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299 lines
17 KiB
299 lines
17 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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Ivanova is promoted and given a diplomatic assignment. Londo seeks
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affirmation from an unusual source. [15]Michael Ansara as Elric.
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[16]William Forward as Refa.
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Sub-genre: Comedy/intrigue
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[17]P5 Rating: [18]7.68
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Production number: 203
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Original air date: November 16, 1994
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by Mike Vejar
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_________________________________________________________________
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Backplot
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* Every five years, the Drazi people divide by random selection into
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two equal groups, green and purple, and fight for supremacy in a
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contest that lasts a full year. The group that wins is the
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dominant one until the next battle. Group membership isn't
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permanent and has no deeper meaning than the color of cloth one
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happens to select randomly from a container.
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* The only son of the Centauri Emperor recently died, leaving no
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clear successor to the throne. This has served to increase the
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scheming among the Centauri nobility. At least one group,
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disgusted with the decay of the Republic, intends to grab for the
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throne when the Emperor dies; Londo has all but pledged to support
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that group.
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Unanswered Questions
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* Where were the techno-mages going?
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* Will they return or otherwise make their influence felt?
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* How do they know about the upcoming conflict?
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* _What_ do they know about it? Are they aware of the Shadows, for
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instance?
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* What part do Londo's new partners want him to play in their
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machinations?
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* What repercussions will Ivanova's solution to the Drazi problem
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have?
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* Were the winged creatures on Londo's back significant, or just a
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meaningless practical joke?
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Analysis
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* Londo seems to have made up his mind about following his ambition.
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He appeared to be seeking the techno-mages' endorsement for his
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own political gain, rather than for the good of the Republic. It
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remains to be seen whether he'll have the willpower to follow
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through with his newfound assertiveness when lives are at stake,
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though Elric's statement about the future indicates he will.
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* Londo is willing to trust Vir with other people's secrets ("He can
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be trusted!") but not with his own (e.g., his reluctance to
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discuss Morden in [19]"Chrysalis.") Vir is gradually becoming more
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assertive, more willing to stand up to Londo. Whether this will
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cause Londo to respect or trust him more remains to be seen.
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* The two Drazi leaders were clearly only in charge of the groups on
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Babylon 5, as evidenced by the fact that the decision to up the
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stakes of the contest came from the Drazi homeworld. What happens
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if one group wins in one place and the other wins back home is
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open to debate.
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* Londo's reference to the techno-mages' presence at the founding of
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the Republic, and his recognition of the human mages, suggests
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that the brotherhood of techno-mages is very old, and crosses
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species boundaries. Perhaps they have been around long enough to
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have taken part in the great war recorded in the Book of G'Quan
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(cf. [20]"Revelations") and can see signs of the same thing
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starting again.
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* The techno-mages seem to have found some technological way to
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emulate the prophetic abilities of some of the Centauri, among
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others (cf. [21]"Signs and Portents.") Such abilities are arguably
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related to time travel; perhaps it is the techno-mages who supply
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the technology to bring Babylon 4 forward in time (cf.
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[22]"Babylon Squared.")
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* When Garibaldi was playing with his weapon, it's plausible that he
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was contemplating suicide. He has hit rock bottom. He has been
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betrayed by a trusted member of his own staff and shot in the
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back. The only person he really trusted (Commander Sinclair) is
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gone. And, he is probably feeling that he was somehow responsible
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for the failure to prevent the assassination of the EA President.
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He is a recovering alcoholic, and he has lost the woman he had
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fantasized about marrying. If true, this lends a different meaning
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to Sheridan's comment, "The universe doesn't give us points for
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doing the easy things."
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Notes
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* Ivanova's broken foot in this episode wasn't originally planned;
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Claudia Christian broke her foot, and it had to be explained in
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the context of the show somehow.
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* The end credits list Edward Conery as Devereaux (cf.
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[23]"Chrysalis") but he doesn't seem to actually appear in the
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episode anywhere. Since he did appear in the previous episode,
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[24]"Revelations," and wasn't listed in its credits, he may have
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been listed here to make up for the omission.
