Pilot: The Gathering
Nobody is exactly what they appear
We’re watching the pioneering 90s TV show Babylon 5. If you want to join us, hit subscribe then go to your account and turn on the Let’s Watch notifications.
Today we’re talking about ‘The Gathering’, the pilot movie for the show. It has a slightly convoluted history.
It’s also…not great.
If you’re new to the show and this is your first time watching, don’t worry - it gets much better.
![Babylon 5: The Gathering [DVD]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KBZw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4f93b40-a2fd-4594-a180-696b616a264b_728x1000.jpeg "Babylon 5: The Gathering [DVD]")
As I recall, there are two versions of ‘The Gathering’. The original 1993 pilot, which paved the way for the series proper, and then the version that’s included with the blu-ray set. This latter version is a sort of producer’s cut, with a new score and some updated VFX and edit tweaks which were made around the end of season 4 to bring the pilot stylistically slightly more in line with the main show.
The producer’s cut definitely helps, but it’s far from successful.
I’m going to set aside some of the more obvious and unavoidable issues: for starters, the quality of the transfer is not nice to watch. It’s presented in 16:9, unlike the original version, which required them to take the original VFX elements and zoom in to fill the frame. That was present on the DVD releases, but presenting it in blu-ray format and viewed on larger, modern TVs really highlights the resolution deficiencies. Fortunately, the series proper has been remastered in a different way.
Many of the visual effects have also dated to an extreme level, though I don’t really mind. The show is of its time, and some dated CGI doesn’t bother me massively. It is, however, a mixed bag, with some OG shots being absurdly low detail while refreshed shots of the station interior actually look pretty decent.
The two aspects that most surprised me, and not in a good way, were the acting and writing. All the performances seem a little…off. Staging, timing, line delivery is stilted and stagey, to the point that I feel like it could be a directing issue rather than strictly an acting issue. Shots linger slightly longer than they should, lines are spoken with weird timing and pauses.
On the writing side, the world building often feels clumsy and forced. Sure, you have to cram a lot into the opening of a story, but it rarely feels elegant. Perhaps it’s because they didn’t have a confirmed first season, so wanted to get as much into the pilot as possible. Regardless, there’s a lot of characters explaining to each other things which they’d already know. I think the pilot could have got away with a lot less detailing of the background and the Earth-Minbari war and just focused on the station itself. Less telling, more doing.
All that aside, the setting is immediately engaging. The station looks cool and is unusual. The emphasis on mundanity in terms of the customs area, the market, the grimier corridors. The ship design is intriguing, and there’s a satisfying difference between the Earth cargo ships and the super weird Vorlon ships (even if they are primarily the result of a VFX designer finding out about animated textures). I like that there’s a load of traffic buzzing around the dock. Straight off the bat it feels like a functioning, quite real place.
Also: Londo Mollari. The character and the actor are perfect from the word go. Played and written wonderfully - you really get the sense of a washed-up politician trying to forget about the past and ignore his dead-end career. He contrasts well with Andreas Katsulas’ G’Kar, who is similarly good as the scheming villain. In fact, the general political skullduggery is fun throughout.
I can see the potential in the pilot, but only in retrospect. I’m quite surprised it went to series based on this, and as an entry point to the show it’s a big fumble. If it wasn’t for some of the plot points coming back during season 1, it’d be best avoided entirely.
I started watching Babylon 5 halfway through season 1, if I recall correctly, which I think was probably fortuitous. It had found its feet by then.
That’s what I reckon, anyway! Jump down to the comments, or if you’re on a rewatch let’s get into some spoilers…
‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️
The most surprising thing for me was how fully formed Londo already is, and G’kar albeit to a lesser degree (he’s a bit too panto in this one). The Londo character arc is some of the best writing, pacing and acting I’ve encountered in a long-form bit of storytelling, and that it starts right here in the pilot is remarkable.
