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284 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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Garibaldi arrives on Mars and meets William Edgars. Lyta helps
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Franklin in an attempt to make contact with the frozen telepaths.
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[15]Denise Gentile as Lise. [16]Mark Schneider as Wade. [17]Efrem
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Zimbalist Jr. as William Edgars.
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[18]P5 Rating: [19]8.62
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Production number: 416
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Original air week: June 2, 1997
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by John LaFia
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_________________________________________________________________
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Plot Points
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* Sheridan's forces have liberated the colony at Beta Durani, as
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well as a midrange military outpost.
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* Lyta is able to awaken the implanted telepaths ([20]"Ship of
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Tears.") After observing the effect of her mental contact with
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them, Franklin has devised an artificial equivalent and feels he's
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well on his way to reviving them.
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* Garibaldi is still in love with Lise.
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* Edgars runs the fourth-largest corporation on Earth. His company
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is involved in chemical and biological weapons manufacturing as
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well as pharmaceutical production.
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* Edgars says President Clark has become increasingly paranoid since
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taking office. Learning of the Shadows' interest in Psi Corps,
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Clark developed an interest as well. As his paranoia increased, he
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started giving the Corps more and more power, since telepaths were
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able to tell him absolutely whether the people around him were
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loyal. The Corps, of course, isn't eager to give up its newfound
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clout, and Edgars and others fear that if Sheridan takes his
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battle to Earth, Clark may panic and give the Corps unprecedented
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control over society, a development that wouldn't be easy to
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reverse. He therefore wants Sheridan's campaign stopped for
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Earth's own good.
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* Clark's forces still haven't located Sheridan's father.
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* According to Edgars, the real power in Earthdome has never been in
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the hands of the politicians; the mega-corporations have always
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called the shots. They let Clark declare martial law, but didn't
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foresee the Psi Corps connection until it was too late.
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Unanswered Questions
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* What does Sheridan plan to do with the telepaths?
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* Will Psi Corps come looking for the murdered telepath?
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Analysis
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* Lise tried to warn Garibaldi off. Why? How much does she know
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about what her husband is planning? How far will she go to protect
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Garibaldi?
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* Garibaldi said Mars had tried to kill him before. One of those
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occasions was his trek across the surface with Sinclair
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([21]"Infection" and issues 4-8 of the [22]comic series.) What
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were the other two?
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The incident that killed Frank Kemmer ([23]"Survivors") has been
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suggested, but Garibaldi said that took place on Europa, not Mars.
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* He also said he'd sworn never to come back to Mars. But in [24]"A
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Voice in the Wilderness part 2," he told Lise he had some leave
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coming up and was thinking of taking it on Mars. Maybe he only
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considered that after he realized Lise was in danger during the
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uprising.
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* In [25]"Moments of Transition," Bester claimed in his log entry
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that Garibaldi was inching closer to where Bester needed him to
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be. It's plausible that Bester has been priming Garibaldi to join
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up with Edgars. The Corps seems to be aware of the telepathic
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virus (the assassins in [26]"Conflicts of Interest" were likely
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Corps operatives) and is thus probably aware that Edgars has some
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interest in it. Given the presence of the virus, they wouldn't be
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able to use a telepath as an undercover agent. Setting up a
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non-telepath to be their spy and/or saboteur in Edgars'
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organization would be the Corps' only recourse, and they'd have to
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do it with subconscious programming since Edgars isn't above using
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telepaths to test potential employees' loyalties.
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Garibaldi was a logical choice because the Corps knew of his
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connection to Lise; in [27]"A Voice in the Wilderness," Garibaldi
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asked Talia to look into Lise's condition by going through Corps
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channels. It wouldn't be much of a leap for the Corps to assume
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that Lise would therefore recommend Garibaldi to her husband,
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making Garibaldi the best possible candidate for the job of
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unwitting spy.
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* Edgars appeared to accept Garibaldi's answer that he didn't
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remember what happened to him while he was missing ([28]"Whatever
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Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?") Given how paranoid Edgars is in other
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respects, will that really be the end of the matter? Does Edgars
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know more than Garibaldi does about what happened? Perhaps Edgars'
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seeming trust of Garibaldi is really an application of the old
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adage, "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."
