lurkers-guide/guide/012

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

<blockquote><cite>
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.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Snyder,+John+(I)">John Snyder</a> as Orin Zento.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Boyer,+Katy">Katy Boyer</a> as Neeoma Connoly.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Aleong,+Aki">Aki Aleong</a> as Senator Hidoshi.
</blockquote>

Originally titled "Backlash"

<pre>
Sub-genre: Drama
<a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/012">7.84</a>

Production number: 114
Original air date: May 11, 1994
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006HAZ4/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: November 5, 2002

Written by Kathryn Drennan
Directed by Jim Johnston
</pre>

<p>
<hr>
<p>

<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>
<ul>
   <li> The Narn homeworld is 10 Narn light years away, about 12 Earth
	light years.
   <li> Narn ranks seem to connote some kind of religious authority; the
	highest-ranked Narn is expected to lead religious services.
   <li> The Rush Act, put in place during the Earth-Minbari War, allows the
	Earth government to break up labor strikes using any means necessary.
</ul>

<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
<ul>
   <li> How much trouble did Londo go through to get the G'Quan Eth plant,
	and did he do it solely to upset G'Kar?
</ul>

<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>
   <li> The Earth government has a very low tolerance for troublemakers,
	it seems -- at least, troublemakers who operate in the open.
</ul>

<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>
   <li>@@@877717497 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.

   <li> The Rush Act was named after conservative American television and radio
	commentator
	<a href="http://www.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Radio/Programs/Political/Rush_Limbaugh/">Rush Limbaugh.</a>
</ul>

<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
<ul>

<p>
   <li> 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.

<p>
   <li> 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.

<p>
   <li> <em>A UK poster inquires about Rush Limbaugh, for whom the Rush Act
	in this episode was named</em><br>
	Re: who is Rush Limbaugh....
	<p>
	Leading American proctologist.
	<p>
	Trust me.

<p>
   <li> Sinclair's decision is legal...but not politic, and it will come back as
	one of many decisions to haunt him in "Eyes."

<p>
   <li> 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.

<p>
   <li> 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).

	<p>
	Still dancing as fast as I can....

<p>
   <li> 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.

<p>
   <li> 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.

	<p>
	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.

<p>
   <li> 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.  

	<p>
	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.)

	<p>
	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.

	<p>
	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.

	<p>
	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.

	<p>
	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.

	<p>
	Anyway...there you have it.

<p>
   <li> 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.

</ul>