lurkers-guide/ftp/Guide/013.Signs-and-Portents

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   _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
   - [13]Notes - [14]JMS
   
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Overview

     A sharp increase in raider activity has the station on the
     defensive. Londo obtains a priceless Centauri artifact. A
     mysterious stranger visits the station's alien ambassadors.
     [15]Gerrit Graham as Lord Kiro. Fredi Olster as Lady Ladira. [16]Ed
     Wasser as Morden.
     
   (Originally titled "Raiding Party")
Sub-genre: Action/intrigue
[17]P5 rating: [18]9.01

Production number:  116
Original air date:  May 18, 1994

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Janet Greek

     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Backplot

     * The Minbari refused to support Babylon 5 until Commander Sinclair
       was named as the Earth Alliance representative.
     * The emperor of the Centauri hasn't been seen in public for some
       time, contributing to an erosion of the government's credibility
       in the eyes of the Centauri populace.
       
Unanswered Questions

     * Who or what is Morden, and who does he represent?
     * What do Delenn and Kosh know about him?
     * Why did the Minbari want Sinclair in charge of the station?
     * How big and organized are the raiders?
     * What impact will the Eye have on Londo's career? Will he even
       return it to the Emperor, or will he try to use it for his own
       gain?
     * How did Mr. Reno get his hands on the Eye?
     * How did Morden's associates locate the raiders and recover the
       Eye?
     * Who will escape on the shuttle in Ladira's vision? When will the
       vision come true, if ever, and what will the circumstances be?
       
Analysis

     * Delenn and Kosh clearly have some sort of perception beyond normal
       senses, be it telepathy or something else. Kosh's seems to be much
       more advanced.
     * Delenn's perception seems to be connected to the appearance of the
       triangle on her forehead. Note that this triangle was also present
       when Sinclair was interrogated by the Grey Council at the Battle
       of the Line (cf. [19]"And the Sky Full of Stars.")
     * Kosh recognized what Morden was immediately. That suggests
       previous contact between the Vorlons and Morden's people.
     * Kosh said, "They are not for you," referring to humans, though
       that's not completely clear from the episode itself. (See [20]jms
       speaks)
     * Morden and Kosh appeared to have fought, resulting in the damage
       to Kosh's encounter suit. Since Morden continued to go about his
       business, perhaps Kosh capitulated or lost the fight, or perhaps
       he was only interested in stopping Morden from seeing Sinclair.
       One interesting thing about this alleged fight is the light that
       shatters behind Morden as the scene ends -- just a power surge
       from the attack, or something else at work?
     * Babylon 5 may be destined for destruction, apparently with only a
       single shuttle escaping in time. (cf. [21]"Babylon Squared")
     * Where did Morden's disembodied voice come from at the end?
       
Notes

     * This episode has the most complex battle sequence to date,
       spanning nearly an act and a half.
     * The raider on Babylon 5 is "Six," a tip of the hat to "The
       Prisoner."
     * Ed Wasser, the actor who played Morden, also appeared as the main
       C&C technician in the pilot movie, [22]"The Gathering." The same
       character? JMS won't say.
     * As Sinclair and Garibaldi left the lavatory, another person
       entered. From the person's appearance, it seemed to be a woman,
       even though they were leaving the men's room (the "Male" symbol
       was clearly visible on the wall outside.)
     * This episode's title may be a nod to Norman Corwin, one of JMS'
       favorite writers. Corwin's radio drama "On a Note of Triumph,"
       broadcast at the end of World War II, examined how the war started
       and what lessons it carried, and contemplated what would happen
       once it was over. The quote in question:
       
     Signs and portents!
     It was no furtive tapping on the window sill at night,
     But clamorous pounding in the public square.
       
