lurkers-guide/guide/006

<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>

<blockquote><cite>
Talia's old Psi Corps instructor, the victim of a secret experiment, is the
target of a manhunt involving the Psi-Cops.  Catherine wants to survey a
promising planet for possible mining, but G'Kar warns her to stay away.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Koenig,+Walter">Walter Koenig</a> as Bester.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Waterman,+Felicity">Felicity Waterman</a> as Kelsey.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Young,+William+Allen">William Allen Young</a> as Jason Ironheart.
</blockquote>

<pre>
<a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/006">8.44</a>

Production number: 110
Original air date: March 2, 1994
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006HAZ4/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: November 5, 2002

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Bruce Seth Green
</pre>

<h3>Watch For:</h3>
<ul>
   <li> A peculiar <a href="#NO.13">salute.</a>
</ul>

<p>
<hr size=3>
<p>

<H2><A NAME="BP">Backplot</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> <A NAME="BP.1">Jason Ironheart</A> was Talia's instructor and lover
     at the Psi Corps Training Academy.  After she graduated and went
     into commercial telepathy, they kept in touch by letter - until a
     year ago when his letters stopped.  As Ironheart recounts, he
     volunteered to undergo genetic and biochemical modification he
     thought was intended to make him a stronger telepath.  The
     experiment turned out to be an attempt to make him 
     <A HREF="#AN.a">a stable telekinetic</A>, and it after many months
     and hundreds of injections it worked - stunningly!  Ironheart
     became able to see through any mind like glass, and manipulate
     matter and energy both.  He discovered then that those in charge
     were after offensive military applications for TK, like secret
     assassination.  So, he killed the head researcher (the only person
     who could duplicate the work) and fled to Babylon 5, still
     undergoing changes to his mind and body.

<li> <A NAME="BP.2">What is it like to be a telepath?</A><br>
     <B>Talia:</B> "It's like staying in a hotel room where you can just
     hear the people talking next door.  You can try and shut it out,
     but it's always there.  The key is not to eavesdrop unless you're
     invited... casual thoughts are very easy to block, but strong
     emotions have a way of slipping through."<br> 
     "Do you know what it's like when telepaths make love, commander?
     You drop every defense, and it's all mirrors, reflecting each
     others' feelings, deeper and deeper, until somewhere along the line
     your souls mix, and it's a feeling so profound it makes you hurt.
     It's the only moment in a telepath's life when you no longer hear
     the voices."

<li> <A NAME="BP.3"><B>Ironheart:</B></A> "We all thought Psi Corps was
     controlled by the government, but that's changing.  The Corps is
     starting to pull the strings behind the scenes; they're more
     powerful than you could begin to imagine.  Telepaths make the
     ultimate blackmailers..."<br> 
     "The Psi Corps is dedicated to one thing: control.  Control over
     telepaths, the economy, the courts, over matter, over thought
     itself."<br>
     A
     <a href="006.ironheart.html">transcript</a>
     of Ironheart's meeting with Sinclair is available.

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="UQ">Unanswered Questions</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> <A NAME="UQ.1">How much of what Ironheart said was true?</A> He
     <EM>was</EM> mentally unstable, to say the least.  He was also very
     motivated to gather fast allies.

<li> <A NAME="UQ.2"><B>G'Kar</B> (to Catherine):</A> "Let me pass on to
     you the one thing I've learned about this place.  No-one here is
     exactly what he appears.  Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair.
     And not me."  What does G'Kar know that we don't?  
     (cf <A HREF="008.html">"And The Sky Full Of Stars"</A> [Delenn,
     Sinclair], <A HREF="012.html">"By Any Means Necessary"</A> [G'Kar])

<li> <A NAME="UQ.3">Just before he departs, <B>Ironheart</B> says to
     Talia:</A> "In memory of love, I give you a gift, the only gift I
     have left to give." The gift, as she soon discovers, was
     at least the beginnings of telekinesis.  What manner of telepath 
     has she become?

<li> <A NAME="UQ.4">What did Ironheart mean by his final words to
     Sinclair?</A> "Good-bye commander.  I will see you again, in a
     million years."

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="AN">Analysis</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> <A NAME="AN.1"> If Ironheart's figures are true,</A> and if there
     are 20 billion human beings in existence, then there should be a
     thousand people who are (or will become) stable telekinetics.  If
     the Psi Corps' pursuit of a stable TK justified the extreme
     measures they attempted with Ironheart, then something about
     naturally occurring TK's must make them unusable.  It could be that
     use of TK invariably drives one insane, or perhaps natural TK is
     insufficiently fine-controlled enough for their purposes.