Elsewhere, we have some clumsy world building about the previous Babylon stations, as if other adults wouldn’t remember that stuff happening within living memory. Outside of that there’s a lot of Earth-Minbari war stuff, and Sinclair’s hole-in-the-head. While I can see the sense in setting up that central mystery, I think it actually over-complicates the main plot, shifting the already twisty-turny ambassador assassination attempt into something to do with Sinclair that never quite becomes clear. I rather wish the pilot had just focused on the running of the station without having to immediately make it personal for Sinclair.
Incidentally, the 2023 animated B5 movie The Road Home has a really fantastic depiction of Sinclair’s character, which is really no-nonsense and you can see hints of them trying to go for that here - like when he takes charge of the hostage situation at the start. Although the resolution to that scene is bizarre: the intention seems to be to show Sinclair as a man of his word, but it primarily makes him look like a leader who randomly allows criminals to leave without punishment. Doesn’t quite make sense.
The other big thing, from a spoiler/plot/continuity point of view is, of course, the fact that half the cast is going to change between this and season 1. The changes to the command team are definitely improvements - though, again it’s hard to say how much of the weird performances is down to the actors or down to strange direction. I’m leaning towards the latter.
Oh! Also fascinating is how they portray Delenn as male, or at least non-binary. This was in 1993. Presumably the intention was for the character to transition from male to female, before becoming the love interest for the lead. That would have been a bold move. Again, it was 1993! I think they probably made the right choice, given the awkwardness of the make-up, but it would have been a fascinating thing to watch - and potentially quite ground-breaking, in a science fiction-as-metaphor kind of way, long before gender was something that could be discussed in a sophisticated way. Notable is how strong Mira Furlan’s performance is, even underneath that make-up and saddled with really quite fiddly dialogue.
I’ve rambled on for 1,000 words about ‘The Gathering’, so I should probably stop typing.
Quick comment on "... super weird Vorlon ships (even if they are primarily the result of a VFX designer finding out about animated textures)."
1) Vorlon ships are based off garlic.
2) You mean INVENTING animated textures. It had never been done before. Obviously this is impossible in model work unless you literally build a series of models and paint each one with a frame of an animation loop and swap the model out on every frame. Is it a bit dated and cheesy 30 years later? Maybe. But, in context, this was another absolutely mind blowing thing at the time... Just like how a Starfury rotating nodally on three axes is impossible with a practical model...
Well. On a different social platform you've already put up with much of my ranting about differences between the 1993 and 1997 versions of the pilot. I may have the 1993 on a tape in storage - and, if we can ever actually close a property, and I have it, I'll capture, clean, and send it to you. Let's talk production. JMS has written at length about his displeasure with the initial project. As a first time showrunner he didn't feel fully comfortable throwing his creator/EP authority around, so let director David Compton (also a Producer) lead.
Yes, some of the direction is off.
Compton would continue into the series proper, but, as he and JMS continued to butt heads, Compton would leave by mid-season 1. Maybe episode 8, but don't quite me.
Regarding being surprised it went to series? The producing network, PTEN, had been thinking about going straight to series, but TV Sci-fi at the time was expensive ("V" the series almost bankrupted NBC), and no US made non-"Star Trek" sci-fi, at the time the green light was given - had managed more than two seasons (by the time B5 season 1 properly started "Quantum Leap" would be in its third).
So, the Movie of the Week was commissioned. It was given two mandates: be completed on time and on budget, and draw a certain ratings figure. Obviously both happened.
Michael O' Hare... Poor man ended up fighting against, and losing to, a struggle with mental illness. Apparently his issued kicked in between casting and before production, and worsened greatly during s1. Perhaps the stress of jumping from a stage actor to being the nominal lead of a 5-year show kicked off the decline? Either way, it's a sad story. One JMS kept secret till O'Hare's death to help protect his career.
