The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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  1. [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
  2. ### GUIDE ### [3][Background] [4][Synopsis] [5][Credits] [6][Episode
  3. List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]
  4. _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
  5. - [13]Notes - [14]JMS
  6. _________________________________________________________________
  7. Overview
  8. A violent attack on a Minbari poet rocks B5 and leaves Sinclair
  9. scrambling to flush out a vicious pro-Earth group. Two star-crossed
  10. young Centauri lovers seek Londo's protection. Ivanova is shaken
  11. when a man from her past arrives at the outpost. [15]Nancy Lee
  12. Grahn as Shaal Mayan. [16]Danica McKellar as Aria Tensus.
  13. [17]Rodney Eastman as Kiron Maray. [18]Tristan Rogers as Malcolm
  14. Biggs. [19]Michael Paul Chan as Roberts.
  15. Sub-genre: Suspense
  16. [20]P5 Rating: [21]6.82
  17. Production number: 107
  18. Original air date: March 9, 1994
  19. Written by D. C. Fontana
  20. Directed by Richard Compton
  21. _________________________________________________________________
  22. Backplot
  23. * The Homeguard, a radical pro-Earth group, has wide support among
  24. humans, and is growing in popularity back on Earth.
  25. * Shaal Mayan is a renowned Minbari poet. "I create and perform
  26. Tee'la," she says: "poem songs that attempt to recall old memories
  27. and prompt new ideas."
  28. * The only two human beings ever to have direct contact with a
  29. Vorlon have since been transferred to Earth - Dr. Kyle to work
  30. closely with the president (cf "[22]Infection"), and the telepath
  31. Lyta Alexander just a week later. Neither of them shared their
  32. experiences with anyone on the station. (cf [23]"The Gathering")
  33. * Londo has [24]three wives, all of them arranged marriages, all of
  34. them "great sacrifices." "They inspire me! Knowing that they are
  35. waiting at home for me is what keeps me here, [25]75 light years
  36. away."
  37. * Ivanova used to be involved with a fellow named [26]Malcolm Biggs,
  38. but left him when she enlisted in Earth Force 8 years ago.
  39. * More insight into Londo's personality and Minbari beliefs:
  40. _Mayan:_ Ambassador, you should listen to the girl. We Minbari
  41. consider love to be a most potent force for healing. She cares
  42. deeply for him. Such feelings can turn the tide when all else
  43. fails.
  44. _Londo:_ Oh I see. And if he dies, despite this great power of lo-
  45. _Mayan:_ _If he dies,_ she will suffer enormous grief, but every
  46. moment together will make her grief a little less.
  47. _Londo:_ I would expect such logic from a poet. What can a Minbari
  48. know about Centauri feeling?
  49. _Mayan:_ Ambassador, I have traveled far and seen much. And what I
  50. have seen tells me that all sentient beings are defined by their
  51. capacity and need for love.
  52. _Londo:_ And she will learn to live without it!
  53. _Mayan:_ As you did?
  54. * [later...]
  55. _Vir:_ Kiron may die because our "glorious" tradition values
  56. wealth and power over _love._
  57. _Londo:_ My shoes are too tight.
  58. _Vir:_ Excuse me?
  59. _Londo:_ Something my father said. He was old, very old at the
  60. time. I went into his room, and he was sitting alone in the dark,
  61. crying. So I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "My shoes are
  62. too tight, but it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to
  63. dance." I never understood what that meant until now. _My_ shoes
  64. are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance.
  65. Unanswered Questions
  66. * The black light camouflage suits worn by the Homeguard henchmen
  67. were developed by Earth Force; friends of [27]Malcolm's procured
  68. some prototypes for them. Is a faction of Earth Force actually
  69. backing the Homeguard for its own reasons?
  70. * Londo seems to have had a troubled childhood (see [28]Backplot).
  71. What happened that he's so aggressive and melancholy? None of the
  72. other Centauri seem particularly so.
  73. * Why is Kosh studying human history, as [29]Sinclair's conversation
  74. with him appears to reveal, especially when he says "We have no
  75. interest in the affairs of others?" Perhaps for some reason Kosh
  76. does not consider humans "others." Or perhaps by "affairs" he
  77. meant the passing events of the day, as compared to the millennia
  78. of a civilization.
  79. Analysis
  80. * The Homeguard sign branded onto Shaal Mayan's forehead is a
  81. combination of male and female symbols from ancient Greek mythos.
