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								   _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis

								   - [13]Notes - [14]JMS


								     _________________________________________________________________


								Overview


								     An accident in the docking area kills a worker, threatening to

								     spark an illegal strike. Londo interferes in an important Narn

								     religious observation which leads to a confrontation between him

								     and G'Kar. [15]John Snyder as Orin Zento. [16]Katy Boyer as Neeoma

								     Connoly. [17]Aki Aleong as Senator Hidoshi.


								   Originally titled "Backlash"

								Sub-genre: Drama

								[18]P5 rating: [19]7.84


								Production number:  114

								Original air date:  May 11, 1994


								Written by Kathryn Drennan

								Directed by Jim Johnston


								     _________________________________________________________________


								Backplot


								     * The Narn homeworld is 12 Narn light years away, about 10 Earth

								       light years.

								     * Narn ranks seem to connote some kind of religious authority; the

								       highest-ranked Narn is expected to lead religious services.

								     * The Rush Act, put in place during the Earth-Minbari War, allows

								       the Earth government to break up labor strikes using any means

								       necessary.


								Unanswered Questions


								     * How much trouble did Londo go through to get the G'Quan Eth plant,

								       and did he do it solely to upset G'Kar?


								Analysis


								     * The Earth government has a very low tolerance for troublemakers,

								       it seems -- at least, troublemakers who operate in the open.


								Notes


								     * The G'Quan Eth plant, used in Narn religious rituals, is prized by

								       the Centauri for use as a pleasure drug, a use the Narn consider

								       sacrilige.

								     * The Rush Act was named after conservative American television and

								       radio commentator [20]Rush Limbaugh.


								jms speaks


								     * Nearly all of our production crew appear in "By Any Means

								       Necessary" at various spots; the guy yelling "I say we STRIKE!" is

								       our director, Jim Johnston. And yes, John Flinn ["Grail"] was

								       played by John Flinn, our DP.

								     * The Rush Act only refers to unions, for the most part; it's not a

								       wide-ranging law. It was developed during the Earth/Minbari war to

								       deal quickly and effectively with corporations or unions which

								       were being difficult and otherwise holding up the war effort. (The

								       air traffic controllers union would be a good example of the

								       government doing whatever it felt necessary to resolve the

								       situation.) The law grants extraordinary power to resolve any kind

								       of strike or union action which endangers the operation of a

								       military base or other military operation, as Zento states. It

								       applies only to that area, and remains on the books, though (as is

								       also pointed out) it hasn't been used in a while.

								     * _A UK poster inquires about Rush Limbaugh, for whom the Rush Act

								       in this episode was named_

								       Re: who is Rush Limbaugh....

								       Leading American proctologist.

								       Trust me.

								     * Sinclair's decision is legal...but not politic, and it will come

								       back as one of many decisions to haunt him in "Eyes."

								     * As for happy endings...you want some variety, I think; we had a

								       tough ending in "Believers," a bittersweet ending in "Survivors,"

								       and here things worked out for G'Kar and Connoly, but in a way did

								       *not* work out for Sinclair. He's going to be hearing about this

								       decision of his again, in the not too distant future. He's getting

								       further and further behind the eight-ball with some of these

								       decisions, and he's going to get hammered about it.

								     * Exactly my point; there are differences between similar alien

								       groups (like the Narn) in culture, language and religion, with

								       BAMN being a good demonstration of the latter. Which is why I

								       could only shrug and say "Wait" after people started hammering on

								       me here about monolithic alien religions after "Parliament." We'd

								       already filmed BAMN by then, so I knew it was there. That's one

								       thing about this show that some have found out...generally, what

								       you'd like us to do, we've probably done or are about to do (hence

								       the many times, when I'm asked about something, that we can just

								       say, "Wait until X airs in 2 weeks" or somesush).

								       Still dancing as fast as I can....

								     * The writer for "By Any Means Necessary" is Kathryn Drennan, who is

								       very astute politically, a believer in the rights of workers (and

								       all folks, actually), and think that characters are more

								       interesting if they act smart than if they act stupid.

								     * Kathryn's last name is Drennan. Her full credit is Kathryn M.