jms speaks

     * We're retitling "Raiding Party" (which I always figured was a
       working title, too prosaic) to "Signs and Portents." Figured it'd
       be nice to have one episode title per (projected) year carrying
       the year-arc title.
     * "Signs and Portents" is the overall title for year one; but just
       as one may entitle a chapter in a book the same as the book
       itself, this episode has the year-title in it (which may signify
       that this one is, well, significant....).
     * What did Kosh mean by "they?" And who's on the shuttle?
       They refers to humans. There was no need to ask Sinclair, and he
       was under orders not to. And who is on that shuttle...is an
       excellent question.
     * Why the same old launching scene?
       I tend to agree re: the launching shots. There were going to be
       some new ones for S&P, but there were SO many new shots in that
       one that we just ran out of rendering time. There's some new ones
       coming, though, and very dramatic looking, in "Babylon Squared"
       and the two-parter.
     * I agree; Ed [Wasser, who played Morden] did a great job. He was
       perfect for that role. (He has an oddly Rod Serling-ish quality to
       his stance, I've noticed.) And he will definitely be seen again.
     * Ed Wasser is sort of our discovery; I pretty much wrote the part
       of Morden with him in mind for the role. He's great in it.
     * You noticed that too, huh? Surprised me, too. We'd cast him in the
       part of Morden, then the first day's dailies come in, and his
       stance, his manner, the way he looks...we all looked at the TV and
       said, more or less at once, "Holy shit, it's Rod Serling!"
     * Funny story. Saw Ed Wasser ("Morden") the other day, and asked him
       if he'd had any reaction to his first appearance on the show. Just
       one, he said. He was in a florist shop, picking out some stuff for
       a friend who was sick. The proprieter came over, asked, "What do
       you want?" Ed sorta mumbled about wanting some flowers. "What do
       you want?" the owner asked again. Ed -- still not getting it --
       said he was looking for some nice stuff for a friend who was sick.
       "Yes, but what do you *want*?" the owner asked. At which point Ed
       finally twigged to what was going on. He said afterward that it
       really *is* an unnerving approach, which was kinda the point.
       Of course, the owner then added that he thought the scene was from
       DS9, but what the hell, it's an imperfect universe.
     * One lovely thing about "Signs and Portents," which you picked up
       on, is something I like to play with; implying one thing while
       saying the opposite. Look at all the shadow's main representative,
       Morden, does: he asks people what they want; he gets tossed out of
       Delenn's quarters; he is pleasant in his demeanor at all times,
       never yells, always smiles, and is courteous; he takes an action
       which saves one of our main characters, Londo, from disgrace and
       resignation, and helps in the process of scragging the bad guys in
       the episode.
       And yet everyone walks away thinking that the shadows are bad.
       Which was of course the intent...by the way in which they did
       "good."
       Kosh prevents humanity from achieving immortality, scares the hell
       out of Talia (cf. [23]"Deathwalker",) never gives anyone a
       straight answer, doesn't seem to mind it if people fear him...and
       we walk away with the presumption that he is good, by virtue of
       the way in which he did things that were "bad."
       [...] This is something I do a lot in my scripts, which I don't
       generally see a lot of other people doing. You *really* have to
       construct the script very carefully to pull something like this
       off...a little game between me and the audience.
     * Morden tried to find out what the ambassadors would like. Morden
       arranged to rescue an important Centauri artifact. Morden helped
       wipe out the crooks. Morden saved Londo's career, and asked for
       nothing in return.
       And yet we get the sense that Morden is a bad guy.
       Kosh destroys our chance for immortality. Refuses to get involved
       in the affairs of others. Is plainly studying us. Terrorizes one
       of our main characters, Talia, for unknown reasons.
       And yet we get the sense that Kosh is a good guy.
       If anyone should ask, I really *love* writing this show....
     * Actually, the origin of "What do you want?" comes from encounter
       groups I've run, and from other kinds of group psychotherapy, such
       as the original Synanon games; you ask, "Who are you?" over and
       over, refusing to take the same answer twice, to peel away the
       fabric of what the person is. It's a slight jump to "What do you
       want?" (I knew that degree in Psychology would come in handy one
       of these days.)
     * Why Londo? Because he was the one who answered Morden's question
       correctly. Things happen for a *reason* that is suited to who the
       person is. G'Kar's ambitions aren't nearly big enough; Delenn
       knows better than to get near these guys; Kosh is against them;
       the EA are being kept at arm's length for now, the non-aligned
       worlds aren't big enough...so here we are.
     * There would have been more than one answer that would have
       sufficed, but one answer was better than all the rest. Just the
       right mix of resentment, nostalgia, ambition, frustration and a
       sense of displaced destiny. Londo was hitting all those cylinders
       when he answered Morden's question.
     * "jms, what do YOU want?"
       I'll have fries with that.
     * The working name for the sixth race is the Shadowmen.
     * I named them Shadows after the Jungian notion of the Shadow, which
       is the part of the mind which is all desire, and is destructive.
     * David: you hit it *exactly* on the head. Again, as you point out,
       stuff here operates on a lot of different levels. I try, where I
       can, to make a given scene do more than one thing. The hall
       argument is a good example of this. The script stipulated a human
       being stuck between G'Kar and Londo. Not any other race. Had to be
       a human. Because that becomes emblematic of how we're stuck
       between the two sides in the war, something which is *very*
       strongly brought home in the next batch of episodes.
       Obviously, the first most important thing in that scene is just
       the gag, the humor. It has to work on that level, and that's how
       it came to me first: just the gag. Then, when it came time to
       write it, that's when I start poking at things to see if I can
       layer on another level of meaning, and I saw a way to do a little
       (very little) visual foreshadowing of stuff to come. Didn't matter
       if anybody ever noticed it or not; it was never really intended to
       be of much note, just a little item that becomes a nice bit of
       irony later.
     * Londo does not have the Eye. If he'd failed to turn it over, his
       career would've been ruined; getting it back was the only thing
       that kept him on B5.
     * There's a reason Morden didn't go to the Earth Alliance.
     * The raiders are gone for good, yes.
     * _Re: Happy endings and non-happy endings_
       As for "Signs and Portents," I don't quite know *how* to
       characterize the ending on that one. Someone gets what they
       wanted, but this may or may not be a good thing. I'd say basically
       it has an ominous ending. We do try to keep it a mixed bag...one
       person may achieve a niceness, but somebody else pays the price,
       or gets nailed.
     * Like Tolkien, and Jonathan Carroll, whose wonderful books start
       out looking very nice and comfortable...and gradually take you to
       someplace strange and dark and unique...I've tried to apply a
       similar structure to Babylon 5. It seems to be chugging along at a
       good clip along relatively familiar terrain. Now my job is to walk
