Babylon 5 (TV Series) Babylon 5: The Gathering (1993) User Reviews

Solid Start To An Intriguing Saga

[no-skyline · 7/10 · 30 December 2005]

Babylon 5 was a hugely ambitious sci-fi show to get off the ground with complex characters and story arcs that went on over the entire 5 series run. This was the first pilot movie and it paves the way to what would follow.

It's an intriguing piece of sci-fi with some strong performances in particular Peter Jurasic as Lando Mollari and Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar. The special effects are a bit limited in places but thats to be expected from a show just finding it's feet.

Some of the actors in this initial show would leave to pursue other projects but the core remained in. There are some story lines (which I wont spoil) that could have been further explored had Takishima and Lyta stayed on the show. The acting quality is mixed and this was ironed out as the series went on.

All in all it's a good TV movie that does stand on it's own well but it will leave you with a few questions and a good reason to pick up on the series which just get's better as it goes along.

Good TV movie that will get you ready for the full series 7/10

First Effort Planted Humble Seeds

[filmbuff1974 · 7/10 · 21 April 2008]

"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!

Step aboard Babylon Five.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 14 January 2021]

Despite having heard about it for years,I somehow have never got round to seeing any of Babylon Five. Picking up a complete series box set during the New Year sales,I got set to finally set foot on the station.

View on the film:

Laying the foundation for the universe under a (attempted) murder-mystery, rather then joining the crew on their first day, the screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski holds the suspicions to the planned murder as a mirror to the fragile state of peace barely being contained within the space station.

Straczynski closely follows commanding officer Jeffrey Sinclair (played by Michael O'Hare,who keeps a fine balance between Sinclair being confident in his role as a officer,whilst nervous about the accusations being spread about him) having to wrestle control from those wanting to take advantage of the act,who are also slyly trying to frame him,as a method of breaking the peace.

Although the early CGI looks rather iffy, (model work would have allowed for more detail,and the various spaceships to have less of a flat appearance) director Richard Compton & cinematographer Billy Dickson listen in on the deals being made by the five major spacefaring races of the galaxy in smooth panning shots across the floors of Babylon Five.

Not bad, but there's room for better

[dragos_dobrota · 2 February 2002]

As a Babylon 5 fan I have watched it more than once, last time today, after seeing yesterday another B5 movie "B5:In the Beginning". I must confess that the latter is much better. Still, it is not bad for a series' start. Some of the characters are portrayed differently than I've grown accustomed to in the series (like G'Kar for example), Delenn's makeup is less than perfect (compare it with the one in "In the Beginning") and she really looks unusual (after seeing her later transformation...).

But there are some good lines and Peter Jurasik(Lando Mollari)'s act is delightful and so is Mr Jerry Doyle(Garibaldi)'s. A good start for a B5 beginner and a must re-watch (after seeing the rest of the series).

When J. Michael Straczynski conceived B5, he really wrote a great story!

I'm probably a huge B-5 fan...

[JoeB131 · 7/10 · 7 January 2010]

but the original version of this pilot was weak.

The original score was some awful synthesizer music that was painful to hear. They also had a bizarre tour through an alien zoo with muppets, and some fairly incoherent plot points.

Now, probably if you've seen this, you saw the "Special Edition" version they did for TNT, where JMS was allowed to tweak the special effects, put back in scenes PTEN made him take out, take other things out that contradicted what we would later see in the series. (For instance, all mention of G'Kar's wife vanish in the new version.) They severely changed the appearance and even the concepts of the aliens. (For instance, initially, the Minbari were supposed to be hermaphrodites, neither male nor female. They decided that Mira Furlan was better treated as all woman!) A few plot points are never reconciled, like how could you poison Kosh, who was essentially an immortal being of pure energy. Well, if you are an obsessive enough fan to notice, they've already got you hooked, so who cares? Part of the problem was a weak cast. Tamilyn Tomita, Johnny Sekka and Blair Brown were all replaced by the time the series went into full production. Patricia Tallman was also written out but brought back later. Michael O'Hare was a weak actor, and they sacked him by the end of season one.

How to watch the B5 movies

[bpeck13 · 7/10 · 8 October 2008]

You can buy the first two movies (In the Beginning, The Gathering) separately, but in order to get all five B5 movies (the first two plus Thirdspace, The River of Souls, and A Call to Arms), you have to buy them in a box set.

