For me, "The Gathering" is a prime example of how important the editing is. The original version just draaaags aaaaloooong, without any sense of tension. The "Producer's Cut" runs far more swiftly, and includes a couple of scenes that I really don't want to miss anymore (the alien hooker, the bomb-threat, the longer Sinclair-Carolyn scene, the one with Carolyn and Delenn, and so on), and the showdown just makes a lot more sense now (in the original version, Sinclair was suddenly sweating from one scene to the next). And I just never cared that much for the music, and absolutely adore Christopher Frankes score for the re-edit (god, I wish that one would be available on CD). And the key sequence (at least it is for me), when Sinclair is telling the tale of the Battle of the Line, works just so much better in the new version, with the added sound effects and the great score. In the original version, it was just Michael O'Hare, and as much as I like his acting, especially in this scene, it's just not as effective as the one with sound effects and music. In the new cut, this scene has a haunting quality that IMHO was missing in the original version.
Then again, even the original cut isn't bad. It manages to give a lot of background information (even if some of those scenes feel a little forced; you would think Lyta would know about the fates of the first four Babylon stations), sets the stage for the series, and even offers an incredibly effective hook ("There's a hole in your mind"). And of course, all the scenes with G'Kar (especially his last one with Sinclair, which I love to death) and Londo (especially his dialogue with Garibaldi, where you learn everything you need to know about Londo in 2-3 swift minutes) are great, no matter which version of the pilot you're watching. So, overall, I'd give the original version a 5 and the JMS-cut an 8 (out of 10).
A couple of other things I wanted to mention after seeing it again:
- One of the scenes I neglected to mention above is the new scene with Sinclair and the hostage situation, which already foreshadows the final scene in "Infection" in a really neat way.
- Another detail to file under "I cannot believe how well preplanned this all was": They actually mention dust in the Pilot (at least the Producers Cut version)
- G'Kars first appearance is sooooo damn powerful. Andreas Katsulas kills it from the first scene on. He really comes on strong. Love it.
- Some of Takashimas lines feel like they could come straight out of Ivanovas mouth. I really believe that when he switched those characters, JMS pretty much kept the personality of the second in command intact. Just take her "fruit basket" line. I can totally see Ivanova saying that to G'Kar. And also: The line would have been so much funnier and more effective if Claudia Christian would have said it (not a huge fan of Tamlyn Tomitas performance in the pilot, I'm afraid; even though the restored audio track in the Producers Cut helps a little bit).
- The Alien sector scene really feels forced.
- Did I mention already how much I love Christopher Frankes new music for the pilot? Oh I did? Well... then I'll just have to do it again!
The scene where Sinclair tells the story of the Battle of the Line is so much more powerful, than with the old music. Of course, the sound effects help too. For me, watching chronologically, it gives B5 its first of many goosebump-inducing "magic moments". And I also like how he went back to the style of his first season soundtrack, so that if you watched the pilot before the show (as you should) it fits together perfectly. - The writing is so good in this, even though its "just" the pilot. Just take the japanese stone garden and the "one mind can change the universe"-message. Great dialogue! And there are sooo many more.
- No matter how often I see it, I always have to chuckle when I see Mister Morden in C&C
- One thing that I always notice when watching the pilot is that it almost feels like a crime story. After seeing it it's not surprising to learn that the guy who wrote it also wrote a bunch of "Murder, she wrote" episodes
. - I love how the aliens are not simply aliens with some appliances, but with some great masks (even if they overdid it from time to time, like with the barkeeper, who was way too cartoony). The costumes are great too. And of course, the customs, etc., like G'Kars "good eating to you"-greeting.
- It doesn't really make a lot of sense that the business partner would try to lie when there's a telepath at the table, does it? One of the few instances where JMS prioritized his need to tell the story he wanted to tell over story logic.
- Watching the pilot I can't help but feel that it was very important to JMS to distance the show as far from Star Trek as possible. The lighting is so much darker, then there's all the sex talk that you'd never get in the universe where no one has gone before (maybe they should retitle it "where no one has come before" ). And of course it's not all quite as hunky-dory.
- So after I mentioned how great Andreas Katsulas is as G'Kar, I also have to mention how great Peter Jurassik is as Londo. His scene with Garibaldi when he talks about the former glory of the Centauri Republic is so great. It also features one of my favorite lines of dialoge of the whole show: "I'm not here to make trouble. You know why I am here? I'm here to grovel before your wonderful Earth Alliance, in hopes of attaching ourselves to your destiny, like... what are those fish called on your planet that attach themselves to sharks?" "Ramoras." "Yes. You make very good sharks Mr. Garibaldi. We were pretty good sharks ourselves, once - but somehow, along the way, we forgot how to bite."
- While one or two times the background information feels a little force and shoehorned in (as mentioned previously: Lyta not knowing about Babylons 1-4), most of it feels very natural. Great job!
- I have to say I'm glad that they got rid of that weird minbari ring of power. Looking back, that whole scene is so out of character. I definitely would have preferred the previous idea about the stone that G'Kar cannot grasp.
- Ben's taking stims. Another storyline that got transfered to the replacement of the character, I assume.
- So we know that originally, Takashima was the traitor - unknowingly. She pretty much had the same condition as Talia, namely a second personality. I also think I remember reading somewhere (probably her biography "Pleasure Tresholds") that JMS asked Pat Tallman if she would have a problem with playing a homosexual relationship. From that I assume that Takashima and Lyta were supposed to hook up, and when he replaced both, he kept that storyline, but switched th e traitor-part from one person of the duo to the other. Just pure speculation on my part, of course. Also: Notice that Takashima was on Mars. We know from the Comics that that's exactly where Talias second personality got implanted. Coincidence?
- Gosh, those roller coaster bars in the shuttle sure look unintentionally funny
- One thing that never really got explained: how did the poison enter koshs body? I don't assume he actually showed himself to Sinclair?!?! So how could someone apply that thing on his right hand? Any idea? Anyone?
- The monitors on the background during Sinclairs interrogation sure as hell were a great idea, since because of them they could show us two people. we could see Bens testimony, for example, and also Jeffreys reaction.
- "The Gathering" features the first and as far as I recall only time that a minbari hisses. Thinking back, it feels a little bit out of character for that race, doesn't it?
- Where the heck does the "rain" come from in the scene where Garibaldi and Sinclair investigate the pod?
- I LOVE the final scene between Sinclair and G'kar, and the "beep beep"-joke that follows it.
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