lurkers-guide/guide/050

<!-- TITLE Dust to Dust -->

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

<blockquote><cite>
An addictive drug with telepathic effects is found on the station,
prompting a visit by Bester.  G'Kar reaches a turning point.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Koenig,+Walter">Walter Koenig</a> as Bester.
</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/050">8.62</a>

Production number: 306
Original air week: February 5, 1996
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009OOFK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 12, 2003

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by David Eagle
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

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

   <li> Londo's original assignment to Babylon 5 was at the direct request of
	Emperor Turhan, who chose him after everyone else turned the position
	down.

   <li> Dust, an addictive drug, allows non-telepaths of several races to
	probe the minds of others, experiencing all the victim's memories and
	thoughts in the space of a few minutes.  Unfortunately, this leaves the
	victims unconscious, and telepathic victims never recover.  The more
	often Dust is taken, the more is required to achieve the effect the
	next time.  Dust was originally developed, and is apparently still
	being produced, by Psi Corps in an attempt to induce permanent
	telepathy in normal humans; the experiment has been a failure so far.

   <li> The Narn used to have telepaths, long ago, but they and their families
	were exterminated.  The genes for telepathy were too weak in the
	survivors to allow the Narn to breed natural telepaths, but their
	abilities can still be unlocked, briefly, by Dust.

</ul>

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

   <li> How much does G'Kar know about Londo's association with the Shadows?
	Did Kosh stop him before he was able to discover everything?

   <li> Why did Kosh stop G'Kar?  (See
	<a href="#AN.stop">Analysis</a>)

   <li>@@@833220507 How did Kosh know what was happening?

   <li> Was Bester telling the truth about the Psi Corps combatting secret
	threats to the human race, things ordinary people never hear about?
	If so, what are those threats?

   <li> What happened to the Narn telepaths?  (See
	<a href="#AN.narn">Analysis</a>)

   <li> Will the Dust have a permanent effect on G'Kar, such as giving him
	some measure of telepathic ability?

   <li> What did the Corps learn from Talia?  Was she actually dissected, or
	was Bester just baiting Garibaldi?  Did they find out about Ironheart's
	gift
	(<a href="006.html">"Mind War?"</a>)

</ul>

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

   <li> What is the rest of the Psi Corps' business on Babylon 5?  Perhaps
	it involves Lyta Alexander; her presence is probably common knowledge
	by now.

   <li> <a name="AN.narn">The extermination of Narn telepaths</a>
	may be connected to the Shadow
	occupation of the Narn homeworld in the last war.  See
	<a href="049.html#AN.narn">"Voices of Authority."</a>
	Or perhaps the Centauri were responsible, during their previous
	occupation.  It's also possible, though perhaps less likely, that
	the Narn killed all their own telepaths.

   <li> G'Kar asks Londo if being helpless helps him understand the plight of
	the Narn.  But the reverse effect may have taken place as well; G'Kar
	has experienced at least some of the past several years from Londo's
	point of view now, and thus presumably understands why Londo did what
	he did.  Whether that understanding can lead to forgiveness, though,
	is another question.

   <li> Kosh's intrusion into G'Kar's probe of Londo can certainly be viewed
	as manipulation, especially given the use of the image of G'Lan.  What
	Kosh is trying to achieve by appearing to G'Kar, and why he's willing
	to interfere with the Narn and Centauri now when he expressed no
	interest in them before
	(<a href="001.html#NO.KS">"Midnight On the Firing Line"</a>)
	isn't clear.

   <li> In addition to the mention of the Narn and Centauri being alone and
	dying, reminiscent of
	<a href="001.html#NO.KS">"Midnight On the Firing Line,"</a>
	Kosh also tells G'Kar, "I have always been here."  This echoes Kosh's
	statement in Sheridan's dream in
	<a href="033.html#AN:dream">"All Alone In the Night."</a>
	It's still not entirely clear what he means, however.
	Could it have something to do with the "path" revealed to Ivanova in
	<a href="049.html">"Voices of Authority?"</a>

   <li> <a name="AN.stop">Kosh may have stopped G'Kar</a>
	to prevent him from learning too much about the Shadows, on the
	assumption that G'Kar would likely speak out about them in public.
	Since the forces of light are still gathering, that'd be something
	Kosh would want to prevent.  It's also likely that Kosh was maneuvering
	G'Kar to be of greater use in the future, perhaps testing his ability
	to influence G'Kar's behavior through the use of religious visions.