<li> <A NAME="AN.2">Whatever it was that the Psi Corps scientists did to
     Ironheart,</A> it wasn't more than physical alterations to his
     brain and body.  Yet those alterations started a process that led
     to his essentially becoming a demigod.  This could represent a
     latent potential in humanity as a whole, of which iceberg telepathy
     is merely the tip.  Or perhaps not - "This is a power that we were
     never meant to have," Ironheart tells Sinclair, "we're not ready
     for it."

<li> <A NAME="AN.3">Ivanova hates the Psi Corps</A> with a passion
     (understandably - cf <A HREF="001.html">"Midnight on the Firing
     Line"</A>) "Good ol' Psi Corps.  You never cease to amaze me - all
     the moral fiber of Jack the Ripper.  What do you do in your spare
     time, juggle babies over a fire pit?  Oops, there goes another
     calculated risk!"

<li> <A NAME="AN.4">In spite of this, Ivanova gives Talia a glass of
     water</A> after she comes through the ordeal of being scanned by
     Bester and Kelsey.  Ivanova's hatred is tempered with compassion
     for individuals.  (see <A HREF="#JMS.8">"jms speaks"</A>)

<li> <A NAME="AN.5">By threatening to hold him accountable</A> for
     endangering the station and causing the death of his partner,
     Sinclair strong-arms Bester into omitting from his report mention of
     Ironheart's real fate and Talia's willful collaboration.  However,
     this can only be an agreement about what gets made
     <EM>official.</EM> Just as folks on Babylon 5 know full well that
     Something happened to Ironheart (with the willing help of both
     Talia and Sinclair) the right folks in the Psi Corps should know
     the same through Bester's <EM>unofficial</EM> report.

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="NO">Notes</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> <A NAME="NO.1">Sinclair mentions to Catherine</A> in the morning
     that he's got a budget meeting with the construction guild that
     day, in which he'll have to make some cuts to which he's not
     looking forward.  (<A HREF="012.html">"By Any Means
     Necessary"</A>)

<li> <A NAME="NO.2">Universal Terraform:</A> a mega-corporation that
     explores and prepares new worlds for colonization or exploitation.

<li> <A NAME="NO.3">The procedure for evaluating a newly discovered
     planet:</A> first, an unmanned sensor probe launched by the
     exploring ship assesses gross features and composition.  If that's
     promising, a manned survey is undertaken to determine its value for
     various purposes.  Finally, if the corporation wants to continue,
     a life sciences probe is sent out to determine the legality of
     exploitation.  (If there are sentient species present then the
     planet is off-limits.) (see <A HREF="#JMS.9">"jms speaks"</A>)

<li> <A NAME="NO.4">Due to an EA shortage</A> of the material
     "Quantium-40," jumpgate construction is backed up 6 months.
     Catherine's survey mission to Sigma 957 is largely to determine
     whether this material is present on the planet.

<li> <A NAME="NO.5">The being that appeared at Sigma 957</A> appeared to
     enter and leave through its own jumpgate.  It may have been there
     for the Q-40.

<li> <A NAME="NO.6">Just as the Narn fighters</A> match up with
     Catherine's ship, part of it sloughs off as it burns up in the
     atmosphere.  The fighters are unaffected; presumably they are
     atmosphere-capable ships.

<li> <A NAME="NO.7">Rent for a spartan studio</A> on Babylon 5 is 500
     credits per week.

<li> <A NAME="NO.8">Psi corps ratings:</A><br>
     <B>P5</B> - level of commercial telepaths.  Can easily detect
     deception and other surface thoughts at close range.  Deeper
     probing is possible but difficult.<br>
     <B>P10</B> - level of Psi Corps trainers.  Can observe the mental
     actions of other telepaths, block some scans, cut through some
     blocks, perform long-range scans, and may have some fringe skills.<br>
     <B>P12</B> - level of Psi Cops.  Can communicate smoothly with
     normals via telepathy.  Two Psi Cops can invasively probe a P5.

<li> <A NAME="NO.9">Stronger telepaths</A> have a <em>harder</em> time
     shutting out "the voices".