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* Elric's warning to Vir is almost verbatim from Tolkien's Lord Of
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the Rings, in which Gildor, an elf, tells Frodo (speaking about
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Gandalf,) "But it is said: Do not meddle in the affairs of
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wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
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* Elric's name is from Michael Moorcock's series of fantasy novels.
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* When Garibaldi turns up to rescue Ivanova, there is a visual
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gaffe. The Drazi who starts to get up to answer the door is the
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one in a red-accented suit with epaulettes. When Garibaldi is
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admitted, it is by the other Drazi, while the one who had started
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to get up is guarding Ivanova.
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* Michael Ansara, who plays Elric, also played Kang, a Klingon, in
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the original Star Trek episode "Day of the Dove" and the Deep
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Space Nine episode "Blood Oath."
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jms speaks
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* BTW, having now edited seven episodes, and seen several finished
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ones, I think that of the first three, "The Geometry of Shadows"
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(#3) is my personal favorite. "Revelations" is certainly a biggie,
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a staggering chunk of the arc...but "Geometry" is just an absolute
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hoot, something of a breather from the intensity, and largely for
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fun with some undertones. If you liked "The Parliament of Dreams,"
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you'll probably love "Geometry."
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* There were *substantial* differences made between the first draft
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and the final, based on the fact that a lot of the physical stuff
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I'd written for Claudia -- getting herself out of the problem she
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was in with the Drazi -- had to be dumped because the actress had
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a broken foot. So that aspect has to be remembered. We pushed her
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to the limits, and I didn't want to push further.
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* You hit on the head *precisely*. When Garibaldi was popping the
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energy cap in and out of the PPG, he was on the floor, nominally
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in the dark, thinking of killing himself. I didn't want to play it
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up, didn't want to make it what the story was about...just show
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him doing it, over and over. And from Sheridan's face, seeing the
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last of this, it's clear he got it...and I thought he handled the
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scene *perfectly*, by his whole demeanor, but NOT talking about it
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except indirectly.
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* If I told you what the 14 words were, they wouldn't mean anything
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anymore.
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* I don't feel Sheridan was downplaying her promotion; he was
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sneaking it up on her to surprise her, making it more of an
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unexpected delight.
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* The idea behind the title "The Geometry of Shadows" was in a sense
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a metaphor for the techno-mages; geometry bespeaking the use of
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math and equations, the latter being generally something dark, or
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mysterious, or mystical.
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* "The Geometry of Shadows" seemed to me a good metaphor for the
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technomages; a mix of science with something dark and mysterious.
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How do you work out the geometry of something that in one sense
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doesn't really exist, but is a projection of something else that
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DOES exist? That seemed to me as good a notion of technomagic as
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anything else.
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* Be assured, Vir's position continues to be important, and he moves
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a bit closer to the limelight as he does so...remember, he's the
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one who has to watch Londo's actions like a man watching an
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accident in slow motion, and try to do what he can to stop it.
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* Sheridan wasn't talking to himself, but rather to the tech who
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just seconds before asked if they should let the techno-mages go.
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(I'd trimmed the first part of his speech which made this a little
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clearer, figuring it'd be evident who he was talking to. What can
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I say... sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.)
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* Excuse me, but has *anyone* here considered that Sheridan just
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might still be talking to the same tech he was speaking to not
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*five seconds earlier*? He wasn't talking to himself, so much, or
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the audience, though the push-in (the only shot we had) worked
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against that. He *was* talking to the tech. Honest.
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* The technomages are from various races and worlds; there are some
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who are Centauri, some who are human, even other races such as the
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Vree and the pak'ma'ra, though these in particular happened to be
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from Earth. (If they were Centauri, why would Sheridan have been
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interfering with their emigration?)
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* Re: the Drazi...yeah, they all look different in that episode. Our
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prosthetics folks did a great job with that, as did the actors,
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and I think this one should earn Optic Nerve another emmy.
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* And yeah, Garibaldi's "joke" was supposed to be pretty lame; we
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even edited it to widen the awkward pause, to make it more
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difficult. He's trying too hard, and his spirit isn't in it.
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* No, actually, the technomage symbol (all of them, actually,
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including the ones on the wall) are all derivations, specifically
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altered, of old runes and the like. In some cases, we removed
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words and inserted mathematical symbols. The fiery symbol is all
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one piece, and is also an old rune.
