{"id":38561,"date":"2013-08-23T23:16:03","date_gmt":"2013-08-24T05:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/23\/b5-rewatch-the-gathering.html"},"modified":"2014-05-30T08:59:09","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T14:59:09","slug":"b5-rewatch-the-gathering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/23\/b5-rewatch-the-gathering.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: "The Gathering""},"content":{"rendered":"
I was there … at the dawn of this new series.<\/i> \u00a0Actually I taped the pilot episode when it aired in 1993, and hung onto that tape to today. \u00a0Not that we watched it on tape, mind you. \u00a0DVD all the way, baby …<\/p>\n

And so I finally got around to introducing my daughter\u00a0to "Babylon 5".<\/p>\n

"The Gathering" is an odd episode of B5, filmed and shown a year ahead of the rest of the series (not by design), with only half the eventual Season 1 cast in attendance, the final makeup for the alien ambassadors not yet set, and the revolutionary all-CG FX that much cruder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And from an acting standpoint, it's pretty rough going — the humans, especially. But there are some very nice moments there there as well\u00a0— in particular (on both counts) from Michael O'Hare's Jeffrey Sinclair.<\/p>\n

We watched the revised edition, re-edited during the 4th Season of the show and re-issued as a TV movie — there's some extra character footage put back in, but the superior (to my mind) Stewart Copeland soundtrack is replaced with one by the series composer Christopher Franke. \u00a0<\/p>\n

My reaction, net-net, was that it was a lot less embarrassing than I was afraid it would be. \u00a0For all the sketchy parts, there's enough mystery and foreshadowing showing through to get the conspiratorial juices flowing. And it did get a nomination for the 1994 Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo (the only TV show on the ballot that year), so there was something<\/i> there.<\/p>\n

Kay's reaction was mixed — she got into some deep speculation as to what was going on about 2\/3 of the way through the film (and while she was only about half-correct, the half-wrong was damned good plotting, too), but she ended up feeling so-so about the heavy doses of politics.<\/p>\n

We'll see, by the bye, what she thinks about the regular series.<\/p>\n

Most dramatic moment:<\/b> Jeff really doesn't want to talk about the Line — until it gets dragged out of him.
Most amusing moment:<\/b> \u00a0"Beep-beep"
Most arc moment:<\/b> \u00a0A toss-up between Lyta scanning Kosh (boy, is that<\/i> going to come back to haunt her a few seasons from now) and \u00a0
(in the directors cut) Kosh first meeting (he thinks) Sinclair and saying, "Entil'Zha Valen".<\/p>\n

#babylon5<\/a> \u00a0<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Guide page: “The Gathering”<\/a>
\n The Vorlon ambassador is nearly killed by an assassin shortly after arriving at the station, and Commander Sinclair is the prime suspect. Tamlyn Tomita as Lt. Cmdr. Laurel Takashima(*). Blaire Baron as Carolyn Sykes(*). Johnny Sekka as Dr. Benjamin Kyle(*). Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander(*).\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was there … at the dawn of this new series. \u00a0Actually I taped the pilot episode when it aired in 1993, and hung onto that tape to today. \u00a0Not that we watched it on tape, mind you. \u00a0DVD all the way, baby … And so I finally got around to introducing my daughter\u00a0to "Babylon … Continue reading “B5 Rewatch: "The Gathering"”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,362],"tags":[429],"class_list":["post-38561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-tv-babylon-5","tag-babylon5"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40786,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/12\/b5-rewatch-s1e20-babylon-squared.html","url_meta":{"origin":38561,"position":0},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 1×20 "Babylon Squared"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 12-Jan-14 10:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The second-from-last episode of the season, written by JMS, is one of the big WHAM eps, wherein we learn (more) of the fate of Babylon 4, and get metric tons of foreshadowing as to the future in the series -- and the past ...Some spoilers probably follow.The A Plot here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129403,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/b5-rewatch-4x14-moments-of-transition-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":38561,"position":1},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 4×14 "Moments of Transition"","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Jan-16 12:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"Bester wants Lyta's body! Delenn cooks up an end to the Minbari Civil War! Sheridan decides to start the Earth Civil War!Crikey -- it's been how long since my last Babylon 5 rewatch? August? Crikey.Overall an episode with solid acting, from guest stars (Bester! Neroon!) and regulars alike, hampered only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129404,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/b5-rewatch-4x14-moments-of-transition-3.html","url_meta":{"origin":38561,"position":2},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 4×14 "Moments of Transition"","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Jan-16 7:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"Bester wants Lyta's body! Delenn cooks up an end to the Minbari Civil War! Sheridan decides to start the Earth Civil War!Crikey -- it's been how long since my last Babylon 5 rewatch? August? Crikey.Overall an episode with solid acting, from guest stars (Bester! Neroon!) and regulars alike, hampered only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":155171,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2022\/01\/06\/b5-rewatch-5x04-a-view-from-the-gallery.html","url_meta":{"origin":38561,"position":3},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 5×04 “A View from the Gallery”","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 6-Jan-22 5:25pm","format":false,"excerpt":"An unusual slice-of-life episode, as epic events and characters are observed by ... B5 janitors","rel":"","context":"In "Babylon 5"","block_context":{"text":"Babylon 5","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-babylon-5"},"img":{"alt_text":"Babylon 5 5x04 View Gallery - Bo and Mack","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Babylon-5-5x04-View-Gallery-Bo-and-Mac.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Babylon-5-5x04-View-Gallery-Bo-and-Mac.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Babylon-5-5x04-View-Gallery-Bo-and-Mac.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Babylon-5-5x04-View-Gallery-Bo-and-Mac.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":156613,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/20\/b5-rewatch-5x07-secrets-of-the-soul.html","url_meta":{"origin":38561,"position":4},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 5×07 “Secrets of the Soul”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 20-Mar-22 4:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Hot telepath sex, not-so-hot telepath origins, and aliens who are (gasp) keeping secrets","rel":"","context":"In "Babylon 5"","block_context":{"text":"Babylon 5","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-babylon-5"},"img":{"alt_text":"Babylon 5 5x07 Secrets of the Soul - Lyta in the tank","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Babylon-5-5x07-Secrets-of-the-Soul-Lyta-in-the-tank.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Babylon-5-5x07-Secrets-of-the-Soul-Lyta-in-the-tank.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Babylon-5-5x07-Secrets-of-the-Soul-Lyta-in-the-tank.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Babylon-5-5x07-Secrets-of-the-Soul-Lyta-in-the-tank.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Babylon-5-5x07-Secrets-of-the-Soul-Lyta-in-the-tank.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42443,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/06\/08\/b5-rewatch-2x21-comes-the-inquisitor.html","url_meta":{"origin":38561,"position":5},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 2×21 "Comes the Inquisitor"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 8-Jun-14 2:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's funny how the amount of imagery and uploaded video varies so much by episode of B5. For some reason -- maybe the long swathes of rich dialog -- \"Comes the Inquisitor\" has a lot posted online, though the video I'm showcasing most is from the B-Plot.After the huge, broad,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42326,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38561\/revisions\/42326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}