   <li> Probably just a coincidence: Kosh ends G'Kar's quest for Shadow
	information in Londo's mind by saying, "It is enough."  That's exactly
	what Londo said to Endawi
	(<a href="045.html">Matters of Honor"</a>)
	after recalling his dream of the Shadow ships flying overhead on
	Centauri Prime.

   <li> Did G'Kar overdose on Dust?  It is possible that he was about to die,
	given the intensity of all the images he was seeing - the drug hasn't
	been tested on Narn.  And that would be consistant with Kosh's previous
	appearances, when Sheridan was in danger of dying
	(<a href="033.html">"All Alone in the Night"</a>
	and
	<a href="044.html">"The Fall of Night."</a>)
	Is Kosh's direct manipulation restricted only to near-death
	appearances?

   <li> Who are the characters in G'Kar's vision?  The man on the tree is
	his father (which G'Kar mentions, and which fits with his recounting in
	<a href="037.html">"And Now For a Word."</a>)
	It's not clear who the second person is, the old man.  G'Quon, perhaps?
	The third person we know as G'Lan, from G'Kar's exclamation in
	<a href="044.html">"The Fall of Night."</a>

   <li>@@@868381277 Kosh dodged the Vorlon question when G'Kar put it to him;
	in response to being asked, "Who are you?" the vision replied, "I am
	who I have always been," a self-referential answer that conveys
	reflection rather than information.

   <li> Kosh's statement about sacrifice can be interpreted to cover the entire
	Narn race; he may be saying that the Narn (and perhaps the Centauri,
	given his earlier statement about the two races) must die so that the
	rest can live.  If that interpretation is correct, Kosh is preparing
	G'Kar to accept the death of his people as inevitable.  Will G'Kar
	continue to fight for the Narn?

   <li> Vir's position on Minbar was a joke to Londo (strictly a means of
	getting him out of his hair) just as Londo's position was originally
	viewed.  Could Vir parallel Londo's ascension to power, potentially
	rising to great importance in the coming war?  Given his newfound
	affinity for the Minbari, and his distaste for Londo's politics (and
	especially Morden,) he could be a great ally of the Army of Light.
	On the other hand, Londo <em>did</em> get Vir the position in the
	first place, and at the time he told Delenn that it was to get Vir
	out of danger.

   <li> Franklin continues to be on edge; could this be a consequence of his
	stim habit?
	(<a href="047.html">"A Day in the Strife"</a>)

</ul>


<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li> Dust has been mentioned before; for example, in
	<a href="035.html">"Hunter, Prey,"</a>
	Max, the kidnapper, asks Dr. Jacobs if he's a dust smuggler.

   <li>@@@877023485 A possible inconsistency: Bester said the Corps had
	been working on Dust for five years.  But in
	<a href="011.html">"Survivors,"</a>
	Garibaldi recalled a Dust problem on Mars 17 years ago.  Perhaps the
	Corps took over production of an existing drug, or perhaps the Corps
	worked on Dust for five years sometime in the past.

   <li> The Dust vendor's two aliases, Lindstrom and Morgenstern, are the
	surnames of two characters from the comedy series "The Mary Tyler
	Moore Show."

   <li> Morgenstern means "morning star," one of the names used to refer to
	Lucifer in Judeo-Christian texts.

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li> Walter [Koenig]'s first appearance this season will be in "Dust to
	Dust," #306.

<p>
   <li> An interesting thought...as for Bester's personality, keep an eye out
	for "Dust to Dust," episode #6, where you see Bester from a different
	and very interesting angle.  Some of what you say here, he says.  (Not
	about the corps, but about doing what's right as he sees it.)

	<p>
	'Course, whether or not one should *believe* anything he says is another
	question altogether.

<p>
   <li> Re: Kosh...we'll see him again outside his suit in "Dust to Dust," but
	in a somewhat unconventional fashion....

<p>
   <li> <em>The end credit music changed!</em><br>
	Yes, we did change that.  Because we -- I -- forgot to have
	Christopher re-score it when we were re-doing the main title.

<p>
   <li>@@@865181914 Why didn't we do the music change in the end credits at
	the very start of the season, you ask?  Why, what a silly question, it
	was all planned, all intentional, it means...er...it means....