								       Drennan. Not Straczynski. Probably displaying considerable wisdom

								       on her part. Ten thousand letters, no vowels.

								       Absent a collaboration on a series of articles for TZ Magazine a

								       few years ago (a guide to the Night Gallery series), we don't

								       collaborate. Ever. I also don't collaborate with Larry D., or any

								       other of my writer friends. As I learned before, particularly on

								       the one occasion when Larry and I tried it -- we co-wrote a pilot

								       and bible for CBS based on the "Elfquest" books -- all parties

								       concerned will live a LOT longer by keeping a respectable

								       distance.

								     * One thing I can mention now, since it's nearly finished: see, I

								       have this real problem with nepotism. Specifically...I hate it. As

								       a result, I make people I know work twice as hard. The closer the

								       tie, the more the person has to work to prove him or herself.

								       Kathryn Drennan, my Spousal Overunit, is also a writer, and has

								       written for many other shows, primarily in animation, but with

								       some forays into other areas. (She was co-author on the Night

								       Gallery series of articles I wrote for Twilight Zone Magazine, as

								       one fr'instance, and was a producer with public televison for some

								       time.)

								       Anyway, she desperately wanted to write a B5 script. But because

								       of my feelings about nepotism, I refused to give her an

								       assignment. (I can be a REAL pain in the ass.) Something similar

								       happened when I was working on The Real Ghostbusters; she loved

								       the show, and wanted to write for it. I put her through the

								       wringer: she had to submit written premises, just like any other

								       freelance writer, which were then sent on to the producers for

								       final approval. They did not know of any relation between her and

								       me; they based their approval only on the merits of the story.

								       Period. And she ended up writing two episodes: "Egon's Dragon" and

								       "The Man Who Never Reached Home." (The former is considered a

								       favorite by many viewers of the show.) Only long after we finished

								       production did the exec producers on TRGBs learn that there was a

								       relationship there; it was all based on the quality of the work.

								       But in the case of B5, I *am* the exec producer, so it became more

								       difficult. At first I said simply no. Finally, I set into place a

								       number of conditions/provisions. NOT because she wouldn't do a

								       great script, but only because I don't like the look of nepotism;

								       I hate it, and I hate the way this town operates on the principles

								       of nepotism. The conditions were that she had to write the script

								       completely on spec, no assignment; not a spec outline, which is

								       shorter, but a spec *script*. It would then have to pass muster

								       in-house; if even one person thought it wasn't up to snuff, it got

								       deep sixed. And revisions would not be handled by me, for the most

								       part; she would have to work with Larry, who has a reputation (as

								       Katherine Lawrence can attest) to not pulling his punches. No

								       favoritism. Then the script would have to pass muster with

								       Warners. IF, after all that, the script was approved, then it

								       would be bought, and not a moment before. If anywhere along the

								       line it didn't meet one of those criteria...then it would be a 50

								       page learning experience and nothing more.

								       Well, I'm pleased to say that it *did* pass muster with everyone,

								       and "By Any Means Necessary" is now over halfway through

								       production, with a number of people -- including Michael O'Hare --

								       saying it's their favorite so far, mainly for very odd reasons.

								       The premise is one that ST would never, EVER do, which is one

								       thing I like about it; it also shows us more on the inner workings

								       of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place

								       operational...and what happens when that falls apart. The B story

								       gets into a confrontation between G'Kar and Londo when Londo

								       interferes in an important Narn religious observation.

								       We brought back John Snyder (Soul Hunter #2) minus prosthetics for

								       one guest role, and Katy Boyer as our other guest star. They're

								       both doing terrific jobs, and it's a very intense script in which

								       we basically put Sinclair through the wringer for 48 hours and try

								       and make him absolutely nuts. And succeed, for the most part.

								       Anyway...there you have it.

								     * The reference in "By Any Means" is to Matewan, where a terrible

								       labor strike took place (and a film was made about it); the other

								       is Matawan, which is where I lived for a while, but the reference

								       is to the former, not the latter.


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								      [27]Last update: October 24, 1997


								References


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								  15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Snyder,+John

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