BABYLON 5: THE GATHERING (1993)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *cosmological, sociological*

THE GATHERING was the pilot telefilm that launched the series BABYLON 5, in which writer-director J. Michael Straczinski began to articulate his vision of a space-opera cosmos, which illustrated Henry Kissinger's assertion that "diplomacy is the art of restraining power." The site of all these diplomatic efforts, made between the members of five major spacefaring races, takes place on Babylon 5, the fifth in a series of such space stations.

Straczinski does not tell the audience why four previous space stations perished, and only teases out some of the details about past military actions between humans and Minbari, or between Narn and Centauri. GATHERING is naturally more concerned with involving the audience in the perspectives of the characters forming the ensemble. The Earth characters, who administer this orbiting U.N. building, consist of commander Jeff Sinclair (Michael O'Hare), security chief Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle), and first officer Takashima (Tamlyn Tomita). There are, strangely, no Earth-diplomats in the initial telemovie of BABYLON 5, so in essence Sinclair and his crew are charged with catering to the needs of all the human and alien visitors to the station. Many travelers simply come with mundane motives like trade, but of course the emphasis on the cloak-and-dagger activities of the diplomats. At the start of the movie the representatives of three races have evidently occupied the station for some time; these are Delenn of the Minbari (Mira Furlann), G'Kar of the Narn (Andreas Katsulas), and Londo of the Centauri (Peter Jurasik). But one last representative is about to join the crowd: Kosh of the mysterious Vorlons, who are never seen in their true forms, only in ornate containment suits.

Straczynki wisely chooses a familiar type of TV-storyline to ease the audience into this involved world: a murder-mystery. The moment Kosh enters Babylon 5, he's dealt a near-fatal blow by an unknown assassin. Visual records suggest that Sinclair committed the deed, but of course he must fight to prove his innocence. But for obscure reasons the diplomats have the power to sit in judgment over the accused party, and they vote to turn Sinclair over to the Vorlons. Garibaldi and Takashima find enough clues to lead them to the true culprit, though Sinclair himself has the honor of capturing the assassin. 

Though Straczinski lays a long-term plot involving Sinclair having been tampered with by Minbari science, this would not flower until a later season. At the end of the first season, Michael O'Hare left the series and his role as station commander had to be taken over by a new character, though O'Hare would return for three episodes in later seasons to conclude his story-arc. Tamlyn Tomita and her character both disappeared after this pilot-film, and by good fortune she left no dangling plot-lines. Jerry Doyle's Garibaldi is similarly underdeveloped in the pilot, but here he fulfills one function that's constant throughout the series: his expertise on twentieth-century culture, allowing him to function as a touchstone for modern audiences. 

Arguably, though, the three humanoid diplomats generate the most dramatic tension. G'Kar and Londo don't have any important scenes together, but as the series progressed, these representatives of rival races would have a long and complex relationship. Even here, both actors play their scheming characters with flamboyant vigor. Delenn has a more minor role, as her role in the human-Minbari role will only be teased out in the series proper. The sociological interactions are of course the pilot film's main focus, though there are some cosmological myth-motifs related to alien biology that are arguably more thorough than those on the competing space-station show DEEP SPACE NINE.