<li> <A NAME="NO.10"> Upon graduation from the Academy</A> all telepaths
     take a telekinesis test - it's a much sought-after skill.  .1% of
     human beings have some level of telepathic ability, and only .01%
     of <B>them</B> have TK, half of whom are clinically insane.  (see
     <A HREF="#AN.1">Analysis</A>)

<li> <A NAME="NO.11">Most telepaths have <em>fewer</em></A> human rights
     than normals.  They're forbidden to possess psi abilities unless
     they're in the Psi Corps or in prison 
     (<A HREF="001.html">"Midnight on the Firing Line"</A>).
     They're required to submit to scans by Psi Cops, and aren't even
     allowed to have fleeting bodily contact with normals, since that
     would raise the chance in inadvertent scans.  
     (see <A HREF="#JMS.7">"jms speaks"</A>)

<li> <A NAME="NO.12">Psi Cops</A> are afforded greater latitude than
     other telepaths, "in the interest of efficiency."  For example,
     they can perform at least surface scans on normals without
     permission.

<li> <A NAME="NO.13">As he leaves, Bester gives Sinclair an odd
     salute</A> - a circle of thumb and forefinger at the forehead - and
     says, "Be seeing you, commander."  This is tribute paid to one of
     jms's favorite shows, "The Prisoner," in which the line was
     identical but the hand-motion framed the eye instead.  An
     appropriate twist for a telepath salute!

<li>@@@884711227 Continuity glitch: After Ironheart arrives in his quarters,
	he pours some water into a cup.  When the cup is knocked over by his
	mindquake a few seconds later, it's empty.

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="JS">jms speaks</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> <A NAME="JMS.1">In a tip of the cap to an SF writer,</A> the Koenig
     character in "Mind War" is named Bester.

<p>
<li> The direction and intent and background of the Psi Corps is *very*
     different from Bester's "The Demolished Man."  What may cause some of
     the confusion is that when I decided to name the Psi Cop we'll be
     seeing, knowing of Alfie's work in the genre in general, and knowing
     that he was a close friend of Harlan's, I decided it would be a nice
     testimony to the man to name the Psi Cop Bester.  There's nothing
     beyond that.

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.2">Re: my favorite thing about this episode...</A>it's
     that when all is said and done, *nobody knows anything*.  Bester
     doesn't know what Ironheart is turning into; Sinclair doesn't know
     if Ironheart was really telling the truth or not; nobody knows
     where Ironheart went; nobody knows what the alien ship is/who they
     were...the closest I can come to is to compare it to writing a
     mystery novel, without revealing the killer, but *without*
     frustrating anyone in the process, because there's *closure*.

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.3">...it was my intent</A> to imply in the scene with
     the guard and Bester ("nothing, just a drill") that he DID scan the
     guard's mind.  He found out what he was hiding (which is how he
     managed to show up to try and cut Ironheart off from his escape),
     exchanged a glance with Kelsey, and headed away quickly.

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.4">Bester wasn't killed</A> because a) it took a *lot*
     out of Ironheart to take out Kelsey, and b) Bester *shot him* prior
     to being taken down, and the pain and trauma of being shot has a
     tendency to have an adverse effect on one; it took all his strength
     just to knock Bester down before collapsing to the floor, his
     energy (as you can see in the film) fading away....

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.5">We'll definitely see Bester again,</A> probably
     twice next season, in one capacity or another.  (And we'll *hear*
     about him once more this season.)  
     (<A HREF="016.html">"Eyes"</A>)

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.6">Nope, Jason Ironheart will not be seen again,</A>
     insofar as I know.  I don't like beings with that much power
     running around the plotline....

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.7">Telepaths are the ultimate minority,</A> and when
     it comes to the use of their talents, and the protection of the
     rights of the hysterical majority, their rights don't mean a whole
     hell of a lot.

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.8">Thanks</A> for noticing that.  Yes, it *was* very
     important (to me, at least, whether or not anyone noticed it), that
     Ivanova was the one who handed Talia the water, and had that brief
     moment with her.  For those who understand their relationship, it
     adds a tiny layer; for those who don't, because the dialogue keeps
     on going over it, it's not obtrusive.

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.10">The episode of "Mind War" broadcast henceforth</A>
     will be the one with slight alteration.

<p>
<li> In the pursuit in the teaser, you could see one of the binary stars
     THROUGH Ironheart's ship; we deleted that shot and replaced it.

<p>
<li> We discovered, when we went to put in the revised CGI, that the
     international versions had already been made and transferred, and it
     would be nearly impossible to recall that part of the process...so it
     was left alone rather than have multiple versions of the same episode
     floating around.

<p>
<li> <A NAME="JMS.11">Funny incident today,</A> though, also at lunch.
     Walter Koenig joined some of the cast members at their table for
     lunch, and as he came to the table, they all stood up at attention.
     When asked why, they explained that it's protocol for junior
     officers to stand when a senior officer comes to the table.  It was
     kind of a nice moment.

