Ensley F. Guffey - A Dream Given Form: The Unofficial Guide to the Universe of Babylon 5

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Directed by Richard Compton

Original air date February 22, 1993; January 4, 1998

The sky was full of stars, and every star an exploding ship one of ours.

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair

A mysterious new ambassador comes to Babylon 5. Meanwhile, GKar plots a number of sinister schemes.

There are actually two versions of The Gathering. The first aired in 1993 on the Prime Time Entertainment Network, while the second premiered in 1998 on TNT. In 1993, J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) was a first-time showrunner, and his previous experience as a television producer had given him no experience in editing. He therefore left everything in the hands of the director and editor, and then spent the next five years regretting that decision, until the day we recut The Gathering for the TNT cable network special edition. According to JMS, it is this second version that is closest to his vision, that is the edit used for all DVD releases, and that is usually considered canonical.

Even so, The Gathering (1998) is a bit of a rough ride. The bones of the series are there, and there are a few solid moments, but there are a lot of things that just havent been figured out yet. The casting is rough (not unusual for a pilot), with Tamlyn Tomita as a very wooden Lt. Commander Laurel Takashima, and Johnny Sekka running hot and cold as Dr. Benjamin Kyle. Neither actor will return for season one and thats a good thing. On the flip side, with the notable exception of Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander, the remainder of the primary cast are already giving hints of future brilliance. Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari and Andreas Katsulas as GKar embody the positions of their respective empires perfectly, and play off one another with admirable ease. Mira Furlan as Delenn suffers under layers of angular, masculine makeup, but nonetheless brings a gentle gravitas and secrecy to her role. Jerry Doyle as the irascible security chief Michael Garibaldi displays a perfect kind of hard-boiled and weary-yet-kind cynicism, and Michael OHare, as Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, expertly mixes diffidence with command.

The Gathering is heavy on the exposition again, not unexpected for a science fiction pilot and the viewer is quickly introduced to the station, the Psi Corps, the Babylon 5 Council, and the five major races of the series: human, Minbari, Centauri, Narn, and Vorlon. The scene is set with a specific year (2257), just 10 years after a major war between humans and Minbari, which the Minbari were apparently winning, right up until they mysteriously surrendered. The Vorlons are also set up as very powerful and even more mysterious, and every race seems to have plans within plans. Sinclair is a man with a past he doesnt remember, Delenn knows more than she says, GKar is looking for an advantage that will allow his people to make the final transition from past slavery to future domination, and Londo is the bitter and decadent representative of a once-great empire now in luxuriously obsequious decline.

The Gathering is flawed, but by the end of the film, JMS & Co. have effectively drawn a universe with a messy past and a messier present, and one in which good old Homo sapiens are not necessarily the top biped on the scene all of which were a new way of looking at science fiction on TV. The film leaves the viewer right where a good pilot should: wanting more. And JMS would deliver.

STATION DIAGNOSTICS

Highlight

Londo: My God, man, weve become a tourist attraction!

Did You Notice

• The science behind the Babylon 5 station is pretty solid, with rotation to simulate gravity, a central axis where that pull is negligible, and large areas of green space around the inner cylinder to take up carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
• Even in the 23rd century, at least one print newspaper exists: Universe Today.

Hyperspace Beacons

• Ed Wasser plays the role of one of the techs in the command center. He will return often during the series in a very different role.
• Unlike Takashima and Kyle, this is not the last time Lyta Alexander will appear.
• Unlike some TV science fiction, the B5 universe still has some all-too-familiar problems like street drugs (dust) and potentially dangerous and addictive prescription drugs (stims), both of which will continue to plague B5.
• Earth governs Mars Colony directly, although apparently not all that well.
• Koshs greeting to Sinclair EntilZha Valen was added in the 1998 re-edit, and its meaning will become clear in season three.

System Errors

• Why is Sinclair explaining Psi Corps regulations to Lyta? Shouldnt that be the other way around?
• So no human being has ever seen a Vorlon, yet Dr. Kyle is able to successfully run tests on, operate on, and create an antidote for Kosh?
• When Kyle pulls Lyta off Kosh, he is holding her bare hand, but she is not affected by it, despite previously mentioning how direct contact increases telepathic sensitivity.
• After revealing that she is illegally growing coffee onboard, Takashima proceeds to mention how long it has been since she has broken any rules.

SIGNS AND PORTENTS

It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind, 10 years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. Its a port of call, a home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but its our last, best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair