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. G'Kar brings news of a terrible new enemy. The arrival of
  9. Sheridan's sister opens up old wounds for the new commander. Dr.
  10. Franklin employs an unorthodox procedure to try to bring Garibaldi
  11. out of his coma. Delenn's mysterious change is completed.
  12. [15]Beverly Leech as Elizabeth Sheridan. [16]Macaulay Bruton as
  13. Garibaldi's aide.
  14. Sub-genre: Drama
  15. [17]P5 Rating: [18]8.40
  16. Production number: 202
  17. Original air date: November 9, 1994
  18. Written by J. Michael Straczynski
  19. Directed by Jim Johnston
  20. Watch For:
  21. * [19]A magically refilling drink.
  22. _________________________________________________________________
  23. Backplot
  24. * Sheridan's wife Anna was killed two years ago when her ship
  25. exploded on its way to explore the recently discovered ruins of an
  26. ancient civilization on the Rim.
  27. * The Book of G'Quan, the holy book of G'Kar's religion (cf. [20]"By
  28. Any Means Necessary") mentions an ancient enemy that rose to power
  29. a thousand years in the past, a power so great it nearly
  30. overwhelmed the stars themselves. And the book contains drawings
  31. suspiciously siimilar to the Shadows' ships.
  32. Unanswered Questions
  33. * Is Delenn's new appearance an outward transformation, a complete
  34. physical rebirth, or something even more fundamental?
  35. * What exactly has she become?
  36. * Was the result what she thought it would be? She didn't seem to
  37. know what had happened to her when she first emerged from the
  38. chrysalis; clearly she didn't go into the process with detailed
  39. knowledge of the outcome.
  40. * How much does G'Kar suspect about Londo's involvement with the
  41. Shadows?
  42. * Why did President Clark order Garibaldi's aide returned to Earth?
  43. Was he aware that the clandestine transfer would take place, or
  44. did someone else arrange that to stop the prisoner from being
  45. interrogated by Clark's people?
  46. Analysis
  47. * The Book of G'Quan, assuming G'Kar was describing the text itself
  48. rather than his interpretation, says that the ancient enemy came
  49. from the rim of known space, the planet Z'ha'dum. That implies
  50. that the Narns, or some among them, were technologically advanced
  51. at least a thousand years ago; otherwise they would presumably
  52. have had no way of knowing the origin of the enemy, certainly not
  53. well enough to locate its home planet. Given that they are not
  54. particularly advanced compared to the other major races, one of
  55. three things must have happened:
  56. 1. Some event, possibly the last great war, reduced their
  57. capabilities enough that they had to start nearly from
  58. scratch.
  59. 2. They advanced technologically at a very slow pace, or not at
  60. all, over the past millenium.
  61. 3. Another race used the Narn (or their world) in the war,
  62. departing when it was over and leaving the Narn with only
  63. legends of the great enemy.
  64. If the second is true, it's possible that some of the other races
  65. acquired _their_ technology from the Narns, an interesting twist
  66. on the established idea that the Narns are obsessed with obtaining
  67. technology from others (cf. [21]"The Gathering.")
  68. * When G'Kar's wingman crashed into the Shadow fighter, the Shadow
  69. ship appeared to writhe in pain. It appears that employing living
  70. technology is a common trait of the very advanced civilizations
  71. (cf. [22]"Infection.") The question naturally arises: are the
  72. Shadow ships _ships_ in the traditional sense, with crews or
  73. pilots aboard, or are they autonomous entities?
  74. * The fact that a one-man Narn fighter was able to destroy a Shadow
  75. ship implies that the Shadows can be overcome by force, assuming
  76. they aren't so numerous as to overwhelm all their opponents.
  77. * Delenn flat-out lied when she said her government approved her
  78. transformation (cf. [23]"Points of Departure.") Yet they have made
  79. no move to replace her as ambassador. Perhaps they fear the
  80. consequences of working against the prophecy more than they fear
  81. what she's doing.
  82. * Dr. Franklin hasn't tried the healing machine on anyone, not even
  83. experimentally. Perhaps he hasn't been studying it -- which seems
  84. strange, given its potential to utterly revolutionize the practice
  85. of medicine. Now that he knows it works, he may be more inclined
  86. to use it in the future, possibly in place of hazardous
  87. conventional treatments.