       up alongside the story with a crowbar and give it a good, hard
       WHAM! to move it into a different trajectory. "Parliament" was
       just sort of a preliminary nudge. "And the Sky Full of Stars" was
       a good, solid WHAM! This week's episode, "Signs and Portents," is
       another WHAM, even bigger than the one that precedes it.
       There are two more major WHAM episodes: "Babylon Squared," dealing
       with the fate of Babylon 4, and "Chrysalis," our season ender,
       which is really more of an atomic bomb rather than a crowbar. So
       roughly about one-fourth of this season's episodes are WHAM
       episodes. That figure will increase in year two to about
       one-third. Year three (Neilsen willing) will be half-WHAM and
       hal-not. Year four would be three-quarters WHAM. And year five is
       all WHAM.
     * Let me dive in and take issue with you. The problem you seem to
       have with the show(s) is alas a part of basic dramatic structure.
       You have an introduction, a rising action, a climax, and then a
       denouement. Aside from experimental theater kinds of things, that
       is the basic underlying structure to all movies, plays and
       television series.
       "Twin Peaks," which you cite, really isn't a very good example
       because, in my view, TP *never* resolved ANYthing. Thus it became
       an exercise in viewer frustration that eventually was a major
       reason why the show was canceled.
       The first batch of B5 episodes tended to be a little more self
       contained because, remember, we're trying to bring viewers in
       here, and do so without startling or pissing them off. We get a
       little funkier the deeper into the show we get. In some cases, as
       with "Sky," parts of the story are resolved, parts aren't.
       Generally, it's our feeling that if you have an open-ended B
       story, you generally have to include an A story that has some
       measure of closure.
       "Signs and Portents" and "Babylon Squared" are two episodes
       offhand that I think are emblematic of what you're asking for. The
       A story in "Signs" is resolved...but that episode really isn't
       *about* the A story, it's about something unusual that happens
       with the B story that begins to set a lot of things in motion for
       this season. And that story is ended, but not *resolved*, if you
       get the distinction.
     * What you address in the last bit of the music in "Signs" is what
       I've been trying to get across. The theme music appearing there is
       not quite what we use otherwise. I suggested to Chris that it'd be
       cool to have the B5 theme there in *minor keys* or minor chords.
       It's a somewhat different version, and playing a theme in minor
       instead of major keys or chords makes it somber, sad, unsettling.
       We've just seen B5 explode, and doing that particular riff on the
       theme seemed to both of us a good idea. Play it again, then the
       regular theme, and you'll see the difference.
     * We've done a lot with themes over the season, and plan to do more,
       developing themes for all our characters. I like interpolating
       bits and pieces of the B5 theme into parts of the show; the
       minor-key version at the end of "Signs" has always struck me as
       very effective.
     * Re: the theme music at the end of"Signs," I think it was me (but I
       could be mistaken) who suggested to Chris, our composer, that he
       use the theme, but in *minor chords* rather than major chords.
       Makes it very sad, and very effective.
     * Overall, though, I've always told Chris to push it...to go
       absolutely as far with the music as he wants. If it goes too far,
       we can always pull it back or duck it down a little. Basically,
       I'm a rock-and-roll kind of guy...I like my music loud, and I like
       a LOT of it. This show is often wall-to-wall music. Chris often
       composes as much as 20-25 minutes of new music per episode; most
       hour shows have maybe 13-16 minutes of music per hour episode. And
       he is often called upon by us to do some VERY long cues. Often, TV
       music is just there to cover a transition (10-20 seconds), or
       establish a mood at the top or bottom of a scene, and get out (1
       minute to 1 minute-30 seconds average). We have many, MANY cues on
       this show that go 2, 3, even 4 minutes. I think we actually had a
       6 minute cue at one point in one episode. Check act 3 of "Signs
       and Portents" and see how much music we crammed into that act;
       it's almost non-stop.
     * _Re: The elevator scene_
       For as long as I've been writing, I've had a very simple belief
       that comes across with B5 as well: try to get in one really great
       action moment,minimum one real nice character moment, one solid
       dramatic moment...and one moment or scene that's fall-down funny.
       I like humor. I like that characters can show another side of
       themselves. If there is any real test of sentience, one of them
       must surely be the possession of a sense of humor, since it
       requires self reflection. And there is always unintentional (on
       the part of the character, at least) humor.
       SF-TV has generally taken itself either too seriously, with rods
       up butts, the humor forced...or it's not taken itself seriously at
       ALL, and gone campy. This show takes itself seriously, but not in
       quite a way that lets it fit in either category.
       For me, as a viewer, I enjoy the shows that are roller-coasters,
       that take you from something very funny...and slam you headfirst
       into a very dramatic scene. Hill Street was like that, Picket
       Fences is like that now...why not SF? I've also found that humor
       can help you reveal things about the characters. The Londo/G'Kar
       scene at the elevator in "Signs and Portents," for instance. It
       says something about both of them without coming out and *saying*
       it.
     * In general, you don't see a lot of light reflecting off other
       objects when there's an explosion because in general those objects
       aren't close enough to cause a reflection. Now, in "Signs," which
       comes up in a couple weeks, there's explosions near a large
       object, and there we do get some reflected light.
     * To have a station commander *and* a rep for Earth can be
       cumbersome in many ways, when someone has to give orders. It's
       cleaner this way; and no different than any of the sailing vessels
       of the 18th century and before, when each captain was viewed as,
       and expected to perform as, the official representative of his
       country.
       There is, however, a second agenda at work here, which you'll find
       out about a bit in "Raiding Party" ["Signs and Portents"].
     * There's not a lot of CGI in either "Legacies" or "The Quality of
       Mercy" (which will follow "Raiding Party" in the production
       lineup), because neither story really called for it. But there's a
       *lot* in "Raiding Party," some of it very elaborate. By way of
       comparison, in an average B5 episode, a script from beginning to
       end has about 60 or 70 setups (a setup is a numbered scene or
       shot, i.e., INT. SCOCKPIT or INT. ZEN GARDEN). "Raiding Party" has
       around 112 setups. That's more than in some movies. It's a *very*
       busy script.
     * Yes, we're doing virtual sets...and there's a doozy in the first
       little bit of act one in "Signs and Portents."
     * Yes, this is the actual text of a script. And a script contains
       scene descriptions, dialogue, directions. (Contrary to popular
       opinion, the actors don't just make up their lines when they hit
       the stage, based on loose ideas by somebody.) My scripts tend to
       be *very* detailed, with camera movement suggestions, optical
       notes, indications of dissolves vs. cuts, on and on. A typical
       scene might look like this:
  EXT. BABYLON 5 - ESTABLISHING

