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277 lines
16 KiB
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[1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
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### GUIDE ### [3][Background] [4][Synopsis] [5][Credits] [6][Episode
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List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]
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_Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
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- [13]Notes - [14]JMS
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_________________________________________________________________
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Overview
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Londo's career is in jeopardy when a beautiful slave seduces him
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and steals a sensitive computer file. Garibaldi investigates an
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unauthorized use of a restricted communications channel.
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[15]Fabiana Udenio as Adira Tyree. [16]Clive Revill as Trakis.
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[17]Robert Phalen as Andrei Ivanov.
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[18]P5 Rating: [19]6.79
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Production number: 104
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Original air date: February 9, 1994
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Written by Larry DiTillio
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Directed by Bruce Seth Green
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_________________________________________________________________
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Backplot
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* Trakis: "Do you know why a drunken fool like Mollari has the power
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he does? Because his family has been collecting dirt on other
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families for years, like all the 'noble' houses of the Centauri
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republic."
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* Londo: "We Centauri live our lives for appearances: position,
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status, title. These are the things by which we define ourselves.
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But when I look beneath the mask I am forced to wear, I see only
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emptiness."
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* Centauri law permits individuals to own Centauri slaves. Owners
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are legally responsible for the actions of their slaves. This
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appears to be a slave system of economics rather than of caste.
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According to Trakis, powerlessness and slavery is the fate of all
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Centauri who don't play the game of blackmail and backstabbing.
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Unanswered Questions
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* What was the Euphrates treaty compromise that Sinclair forced
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Londo to accept?
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Analysis
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* Londo and G'Kar agree over a drink that females are the finest of
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all things in life. They are much more friendly with each other
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now than when last we saw them (cf: [20]"Midnight on the Firing
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Line"). The Narn must have been very pacifying in the meantime.
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* Intense anger from a couple nearby people is enough to send Talia
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away for a breather.
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* Londo agrees to Sinclair's compromise on the Euphrates treaty in
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exchange for his personal help recovering the purple files.
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However, this should not be taken as another example of Londo
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putting personal concerns above state concerns. In a profoundly
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blackmailable culture like the Centauri, power lost by one
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individual or family would always be gained by another. But if an
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outsider were to get hold of a treasure trove like Londo's purple
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files, all of Centauri would be diminished. There is an
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interesting parallel here to the Minbari concern for souls (cf:
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[21]"Soul Hunter").
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* Ivanova's brother was killed in the Earth/Minbari war, her mother
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committed suicide (cf: [22]"Midnight on the Firing Line"), and
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she's been estranged from her father for years. Thus it's
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unsurprising she's so hard-edged.
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* Talia is willing to skirt Psi Corps regulations when a life is at
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stake (though she has no concern for Londo's career). The Psi
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Corps' hold on remote psis appears to be pretty weak.
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* When she was approached about the plan, Talia asked Sinclair if
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Londo was serious about a woman's life being at stake. Shouldn't
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she have sensed Londo's distress? Strong emotions are difficult to
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block out, she says ([23]"Mind War,") and with Adira's life and
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his career at stake, Londo would presumably be quite anxious. Of
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course, she may have sensed the anxiety but not its reason.
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* Ivanova is willing to skirt EA regulations for personal perks.
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(cf: [24]"War Prayer")
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* When G'Kar meets with Trakis to exchange the information, Trakis
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says to him, "You said nothing about a telepath." From this it is
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clear that G'Kar was the one who contacted Trakis. However, Trakis
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knew through the bug he planted on Londo that Sinclair was onto
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him. So, Sinclair must have set up G'Kar's call to Trakis in such
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a way that it wouldn't arouse his suspicions.
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* Telepath-aided negotiation must make future diplomacy much
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different than it is now. No posturing, tailored versions of the
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situation back home, empty threats, or hidden agendas. Parties
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have the same freedom to make choices for their governments, but
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there are vanishingly few tactics left to gain more advantage over
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one's adversary than one already has.