<p>
<li> Today, Walter Koenig's 2nd day working in the B5 universe, as a Psi
     Cop in "Mind War."  He's doing well, taking part in some very
     difficult scenes (fight scenes and the ilke), and it's a very 
     powerful performance, not at ALL what people have seen before.  He's
     a terrific performer when given a role with some meat to it.  And 
     the dailies look great.  I think this episode will wake up a lot of
     people who have never seen Walter as anything other than Chekov.

<p>
<li> Walter decided that an interesting character trait for Bester would
     be if this skilled psi cop had a useless left hand.

<p>
<li> It's a funny thought, but knowing Walter as I do, I can say without
     fear of contradiction that he was *not* doing Shatner.  Given the
     chance here to do something *utterly* outside ST, which was his hope,
     and our pleasure to provide, he wouldn't do this, and having spoken 
     with him at some length about his character and his performance, know
     that he *didn't* do this.

<p>
<li> Chekov is just one character, which was created by another, and played
     by Walter.  Agreed, too many people have seen him as just this one person;
     but there's a talented actor with a great range behind that character, able
     to do *many* other things.  I'm glad we've been able to let him show that
     range a little.

<p>
<li>@@@840405234 "JMS is on an anti-typecasting crusade."

     <p>
     That's actually true, in a lot of ways.  My sense is that here
     we have many actors who created enduring works because they were good
     at what they did; they're *good actors*.  But because they were so good
     at it, they got typecast as only able to play that.  How many people
     snickered, wrongly, when they heard Walter was going to be Bester?
     "Chekhov in the Psi Corps," was the usual lament.

     <p>
     Until they *saw* him.  And saw what he could do.

     <p>
     To work against the typecasting is simply payment on a debt to
     those who created enduring characters.  And I'll continue to do it
     wherever and whenever I can.  (Look for Robert Englund in an
     <a href="063.html">upcoming episode</a>
     playing a very different sort of character than he's played
     elsewhere lately.)

<p>
<li> We'd initially offered Walter the role of Knight Two in "Sky," but
     when his health prohibited using him, we went to Patrick McGoohan,
     who loved the script, wanted to do it, but was going to be out of 
     the country at the time of shooting.  We then shifted Walter to
     "Mind War."

<p>
<li> "Commander" wasn't dubbed onto Walter.  That was Ironheart speaking
     with  his back to us.

<p>
<li> We'll see more on Talia's additional talents in year two.

<p>
<li> Ironheart was created, as one of many reasons, to exemplify a problem
     that is growing within Psi Corps.  There will be other symptoms, though
     not as grand as that one.

<p>
<li> The Psi Corps doesn't exist just to help telepaths avoid infringing
     on the privacy of others.  They service the business community, the
     military, some other governmental agencies...it's important that they
     control, regulate, and profit from telepaths.  You can't just leave
     the corps.

<p>
<li> "Mind War" is important to the arc because Psi Corps, and certain
     aspects of it, is important to the arc.

<p>
<li> Some of the events in "Mind War" are significant indeed.

<p>
<li> The ant was paid strictly according to SAG rules (Screen Ants Guild).

<p>
<li> But for the other stuff...no, there's no in-joke in Sigma 957, but 
     ***CONGRATULATIONS!***  You are the FIRST person to pick up on the 
     Native American line that Ironheart quotes when he goes up against
     Kelsey.  (And yes, I believe it is ojibwe in origin.)  I've always 
     considered it a very powerful line (a prayer of protection against 
     one's enemies), and wanted to use it.  That seemed the perfect
     opportunity to do so.

<p>
<li> "Who watches the watchmen" is an old Latin phrase, sometimes
     translated as "who guards the guards?"  Given sufficient time I could
     probably dig up the origin of the phrase; it's fairly common.

<p>
<li> My source on this was the original, classical quotation.

<p>
<li> Congratulations.  I was wondering when anyone was going to hit on the
     CSICOP reference.  I was looking for a good name for the pit bulls of
     the Psi Corps, and thought it made for a great play on words, and a 
     very obscure almost-pun, to name them Psi-Cops.

<p>
<li> <em>Talia's stress during Psi Cop scan</em><br>
     It's because they dig *deep*.  And to another telepath, who is 
     sensitive to begin with...it hurts bigtime.

<p>
<li> A Psi-rating comes through training and examination of a person's
     skills over time.  Ivanova's mother never went through the full
     sequence to get rated.  (Although they generally don't bother with 
     P1s through P2s, so she was at least a P3 or above, in terms of raw
     ability.)  A psi rating isn't hereditary.

<p>
<li> Talia is a P5, as Lyta was in the pilot.

