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- ### GUIDE ### [3][Background] [4][Synopsis] [5][Credits] [6][Episode
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- _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
- - [13]Notes - [14]JMS
-
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Overview
-
- An accident in the docking area kills a worker, threatening to
- spark an illegal strike. Londo interferes in an important Narn
- religious observation which leads to a confrontation between him
- and G'Kar. [15]John Snyder as Orin Zento. [16]Katy Boyer as Neeoma
- Connoly. [17]Aki Aleong as Senator Hidoshi.
-
- Originally titled "Backlash"
- Sub-genre: Drama
- [18]P5 rating: [19]7.84
-
- Production number: 114
- Original air date: May 11, 1994
-
- Written by Kathryn Drennan
- Directed by Jim Johnston
-
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Backplot
-
- * The Narn homeworld is 12 Narn light years away, about 10 Earth
- light years.
- * Narn ranks seem to connote some kind of religious authority; the
- highest-ranked Narn is expected to lead religious services.
- * The Rush Act, put in place during the Earth-Minbari War, allows
- the Earth government to break up labor strikes using any means
- necessary.
-
- Unanswered Questions
-
- * How much trouble did Londo go through to get the G'Quan Eth plant,
- and did he do it solely to upset G'Kar?
-
- Analysis
-
- * The Earth government has a very low tolerance for troublemakers,
- it seems -- at least, troublemakers who operate in the open.
-
- Notes
-
- * The G'Quan Eth plant, used in Narn religious rituals, is prized by
- the Centauri for use as a pleasure drug, a use the Narn consider
- sacrilige.
- * The Rush Act was named after conservative American television and
- radio commentator [20]Rush Limbaugh.
-
- jms speaks
-
- * Nearly all of our production crew appear in "By Any Means
- Necessary" at various spots; the guy yelling "I say we STRIKE!" is
- our director, Jim Johnston. And yes, John Flinn ["Grail"] was
- played by John Flinn, our DP.
- * The Rush Act only refers to unions, for the most part; it's not a
- wide-ranging law. It was developed during the Earth/Minbari war to
- deal quickly and effectively with corporations or unions which
- were being difficult and otherwise holding up the war effort. (The
- air traffic controllers union would be a good example of the
- government doing whatever it felt necessary to resolve the
- situation.) The law grants extraordinary power to resolve any kind
- of strike or union action which endangers the operation of a
- military base or other military operation, as Zento states. It
- applies only to that area, and remains on the books, though (as is
- also pointed out) it hasn't been used in a while.
- * _A UK poster inquires about Rush Limbaugh, for whom the Rush Act
- in this episode was named_
- Re: who is Rush Limbaugh....
- Leading American proctologist.
- Trust me.
- * Sinclair's decision is legal...but not politic, and it will come
- back as one of many decisions to haunt him in "Eyes."
- * As for happy endings...you want some variety, I think; we had a
- tough ending in "Believers," a bittersweet ending in "Survivors,"
- and here things worked out for G'Kar and Connoly, but in a way did
- *not* work out for Sinclair. He's going to be hearing about this
- decision of his again, in the not too distant future. He's getting
- further and further behind the eight-ball with some of these
- decisions, and he's going to get hammered about it.
- * Exactly my point; there are differences between similar alien
- groups (like the Narn) in culture, language and religion, with
- BAMN being a good demonstration of the latter. Which is why I
- could only shrug and say "Wait" after people started hammering on
- me here about monolithic alien religions after "Parliament." We'd
- already filmed BAMN by then, so I knew it was there. That's one
- thing about this show that some have found out...generally, what
- you'd like us to do, we've probably done or are about to do (hence
- the many times, when I'm asked about something, that we can just
- say, "Wait until X airs in 2 weeks" or somesush).
- Still dancing as fast as I can....
- * The writer for "By Any Means Necessary" is Kathryn Drennan, who is
- very astute politically, a believer in the rights of workers (and
- all folks, actually), and think that characters are more
- interesting if they act smart than if they act stupid.
- * Kathryn's last name is Drennan. Her full credit is Kathryn M.
- Drennan. Not Straczynski. Probably displaying considerable wisdom
- on her part. Ten thousand letters, no vowels.