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Notes
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* The episode's title is a term dating back to Roman times, still in
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use in Britain. Roman senators in the days of the Republic wore
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purple edged togas as a symbol of royalty, since purple dye was
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very expensive. Today, members of the House of Lords wear purple
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robes for state occasions. When someone is made a peer in the UK
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they are said to have been "raised to the purple." Hereditary
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peers are "born to the purple". Perhaps this implies that the
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purple files are so named because they are what keeps Londo's
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family in its preeminent position.
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* G'Kar glances no less than four times at the human dancer behind
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him when he and Sinclair first confront Londo about the treaty.
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* Babylon 5 communications has a priority "Gold Channel" reserved
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for emergency communications. Sinclair's express permission is
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required to use it, and its existence is known only to the
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ambassadors and senior officers.
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* Londo's family heirloom, from the earliest days of the Empire, is
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a stylized eye-and-teardrop.
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* Universe Today main headline: Homeguard Leader Convicted
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* "Fresh Air" is the finest restaurant on Babylon 5.
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* Talia used to work for the "Political Bureau".
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* "I like to know all there is about Babylon 5," Sinclair says, "and
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Garibaldi's files are very thorough."
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* Ivanova appears to wear only one earring, though it's hard to tell
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since throughout the episode we get no more than a glimpse of the
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right side of her head.
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jms speaks
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* We're currently finishing up production on "Born to the Purple,"
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with Clive Revell and Fabiana Udeno. It's a very offbeat and funny
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story (by Larry DiTillio, natch) which adds a new side to Londo's
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character. It puts our characters into different situations than
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we're used to, and it's fun seeing how they react to these new
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conditions.
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* Trakis, Adira's owner, was not a Centauri, but (and this is
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something we may bring up at some point down the road), was at one
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point a Centauri slave.
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* Re: Londo as a romantic character...bless your heart. You are the
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first to have nailed it absolutely on the head. If I had to write
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a description of the character, I doubt I could have done any
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better than what you just wrote. There are a *lot* of episodes
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that bring this out in him, including the next one up, "Born to
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the Purple," which I suspect will end virtually all of the hair
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jokes once and for all.
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Anyway...yes, and thank you, that's it *precisely*.
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* Let's just say for now that you'll learn something very unusual
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about Centauri "intimacy" in "The Quality of Mercy."
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* Fabiana didn't shave her head to play Adira; that's a prosthetic
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head piece. Ditto with all our Centauri women. (Funnily enough,
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the one time we DID have a bald woman as a background extra, those
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not in the know on stage kept commenting on how fake the bald-cap
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looked....)
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* The point you raise is exactly correct; which is why we've set up
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the Psi Corps in such a way as to *prevent* them from becoming a
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deus ex machina all the time. This is what's always bothered me
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about the way "empaths" are treated on ST; it's a terrible
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invasion of privacy. The Psi Corps has strict rules about who can
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and can't be scanned, and under what conditions. In "Purple," she
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couldn't just go scan Trakis; she had to be hired, had to be
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already engaged in a business capacity, and had to find it *only*
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in surface thoughts, no deliberate poking. And this is the ONLY --
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repeat, the ONLY -- time this is done in the entire season, aside
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from the accidental run-in with Londo in the pilot episode.
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We'll get deeper into the rules and regs of the Psi Corps as we
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go, further establishing that there's a lot they're expressly
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forbidden from doing by law.
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* I confess I don't see the problem. In real life, some women are
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scientists, and doctors, and atheletes...and some women dance in
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bars, some women hook part- or full-time. Some men are scholars
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and diplomats and teachers...and some men are gigolos and thieves
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and *also* dance in bars. Where exactly is the problem in
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portraying both sides of this? Have we become so concerned with
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being politically correct that we can not show a legitimate part
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of human existence?
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B5 has all kinds, and both sides of all kinds. Male and female,
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equally. I "chose" exotic dancers for a kind of sleazy,
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not-entirely legitimate operation, a backroom club. What would one
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*expect* to find there? Opera singers? You look at the situation,
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and you choose what is *appropriate to the situation*.