	<p>
	It means we *forgot*.  More correctly, *I* forgot.  We were all so busy
	getting the new main titles done, we just kinda forgot about it until
	the first mix...and then we sorta looked around and said, "....oops."

<p>
   <li> "Dust To Dust" - Looks like a non-arc episode initially, but by the end
	it has a strong effect on the overall storyline, and makes some
	permanent changes in one of our characters.  Combines Bester, the
	telepathic-assault drug Dust, weapons dealers, and brings to a head a
	major part of the G'Kar/Londo thread.

<p>
   <li> "Dust to Dust" is what I call one of my "pretty box" episodes. 
	I set down the pretty box in front of you, and you think you know what
	it is. Then something else entirely jumps out of it at your face. 
	There's more coming here and there.  I like pretty boxes....

<p>
   <li> <em>It's about time we had some heavy arc episodes!</em><br>
	I get this at the start of every season.  Let me repeat
	what I've said, oh, about two dozen times already before.

	<p>
	At the start of every season, we have new people sampling the
	show. Do you want the show to continue?  If you do, then you have to
	continue to add new viewers.  If viewers tune in and they're lost in
	the overall arc, they're going to tune out again.  So you give them
	some stand-alone episodes in the beginning, shows that are a little
	more accessible, but introduce them to the characters, the situations
	and the universe so that when the arc begins to move again, they know
	enough to get into what's going on.

	<p>
	Sure, I could've just kept going right with the strong arc
	episodes. Which the new viewers, 90% of whom sample shows in the first
	few weeks of a new season and not thereafter, wouldn't have been able
	to follow well.  And they would've tuned out.  And it would've been a
	very big nail in the cancellation coffin.  You can bring in new
	viewers, or you can get canceled and never tell the whole story.  Pick
	one.

	<p>
	Second, you cannot -- CANNOT -- sustain the kind of intensity
	you have in the final four over the course of a season.  You need to
	have some lighter moments as contrast or people are going to start
	sticking their heads in ovens all across the country.  So at the start
	of a season, I try to do some lighter stuff, to bring people back up a
	little, bracing for the next drop in the roller coaster.  You need
	peaks and valleys to develop any kind of rhythm, or to appreciate the
	other side of it.

	<p>
	I got the same thing in season one, and season two..."Why these
	light episodes?  What's happened to this arc?"  Then by season's end,
	the chorus usually turns to "That was a GREAT season!"  So my response
	is, Unless you think I've suddenly turned stupid, or I've decided to
	betray the series I've now worked 10 years of my life to produce...will
	you for chrissakes *trust* me once in a while?  Show a little patience.
	When I introduced Vir, everybody on the planet jumped funky all over
	me.  "He's just a comic character!  It's Flounder!  He's dumbing down
	the show!  Space him!  He stinks!  Joe's losing it!"  And now, of
	course, we see what Vir is, and in many surveys he's now one of the
	most popular characters.

	<p>
	You know what the #1 comment from the pilot was, on the nets
	and elsewhere?  "LOSE the guy with the funny hair!  He's just
	ridiculous." Londo. Every time I've done something a little different
	in the show, I've usually been jumped on, because they're not willing
	to trust that I know what I'm doing...until they've seen it for a
	while, then they Get It, and it's "Oh, now I see it."  Great, thanks,
	now that you've been beating on my head for six months.  Next time show
	a little patience.  (And btw, ALL of the comments related above are
	real ones, many of them right here on Compuserve, from people still
	around here.)

	<p>
	Every story can't be an arc story at this point; you've got to
	see the characters outside the arc, in the way they live their lives,
	in other things that happen to them, or else you won't CARE what
	happens to them in the arc. No, the Purple/Green Drazi story didn't
	move the arc ahead, but it showed you a lot about Ivanova, didn't it? 
	So now if and when something should happen to her in the arc, you care
	about her.  It's the difference between just being chess pieces, and
	being *people*.

	<p>
	Okay, here's the breakdown.  Season 3.  You had arc episodes
	only a bit in the first batch.  "Honor," "Voices" and now a little in
	"Dust." You've got one more stand-alone next week, "Exogenesis." 
	That's the last one for a LONG time.  Episodes 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15,
	16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 are ALL arc stories, most of them heavy, none
	less than moderate.