The first two movies are out of order—they should be In the Beginning and then The Gathering. These movies are GREAT for background information. They really should be watched before watching the series.

Thirdspace is a detached from the rest of the movies and series. It comes after the end of the Shadow War (season 4, episode 6), but then there is no mention of it again. If you never saw this movie, you wouldn't miss any continuity. The only thing it clears up is why Lyta Alexander and Zack Allen never got together.

The River of Souls occurs in apx. Year 2263 and is less detached because B5 has encountered Soul Hunters before. This just gives more insight to them. It is like an extra episode in Season 5.

A Call to Arms (Year 2267) is a prequel to the Crusade series. If you aren't planning to watch the Crusade series, there is no reason to watch this movie.

Season 5 should go like this:

1. Season 5 Episode 21 "Objects at Rest" (Year 2262) 2. The River of Souls movie (Year 2263) 3. A Call to Arms and the Crusade Series (Year 2267)—optional. I suggest these be watched separately from B5 series as they really don't enhance or expand on the B5 series. 4. The Lost Tales—Voices in the Dark movie (Year 2271) 5. Season 5 Episode 22 "Sleeping in Light." (Year 2280)

6. The Legend of The Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (after the Year 2280)—optional. Does not add nor detract from the series.

secondary sci-fi

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 29 April 2016]

It's the dawn of the third age of mankind. It's 2257 and it's the last of the Babylon stations deep in neutral space. It's a port of call for a variety of alien species. Jeffrey Sinclair is the commander. He's still haunted by the Battle of the Line. The remaining Earth forces were gathered in a final battle against the Minbari. Despite destroying most of the remaining Earth forces, the Minbari surrendered without explanation. Laurel Takashima is the second in command. Lyta Alexander is the newly arrived telepath. Michael Garibaldi is the security chief. Delenn is a Minbari. Humans made first contact with the Centauri. The Narn do not like the Centauri after overthrowing their enslavement. The Vorlons are a mysterious powerful race and their ambassador Kosh Naranek is the last to arrive. Kosh is poisoned and Sinclair is blamed.

I was never a big Babylon 5 fan although I stayed with it for long stretches. It always seemed to me to be a slightly inferior Deep Space Nine. It doesn't help that it came out slightly after DS9. It felt always a step behind. The best idea from the pilot is the Battle of the Line. I found that battle to be mysterious, poetic, and full of possibilities. This pilot movie is a lot of expositions with a functional TV story. It holds the promise of a solid sci-fi TV show although it's not something extraordinary. Second season lead Bruce Boxleitner is superior to Michael O'Hare although I wish they kept Tamlyn Tomita around. I have nothing against Claudia Christian, and I can certainly understand the complexity of contracts and TV casting.

"Sooner or later everyone comes to Babylon 5."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 16 July 2018]

For a movie that wound up on IMDb's Top 250 List all the way back in 1996, this movie only had nineteen user reviews posted when I came to this page. That seems rather odd and I don't know what to chalk that up to. Although I've never watched an episode of the TV series, it seems to me this series pilot ought to have had more of an impact on viewers to warrant a broader host of reactions.

Arriving a couple of decades after the Star Trek TV series, one can appreciate the improvement in special effects compared to some of the almost cardboard looking sets of The Enterprise. However much of it looked like video game quality compared to the incredible visuals of today. One can definitely measure the progress over time of how television adopted technology to achieve some of the stunning illusions and visual tricks we can witness today.

The story itself here is pretty much by the numbers for a sci-fi outer space saga. Much of the acting is a bit sketchy, and the Minbari and Narn prosthetics leave a bit to be desired. My understanding is that some of the pilot actors used here didn't make it into the series, and in the case of Tamlyn Tomita's character, Lieutenant Commander Laurel Takashima, one can see why. Some of her dialog and screen presence was downright cheesy. Even Commander Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) left something to be desired in the way of a forceful presence aboard Babylon 5. With Captain Kirk, you always knew who was top gun on the Enterprise crew.

The handful of reviewers for this pilot seem rather mixed in their appreciation of the show. Again, with no basis for comparison against the actual series that followed, I'd have to say it was generally okay with an intriguing story line that got muddled a bit along the way. It wasn't enough to get me interested in the program that it introduced, although I can't say I'll never get to it at some point. Maybe one day.