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I would also point out that the dancers didn't "eagerly rush
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forward to betray their friend." Londo was trying to find Adira in
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hopes of helping her. He didn't say he was going to do anything
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bad to her, and he was probably known to more than a few of them.
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He was simply trying to find her. The coin was an added incentive.
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Back when I was an investigative reporter, I did some research on
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strip joints while I was living in SAn Diego. Spent a LOT of time
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talking to nude dancers (when they had their clothes on, I hasten
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to add). And 99.9% of them had a rule: you want to ask questions,
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you pay. That simple. That's how this stuff *works*. My job is to
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keep the B5 reality as close as possible to our reality in that
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respect.
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Some of them probably wanted to help, knowing Londo was okay. Some
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probably didn't care. And some probably would've betrayed her at
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the tip of a coin. Life's like that. So again, where in this is
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the problem?
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* Re: the club owner recognizing Sinclair (or not)...this is
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something we discussed. Can Sinclair go places in the station and
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not be recognized? In some cases, no. In a place like the Dark
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Star, maybe so; this isn't the kind of place he generally hangs
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out in. It's a question of how much day-to-day interaction
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somebody would have with him. Yes, he's an important figure; but
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I'm not sure if I'd immediately recognize L.A. Mayor Richard
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Riordan at first glance, particularly in different style of dress,
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in an unusual location. We're *not* going to do it a lot -- just
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once this season -- but we thought it was a reasonable approach.
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* This was a bit cut from the script for time; Gold Channels are
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ONLY for official use, they're high-priority channels that can go
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anywhere back on Earth. Commercial communications are less
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reliable and only have a few channels available; you've got to
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wait for a call to go through. To use a Gold Channel for personal
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communications is a No-No.
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* Regarding Ivanova...it's not really an attempt to pull at heart
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strings, as it is to establish that this is someone who's had, and
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is still having, a pretty rough life. It's a real roller-coaster
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for her, and the way she survives it is to absolutely bottle it up
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inside. She has had angst throughout her life, and she's in for
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more.
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We start to track that in little ways that probably no one will
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notice, as well as making it the occasional story point. A little
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way nobody'll notice: after this episode, she starts messing with
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her hair, which we'd deliberately set as extremely tight until
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now. Suddenly she doesn't have someone for whom she has to be a
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certain way, and she has to start finding her *own* identity, and
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it ain't easy.
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* Larry DiTillio's episodes this season are "Born to the Purple,"
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and "Deathwalker." He's currently working on a third, tentatively
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entitled "TKO." And yes, he uses blood instead of
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ink...unfortunately, it's mine.
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* There will be both sex and romance on B5 (sometimes together,
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sometimes not). It's perversely appropriate that in the B5 series,
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it's not the Commander who gets laid first, or Garibaldi, or
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G'Kar... it's Londo. And it's a very funny, but very touching and
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moving episode.
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* It's a standard bed, works fine. Though we *did* have a thing in
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mind where Londo sits up in bed, having just had wonderful sex,
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and his hair is now hanging limp...but in a sudden burst of sanity
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we decided against it.
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_________________________________________________________________
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Originally compiled by Matthew Ryan _matt@uhs.uchicago.edu_
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[30][Next]
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[31]Last update: January 12, 1998
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References
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1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
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2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
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3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/003.shtml
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/003.html
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/003.html
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6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/002.html
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8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/004.html
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9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#OV
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10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#BP
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11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#UQ
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12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#AN
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13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#NO
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#JS
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15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Udenio,+Fabiana
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16. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Revill,+Clive
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17. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Phalen,+Robert
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18. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
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19. file://localhost/lurk/p5/003
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20. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/001.html#AN:1
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21. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/002.html#AN:2:2
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22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/001.html#BP:6
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23. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/006.html
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24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/007.html
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25. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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26. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/003.html#TOP
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27. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
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28. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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29. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/002.html
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30. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/004.html
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31. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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