brennen
/
lurkers-guide



								                            [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]


								    ### GUIDE ### [3][Background] [4][Synopsis] [5][Credits] [6][Episode

								                       List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]


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

								   - [13]Notes - [14]JMS


								     _________________________________________________________________


								Overview


								     ISN sends a team to do a second story about Babylon 5. [15]Jeff

								     Griggs as Dan Randall.


								[16]P5 Rating: [17]7.56


								Production number: 408

								Original air week: February 17, 1997


								Written by J. Michael Straczynski

								Directed by Stephen Furst


								     _________________________________________________________________


								Plot Points


								     * Clark has reinstated the Earth Senate in some form. It has begun

								       investigating alleged alien influence in the entertainment

								       industry and extracting confessions and lists of collaborators

								       from writers and directors.

								     * Sheridan's father was a diplomat. The family farm has been burned

								       to the ground, and his father's whereabouts are unknown.

								     * Earth, according to ISN, is slowly retaking Mars from the rebels

								       who took over when Clark's forces attacked ([18]"Severed Dreams.")


								Unanswered Questions


								     * Will the newscast prove convincing to people on Earth?

								     * Where is Sheridan's father? What about his mother?

								     * What names did Sheridan give his father?

								     * Is Garibaldi's salvage business as it appears, or is he using it

								       as a cover for other activities?

								     * How did Randall get into the cryogenic freezer area? If it's

								       really restricted as he says, someone must have let him in.


								Analysis


								     * Psi Corps presumably now knows the fate of the telepaths; two of

								       their names are plainly visible behind Randall (see [19]Notes.)

								       Will the Corps try to come after them? What about the allies of

								       the Shadows, who may have some interest in the telepaths'

								       implants? If Shadow ships were left behind (not unlikely,

								       considering there were lots of them buried underground) they'll

								       need pilots who've gone through the proper preparation

								       ([20]"Messages From Earth") and the telepaths are ready-made

								       candidates.

								     * Garibaldi seems to have turned against Sheridan completely, going

								       so far as to allude to him as "the devil." Is that a direct result

								       of his programming (or whatever was triggered by the message in

								       [21]"Epiphanies") or is there some other reason?

								     * ISN's new title sequence reflects the provincial, Earth-centric

								       views of the Clark government: after a flight through space, the

								       sequence ends up centered on Earth and the Moon.


								Notes


								     * The newscast was broadcast on April 12, 2261. Four historical

								       events were cited as taking place on the same date: Yuri Gagarin's

								       flight into space (April 12, 1961,) President Clinton's

								       establishment of a "Commission on the Future" in 1999, the start

								       of construction of the first lunar colony in the Sea of

								       Tranquility in 2018, and the founding of the Psi Corps in 2161.

								     * The confession of the director bore strong resemblance to the

								       confessions extracted by the House Un-American Activities

								       Commission in the US during the 1950s. In that case it was

								       Communists and homosexuals, not aliens, but the focus on

								       entertainers was the same, as was the practice of demanding lists

								       of collaborators. Those who refused to cooperated were

								       "blacklisted," and found themselves unable to get work in

								       Hollywood.

								       In fact, the names cited are based on actual people blacklisted in

								       the 1950s. Beth Trumbo is likely a reference to writer Dalton

								       Trumbo, Adrian Mostel to producer Adrian Scott and actor Zero

								       Mostel, and Carleton Jarrico to writer Paul Jarrico.

								       Paul Jarrico died in an automobile accident on October 28, 1997,

								       the day after receiving a standing ovation at a Hollywood ceremony

								       honoring the surviving blacklisted screenwriters.

								     * Two names are visible on the cryogenic freezers during Randall's

								       report. One, Carolyn Sanderson, is Bester's love ([22]"Ship of

								       Tears.") The other is John Flinn III, one of the show's directors.

								     * The psychological phenomenon of hostages sympathizing with their

								       captors is called the Stockholm syndrome, not the Helsinki

								       syndrome as stated in the episode.

								     * The newscast misspelled Yuri Gagarin's name; it was spelled

								       "Gargarin" on the screen.


								jms speaks


								     * It's a good and creepy episode. I like it when things get creepy.

								     * Stephen has directed before, yes, though he hasn't done that much

								       episodic TV work.

								       The final shot was strictly described in the script; the monitor

								       POV, the relative positions of everyone, the slight fisheye look

								       and the absolute silence.

								     * _Was Garibaldi's flashback shot in advance?_

								       Somtimes, yeah, we'll gang together shots in one location that

								       will spill across several episodes, and definitely did that in

								       Garibaldi's case. I just figure out what's coming, and write those

								       specific additional scenes prior to the rest of the scripts.

								     * _Where did the Starfury model Sheridan was looking at in the war

								       room come from?_

								       Actually, I think the Starfury model was an illegal one we

								       confiscated.

								       Waste not, want not...

								     * _Was the psychologist reading from a teleprompter?_

								       Actually, no, he wasn't reading off a teleprompter at all. His

								       eyes may have been moving, but there was no reading involved.

								     * "In the Delenn/Sheridan interview, there is a change in the vocal

								       acoustics of the journalist for the "new" questions he asked."

								       And not just in the voice quality...look at the footage again.

								       He's sitting in a different chair, in a different room.

