lurkers-guide/guide/032

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

<blockquote><cite>
Dr. Franklin's father arrives, leading 25,000
ground pounding soldiers on the station.  The troops' arrival elicits fear from
both humans and non-humans that the troops may be going on a secret mission
that will involve the station becoming an armed camp.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Winfield,+Paul">Paul Winfield</a> as Gen. Richard Franklin.
</blockquote>

<pre>
Sub-genre: Drama
<a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/032">7.49</a>

Production number: 210
Original air date: February 8, 1995
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000087EYB/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: April 29, 2003

Written by Larry DiTillio
Directed by Jim Johnston
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li> Dr. Franklin's father is an Earth Alliance military hero, a veteran
	of the Dilgar war and several internal conflicts on Earth.  He was
	rarely around for his children when they were growing up; when he
	<em>was</em> around, he tried to run the family like a boot camp.

   <li> With the advent of the Narn-Centauri war, the Earth Alliance is
	trying to solidify its hold on several strategic sectors near both,
	in anticipation of the day when Earth will have to choose sides.

   <li> Sheridan served a tour of duty on the planet Akdor, in a system
	bordering on both Narn and Centauri space.

   <li> Garibaldi's father, Alfredo, served under General Franklin in the
	Dilgar war, and was a well-regarded soldier.

</ul>

<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>

<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li> Babylon 5 is now heavily armed, ready to take on a warship.  Which
	raises the question: why wasn't it <em>before</em>?  Mere
	shortsightedness on the part of the designers -- a station like
	Babylon 5 seems a natural target -- or something else?  Even if
	there originally didn't seem any need to heavily arm the station,
	the attacks on the station in
	<a href="013.html">"Signs and Portents"</a>
	and
	<a href="019.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness, part 2"</a>
	should have demonstrated that B5 <em>will</em> come under attack
	from time to time.

	<p>
	On the other hand, Franklin did say that the station was being
	upgraded with the latest from Earth Force R&D, so maybe its previous
	weapons were simply the best the previous generation of technology
	had to offer.  Budget constraints may have also played a role.

	<p>
   <li> The tail end of the news broadcast mentions that more divisions
	of Earth troops will join the 356th on Akdor.  That implies some
	sort of permanent presence on the planet itself, as opposed to
	just "in the system" as General Franklin mentioned.

	<p>
   <li> Delenn's transformation doesn't appear to be getting the widespread
	publicity one might expect; the troops didn't seem to recognize her
	at all.  Perhaps they simply don't follow the news.

</ul>

<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>
   <li> "GROPOS" stands for "ground pounders" and refers to the Earth
	Alliance's equivalent of the U.S. Marines.  In fact, the term
	"Earth Force Marine Corps" was contained in the Gropos' marching
	song.
</ul>

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

   <li>@@@844403594 As for GROPOS, that one episode was so far over budget
	that I had to write 2 smaller ones to make up for it, and the many
	people you saw were really just one small group that took forever to
	digitally composite into looking like a much bigger group.

   <li>@@@846703642 <em>Who was the woman Garibaldi referred to, the one he
	doesn't normally have a chance with?</em><br>
	That would be Talia.

   <li> Everything in the battle sequence at the end of Gropos is CGI; no
	models, despite the shadows.  Real fire was sampled for the flames,
	though.

</ul>