lurkers-guide/guide/112

<!-- TITLE Thirdspace -->

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

<blockquote><cite>
Two-hour TV movie.
The crew discovers a mysterious, ancient artifact in hyperspace.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Belafonte-Harper,+Shari">Shari Belafonte</a> as Dr. Trent.
</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/112">8.05</a>

Production number: TNTCF1
Original air date: July 19, 1998
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002B15UQ/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 17, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Jesus Trevi&ntilde;o
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345424549/thelurkersguidet">Novelization</a> by Peter David
</pre>


<p>
<hr size=3>

<h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@900914902 Over a million years ago, the Vorlons, believing
	themselves just one step short of godhood, decided to build a device
	to open a doorway to what they believed was the well of souls, the
	source of life.  The device, similar in basic function to a jumpgate, 
	did open a hole to another place: a universe
	inhabited by an alien race even more powerful than the Vorlons, a
	race that believed itself the only intelligence worthy of existence.
	The aliens were extremely powerful telepaths, able to take control of
	many of the Vorlons and turn them against their own kind.  Eventually
	the aliens were beaten back, but before the device could be destroyed,
	some of the Vorlons under alien influence flung it into hyperspace.
	The Vorlons never found it.

   <li>@@@900918110 The Vorlons implanted Lyta with a memory fragment
	detailing the story of the device, and instructions for its destruction
	should it be found.  They also left her with memories of some of their
	other mistakes.

   <li>@@@900914902 Interplanetary Expeditions operates outside the bounds
	of the Earth Alliance regulations that govern most companies.

   <li>@@@900914902 Babylon 5 carries a small supply of tactical nuclear
	weapons small enough to be carried by hand.

   <li>@@@900962814 Zack wants to date Lyta, and has gone so far as to tell
	her so.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@900914902 What were the Vorlons' other mistakes?  What else does
	Lyta know about Vorlon history?

   <li>@@@900974298 How long did it take the Vorlons to vanquish the aliens?

   <li>@@@900919178 What did the Vorlon writing on the artifact say?

   <li>@@@900918110 Who built the original set of jumpgates?

   <li>@@@900919178 What was the alien city, and what was the spire in its
	center?  Why were so many people having visions of it?  Possibly
	the city was on the alien homeworld, but why would they broadcast
	images of their world to strangers?

   <li>@@@900914902 How much of Dr. Trent's supposition about thirdspace was
	correct?  Barring the obvious problem of the alien race, could
	thirdspace be used as she described, like a faster version of
	hyperspace?  Are there other spaces beyond thirdspace, perhaps an
	infinite number of them?

   <li>@@@900956645 Does Lyta remember anything Zack said to her?

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li>@@@900953736 <a name="chron">This story took place after</a>
	the Shadow War, but before the declaration of war against Earth.  That
	puts it between
	<a href="072.html">"Into the Fire"</a>
	and
	<a href="080.html">"Moments of Transition."</a>

	<p>
	Other clues allow it to be placed more precisely.  It took place after
	<a href="074.html">"The Illusion of Truth"</a>
	because that was the last time Zack wore his Earth Alliance uniform.
	Just after Zack was fitted with his new uniform in
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement,"</a>
	Delenn greeted Callenn and told him she'd be ready to leave for
	Minbar in one day, less than the amount of time elapsed in this story
	(Sheridan remarked to Trent that she'd had five days to examine the
	artifact.)  It couldn't have taken place after
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement"</a>
	since Dr. Franklin left in that episode before Delenn returned; the two
	of them weren't on the station at the same time again until after the
	declaration of war.

	<p>
	That puts "Thirdspace" between the first and second scenes of
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement"</a>
	(a slight inconsistency since Callenn's ship can be seen to arrive
	in the opening shot, before Zack's fitting) unless Zack's visit to the
	Minbari tailors wasn't the first time he wore the uniform.  If his visit
	was just an adjustment, possibly a result of being in fistfights
	in "Thirdspace," the story takes place between
	<a href="074.html">"The Illusion of Truth"</a>
	and
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@900918111 The raiders fighting Ivanova's squadron were attempting
	to steal a shipment of Quantium 40, which is used in jumpgate
	construction
	(<a href="006.html">"Mind War."</a>)
	That resonates with the discussion between Trent and Morishi about
	the building of jumpgates.

<p>
   <li>@@@900919178 Why didn't the White Stars open jump points for Ivanova's
	squadron after the fight with the raiders, rather than forcing her
	to travel slowly to the nearest jumpgate?  One answer is that
	Starfuries aren't equipped to navigate in hyperspace unless they
	start off from a known location and can follow a beacon.