								     * _About the names cited in the confession_

								       Yes, they're based on the real names of writers who were

								       blacklisted, Dalton Trumbo and Paul Jarrico.

								     * Parks (the person who's naming names) was also named after one of

								       those who testified before HUAC.

								     * _Were the names dubbed in?_

								       Only Jarrico was dubbed, because it was mispronounced.

								     * It's a period too few people really know much about, and it never

								       hurts to point to the past in order to warn about the future.

								     * This ep is one that'll be discussed a lot, but not rewatched a

								       lot, because it's just really hard to watch, knowing what's

								       coming. It really does tend to upset people.

								     * If it's a little close to home...you have to remember I came out

								       of journalism, that was where I cut my teeth as a writer, working

								       for newspapers and magazines. You see a lot of the tricks, some

								       good, some not so good, used for purposes that are sometimes good

								       or not so good, distortions on the left and distortions on the

								       right. So it wasn't hard to just tweak it a bit.

								       Thing to remember, though, is that this isn't ISN as we've known

								       it in the past, at least not to this extreme. If anything, this ep

								       should point to the difference between journalism, albeit biased,

								       and propaganda, which is all ISN is now, and how only an informed

								       viewership can prevent the one from sliding into the other.

								     * _Aren't there networks besides ISN?_

								       ISN is the one network that can handle *interstellar* broadcasts,

								       which reqire a massive amount of energy, logistics, setup...there

								       are other, local, planetary networks around Earth, and a few

								       specialized channels for military and some commercial use...but

								       ISN is the biggest, and because of that is very much in Earthgov's

								       pocket.

								     * It was most definitely difficult and painful for me to write. I I

								       am as much involved with these characters as anyone else, and

								       doing this kind of thing to them is hard. And you have to put

								       yourself in the minds of those doing this, and that's a dark place

								       to be.

								       And yeah, I know people who were harmed in the blacklist, and I've

								       seen others, and myself, sometimes harmed by those who like to

								       twist things around to their own benefit.

								     * "FWIW, that was your most courageous episode yet, IMHO."

								       I appreciate the sentiment, so don't take this as lack of

								       gratitude on my part; I'm happy you perceive it that way.

								       But courageous? No.

								       Courageous as an apellation belongs to the South American writers

								       who insist on telling the truth about their governments, who risk

								       death on a daily basis for doing so...and to other writers doing

								       similar work in other countries.

								       Yeah, it was kind of a shot to the midsection for some groups,

								       with a certain element of biting the hand that feeds you, but the

								       truth is, ain't nobody gonna come to my door in the middle of the

								       night with death squads, take me away, and torture me. If you want

								       to hear about real courage, join PEN International, or Amnesty

								       International. They can always use the help.

								     * "This B5 episode should be required viewing in University media

								       and history classes."

								       Funny thing is, I've since received several requests from

								       instructors at various colleges asking if they could use the show

								       in their classroom to illustrate the points raised. Kinda nice....

								     * I don't make any blanket condemnations of journalists. For one

								       thing, there's a difference between portraying journalism in a

								       relatively free society, and one that's operating under a

								       dictatorship, a la President Clark. It's the difference between

								       journalism and propaganda.

								       In "Midnight on the Firing Line," we had a reporter there doing a

								       straight-ahead story; in "Point of No Return" we had the Good

								       Journalists fighting to reveal the truth even as Clark was

								       shutting them down.

								       There have been favorable portrayals; it's just that under the

								       current regime, they don't have access to the media.

								     * I am definitely *not* anti-reporter...I'm against the *control* of

								       truth by any government or political agenda. We are made stronger

								       by a multiplicity of voices, and the more those voices are allowed

								       access to a level playing field, the more often the truth will

								       come out to play.

								       The third name was Jarrico, after Paul Jarrico, also blacklisted.

								     * The ISN cameras are not capable of autonomous operation, but they

								       can be progammed within a parameter set. The wand is a control

								       device to change those parameters. Thus, one operator, two cameras

								       (or more!)

								       There was a distinct anti Minbar/Minbari sentiment among this

								       particular crew, as evidenced by the later parts of the show, and

								       it isn't hard to imagine that the bumping was at the behest of the

								       wand wielder. If Lennier was simply annoyed, advantage ISN. If he

								       reacted violently, advantage ISN. I'm sure that footage will be

								       used on another ISN propoganda broadcast. (You can see it on

								       Channel 134 of your cable)(Oh, sorry, Channel 134 is not availbale

								       in all sectors after curfew)

								       George Johnsen

								       CoProducer, B5


								   [28][Next]


								      [29]Last update: October 29, 1997


								References


								   1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar

								   2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar

								   3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/074.shtml

								   4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/074.html

								   5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/074.html

								   6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php

								   7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/073.html

								   8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/075.html

								   9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#OV

								  10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#BP

								  11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#UQ

								  12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#AN

								  13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#NO

								  14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#JS

								  15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Griggs,+Jeff

								  16. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html

								  17. file://localhost/lurk/p5/074

								  18. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/054.html

								  19. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#NO.names

								  20. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/052.html

								  21. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/073.html

								  22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/058.html

								  23. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html

								  24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/074.html#TOP

								  25. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail

								  26. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php

								  27. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/073.html

								  28. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/075.html

								  29. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html