A great start to a great story

[Klaatu-18 · 8/10 · 26 October 2002]

Back in 1993 one of my co-workers, who knows I'm a science fiction fan, asked if I was going to watch the pilot for that new SF TV seriies. At first I didn't think I had heard of this before. Then I realized that this must be the show that J Michael Stracynski (JMS), the screenwriting columnist for <i>Writer's Digest</i>, quit that job to work on.

I watched the movie and was instantly intrigued. Unlike many SF TV shows, the science was well done (with none of the technobabble seen in other shows). A valiant attempt was made to present a few totally non-humanoid aliens. (This resulted in the funny puppet aliens in a section that was edited out when the special edition was created)

But what drew my interest was the fact that this movie had laid down plot threads for the proposed series. Unanswered questions about what really happened to the first four Babylon stations. And why had the Minbari suddenly surrendered at the end of the Earth-Minbari war when victory was in their grasp? What was the story behind Commander Sinclair's missing time at the Battle of the Line?

Before the series itself aired I read an article in Cinefantastique which explained that JMS had a plan for an ambitious story arc that would take five years to complete. I was ready.

Long forgotten, the series deserved to be reviewed, or the target of a remake.

[filipemanuelneto · 6/10 · 3 March 2023]

This was the pilot episode of the Babylon 5 series, a dystopian series set in the far distant future, in the middle of outer space. Honestly, I saw this episode, but I wasn't convinced about the series. In any case, it has an excellent look and good sci-fi, especially if we consider that we are talking about material made for TV, and not for the big screen.

The episode shows and introduces several characters, starting with Michael Garibaldi, and even a series of alien races from various corners of the universe. Relations between all of them are not at all easy, and the murder of a diplomat promises to complicate things a lot. I didn't know about the series until a few days ago. It wasn't even born when it passed, but it didn't take much to understand that the series gained, for a long time, a cult status that was hard to disappear.

At a time when remakes are being made of everything and anything else, even things that don't need it, why not invest a few million in a remake of this TV series, with all the visual and computerized resources that we have now, and that didn't exist when was it made? It would perhaps be a way to revive interest in the source material.

Weak intro to great series.

[mweller · 3/10 · 28 October 1998]

While I count myself as a fan of the Babylon 5 television series, the original movie that introduced the series was a weak start. Although many of the elements that would later mature and become much more compelling in the series are there, the pace of The Gathering is slow, the makeup somewhat inadequate, and the plot confusing. Worse, the characterization in the premiere episode is poor. Although the ratings chart shows that many fans are willing to overlook these problems, I remember The Gathering almost turned me off off what soon grew into a spectacular series.

Despite this being a pilot, it already has excellent chemistry and excitement

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 8 December 2006]

I have long time been a fan of Babylon 5, so you should keep this in mind--I'm sure this must color my review of this TV movie pilot for the show. Fans of the series might notice some odd changes in cast--this happens a lot in pilot episodes, as the show often is slightly re-tooled before the shows begin in production. For example, the doctor, the second in command were different actors than in the series and the prosthetics on Mira Furlan made her look much more "alien" in this movie. It's a shame about the doctor, as I really liked the African man who played him with a bit of sarcasm and flair.

As for the rest of the cast, they were amazing to watch for a pilot. Normally, on most pilots, the camaraderie isn't really there and the relationships just seem a bit underdeveloped. However, here, Garibaldi, Sinclair and the rest seem to work well together and the made for TV movie is very watchable and similar to the resulting series despite the cast changes. For the early 1990s, the production values are excellent, though in 2006, the computer graphics appear, at times, a bit dated--as this was the first sci-fi series that got rid of modeling and used computer generated images for all its space scenes. All in all, it's an exciting and riveting show--made even more so by the always brilliant writing of J. Michael Straczynski.

Frankly ... not a good start ...

[evelynannemarks · 3/10 · 5 September 2019]

I didn't see this movie until after I'd seen the whole Babylon 5 series and I'm very glad of that because frankly, I found it creaky and uninspiring.

G'Kar undertook a complete change of character once the series started (thankfully), in fact I couldn't even be certain it was him for a good bit of the movie. Delenn was a nightmare! She looked about 150 years old, talked in riddles the whole time and waddled about like a duck - and had this been the first I'd ever seen of the series I would have wondered why Mira Furlan had been wasted on such a character, when she's outgoing and beautiful and has so much to offer.