  88. * Anna Sheridan's research vessel was destroyed in an apparent
  89. accident on the Rim, on its way to explore an ancient
  90. civilization. The similarities to the destruction of the Narn ship
  91. sent by G'Kar are too great to ignore. She very possibly was
  92. killed by the Shadows, something which won't endear them to
  93. Sheridan if he learns about it. If that's true, the question of
  94. how the ruins of the civilization were discovered in the first
  95. place remains unanswered.
  96. Notes
  97. * The poem G'Kar read to Na'Toth is from "The Second Coming" by W.
  98. B. Yeats (quoted sections emphasized):
  99. Turning and turning in the widening gyre
  100. The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
  101. _Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
  102. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
  103. The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
  104. The ceremony of innocence is drowned;_
  105. The best lack all conviction, while the worst
  106. Are full of passionate intensity.
  107. Surely some revelation is at hand;
  108. Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
  109. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
  110. When a vast image out of "Spiritus Mundi"
  111. Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
  112. A shape with lion body and the head of a man
  113. A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
  114. Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
  115. Reel shadows of the indigant desert birds.
  116. The darkness drops again; but now I know
  117. That twenty centuries of stony sleep
  118. Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
  119. _And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
  120. Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?_
  121. * Garibaldi's aide is named Jack, though it's easy to miss;
  122. Garibaldi mentions the name once after Talia leaves medlab and he
  123. speaks to Franklin and Ivanova.
  124. * The closed captioning spells G'Quan "Sh'Quon," but JMS has used
  125. the shorter spelling on several occasions, so it's the one used
  126. here.
  127. * Continuity gaffe: In the scene with Sheridan and his sister in his
  128. quarters, he drains his drink, walks toward the bar, and before he
  129. gets there, the glass refills and he drains it again.
  130. jms speaks
  131. * Re: the ever-improving CGI...there's an action scene in the teaser
  132. of the second episode, "Revelations," that is particularly
  133. amazing. And there is one shot of a Narn ship in extreme close-up
  134. toward the end of the scene that looks absolutely *solid*, and
  135. every bit as real and detailed as any model, and then some. It
  136. cannot be distinguished from a physical object.
  137. * One aspect of the Yeats quote, and the Lincoln quote, and the
  138. Tennyson quote(s), and the many others, is that I think a lot of
  139. folks at some point tuned out of, or aren't interested in,
  140. literature and poetry because they've never really been exposed to
  141. it. So just to be a little subversive, I work some of it into the
  142. show. I choose that which has meaning to the show, and the
  143. characters, in the hopes that (as has happened here), viewers will
  144. dig out the original material and be exposed to some *really*
  145. nifty writing. Granted that television must entertain at minimum;
  146. it should also elevate and ennoble and educate, and this is too
  147. good an opportunity to waste, provided one does not become
  148. didactic about it.
  149. * Speaking of looking into the abyss...which comes from
  150. "Revelations," it's a partial quote. Neitzsche: "When you look
  151. into the abyss, the abyss looks also into you."
  152. * Re: inconsistent writing and Narns...please bear in mind that
  153. there are two ways to encounter shadowmen: going out there, and
  154. them coming in to see YOU. The Narns need not be (and were not)
  155. spacefaring when they encountered the shadowmen. Or, more
  156. accurately, were encountered BY them.
  157. * Copies of the evidence were made, but the question is what is the
  158. available evidence to BE copied? Frankly, there isn't much. There
  159. are no witnesses, very little physical evidence. If you tried to
  160. make a case with what they've got, you'd be laughed out of the
  161. courtroom.
  162. * Yes, since you've sussed it...the plan was to turn Delenn from
  163. male to female in "Chrysalis," in my original plans, as well as
  164. making her half-human. And yes, it would've had one hell of an
  165. impact...but my concern when I made that decision not do do this
  166. back in the pilot was based on the reality that we couldn't do it
  167. well. The "male" voice, altered by computer-enhancement, just
  168. sounded REAL bogus; we couldn't get it right, and I had to decide
  169. between dropping it, and doing something the people would rightly
  170. describe as lame all season, just for one big payoff. It was a
  171. tough call, but it had to be made.
