orphan Black - and I'm currently watching Season 4 on DVD. It's great how they've gone back to the beginning to explain so much about Beth's character while still moving the storyline forward.)