At least Garibaldi and Mollari were recognisable, and shone like a couple of good deeds in a naughty world! Even Michael O'Hare improved as the movie went on, but unfortunately once you've experienced Bruce Boxleigner in charge, there's no going back, he just went in, boots and all, and was exceptional.

And what a bit of luck Patricia Tallman grew her hair and at the same time turned Lyta Alexander into an altogether deeper, nicer and more rounded character. In this movie she was entirely one-dimensional.

I am an ENORMOUS fan of Babylon 5 - but I won't be watching this again!

A weak start to what would ultimately be one of the best TV series of all time

[amitjusc · 20 September 2011]

For any true Babylon 5 fan, The Gathering is indispensable. With such a long and detailed story arc ahead, it would be a mistake to miss this, or the majority of the episodes of the first season. Unfortunately, both suffer from mediocre acting and so-so special effects (by today's standards).

By the end of season 1, Michael O'Hare does grow on you, even with his hammy acting (he is a stage actor which didn't translate so well to TV). He's not bad, but Bruce Boxleitner ultimately does a much better job. Claudia Christian also gets better over time, and is light years ahead of Tamlyn Tomita, who did an awful job in the pilot.

That said, I am on my second viewing of B5, and although the pilot and first season are cringe-worthy at times, they are both worth seeing, culminating in an incredible payoff with seasons 2,3 and 4. Watch this and then watch the whole series. You won't be disappointed.

A good introduction to Babylon 5

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 25 May 2012]

This ninety minute pilot episode introduces us to the space station Babylon 5, its crew, its inhabitants and most importantly its purpose. The Babylon Project aims to provide a location with various alien races can meet to trade and to talk; there are a wide variety of alien species present but there are five that are most important; the Earth Alliance, the Mimbari Federation, the Centuri Republic, the Narn Regime and finally the Vorlon Empire… the story opens as the station is preparing for its official opening and the arrival of the firth and final ambassador; Ambassador Kosh who represents the mysterious Vorlons. He isn't the only new arrival; on the same day a telepath by the name Lyta Alexander and a suspicious character called Del Varver also come aboard. Within a minute of his arrival Kosh is found unconscious suffering the effects of an unknown poison; if he dies it could mean war and the end of the Babylon Project. In an attempt to find out what happened Dr. Kyle asks Lyta to telepathically scan Kosh; when she does so she sees what happened to him; this gives the doctor a lead as to where to look for the poison; it also exposes the killer… Commander Sinclair: the man in charge of Babylon 5. With this evidence he will have a hard job clearing his name before he can be taken to the Vorlon home world for trial.

This was a fine introduction to most of the key characters in the series; we learn a surprising amount of back story without it distracting from the story at hand; key details include the fact that the Centuri had subjugated the Narn until fairly recently and Earth and the Mimbari had been at war; Earth won but only because the Mimbari surrendered when it seemed their victory was assured… both stories that will be relevant in the following series. This episode's story featured a good mystery which when solved raised more questions; the most important being 'Why?' While this is primarily a drama with a good mystery there are some humorous moments; usually provided by security chief Michael Garibaldi and Centuri ambassador Londo Mollari… although not exclusively.

Technically the special effects have dated quite a bit which is a pity as I recall being wowed by them when I first watched the series… the world of CGI has progressed very quickly though. The acting from the main cast was pretty good and by the time the series proper arrives the weaker members of the cast have been replaced. This doesn't apply to Patricia Tallman who did a fine job as Lyta but doesn't return when Season One begins. I first watched this some time after watching much of the series which was a pity; if you get a chance it is best to watch this first as it explains much of what you need to know to understand who is who.

Science Fiction Soap Opera...

[Xstal · 5/10 · 5 September 2020]

Nothing more than a TV soap set on a space ship where the diverse people of the world are represented by aliens in various guises who exhibit excessive melodramatic tendencies (usually similar tendencies within the same species - because you always become what you're born into!!!) in order to amplify their differences, emotions and perspectives. Great viewing if you were a kid around that time but it hasn't aged well.

Very addictive

[phyl_steo · 10/10 · 22 March 2020]

I am on the second viewing of the Babylon 5 franchise. It cannot be compared to another series about space stations. The beginning is very explosive, the characters have different personalities, but the friendship and mutual respect, shows the formation of a complex crew. It should be an example for some. I'm a sci-fi superfan and I love the movie that is the beginning of the adventure!

