The pilot episode of "Babylon 5", whether you call it "The Pilot", "The Gathering", "The Pilot: The Gathering", or just plain "Babylon 5"- it's a film, that's the title given, in the same way that the McGann thing in "Doctor Who" is called "Doctor Who", however much it isn't, invariably looks rather odd compared with the rest of the series. There are undoubted strange and freakish things here, from the muppet aliens to the oddly muted dialogue (or is that just my video?) and the... different music. However, muppet-like they may be, but the aliens we see here are still generally far better done than the usual 'men in rubber suits' of sci-fi, and the music, although nowhere near the sheer poetic brilliance of Christopher Franke, is still fairly good. There's the 'remembering the line' sequence, which works well, if admittedly nothing in contrast with "The Requiem", and of course that wonderfully creepy 'trap door opening in hell' sound on G'Kar's "pleasure threshold" line- a trick that Mr Franke used more than once himself.
Aside from such comments though, it can't be denied that somethings are obivously far better in the series itself. Delenn, G'Kar and Londo's make up, for instance, and the surgical garb worn in Medlab, that always makes me think of a cleaner here. Also the final version Earthforce uniforms are aesthetically more interesting, not to mention generally better tailored to the actors. However, this is a pilot, and to criticise it on the basis that 'things got better later' is not really fair. All the effects and design work would be perfectly acceptable to anyone who had not seen the series, and are indeed perfectly capable of holding their own today. The CGI is a little flat in close up, but the long shots look marvellous.
Concerning the story, it can't be denied that the plot is a little garbled in places, but in the expectation that certain mysteries- Laurel and possibly Lyta's involvement in the conspiracy were originally intended to be left for later, I think we can forgive this, and the story carries us along, filling in the groundwork rather well as it does so. It's somehow very appropriate for Kosh to be introduced in this fashion, since it leaves us with a subliminal sense of pity for him- especially after he looks at the camera with his head held on one side in his final scene (AWWWWW!), counterpointed by the equally effective foreshadowing of a Vorlon threat to the station. Nasty Vorlons and good Kosh... hm, where am I going to hear that again?
The cast are generally on good form, and I even find Ben Kyle watchable. Admittedly his performance is a little... strange, but strange doesn't have to mean bad. He's an eccentric person- or would have been, had he become a regular, so it fits. Undeniably there are flaws, and for B5, quite serious ones, but all in all it works pretty well. Beep-beep!
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