	<p>
	I said, from the start, that each season would have
	stand-alones and arc stories.  About 20% in year one, 35% in year two,
	50% in year three, 70% in year four, and 100% in year five.  And the
	stand-alones tend to get pushed toward the beginning of a season for
	the reasons stated.  Is nobody paying attention when I say these
	things?  Because if so, then why do I get gigged each season at the
	start by people saying "HEY!  HOW COME THESE AREN'T ARC EPISODES?" 
	(And as it looks now, year 3 has closer to 13-14 arc episodes, so we're
	ahead a bit.)

	<p>
	Before people start making sweeping generalizations about the
	season, it might behoove you to see the season first.  If anything, my
	concern in looking at what's been done for year 3 is that we're too
	GRIM for the larger portion of it, and maybe a bit complex...so I'm
	working to clarify a few things here and there as I do these last few.

<p>
   <li>@@@865181914 You'll see Walter again this season after "Dust," and I'm
	trying to work in one more before the end of the season, but it's
	tough, given what's been going on in the latter half of 2260.

<p>
   <li>@@@833560613 BTW, here's something to notice when you watch DTD
	again.  The montage scene with Londo and G'Kar lasts, I think, 10 maybe
	12 seconds.  But that one piece took John and me *hours* to put
	together.  Go through frame by frame, and you'll see some of those bits
	are only 3 or 4 frames long (one second is 24 frames).  We were nearly
	blind by the time we were done, but it was worth it.

<p>
   <li> RE: Bester...thanks.  I'd decided a while ago that the next time
	we saw him, he either had to win, or he had to be right.  If he lost
	again, it'd cut his credibility out.  This gave me a chance to do some
	interesting things with him.  He's a fascinating guy...a creep, and I
	wouldn't trust him for a second, but fascinating nonetheless....

<p>
   <li> <em>Wouldn't the telepaths have tipped Bester off that something was
	going on between Sheridan and the Minbari?</em><br>
	Simple fact is, the rules of the
	Psi Corps would forbid them from engaging ANY human telepath for this
	purpose. So the only other recourse is non-humans.

<p>
   <li> <em>Did Bester read Franklin when he was injected?</em><br>
	I think you're misremembering; Bester nudged up his right sleeve with
	his left hand and held it out; Franklin stuck the needle in.  I don't
	believe he held his hand (which was gloved in any event).

<p>
   <li>@@@865181914 <em>If Garibaldi knew Bester was drugged, why did he
	suspect Bester of reading the smuggler?</em><br>
	I think it came out of the fact that Garibaldi doesn't trust ANYthing
	about Bester, and that it's not out of the realm of possibility for
	Bester to find some way to defeat the drug.  If not, then his line was
	basically another way of stating "What the ___ are you pulling and why
	are you doing it and why the hell didn't you TELL me you were going to
	do this before pulling it?"

<p>
   <li> Londo knows G'Kar knows, yes.  He couldn't not know.

<p>
   <li> <em>Was the music during G'Kar's rush of images from Londo new?</em><br>
	With some thematic exceptions, most of the music Chris composes
	for us each week is unique, and tailored for that episode.  So yes,
	it's all mainly new.

	<p>
	Re: the coat of welcoming...here's a little tidbit...we had to
	make up an entire alphabet for most of our major races (and I've been
	gradually building up a dictionary here and there for languages).  So
	they came and asked if they could embroider something in Minbari on the
	shirt Vir's wearing when he comes back.  I said sure.  Did I have
	anything in mind?  No, not really.

	<p>
	So I'm on the set that day, and I see the embroidered shirt, and
	I ask what these five letters spell, since I don't offhand read Minbari
	yet.  He looked up at me and smiled.  "It spells out ALOHA."

	<p>
	We have a very demented crew.

<p>
   <li> <em>Kosh would rather sacrifice all the Narn through manipulation
	than take direct action?</em><br>
	Exactly.  I mean, in three years, what the heck have the Vorlons
	actually *done* to help "our side?"  Let the others do it.

<p>
   <li> Actually, I tend to agree with that assessment.  They've guided
	and instructed and pointed, yes...and manipulated...but they still
	haven't had to step up to the plate in other areas.

	<p>
	And I don't think the Narns have sacrificed nearly enough yet. 
	You can always sacrifice more.

<p>
   <li> A person can be sincere and still manipulative, in Kosh's case. 
	If he believes he's right, perhaps he's willing to manipulate anyone
	toward that goal, if it's worth it.