  172. * _Why does Delenn's hair go under her bone ridge?_
  173. When Delenn's structure changed, the epidermal layer on the head
  174. grew thinner; there is now a gap between the skin, and the bone
  175. which has grown out. Hair can be draped through it, or laid over
  176. it.
  177. * Correct; the Narn bridge is CGI. Re: the explosion...we shot a lot
  178. of live pyrotechnics for Ron's use; but don't recall offhand which
  179. was used here, live or CGI.
  180. * Anna chose to take Sheridan's last name. Her decision. You have
  181. the option. Some do, some don't. If you start to pass rules that
  182. no woman CAN take her husband's name or she's betraying something,
  183. then you're being just as restrictive as those who insist a woman
  184. MUST take her husband's name. Me, I'm pro-choice on every level.
  185. She felt like it.
  186. (And I note that my own spousal overunit kept her own name. But
  187. then, who in her right mind WOULD take Straczynski...?)
  188. * Another thing that can be now re-interpreted is the look on Jack's
  189. face when Garibaldi didn't go for the whitewash of the security
  190. guard's financial records in "Sky," and how that body managed to
  191. get out of the station without security being aware of it....
  192. * Next week, in "Revelations," you get G'Kar, Londo, Delenn,
  193. Lennier, Na'Toth, Kosh, Garibaldi, Talia and everybody else.
  194. Because there was SO much happening in #1, that got slid back a
  195. bit; also, there's a fair amount of time required for everything
  196. to do what they're supposed to be doing. (Note that we're
  197. operating pretty much in real-time; "Points" is around 8 days
  198. after the events of "Chrysalis," and "Revelations" is about
  199. another week after that.)
  200. One thing I noted here some time ago, as a large part of the
  201. reason I dropped "to be continued" from "Chrysalis" is that this
  202. is more of a three-parter than a two, and some threads pulled in
  203. "Chrysalis" won't be fully resolved in some ways until the third
  204. and fourth episodes. There is a LOT going on, and if we try to
  205. cram it all into one episode (as I at first tried with "Chrysalis,
  206. Part Two") you don't give ANY of them the proper time to have any
  207. impact.
  208. Finally, we're getting new people sampling the first episode of
  209. the season, as is true of most shows. Thus, you have to put into
  210. dialogue a fair amount of stuff that otherwise you could just
  211. imply or rely on past experience/prior knowledge. So you kind of
  212. introduce the newbies to the situation, and that requires a fair
  213. amount of exposition. This is pretty much localized to "Points,"
  214. however; with the next episode, we're up to full speed. Episode 2
  215. deals with as many issues/plotlines as "Chrysalis," with the main
  216. difference being that here, they're *resolved* rather than left
  217. hanging.
  218. * Yes, generally stories are self-contained, but in the case of
  219. season endings like "Chrysalis," it takes time to get everything
  220. back up and running again. The bigger the explosion, the longer it
  221. takes to clean up the mess.
  222. * Re: Lennier, the Grey Council fellow said, "Tell them what we've
  223. told YOU," not someone else. Just to clarify.
  224. * [Talia's] not seeing the shooter from outside Garibaldi's POV.
  225. That shot in particular is *exactly* from Garibaldi's POV. It's a
  226. lot like what is done in hypnosis, going back into somebody's
  227. memory and dragging out details they might have seen but not
  228. noted; the eye sees more than the brain recalls at any given
  229. moment. When we shot that scene, I was on-set, and the camera was
  230. put *exactly* where Garibaldi was standing, so we'd be very
  231. careful that it WAS his point of view. So though I hate to
  232. contradict you, it's not "a stupid plot hole from hell."
  233. * Oh, I'm quite sure there was backup made of the data. But step
  234. back for a moment and ask what that entails, and will any of it
  235. stand up in ANY court of law? There's a difference between that
  236. which we knor or (make that know or) believe, and that which we
  237. can prove. Without the one most important piece of all,
  238. Garibaldi's aide, the rest is speculative, inconclusive,
  239. circumstantial and conjectural.
  240. * Yes, if Laurel had stayed with the station, either she would have
  241. pulled the trigger on Garibaldi, or been directly involved in
  242. other ways.
  243. * "Morden is the mongoose."