  82. Perhaps it's a contemporary symbol for humankind.
  83. * Vir passed himself off as the Centauri ambassador in letters to
  84. his cousins, and later [30]rebukes Londo to his face about his
  85. decision on the matter. This is quite bold compared to the
  86. quavering fop he's been before.
  87. * Londo's nicknames for his wives are "Pestilence, Famine, and
  88. Death" - three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse from ancient
  89. Christian mythos. Who is the fourth horseman War? Perhaps Londo
  90. himself.
  91. * [31]Talking to Kosh about the attacks on non-humans, Sinclair
  92. breaks off right after asking him to "lend a hand." Not long later
  93. Sinclair wonders aloud to Ivanova how an assassin had managed to
  94. poison Kosh on the "hand," _through_ his encounter suit. (cf
  95. [32]"The Gathering")
  96. * Sinclair was brusque and callous to Delenn and the Abbai
  97. agricultural representative at the diplomatic reception. He also
  98. declared to the assembled Council that the hate-crime
  99. investigation was closed, offering neither arrests nor evidence of
  100. safety. This was part of his ruse to win the Homeguard's trust,
  101. but he may still have injured his reputation with other races.
  102. * The Homeguard plot on the station was, according to its leader
  103. Malcolm Biggs, part of a much bigger plot to kill prominent aliens
  104. all over the Earth Alliance.
  105. * Black light camouflage is a similar technology to the chameleon
  106. net the assassin used in [33]"The Gathering." However, it requires
  107. an entire body-suit and only works while the user is motionless.
  108. No mention was made of what was done with the four suits captured
  109. with the Homeguard henchmen - Garibaldi may have stashed them away
  110. somewhere. And it's unlikely that those were the only four suits
  111. in existence; perhaps the technology will be seen again (cf.
  112. [34]"Babylon Squared".)
  113. Notes
  114. * Mayan, a childhood friend of Delenn's, arrived on the station on a
  115. tour of other worlds. Earth was to have been her next stop.
  116. * _Mayan_ (of her attacker): "All I could see was a shadow. It was a
  117. shadow, that is all I know."
  118. (cf [35]"Signs and Portents", perhaps?)
  119. * Ivanova is illegally growing coffee in the station hydroponics
  120. area.
  121. * Kosh speaks.
  122. [...]
  123. _Sinclair:_ Meanwhile it might be helpful if you spoke with the
  124. other ambassadors.
  125. _Kosh:_ We take no interest in the affairs of others.
  126. _Sinclair:_ Well I hope you'll reconsider. If you could give us a
  127. hand, we -
  128. _Kosh:_ Yes?
  129. _Sinclair:_ Nothing. We'll respect your wishes. [pause]
  130. That's quite a viewer. I've never seen anything like it before.
  131. What is it?
  132. _Kosh:_ Efficient.
  133. _Sinclair:_ Those are images from my world. If I may ask, what are
  134. you -
  135. _Kosh:_ I am studying.
  136. _Sinclair:_ Studying what?
  137. _Kosh:_ [shuts down]
  138. * The images on Kosh's levitating viewer were zoom-ins on pictorial
  139. records from Earth history throughout the span of its
  140. civilization.
  141. jms speaks
  142. * Correct; the title of "The War Prayer" is a nod to [36]Twain's
  143. piece of the same name, which should be read by *everyone*. Given
  144. the growing problems with illiteracy, I try to refer not to pop
  145. society so much, as to literature...Tennyson, Twain, even writers
  146. whose last names don't begin with T.
  147. * Of course, you're assuming that a Centauri year is the same as our
  148. year. The speed of light is constant...but defined by us by our
  149. own 12-month year. For instance, in one episode, we mention that
  150. B5 is 12 of our light years from the Narn homeworld, which is
  151. equal to about 10 of their years.
  152. So without knowing the Centauri year, the figures are faulty.
  153. * For those out there who still think the skin tab getting through
  154. Kosh's encounter suit was an error...we're going to be dealing
  155. with that, and some other interesting threads in [this] episode.
  156. Sinclair comments on the whole question of how the poison ever got
  157. into him...and notes how curious it is that, within weeks of that
  158. incident, Dr. Kyle was transferred back to Earth to work directly
  159. with the Earth Alliance President on matters of alien immigration,
  160. and Lyta Alexander was similarly transferred a week or so after
  161. that. The only two people to have personal knowledge of a Vorlon
  162. have been shipped off and possibly locked up.
  163. * By the way...on the Kosh poisoning thread, which was originally to
  164. be discussed in "Parliament"...we ended up about 3 minutes long on
  165. "Parliament," and three minutes short on D.C. Fontana's "War
  166. Prayer." So we lifted that scene and inserted it into her episode,
  167. doing a small bit of ADR to facilitate the move. It's now quite
  168. seamless.
