Have finally got my DVDs straightened out and am re-watching B5 for the first time in several years. It's amazing what details and continuity the early episodes have, even though The Gathering was a lot more stilted than I recall. At the time non-SF critics generally bashed *anything* with space travel elements, so I was sure they were wrong. Even with some difficult moments, it set up the universe and the multi-strand plot style which continues through the whole show. Right from the start, you see doubled characters -- Takashima to Ivanova, Kyle to Franklin, and Lyta to Talia Winters. This was clearly part of JMS' strategy for dealing with such a long epic in uncertain production circumstances, but over the series it heightened the mythic resonance enormously.

I hope to catch up with the viewing soon!