<p>
<li> The number of psi's in each category, from 1-12, gets rarer as you
     get higher.  Lots of folks have a minimal tendency, very few have any
     real talent.

<p>
<li> Yes, the abilities are often discrete; a TK may not be able to
     scan anyone's thoughts.

<p>
<li> You don't have to read another book to "get it" re: psi's making
     love.  Perhaps her problem was more with the making love part than 
     the psi part.  Haven't read Julian May's book.  It's just the obvious
     answer to what happens if and when telepaths make love: if they truly
     open up, then you're going to get a mirror effect.  Have your lady 
     friend stand between two mirrors and look at the effect.  This ain't
     rocket science.

<p>
<li> Scanning only hurts if it's a deep scan, trying to dredge out lost
     or buried thoughts, or if the other person is resisting.  It can be
     anything from a headache to a migraine in intensity in general..

<p>
<li> There will be no more Ironhearts, and that character will not return.

<p>
<li> The vaporized Starfuries *weren't* from B5, they were a separate wing
     not attached to this station.  Black Omega is a special forces unit.

<p>
<li> Ironheart blew out the Omega starfuries.

<p>
<li> No, this [the alien] isn't the mysterious sixth race.

<p>
<li> And in the case of Sigma 957, one can put in a gate, start to explore
     that sector of space...and discover to your chagrin that there is one
     planet where you don't dare go near.  It's not like they *knew* that 
     there was a problem on Sigma 957 before they (the Narns) put the gate
     in; that was discovered only afterward.  Sort of like buying a house
     and then discovering that one room is haunted; you seal off the room
     and tell the kids not to go near it.

<p>
<li> You don't leave one gate and fly light years to another; you use the
     same gate for going in and going out.  Explorer Ship A comes out of
     hyperspace; looks around; decides that there are planets in this area
     that are worth possible colonizing, exploitation, that sort of thing;
     it's a very quick overview.  (Or they go to systems that have been
     already selected.)  They construct a gate, finish the job, and move
     on. Other ships can now use this gate for entering and leaving this
     system.  Is this clearer?

<p>
<li> The gate was set up in what was believed to be a reasonably fertile
     and useful sector of space; the explorer craft can't take too long in
     any one area.  They find likely areas for exploitation, take a fast
     look around, drop a gate, and move on.  This allows other ships to 
     come in and scope out the place in detail.  That's when they ran into
     whatever's walking around Sigma 957.  (And it's not there all the 
     time, only from time to time.)

<p>
<li> An Explorer-class vessel looks for areas that look like likely
     prospects for exploitation, or which are good for logistical or other
     reasons, do a fast survey, drop a gate and move on.  Nobody *knew* 
     about the problems in Sigma 957 until well after the gate was in place.

     <p>
     Generally, the race that builds the gate, owns it.

<p>
<li> Re: the difference as to why Sinclair reacted the way he did...they
     SPOKE to him in his head, the same way they did to the guard in 
     customs.   This is different than just "listening" to someone's
     thoughts, so to speak.

<p>
<li> The one thing that to me always typified SF was the sense of *wonder*.
     Of something mysterious out there.  And that is the one thing that I
     feel is so missing from much of TV SF; not to pick on ST, but the 
     reality is that going from world to world seems like going from 7-11
     to 7-11.  It's all established, there's not much mystery.  (Not in all
     cases, I'm sure that one or two could be found, but in general.) 
     There should be *differences*, and things we don't understand and will
     *never* fully understand.  (For me, one of the best episodes in this
     regard is "Mind War," specifically the tag of the episode, which still
     gives me a shiver even though I've now seen it over a dozen times.)

<p>
<li> Actually, no...Catherine Sakai is based more closely on another
     woman of my acquaintance, with whom I was involved for quite some
     time.  And that's all you'll get out of me on the subject.

<p>
<li> Incidentally..."Mind War" has come out so well that it looks like 
     we're going to move it up in the schedule a bit.  It was originally
     slated to run about episode 10 or so, but the studio is so hot on it
     that it'll probably run #6, right after "Parliament."  And Walter
     has agreed to be the voice-over and on-camera narrator for the
     Behind the Scenes/Making of Babylon 5 documentary.

<p>
<li> Re: moving "Mind War" up...no, doesn't affect continuity at all.  If
     it did, it wouldn't have gotten moved.  It's what's called in the biz
     a "moveable piece," able to go *almost* anywhere in the schedule, as
     long as it's after episode 3 and before episode 15, since stuff in 
     the first few set it up, and 15 pays off part of it.

</ul>

<HR>
Originally compiled by Matthew Ryan <i>mattryan@pobox.com</i>