<p>
   <li>@@@900918111 How did Dr. Trent know that the Vorlons enhanced Lyta's
	telepathic abilities?  One possibility is that Bester, or someone
	else in the Psi Corps, told IPX about it.  Bester discovered Lyta's
	enhancement in
	<a href="073.html">"Epiphanies."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@900962752 In Ivanova's dream, Vir was caressed by women while Ivanova
	was killed.  That may have been because Vir was willing to give in to
	the alien influence, while Ivanova insisted on questioning it.  He was
	rewarded for his compliance while she was punished for her resistance.

<p>
   <li>@@@900956361 How did the Vorlons get into thirdspace to begin with?
	If, as Lyta said, the door has to be opened from both sides, that
	would imply that the aliens in thirdspace already had their side
	open and were waiting for someone from normal space to reciprocate.
	Or maybe they somehow become aware of what the Vorlons were up to, and
	opened their side at roughly the same time.  Either way, they've been
	waiting for the door to reopen for over a million years, though of
	course time may not pass at the same rate in thirdspace and normal
	space.

<p>
   <li>@@@900956645 The fighters that emerged from the gateway appeared
	similar in basic form to Vorlon ships.  Were they examples of ancient
	Vorlon ship design?  The aliens might have kept possessed Vorlons
	around to use as cannon fodder in case the gate opened again, on the
	assumption that it might be the Vorlons doing the opening.

<p>
   <li>@@@900956361 Were the Vorlons alone in their fight against the aliens?
	Given the potential danger, it's possible the Vorlons found themselves
	fighting alongside the Shadows and other First Ones against the alien
	forces; the Shadows would have as much of a vested interest as anyone
	else in seeing the aliens beaten back (though it'd be consistent with
	Vorlon arrogance to not mention anyone else's involvement to Sheridan.)

<p>
   <li>@@@900919179 It may have been the conflict with the alien race that
	prompted the Vorlons to invest effort into researching and developing
	telepathy.  The Vorlons were almost certainly strong telepaths before
	the conflict, though, since Lyta mentioned that they had already been
	making themselves appear as beings of light when they visited other
	worlds.

<p>
   <li>@@@900924492 Though it was never stated outright, the purpose of
	concentrating fire on the front of the artifact (which itself begs
	the question of which side was the "front") was probably to redirect
	shield energy away from the other side.  That's evidenced by the fact
	that a hole opened in the force field in the rear when Ivanova ordered
	everyone to fire at the same time.

<p>
   <li>@@@900924492 Why wasn't Draal's help enlisted?  The Great Machine might
	not have had enough power to destroy the artifact outright, but its
	weaponry would presumably have been helpful in the assault.  Given
	the high stakes -- a powerful, implacable enemy even the Vorlons
	considered a threat -- it's not clear what reason Sheridan would
	have had for holding Draal in reserve.

<p>
   <li>@@@900914902 What were the creatures in the artifact?  Were they members
	of the alien race?  Did they arrive after the artifact was powered
	on, or were they lying dormant for millenia?  The fact that they
	had the same shape as the shadow in Lyta's vision, and their tentacles
	looked like the one in Ivanova's dream, suggests that they were from
	thirdspace.

<p>
   <li>@@@900914902 This was the fourth time Sheridan used nuclear weapons
	against vastly superior alien forces; he used nuclear mines to destroy
	the Minbari cruiser Black Star
	(<a href="111.html">"In the Beginning"</a>)
	and a Shadow city
	(<a href="066.html">"Z'ha'dum."</a>)
	He also used nukes to get the attention of the Vorlons and Shadows at
	Coriana 6
	(<a href="072.html">"Into the Fire."</a>)

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@882989498 Chronologically, the movie takes place during
	season four, after
	<a href="072.html">"Into the Fire."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@867698018 According to producer George Johnsen, "Thirdspace" contains
	more new special effects shots than all of season one combined.

<p>
   <li>@@@869037257 Noted science-fiction illustrator
	<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/Author=Barlowe%2C%20Wayne%20Douglas/">Wayne Barlowe,</a>
	author of
	<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0894803247/">"Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials,"</a>
	designed the artifact.

<p>
   <li>@@@900914902 Deuce also appeared in the season-one episode
	<a href="015.html">"Grail."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@900921140 In the crowd scene on the observation deck just after the
	artifact is powered up, the albino smuggler from
	<a href="076.html">"Racing Mars"</a>
	can be seen briefly.