Thank god the series was not like this

[xindi005 · 5/10 · 5 August 2006]

I just watched BABYLON 5:THE GATHERING DVD again, mostly because I haven't watched it in a while.....I can see why. I haven't seen such cold and wooden acting from a movie in quite a while. Some of the actors did migrate to the series that were good in their assigned roles(Garabaldi, Delenn, G'Kar, Londo). Unfortunatedly, The really bad actor, Michael O'hare came along as well.

As compared to his "supposed" TV counterpart, Cmdr. Sisko from DS9, this guy is extremely weak and the actor seemed to force out the words and didn't really have a strong presence on the movie or the series that followed. I was relieved that he was replaced by the FAR better actor, Bruce Boxleitner.

Tamilyn Tomita is a marvelous and very attractive woman and actress. I, however didn't think she fit in this role. As compared to her TV counterpart, Major Kira from DEEP SPACE NINE, she was very boring and seemed to try TOO much to be forceful when she really wasn't. The support actor, especially in the C and C area, were even worse than the main characters( except the late Mr. Katsulas. he was great, as usual).

To make this short, and not to reveal too much here. BABYLON FIVE: THE GATHERING was not a great movie, but it did open the door to a great series, so you can't completely dismiss it, even if you really should.

One of the better attempts at a pilot for a new series

[alarchdu · 6 February 2002]

"The Gathering" comes as a complete surprise unless you are aware of the process of the development of a TV series for sale. For anyone who has not seen Babylon 5, "The Gathering" is a reasonable telemovie, but only of strong interest to serious science fiction fans. But for fans of the series, this movie is an excellent example of how the storyline for the series was originally conceived and then modified when its limitations became obvious. The changes in the characterisations of Delenn, G'Kar and Llando can, in the retrospect provided by the later release (and viewing) of this pilot, be seen as significantly adding to the strength that made the series the classic it has become.

Amazing start to amazing series

[robertonestar · 8/10 · 4 October 2021]

This would 6-7 out of 10 if you are watching the first edit of the pilot but the 1998 re edit is better a 8 out of 10 and fits better with rest of the series.

Thankfully, the series wasnt like this

[bnevs18 · 3/10 · 24 March 2004]

You can give JMS and the boys a pass on this one because they were at the beginning of their series and on a small budget, but the movie is still sub-par. Dont get me wrong, B5 the series is by far the best TV series ever, but if i was an exec seeing this movie, i wouldnt have ordered the series. I dont like O'Hare as an actor, the costumes are silly, and there are tons of cliches. The same can be said for most of the first season (with the exception of Babylon Squared and Survivors); Bruce immediately put a fire into the series and it went on to be an amazing spectacle. If you are a B5 fan and havent seen this movie, see it. If you arent a B5 fan, dont...you wont want to watch the series.

This is he beggining of a great series

[batmanforever-93249 · 10/10 · 2 April 2020]

This show had spectacular visual effects for those time and the ships were very realistic (only in the first season) ,and i remember how surprised i was when i saw the train from the interior of the space station for the first time and also i think this is one of the first series which was filmed in widescreen format ,in the nineteens only the cinematic movies were shot in that way,so the series looks very good even on any 4k smart-tv of our days.Well,the series is very much influenced by Star Trek TOS and TNG and offcourse by Star Wars and mainly by Dune (Londo is looking very much like some characters from Dune ) just like Star Trek TNG (the look of the Borg cube was heavily influenced by Dune),because Patrick Stewart was in a leading role.

The Gathering

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 14 November 2017]

Babylon 5 the television series has legion of devoted fans but this pilot television movie was rather disappointing and hammy.

We enter the limited world of the space station Babylon 5, a place where various alien races can interact and hopefully live in peace.

Set in the 23rd century and after a war between the Earth Alliance and the Mimbari Federation, a new arrival Ambassador Kosh is found poisoned and his death would lead to instability. A telepath scans the ambassador and the suspect is Commander Sinclair, the person in charge of Babylon 5 and he has to clear his name.

Being a Star Trek:DS9 fan, I found Babylon 5: The Gathering to be a pale imitation, a little bit too hammy. The special effects looks a bit cheap although the subsequent television series did bring in some improvements to the characters.

That Weird Moment in History...

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 11 June 2015]

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

There was a strange point in history, known as 1996, where voters on IMDb rated this film one of the Top 100 movies ever made. Not Top 100 of the decade, but of all time. A made-for-TV movie for a second-rate science fiction series. Oh, voters of 1996, you were a strange people.