  244. So what's needed now is a conveniently placed cobra....
  245. * The platform seen in the opening of "Revelations" is a hazardous
  246. materials platform, which is still cleaning up the radioactive
  247. debris and other stuff from the blown Minbari cruiser in the last
  248. ep.
  249. * _About Na'Toth's change of actresses_
  250. The actor wanted to pursue other avenues. She'd primarily worked
  251. as a romantic lead in films, then came in at the last minute to
  252. help with season one. She then wanted to go back to that. The
  253. character stayed because we need the character to have some prior
  254. knowledge of the situation, rather than bringing in somebody new.
  255. * Re: Na'Toth...you have to remember this was not our decision, but
  256. rather Caitlin's, in order to pursue some romantic lead parts. We
  257. made an offer equal to the other cast, but she opted out to pursue
  258. films. We cast the best actor to come in the door to fill
  259. Na'Toth's boots, and we need that character there because of the
  260. prior knowledge she needs to have to fill her role in the story.
  261. Mary Kay is, I think, trying to reinterpret the character. We're
  262. nudging in the other direction. One way or another, this will be
  263. made to work.
  264. * Actually, no, it's not a rumor; I'd mentioned this some time ago,
  265. but apparently some didn't see it....
  266. So to repeat: we'd had to replace Mary Woronov with virtually no
  267. notice after we found that she really had a hard time with the
  268. narn prosthetics (wouldn't wear the contacts, and other stuff). In
  269. a panic, our casting director called in a favor from Caitlin
  270. Brown, who is mainly a leading-lady type actor. She came in and,
  271. in fact, for the first episode (shooting almost immediately
  272. afterward) wore a variation of the Ko'Dath makeup, because there
  273. wasn't time to make one specific to her.
  274. She came in without being under the 5-year option that generally
  275. exists in these situations. Did one year, about 9 episodes, as
  276. Na'Toth. And had to turn down a couple of leading-female parts.
  277. During the hiatus, she did a romantic lead character in a film
  278. with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. And had to ask the hard
  279. question: do I continue to grow as a romantic lead actor in
  280. feature films, or play Na'Toth? She is a VERY gorgeous woman, and
  281. felt awkward hiding behind the mask and cutting herself out of
  282. leading female parts in feature films to do it.
  283. We went 'round and 'round about this for some time, it was a very
  284. difficult decision for her because she likes the show and everyone
  285. here, but finally opted out. On one level it's a pain in the butt,
  286. but we respect her decision. And it *is* her call, not ours.
  287. (Quick aside...pfffttthhpplttt to those who, in their theory that
  288. Sinclair/O'Hare quit, said that I'd naturally say it was mutual
  289. because I could never say it was the actors choice because somehow
  290. I'd get in trouble. No, I *would* say it if O'Hare had opted out
  291. on his own. And in this case, that's exactly what happened.)
  292. We didn't recast Sinclair because that character is going
  293. somewhere from whence he may (and will) return, and because that
  294. serves the story; in this case, we are recasting Na'Toth. By the
  295. end of season one, Na'Toth knows stuff that I need that character,
  296. G'Kar's aide, to know. (Though I was briefly tempted to do the
  297. Murphy Brown Secretary line, with G'Kar getting a new aide every
  298. so often due to terrible airlock accidents...but I went to lay
  299. down for a while and the notion passed.)
  300. So no, it's not a rumor, it's quite true. In fact, we just
  301. finished up a casting session and found someone who's very right
  302. for the part; and though we weren't confined to this, is actually
  303. about the same height, same build, same attitude as Caitlin, and
  304. whose voice is very similar. I don't think much difference will be
  305. noted in the long run, really.
  306. * The Narn aren't waiting. Or, more accurately, G'Kar isn't. The
  307. rest of the Kha'Ri (Narn inner circle government) are still
  308. somewhat skeptical.
  309. The Minbari know the shape of what's coming, but they know full
  310. well that if they go to us with this, we won't believe them;
  311. there's still enough residual dislike over the war that they feel
  312. we have to find this out for ourselves (and we will).
  313. * Let's just say for now that about a thousand years ago, Narn was
  314. used as a lay-over and supply spot for a Shadowman group that
  315. landed there for a time, and used it briefly as a base of
  316. operations.