<p>
   <li>@@@901169987 Spelling error: during Trent's voiceover, when she's
	examining the displays on several of the monitors in her office,
	the text "EMF EMMISSIONS" can be seen running vertically down the
	side of one of the computer displays.  It should be "emissions."

<p>
   <li>@@@901351057 Science goof: Ivanova claimed that carbon dating was
	used to determine that the artifact was over one million years old.
	Unless she meant some different process than what's referred to as
	"carbon dating" today, that wouldn't have been possible.  Carbon
	dating is a very specific process: it is used to determine the age
	of dead plants and animals, and is based on the assumption that the
	amount of carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon, in the Earth's
	atmosphere has remained more or less constant over time.  The theory
	is that a living organism will ingest C14 from the air and maintain
	about the same ratio of C14 to normal carbon in its body as exists
	in the atmosphere.

	<p>
	After an organism dies, the C14 in its body breaks down and isn't
	replaced; a rough time of death is determined by measuring the
	difference between the amount of C14 in the atmosphere and the amount
	remaining in the organism's body.

	<p>
	Thus there are several reasons the B5 crew couldn't have used carbon
	dating to determine the age of the artifact.  First, the artifact
	wasn't alive (though that point is debatable considering its Vorlon
	origin.)  Second, given that the B5 crew had no idea where the artifact
	came from, they wouldn't have had a baseline to compare against, and
	thus couldn't have determined a difference in C14 levels.  Third,
	C14 has a fairly short half-life; carbon dating can't be used to
	determine ages much beyond 50,000 years since all the C14 breaks
	down in that amount of time.

<p>
   <li>@@@901351057 Sheridan's passphrase contained the word "Abraxas."
	The Abraxas was a figure from Gnostic mythology, most commonly found
	on small talismans called
	<a href="http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/a/abraxas.html">"Abraxas
	stones"</a>
	which were popular for a time in the Roman Empire.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@889482571 <em>When will it air?</em><br>
	I checked my figures, and apparently it's either
	the 9th or the 19th of July for Thirdspace...they've moved it up at TNT
	from their original November plans as sort of a way of giving a present
	to B5 fans after having to wait for the NBA Playoffs to finish.

<p>
   <li>@@@889503710 Barlow did a great job for us designing very alien looking 
	stuff that looks different than what we've done before...a nice break
	in our format...

<p>
   <li>@@@865269566 "You mentioned that you were already shooting Thirdspace,
	the first B5 movie. Wasn't "In The Beginning" the Minbari war story
	going to be first?"

	<p>
	The prequel is aired first, but produced second, because B5
	didn't exist during the prequel time period, so rather than tear and
	and rebuild sets, we're doing Thirdspace first.

<p>
   <li>@@@865969769 <em>How is having more money affecting the
	production?  How is the crew handling making a movie?</em><br>
	Actually, we don't really have that much more money.  Each
	episode costs a tick under $1 million; for purposes of discussion,
	let's round that up to 1. So you're now talking 2 million for 2 hours. 
	Now you've got another million to spend.  *But* ALL the prices go up by
	union scale and whatever else can be negotiated.  Actors fees go up,
	writers fees go up, directors fees go up, crew fees go up...so at the
	end of the day, you find you have a *little* more to spend, but not
	really that much.

	<p>
	As for how everyone's handling it...really no different than the
	series. Actors learn their lines, directors do their shots, the
	atmosphere on set really isn't much different.  The only substantive
	difference is that, because we know we won't be airing these until
	January and March/April, at soonest, we have more time in post and can
	therefore do more EFX.

	<p>
	George calculated that there are as many EFX in "Thirdspace" as
	in the entire first season of B5.

<p>
   <li>@@@890333528 <em>Early season five doesn't seem to have much
	CGI.</em><br>
	I did keep the first batch just a *bit* on the light side in
	order to have room to do the massive amount of rendering on "In the
	Beginning" and "Thirdspace," the latter of which has (finally delivered)
	topped out at 27 minutes of CGI out of 94 minutes, which has got to be
	some kind of record.

<p>
   <li>@@@882989498 <a name="JS.when"><em>Is it set at the end of season
	four?</em><br>
	No, it would be about mid-fourth season.

<p>
   <li>@@@902700637 Anybody can follow this movie and enjoy it; whether
	you've seen the show before or not.

<p>
   <li>@@@884031156 "I have heard that Thirdspace might be the pilot or
	lead-up to Crusade. True,untrue?"
    
	<p>
	Untrue.

</ul>