The movie is not bad for what it is. And, since it was basically a pilot, I can understand how this led to a series. It is nothing compared to the Star Trek shows of the era, but could arguably be said to be better than "Voyager".

Sincerely hope the series is good

[phenomynouss · 1/10 · 16 June 2010]

My only knowledge of Babylon 5 comes from great and rave reviews about its great writing and story lines and story arcs, and the charges that "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" plagiarized the idea.

Hopefully the series lives up to its reception and to the reception its allegedly ripped-off Star Trek equivalent has received, because this intro movie is horrid on almost every level.

Starting on the most unfair level; the visual effects. Considering this came out in 1993, it's unfair to complain about bad effects because CGI technology was very new.

But considering that this was also the time in which Star Trek was dominating the Sci-Fi circuit with TNG winding down and Deep Space Nine beginning, the look of the two shows from one to the two others is like the difference between a finely crafted guitar and a shoebox with fishing wire on it.

From what I hear and know, the only CG used in Star Trek at that point was for the phaser effects. Everything else was standard visual effects and the use of models and miniatures. By comparison, this TV movie uses full CG.

And it looks horrid. In space, the ships all look flat, with no substance or shading and stiff, blocky shadows that look as artificial as everything else. It's as if there are lights shining in all directions. It's all on par with the sort of things you'd see in Doom or Duke Nukem 64, rendered again and again to completely remove any and all traces of realism, grit, or even believability from these shots. Every time a shot from space is played, it's like having your head slammed into a table and jerked back up, a total break from the immersion and you're left gawking at how awful and pathetic that looked.

Moving on to the fairer things: The acting.

The acting is BAD. The only person who is a decent actor is the Vorlon guy who was on Star Trek as a Romulan commander. This Jeffrey Sinclair person sounds like his acting experience comes from watching TV and movies and then being given a script for the first time and told to act. He's either completely emotionless or so horribly forced, it utterly kills scenes that are supposed to be tense or emotional.

But he's not alone. The guy playing Garibaldi sounds almost exactly like Randal Graves in "Clerks", and even speaks in almost exactly the same tone and temperament. It's impossible to take him seriously with the name of an Italian war hero and the voice of a snot-nosed punk clerk.

Londo Mollari, whose actor clearly IS an actor, but with hair that is two feet tall, fanning out the back of his head, and utterly bald everywhere else, I was shocked to learn he's supposed to be an alien. Straight out from under the Iron Curtain, based on that scruffy "Generic East European" accent he chomps on so hammily, it's more annoying than humorous, if he's even supposed to be the humor character.

Takashima and the telepath, with all the personality of a goldfish between them, are somehow even worse than Sinclair's actor, with virtually all of Takashima's lines sounding as lifeless as a middle school drama student being asked to sight-read a monologue without any preparation.

All the rest are too stale and below average to warrant special attention, aside from the doctor's hilarity-enducing "Now will someone please tell me what tha HELL is going on around here!", but the description mentioned above, of amateur drama students acting for the first time pretty accurately describes everyone in every role, except for Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik.

But maybe they all sound vapid and confused for the reason that they don't understand what the hell they're reading and speaking. I know I don't. "What the hell is going on around here?" is a pretty accurate statement for the entire first hour and 15 minutes, as names, alien species, and events are dropped liberally and at random, with almost no explanation or understanding, and immediate events unfolding involving an attempted poisoning of an ambassador and a shapeshifter apparently responsible. Exactly what else is filing in the other 60 minutes of that 10 minute plotpoint is purely speculation on my part.

Don't misunderstand, I LOVE it when science fiction chooses not to dwell on exposition, going by either "show, don't tell" as with Battlestar Galactica, or letting relevant information be covered with relevant dialogue, or as Star Wars does, leave background information to be filled in (for better or worse) by expanded universe novels, video games, and comics, to make for a richer experience with the movies that is not needed to go along with it, as well as making more money by producing more work.

Whatever Babylon 5: The Gathering is doing in its first 75 of 94 minutes, it sure as hell ain't any of that. Events unfold and you're expected to follow along, then try not to act surprised when something else happens that makes no sense or comes out of nowhere. Add to that the horrifyingly bad acting, and far too many scenes of droning expository dialogue, and you're bored into submission long before you can figure out what is happening and why.