I appreciated the Duck Dodgers bit at the end, honestly. As much as I love Star Trek, I sometimes wonder why they don't get bored all the time. I mean, yes there's the holodecks, yes you see Picard reading a classic book every so often, yes on Deep Space Nine you have Quark's, but elsewhere... Garibaldi watching old Earth cartoons just felt more grounded to me.
Also, I really enjoyed Londo's introduction of Vir. "Have you met my diplomatic staff from the homeworld? *This* is *it*!" Says a lot about him and Vir right there.
Yeah, I can't say I've ever got a particularly good sense of what it's like to live in the Star Trek universe, if you're not part of a starship crew. What do people actually do when they're not in service?
B5 was always much more interested in the mundane, and showing how messy it can be.
If I recall correctly, there was a whole subplot later on in one episode about crew quarter availability and the station needing to do merchandising or something to get extra funds. Which was both a swipe at DS9 and a great detail!
Dec 20, 2023·edited Dec 20, 2023Liked by Simon K Jones
I'm always fascinated with the differences between a pilot and a proper 'premiere' episode. In some cases, audiences never even see the Pilot, which means it's either really bad or has been rejiggered so extensively that it doesn't make sense with the rest of the series anymore.
Again, I sadly haven't watched 'The Gathering' yet, but from these reviews, I'm surprised to realize how much has changed going into the first episode. I mean, it's hard to imagine the show without Susan Ivanova (though I really don't like the ongoing 'I am Russian' gag) and I'm really curious about the BTS shenanigans that led to Lyta Alexander getting replaced by Talia Winters.
I know that later on, the series would retroactively re-canonize the events of The Gathering, at least when it comes to Lyta and the Vorlons, but it is fascinating how much the show would forget about it for a while.
I do remember 'Midnight' being interesting, especially in its world-building, if not all that engaging. Which is kinda how I feel about S1 in general. The show's macro arc moved at a glacial pace and I was frustrated at how it kept building up yet didn't resolve the Sinclair 'Battle of the Line' mystery. I suppose the that's to be expected in a way though. This first season has been subtitled 'Signs and Portents,' so it's not all that interested in actually delivering on payoffs. It's not until S2 that the series had really solidified itself and figured out what works and what doesn't.
Anyway, thanks for writing these reviews. Every read is an opportunity to recall and revisit this series. Also, I've found out that The Gathering is actually available for free on Amazon so I'm gonna watch it soon.
Ah, let us know what you think of 'The Gathering'. It's certainly a fascinating bit of TV production history.
I agree about s1 being all set-up with no pay-off - though I think that's fine. I also wonder if it was JMS treading lightly in terms of the on-going plot stuff. I remember an interview with David Simon, showrunner on The Wire, in which he talked about season 1 of that show having to do a lot of heavy lifting to 'educate' viewers on the idea of a long-running TV story. B5 had done it in the 90s for scifi, but it was still fairly unusual I think for something like a cop show. It feels to me with B5 that season 1 was JMS almost training viewers on how to watch this thing, with little tentative moves here and there but otherwise sticking to a traditional episodic scifi structure.
It's not until season 2 that it really blends those two things together, I think. And very successfully, too.
Also agree about Ivanova's "I'm Russian" schtick being a bit overplayed. She's oddly formal in the opening episode. Garibaldi does make a point of her being new in post, so I suppose we could chalk that up to her being nervous in the job and still finding her feet/being anxious to be taken seriously.
I've re-watched the whole series many times. Every time some part of it feels relevant. Good storytelling but makes me feel a bit depressed over "human" nature.
Ah yes, Ivanova. Another of my faves. The Russian schtick made me laugh more often than not. It was like the point was being made about how you don't need to have an "exaggerated" accent to be Russian, unlike some previous portrayals... and I'm going to stop there.
I appreciated the Duck Dodgers bit at the end, honestly. As much as I love Star Trek, I sometimes wonder why they don't get bored all the time. I mean, yes there's the holodecks, yes you see Picard reading a classic book every so often, yes on Deep Space Nine you have Quark's, but elsewhere... Garibaldi watching old Earth cartoons just felt more grounded to me.
Also, I really enjoyed Londo's introduction of Vir. "Have you met my diplomatic staff from the homeworld? *This* is *it*!" Says a lot about him and Vir right there.
Yeah, I can't say I've ever got a particularly good sense of what it's like to live in the Star Trek universe, if you're not part of a starship crew. What do people actually do when they're not in service?
B5 was always much more interested in the mundane, and showing how messy it can be.
If I recall correctly, there was a whole subplot later on in one episode about crew quarter availability and the station needing to do merchandising or something to get extra funds. Which was both a swipe at DS9 and a great detail!
I'm always fascinated with the differences between a pilot and a proper 'premiere' episode. In some cases, audiences never even see the Pilot, which means it's either really bad or has been rejiggered so extensively that it doesn't make sense with the rest of the series anymore.
Again, I sadly haven't watched 'The Gathering' yet, but from these reviews, I'm surprised to realize how much has changed going into the first episode. I mean, it's hard to imagine the show without Susan Ivanova (though I really don't like the ongoing 'I am Russian' gag) and I'm really curious about the BTS shenanigans that led to Lyta Alexander getting replaced by Talia Winters.
I know that later on, the series would retroactively re-canonize the events of The Gathering, at least when it comes to Lyta and the Vorlons, but it is fascinating how much the show would forget about it for a while.
I do remember 'Midnight' being interesting, especially in its world-building, if not all that engaging. Which is kinda how I feel about S1 in general. The show's macro arc moved at a glacial pace and I was frustrated at how it kept building up yet didn't resolve the Sinclair 'Battle of the Line' mystery. I suppose the that's to be expected in a way though. This first season has been subtitled 'Signs and Portents,' so it's not all that interested in actually delivering on payoffs. It's not until S2 that the series had really solidified itself and figured out what works and what doesn't.
Anyway, thanks for writing these reviews. Every read is an opportunity to recall and revisit this series. Also, I've found out that The Gathering is actually available for free on Amazon so I'm gonna watch it soon.
Ah, let us know what you think of 'The Gathering'. It's certainly a fascinating bit of TV production history.
I agree about s1 being all set-up with no pay-off - though I think that's fine. I also wonder if it was JMS treading lightly in terms of the on-going plot stuff. I remember an interview with David Simon, showrunner on The Wire, in which he talked about season 1 of that show having to do a lot of heavy lifting to 'educate' viewers on the idea of a long-running TV story. B5 had done it in the 90s for scifi, but it was still fairly unusual I think for something like a cop show. It feels to me with B5 that season 1 was JMS almost training viewers on how to watch this thing, with little tentative moves here and there but otherwise sticking to a traditional episodic scifi structure.
It's not until season 2 that it really blends those two things together, I think. And very successfully, too.
Also agree about Ivanova's "I'm Russian" schtick being a bit overplayed. She's oddly formal in the opening episode. Garibaldi does make a point of her being new in post, so I suppose we could chalk that up to her being nervous in the job and still finding her feet/being anxious to be taken seriously.
Stunning how this series seems more relevant 30 years later, huh?
Unnerving, yes.
I've re-watched the whole series many times. Every time some part of it feels relevant. Good storytelling but makes me feel a bit depressed over "human" nature.
It can get heavy. That's part of JMS' signature story arc. Deep, deep, lows, before any real highs.
Ah yes, Ivanova. Another of my faves. The Russian schtick made me laugh more often than not. It was like the point was being made about how you don't need to have an "exaggerated" accent to be Russian, unlike some previous portrayals... and I'm going to stop there.