  169. * _Why was Delenn unfamiliar with poetry in [37]"The Gathering?"_
  170. For the Minbari, it's tee'la, which is a kind of poem-song, sort
  171. of. Delenn was mainly just unfamiliar with the term.
  172. * Y'know...it's a funny old world. And sometimes it just astonishes
  173. you.
  174. About 2 months ago, one of our freelancers turned in a script that
  175. has to do with a hate group, in the course of which a guest
  176. character -- a Minbari -- is attacked and has her head branded
  177. with the symbol of the group.
  178. So you will doubtless understand my astonishment when I turned on
  179. DS9 and saw the same thing happen.
  180. Unfortunately, we've already shot that episode, it's in the can,
  181. so ther nothing we can do about it now. Further -- and let me be
  182. totally clear about this -- there's no way that DS9 could've
  183. borrowed the idea from us, or in any way been influence by us, and
  184. no way we could've been influenced by them. To get on the air now,
  185. they would've had to shoot their episode some time before the
  186. writer turned in that draft for our show. And none of us were in
  187. any way aware of what was going on there until we saw it the night
  188. of the broadcast...and came in the next day with looks of absolute
  189. shock.
  190. These things do happen...and when you're dealing with similar
  191. general areas -- humans vs. aliens, or one alien group vs. another
  192. alien group -- then something like this becomes inevitable. And
  193. given the foreheads on Ferengi, and the foreheads on Minbari, the
  194. obviousness of that target becomes clear. Still, it's amazing when
  195. it happens. And I guess I just wanted it to be clear when this
  196. thing airs that the sequence in our show was in the can and done
  197. when the DS9 episode aired.
  198. * We're in discussions to see if there's any way we can cut this
  199. from the show...the only problem is that the brand stays on
  200. throughout the show. If it were just in one shot, we'd cut the
  201. shot and find some other way around it. The only way we can lose
  202. it now would be if we literally wiped off the brand by going into
  203. every frame in which it appears and digitally removing it from the
  204. frame...which is a *real* pain in the butt...but we are
  205. considering it.
  206. * The points made above are essentially correct; the brand goes on
  207. in the very top of the show, in the teaser, and stay on throughout
  208. the episode...and part of the story is dealing with this, and what
  209. it means. An offer is made to remove it, but the victim decides
  210. *not* to have it removed, because there are lessons in these
  211. things...and it becomes almost a badge of defiance.
  212. In addition to the notes here, I've received a whole bunch of
  213. email notes saying to leave it in, on the grounds that it *does*
  214. happen in real life (or incidents close to it), and how we're
  215. handling it *is* very different. (Some indicated that it can
  216. illustrate how the two hows handle their themes in different
  217. ways.) So it's a tough call ...to change would also mean some
  218. re-shooting...but given the responses here, I think it's okay to
  219. leave it in place.
  220. File this one away the next time someone asks, "What sort of ways
  221. has the BBS discussion actually affected Babylon 5?"
  222. * There is some limited life within the garden...some birds (which
  223. you can hear sometimes), and insects, and the like. (In one shot
  224. you can see an insect fly off one of our actors. Yeah, sure, like
  225. we planned that....) It's generally one season in the Garden, and
  226. plants requiringvariation are raised in a separate hydroponics
  227. area, such as the orchard (seen in "War Prayer").
  228. * Lennier is not in the cargo area during the beating, nor is he in
  229. BG during the negotiations. That's a Minbari of the worker class.
  230. (You can generally tell from the orange-ish smock-thingie they
  231. wear.) Sorry.
  232. _________________________________________________________________
  233. Originally compiled by Matthew Ryan _matt@uhs.uchicago.edu_
  234. [43][Next]
  235. [44]Last update: August 8, 1997
  236. References
  237. 1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
  238. 2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
  239. 3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/007.shtml
  240. 4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/007.html
  241. 5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/007.html
  242. 6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
  243. 7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/006.html
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  252. 16. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+McKellar,+Danica
  253. 17. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Eastman,+Rodney
  254. 18. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Rogers,+Tristan
  255. 19. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Chan,+Michael+Paul
  256. 20. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
  257. 21. file://localhost/lurk/p5/007
  258. 22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/004.html
  259. 23. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/000.html
  260. 24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/007.html#AN:3
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  276. 40. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
  277. 41. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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  279. 43. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/008.html
  280. 44. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html