<p>
   <li>@@@865181914 Oh, the Vorlons can be *very* invasive, when they want
	to be, if it suits their purposes.  There's no Vorlon prime
	directive...it's manipulation, whether small or large.

<p>
   <li> <em>Why <strong>not</strong> sooner?</em><br>
	Because G'Kar needed to hit bottom, real bottom, before he
	would be receptive to the message...because time doesn't mean to the
	vorlons what it means to us...and because he was finally mentally
	receptive due to the dust.

<p>
   <li>@@@850297524 It was his father in the first part, G'Lan in angelic
	form, since after all that was G'Lan's form.

<p>
   <li>@@@865181914 The figure he was talking through during the scene
	appeared to him as his father; the very last figure, seen departing,
	was that of G'Lan.

<p>
   <li> Well, G'Kar doubtless *thinks* he saw a spirit, possibly the
	spirit of his father, possibly something else...revealed later as
	G'Lan, of course, taking that image in order to give him a revelation.

<p>
   <li>@@@840404655 <em>Why didn't G'Kar embrace his father?</em><br>
	Logically, G'Kar knows that
	his father is dead.  He saw him die.  So whoever this was, wasn't his
	father, even though he was appearing that way.  Or was a spirit, and
	either way, he would've been sufficiently apprehensive about it not to
	go blithely around embracing something he didn't understand.  I sure as
	hell wouldn't.

<p>
   <li> Correct.  They see reality, and time, and space somewhat
	differently than we do.

<p>
   <li> No, I wouldn't say that the shadows and vorlons see space, time
	and reality in the same ways.

<p>
   <li> <em>What did G'Kar shout out?</em><br>
	And what G'Kar said was, "Dear G'Quon, no more...."

<p>
   <li> <em>Did G'Kar recognize Morden?</em><br>
	G'Kar probably has not yet put that together; remember, he only
	met Morden once, for about 4 minutes, a couple of years previous to
	this.

<p>
   <li> <em>Does Kosh find it easier to appear to people when they're in
	altered mental states?</em><br>
	Yes, it helps if the person's mind is in a different state --
	asleep, exhausted, in a heightened state of awareness -- for the
	Vorlons to make contact, which is why their presence is often
	associated with dream imagery.

<p>
   <li> <em>The sign behind Kosh says, "WARNING!"</em><br>
	Yes, the sign does indeed say warning.  Look for another sign
	right behind somebody at the end of "Severed Dreams."

<p>
   <li> <em>G'Kar really beat Londo up.</em><br>
	Implying more than one sees is something that you kinda have to
	learn over time.  It can be very effective, as here.

	<p>
	You just have to kinda put yourself out on a limb, as a writer
	or as an actor.

	<p>
	This scene *should* be very affecting.  It goes to Joe's Theory
	of Violence on TV.  To wit...that we need more of it, but it has to be
	realistic violence.  It has to show consequences.  You glorify or
	desensitize violence when you shoot somebody, and they just go down, no
	yelling in pain, no sobbing as their guts fall out onto the street. 
	It's just gunfire, loud noises, excitement and fun.  If you're going to
	show violence, then show it for what it *is*, and show it the way
	people would react to it.  Make the audience understand that this is a
	*person*, not one in a series of body counts.

<p>
   <li> Actually, just to clarify the legalese, the judge sentenced him
	to *no less* than 60 days; that's the minimum, it could be more.

<p>
   <li> The female Psi Cop here *was* the same as in ARTDP, played by
	Judy Levitt, who is also Walter's wife.

	<p>
	Yeah, everyone turned in great performances in this one, very
	intense and layered.  And as a result of G'Kar's attack, the next
	several episodes will find him still in prison.  In the B5 universe,
	you don't just go in for a long time at the end of an ep and next thing
	you're out again.  He has to serve his time, and now we'll see him in a
	cell for a while.

	<p>
	And yes, you'll learn more about what happened to the Narn
	telepaths in coming months.

<p>
   <li> With Ivanova, I've tried to construct a small emotional arc, in
	that when she arrived, she was the new kid, she was a bit uncomfortable
	with the job, and responded by being very formal, very businesslike, a
	bit on the snide side.  As she's gotten more comfortable with the job,
	and the people around her, she's relaxed a bit around her
	co-workers...but if somebody crosses her, as Bester tends to do, she
	lets fly with some pretty sharp lines.

</ul>