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* Actually, Londo has two coats, a cloak, several different colored
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vests (blue, black, others), often wears just his shirt, we've
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seen him in his PJs...he's got a fairly large wardrobe.
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* Also, Londo looks for the blessings of the technomages the same
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way the witches performed that role in "Macbeth." There are other
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parallels one might draw as well, though again they're still two
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different stories.
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* _What happened to the Emperor's son?_
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Ah...a very sad case, that. Turhan's only child, his son, died
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during a boating accident, of all things. He drowned. His personal
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guard, who was apparently unable to find Turhan's son in the murky
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water, was found dead several days after making his report; his
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own death was officially ruled a suicide, out of grief. But there
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are always stories....
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* _How was it written before Claudia Christian injured her ankle?_
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Mainly it was written with Ivanova solving her problem on her own,
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without Garibaldi being there.
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* _Re: Squaring the account of Ivanova's promotion with Comic #1,
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"In Darkness Find Me"_
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The president spoke truthfully; Sheridan could petition for a
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promotion for her, but it's up to Earthforce to grant it, so the
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line still tracks. (Note also there's no pronoun there; "Giving
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her a field promotion." The imperial We still stands, though.)
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Also, Sheridan says he put through the paperwork the day after he
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got there; which is fairly close to the time frame in the story in
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which the President says they'll be giving Ivanova a promotion.
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There's no discontinuity here.
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* Actually, originally, the plan was for President Clark to indeed
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notify Ivanova in "Points of Departure," but introducing a new
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character in the General added some changes when we shot the
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scene. But by then it was too late to modify the comic [#1, "In
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Darkness Find Me"].
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Also, in the comic, Clark doesn't *specify* who's giving Ivanova
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the promotion, just that it's being done. (And Sheridan comments
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that he put through the paperwork the day after he arrived, which
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tracks with this time-wise.)
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* Ivanova did NOT take the kerchief off either of the Drazi leaders
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in the council chambers; she walked PAST them, and signaled for
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two of the regular Drazi to come down out of the cheap seats.
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* Nope, that really was Claudia walking on her broken foot in the
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council chambers. She's a trooper....
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* "A race that speaks in macros" referred to the Drazi constantly
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repeating their stance, Green must fight Purple, Purple must fight
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Green, over and over...macros.
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* Ann Bruice did a great job on the technomage costumes; I agree.
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She found ways to implement what was described in the script that
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were both creative and wore well, and fulfilled the function. I
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wanted black, with fine silver lines, and an almost circuitboard
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look to the patterns in places, but not *obviously* that,
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stylized. She took that and came back with a true niftyness....
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* In order to create more involved alien makeups, and because many
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actors have a hard time with prosthetics, we created what we call
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the Babylon 5 Alien Rep Group; last year about five, and this year
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about 12 actors who we have taken full head and (in some cases)
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body casts, so we can use them in mid-level speaking roles as
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aliens and rotate them in and out. Since we had fewer last year,
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you saw Mark more than you'll see him this year. Green Drazi #1 in
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"Geometry" is one such rep group alien.
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We keep trying to find interesting solutions to interesting
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problems.
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* The techno-mages were not a homage to ShadowRun games, since I've
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never seen the game, and have never heard of it prior to seeing
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this message.
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* Yes, Ivanova's title in the opening credits *will* be changed to
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Commander, to reflect her change in rank. And we'll be adding a
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rank for Lt. Keffer. It's kind of funny; we keep treating the
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opening title this year as a work in progress, reflecting little
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changes here and there...changes in faces, narration, little
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musical changes that will come by about episode five or six.....
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[30][Next]
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[31]Last update: August 8, 1997
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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/025.shtml
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/025.html
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/025.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/024.html
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8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/026.html
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9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html#OV
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10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html#BP
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11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html#UQ
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12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html#AN
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13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html#NO
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html#JS
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15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Ansara,+Michael
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16. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Forward,+William
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17. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
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18. file://localhost/lurk/p5/025
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19. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/022.html
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20. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/024.html
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21. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/013.html
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22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/020.html
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23. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/022.html
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24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/024.html
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25. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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26. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.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/024.html
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30. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/026.html
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31. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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