Babylon 5: The Gathering

Original title: The Gathering

Episode aired Feb 22, 1993
Unrated
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

9.9K

YOUR RATING

Action Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

The opening of a crucial space station is put in jeopardy when the commanding officer is accused of the attempted murder of a diplomat.The opening of a crucial space station is put in jeopardy when the commanding officer is accused of the attempted murder of a diplomat.The opening of a crucial space station is put in jeopardy when the commanding officer is accused of the attempted murder of a diplomat.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

9.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
This was originally the pilot episode.

Goofs
Oxygen breathers have quarters with regular doors, However, the aliens with altered breathing requirements seem to be on display, like they are in a zoo.

Quotes
Delenn: I look forward to meeting a Vorlon. I've heard much about them that is strange.
Jeffrey Sinclair: Such as?
Delenn: Do you not have files on the Vorlons?
Jeffrey Sinclair: Absolutely, very large files. There's nothing in them, of course.

Alternate versions
In 1998, a special edition was aired on TNT to kick off reruns of the Babylon 5 series. The Special Edition (1998) has a new score by Christopher Franke (of the regular series), cuts out small bits like the "zoo scene" at the beginning, corrects effects like the color of the jumpgate, and adds a few scenes which were cut out: Sinclair deals with a hostage situation in customs involving "dust"; Carolyn confronts Delenn about her abstention on the vote; the Takashima and Kyle scene is extended, as is the scene where Sinclair describes the Battle of the Line; there's a new voiceover with Kosh's voice; plus Kyle remarks on what he saw when he opened Kosh's encounter suit and the mystery of Kosh's hand is hinted at (longtime viewers will get it; new viewers will just say, "huh?" so the mystery won't be spoiled.)

Connections
Featured in Babylon 5: And the Sky Full of Stars (1994)

User reviews27

Review

Featured review

7/10

First Effort Planted Humble Seeds

"Babylon 5" was actually one of my favorite shows of the nineties, second only to "The X-Files". This first Pilot tele-movie really does not do the later series justice. I think what is evident here is that the writing was superior to a lot of the other sci-fi offerings out there. The acting seemed strained in this tele-movie and there were casualties in the follow up series because of this. The special effects were the then state of the art CGI but seems dated now. All this was improved later on when the producers had a hit on their hands and some more money to play with. Still, sit through it in order to fully appreciate the fantastic story arcs that were unfolded in the following series. Consider this a prologue to a great sci-fi epic because it is!