- Absent a collaboration on a series of articles for TZ Magazine a
- few years ago (a guide to the Night Gallery series), we don't
- collaborate. Ever. I also don't collaborate with Larry D., or any
- other of my writer friends. As I learned before, particularly on
- the one occasion when Larry and I tried it -- we co-wrote a pilot
- and bible for CBS based on the "Elfquest" books -- all parties
- concerned will live a LOT longer by keeping a respectable
- distance.
- * One thing I can mention now, since it's nearly finished: see, I
- have this real problem with nepotism. Specifically...I hate it. As
- a result, I make people I know work twice as hard. The closer the
- tie, the more the person has to work to prove him or herself.
- Kathryn Drennan, my Spousal Overunit, is also a writer, and has
- written for many other shows, primarily in animation, but with
- some forays into other areas. (She was co-author on the Night
- Gallery series of articles I wrote for Twilight Zone Magazine, as
- one fr'instance, and was a producer with public televison for some
- time.)
- Anyway, she desperately wanted to write a B5 script. But because
- of my feelings about nepotism, I refused to give her an
- assignment. (I can be a REAL pain in the ass.) Something similar
- happened when I was working on The Real Ghostbusters; she loved
- the show, and wanted to write for it. I put her through the
- wringer: she had to submit written premises, just like any other
- freelance writer, which were then sent on to the producers for
- final approval. They did not know of any relation between her and
- me; they based their approval only on the merits of the story.
- Period. And she ended up writing two episodes: "Egon's Dragon" and
- "The Man Who Never Reached Home." (The former is considered a
- favorite by many viewers of the show.) Only long after we finished
- production did the exec producers on TRGBs learn that there was a
- relationship there; it was all based on the quality of the work.
- But in the case of B5, I *am* the exec producer, so it became more
- difficult. At first I said simply no. Finally, I set into place a
- number of conditions/provisions. NOT because she wouldn't do a
- great script, but only because I don't like the look of nepotism;
- I hate it, and I hate the way this town operates on the principles
- of nepotism. The conditions were that she had to write the script
- completely on spec, no assignment; not a spec outline, which is
- shorter, but a spec *script*. It would then have to pass muster
- in-house; if even one person thought it wasn't up to snuff, it got
- deep sixed. And revisions would not be handled by me, for the most
- part; she would have to work with Larry, who has a reputation (as
- Katherine Lawrence can attest) to not pulling his punches. No
- favoritism. Then the script would have to pass muster with
- Warners. IF, after all that, the script was approved, then it
- would be bought, and not a moment before. If anywhere along the
- line it didn't meet one of those criteria...then it would be a 50
- page learning experience and nothing more.
- Well, I'm pleased to say that it *did* pass muster with everyone,
- and "By Any Means Necessary" is now over halfway through
- production, with a number of people -- including Michael O'Hare --
- saying it's their favorite so far, mainly for very odd reasons.
- The premise is one that ST would never, EVER do, which is one
- thing I like about it; it also shows us more on the inner workings
- of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place
- operational...and what happens when that falls apart. The B story
- gets into a confrontation between G'Kar and Londo when Londo
- interferes in an important Narn religious observation.
- We brought back John Snyder (Soul Hunter #2) minus prosthetics for
- one guest role, and Katy Boyer as our other guest star. They're
- both doing terrific jobs, and it's a very intense script in which
- we basically put Sinclair through the wringer for 48 hours and try
- and make him absolutely nuts. And succeed, for the most part.
- Anyway...there you have it.
- * The reference in "By Any Means" is to Matewan, where a terrible
- labor strike took place (and a film was made about it); the other
- is Matawan, which is where I lived for a while, but the reference
- is to the former, not the latter.
-
-
- [26][Next]
-
- [27]Last update: October 24, 1997
-
- References
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- 1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
- 2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
- 3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/012.shtml
- 4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/012.html
- 5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/012.html
- 6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
- 7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/011.html
- 8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/013.html
- 9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/012.html#OV
- 10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/012.html#BP
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- 13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/012.html#NO
- 14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/012.html#JS
- 15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Snyder,+John
- 16. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Boyer,+Katy
- 17. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Aleong,+Aki
- 18. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
- 19. file://localhost/lurk/p5/012
- 20. http://www.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Radio/Programs/Political/Rush_Limbaugh/
- 21. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
- 22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/012.html#TOP
- 23. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
- 24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
- 25. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/011.html
- 26. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/013.html
- 27. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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