  317. * Re: "switching places"...this is *exactly* what I noted early on;
  318. the intent to set up in the very beginning a situation where those
  319. who've seen basic SF before on the tube will go, "Oh, okay, I got
  320. it ...this is the Bad Guy, this is the Good Guy, this is the Comic
  321. Relief, this is the Ally," and so on, because that's generally
  322. what's been the case in TV SF; you set up the various sides from
  323. day one, and virtually nobody moves.
  324. So you get them to rely on their conditioning, then you begin to
  325. move the chairs around, so suddenly what you THOUGHT was the good
  326. guy is maybe something else; and what you THOUGHT was the comic
  327. relief is a tragic and dark figure; and what you THOUGHT was the
  328. bad guy is maybe one of the real heroes of the story. And you try
  329. and make the path that results in those changes as interesting,
  330. moving, or scary as possible.
  331. * Of course Londo realizes he's being...not exactly set up, but that
  332. he's getting into a very bad situation. But on the other hand, he
  333. sees that perhaps this is his last chance to grab for something
  334. more than what he is; he's not a young man anymore, and offers
  335. such as this, even though he knows there will be a price someday
  336. (as he states to Morden), do not come along every day.
  337. Here is the key to characterization: who is your character, what
  338. does he want, how far will he go to get it, and what is he
  339. prepared to lose in that process?
  340. * Morden is human.
  341. Morden dat I can't say.
  342. * Actually, G'Kar's makeup wasn't changed this year; the actor put
  343. on a few pounds over hiatus, which shows in the face, which
  344. changes how the prosthetic looks. This was dropped very quickly by
  345. Andreas, however, and the makeup has adjusted itself. (Hell, we
  346. all put on a few pounds during hiatus.)
  347. * Oddly, the new makeup takes *longer* for Mira than the old, which
  348. went on in a couple of fairly straightforward pieces. Now there's
  349. a lot more detail work and more pieces.
  350. Also, the intent is that G'Kar looked at both Sheridan and Londo,
  351. not sure which of them may have leaked the info, though I think
  352. the editing may have focused too much on Londo in that shot.
  353. * The only time a name is associated with his aide is when Garibaldi
  354. refers to him later, at which time he just says Jack.
  355. * _Jack had had contact with the PsiCops in "Mind War"_
  356. No, Jack wasn't *seduced* at that time ...but he WAS there to meet
  357. them, and escort them to see Sinclair. Why him? Perhaps a contact
  358. there...?
  359. * _What would be different if there hadn't been cast changes after
  360. "The Gathering?"_
  361. The only problem with answering how things would've been different
  362. is that some information might get out by inference about how
  363. things might still *be*. However, to do what I can with the
  364. question (never let it be said I don't try to accommodate....).
  365. If Lyta had stayed on B5, her arc would be pretty close to that of
  366. Talia, except that she would have begun to form a strong link to
  367. Kosh, first in the form of dreams, then something with
  368. implications that could be read as menacing or benign.
  369. If Dr. Kyle would have stayed around, he would have moved more
  370. into the position of advisor/paternal figure for Sinclair. He also
  371. would have continued to be more scientist than doctor.
  372. Takashima would have been revealed as having been in on the Vorlon
  373. assassination attempt by season's end, and would have betrayed
  374. Garibaldi in the events in "Chrysalis," either giving him over to
  375. those involved with the coup, or pulling the trigger herself.
  376. While we would know this, our characters would not, for as much as
  377. another full season.
  378. Carolyn Sykes would've gotten into major trouble with one of the
  379. major EarthCorps.
  380. Finally, if Sinclair had stayed with B5 at this juncture, the
  381. events in "Points" (the reveal of the Minbari surrender) would've
  382. taken place in episode 3 instead of 1. Episode 1 would've
  383. consisted mainly of the events in "Revelations," which was mainly
  384. as a bystander to the events around him, since the sister aspect
  385. specific to Sheridan obviously wouldn't be there. Basically, with
  386. all the events surrounding Delenn, Londo, G'Kar and others, he
  387. didn't have one whole hell of a lot to *DO* in the first six to
  388. eight episodes, since that segment was set aside primarily to
  389. introduce the Shadowman war and get that cranking, and Sinclair
  390. had no real direct connection to that.
  391. [29][Next]
  392. [30]Last update: February 17, 1998
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