  A scuttleship unloads cargo from a transport parked alongside the
  station.  PAN ACROSS with the scuttleship, tracking with it until
  it passes into the docking bay, then DOWN TO the observation dome
  window, where we can just see into

  INT. OBSERVATION DOME

  where Lieutenant-Commander IVANOVA stands at the console, cup in
  hand, staring bleakly out into the starscape as SINCLAIR comes up
  alongside.

                     IVANOVA
          I hate mornings...I've always had a
          hard time getting up when it's dark
          outside.

                     SINCLAIR
          We're in space.  It's always dark
          outside.

                     IVANOVA
                (forlornly)
          I know...I know....
   (That, by the way, is a slight re-do of an actual shot from "Raiding
       Party.")
       A script page, single-spaced, works out to about the same wordage
       as a double-spaced prose fiction page, about 225-250 words per.
     * _Why was the ship in Lady Ladira's name instead of Lord Kiro's?_
       Ladira was Kiro's aunt, and much of the family money/property is
       in her name.
     * I think that the Eye was returned the next day, so there was a
       goodly span between Ladira's vision, and the scene in Londo's
       quarters.
     * _What became of the Eye?_
       The eye is now safely back home and on display.
     * I hate to burst your bubble, but the Raider ship *was* rotating.
       Look at it again. It's most visible when the ship is being
       photographed from behind with B5 in the background. You can see
       the round part of the ship rotating (with the docking bay at
       center).
       

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