Tamlyn Tomita as Laurel Takishima... Is 100% dubbed. It seems she gave a more dynamic reading on-set, the suits interfered and wanted her to be more stoic, then decided her performance was too bland. Sucks for her, good for Claudia Christian.
Still, sharp eyes may note that as the assassin moves around the station, he's using Takishima's access codes. Look at door panels when they are used. Or, take my word for it, cuz who wants to re-watch "The Gathering" AGAIN! Either way, she was being set up to do something shocking in the first series finale which was moved to a different minor recurring character... (How's THAT for dancing around the spoilers?)
Delenn: yes, was initially to be male, then become female. This was changed less because of the makeup than because the voice modulation sounded terrible. You can hear the terrible voice modulation on the assassin - "There is a hole...in your mind." Yup, that's a failed attempt to make a female performer sound masculine.
We'll never ever see Delenn's gravity rings again. Probably "too powerful?"
Lyta: JMS wanted to keep her, an executive had an issue with Pat Tallman. Still... It all works out.
Londo is awesome. No notes.
G'Kar is awesome and will become more awesome.
Dr. Kyle... Dr. Franklin is a better character, but I miss the unique accent. Call it a representation thing, but I do miss getting into the series proper and basically having all the Earthforce personnel having American accents.
Guerra: Who? One of the techs in C&C. His actor will return later in a different, and better role. There is no relation between the two parts, and no one should start looking at conspiracies in plotting. They liked Ed Wasser and gave him a more important part to play. We're adults and we don't need to pull a Steven Moffat Doctor Who Season 8 waste of an episode of "Why this face?"
The 5 year arc: There is stuff in the pilot that finally plays out in seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5. If O'Hare's issues hadn't arisen there is something set up which was initially planned to pay off in the very last episode! Beginning, middle, end. Oh, it still pays off. Just earlier. (Again, dancing around spoilers) Some of the world building and exposition in "The Gathering" is clunky, but that's a writer with a five year story planned who is trying to cram too much foreshadowing in. Still, even today, a pre-planned multi-year arc is something that just doesn't happen unless it's an adaptation of a pre-existing property (I'm looking at "Game of Thrones," "Wheel of Time," and "The Expanse."). Don't throw out "X-Files," "Lost," "Heroes," or "Battlestar Galactica" as examples, because all of those are shows that threw a bunch of shit at the wall, saw what stuck, and tried to convince you it was part of a plan. They weren't.
The CGI: primitive by today's standards, but unlike anything seen at the time. The CGI and makeup would win Babylon 5 its first Emmys. The Vorlon fleet broke the record set by "Return of the Jedi" for most elements in an effects shot. Babylon 5's artists basically established the techniques and pipelines which have only started shifting in the past few years now that computer power allows real-time engines with perspective correction. B5 artists would take the techniques they developed with them to other studios and effects houses. Light wrap? Invented for B5. Combining 3D models, 2D set extensions and live footage? B5. The sequel series "Crusade" will go on to have the first camera tracked shots ever done for TV.
One of the first shows edited on AVID, one of the first shows to use remote hook ups for production (Chris Franke conducting an orchestra in Berlin from his home studio in LA), the first project of any kind to do all the post production and visual effects digitally. The show was always intended to have the CG redone and be reframed for future HD 16:9 remastering (WB improperly stored the hard drives and they were destroyed, which is why the Blu-ray is what it is - sometimes plans go astray).
The technical importance of B5 can NOT be overstated. A certain film-maker who put off certain movies in a certain "saga" after 1983 as he was waiting for "technology to catch up with [his] vision" came to discuss many things with the VFX teams.
So. "The Gathering." Not the best start, but, from here, it all gets better. Except for "TKO," and "Whatever Happened to Gray 17." Oh, "Phoenix Rising." Still, three terrible episodes of 110 is a good hit rate.
Now, on to the series proper, with "Midnight on the Firing Line," which has Starfuries. The Starfury is the best designer space fighter in all of Sci-Fi, and I will die on this hill.