lurkers-guide/guide/508

<!-- TITLE Appearances and Other Deceits -->

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

<blockquote><cite>
As a group of propaganda specialists visits the Excalibur to try to improve
its image, the crew comes across a derelict alien ship.
</cite>
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Vickery,+John">John Vickery</a> as Mr. Welles.

</blockquote>

<pre>
Production number: 113
Original air date: July 28, 1999
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00061QJSK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: December 7, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Stephen Furst
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

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

   <li>@@@933615846 Mr. Welles
	(<a href="044.html">"The Fall of Night"</a>)
	is still working as a propagandist for the Earth government.

   <li>@@@933615846 Somewhere in the galaxy there exists a race of aliens who
	are able to pass their consciousness from one body to another by
	touch, effectively possessing the new host.  They reproduce by
	subdividing as they spread, the old host retaining part of the
	alien presence and passing it on to the new.  Rather than send
	their physical bodies out on risky space journeys to colonize
	other worlds, they sent out a series of probes, each imbued with
	a piece of the alien consciousness.  As the probes are discovered,
	the aliens take over the worlds in question.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@933615846 Where is the mind-altering aliens' original homeworld? 

   <li>@@@933615846 How many other probes are drifting through space waiting
	to be discovered?

   <li>@@@933615846 Where did the derelict spacecraft come from?

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@933615846 Though it turned out to be correct, Max's line of thought
	about the alien writing missed an obvious possibility.  He noted that
	the writing on the ship and the aliens' spoken language seemed to bear
	no relation to one another.  The explanation could have been as simple
	as the ship being manufactured by one group of aliens and crewed by
	another; the crew might have bought or stolen the ship from someone
	else.

   <li>@@@933658333 As the alien was being forced out the airlock, it tried
	to say to Gideon, "I know what you're looking for.  I know where you
	can find it!"  Was it referring to a cure for the Drakh plague?  If
	so, did it in fact know of a cure, or was it just trying to tell
	whatever lie was necessary to save its life?

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@931207368 Director Stephen Furst played Vir in the original series.

   <li>@@@931207368 The costume changes in this episode are a result of a
	quirk in the series' production: after five episodes were
	filmed with the "new" costumes and set designs introduced in this
	episode, TNT increased the show's budget.  This episode and the
	ones before it in the airing sequence were filmed after the budget
	increase.  Had the series continued beyond 13 episodes, the 14th
	episode would have featured an "accident" in the laundry room that
	forced the crew back to their more expensive uniforms.

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li>@@@935688992 <em>It's obvious that the episodes filmed 6th through
	13th were intended to air before the first 5 that were filmed.  Why
	on Earth would you do that?</em><br>
	Let me ask you a real simple question:

	<p>
	What makes you think it was my decision?

	<p>
	TNT wanted the "new-look" episodes aired first.  They wanted to push
	the first 5 back as far as possible.  I initially figured we'd do 5-6
	of the "new look" ones first, the minimum possible, then the first 5,
	then the new-look (black uniform) ones to the end.

	<P>
	TNT *mandated* that the black-uniform ones would go first.  It was not
	my choice.  I have NO control over broadcast.  

	<p>
	Not only did they want to hold them back, they were debating if they'd
	even allow us to FINISH post on the first 5.  It was a struggle to let
	them finish 'em, and they were the last ones to go through post.

	<p>
	Before you fire, it's always a good idea to know what the target is
	first.

<p>
   <li>@@@934310433 "As Gideon was preparing Greenberg's body for Airlock'nLoad,
	the alien within was pleading:"Don't do this! I know what you're looking
	for!" Was this a reference to the Plague/Cure?"

	<p>
	Yep.  But since the body couldn't talk aloud, it couldn't
	communicate this effectively.

</ul>