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* During his questioning, Garibaldi told Edgars, "Everyone lies." In
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[29]"And the Sky Full of Stars," Sinclair said the same thing to
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Garibaldi, and elaborated: "The innocent lie because they don't
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want to be blamed for something they didn't do, and the guilty lie
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because they don't have any other choice."
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* Garibaldi stood in front of a mirror during his questioning,
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staring at his own reflection. But the mirror was warped,
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distorting his image. Garibaldi studied the image as he spoke;
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perhaps he viewed it a metaphor. Garibaldi also studied his
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reflection in [30]"Conflicts of Interest."
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* The telepath indicated that Garibaldi was telling the truth when
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he claimed not to remember what happened during his absence. Yet
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Garibaldi has had flashes of memory, so that answer wasn't
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entirely honest. Was the telepath lying herself, perhaps to
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protect the interests of the Corps, or did Garibaldi simply
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believe he was telling the truth, in that he can't recall more
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than brief cryptic flashes?
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* The people in Edgars' laboratory are presumably telepaths. If
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that's true, their condition is probably related to the telepathic
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disease Garibaldi learned about in [31]"Conflicts of Interest,"
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and the drug Edgars' people were withholding was most likely
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derived from the substance Garibaldi helped smuggle through the
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station.
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It's worth noting, however, that the placement of the sores on the
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patient's face were very similar to the insertion points of the
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Shadow implants in the telepaths on the station. Perhaps Edgars
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managed to get his hands on some implanted telepaths and is
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performing his own experiments on them.
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* It's also possible the substance Garibaldi saw wasn't a cure for
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the virus, though that was implied by Edgars here in that there
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was clearly some drug that can be given to ease whatever illness
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his test subjects were suffering from. If instead Edgars is
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developing the virus itself with the intent of releasing it and
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wiping out all human telepaths, spreading rumors before its
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release about a genetic flaw inherent in telepaths might help
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deflect suspicion later.
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Or, to take it further, Edgars may be producing both the virus and
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the cure, with the intent of infecting Earth's telepaths then
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using availability of the cure -- which apparently requires
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continuous usage -- to gain control over the Corps himself.
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* Franklin said Sheridan hadn't changed since returning from
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Z'ha'dum, "except for..." He stopped himself before completing
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that sentence. Was this just a reference to Lorien's
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life-restoration energies, which Franklin noted in [32]"Falling
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Toward Apotheosis?" Or does he know about something else?
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* Assuming Sheridan asked Franklin to bring the newly awakened
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telepaths with him to Mars, it's likely he's anticipating some
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kind of conflict with the Psi Corps when he moves to liberate it.
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Given Franklin's reaction, it's unlikely Sheridan proposed
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anything as innocuous as using the telepaths to help shield
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members of the Mars resistance from detection.
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It's also not clear where the frozen telepaths' loyalties will lie
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even if Franklin manages to extract their implants and give them
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back control of their own minds. They're all fugitive telepaths
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("blips," as Bester called them in [33]"Ship of Tears") so
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presumably have no love for the Corps, but that doesn't
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necessarily mean they'll be willing to act on Sheridan's behalf.
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Of course, that assumes Sheridan wants Franklin to give them back
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mastery of their own thoughts; perhaps his order was instead for
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Franklin to find a way to use the implants to take control of the
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telepaths.
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* Given the frozen telepaths' effect on computer systems, one
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possible use would be to smuggle them onto Mars and wake them up
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near some of Earth Force's communication network; they'd
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presumably throw it into disarray and allow Sheridan's forces to
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move in on a disorganized enemy.
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* Lyta's expanded powers were in evidence again. The psi rating of
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the telepath in Medlab was never mentioned, but Lyta was
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telepathically strong enough to force him to stop in his tracks as
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he tried to kill himself. If she can do that to a fellow telepath,
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who presumably would have instinctively tried to block her, can
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she do the same -- or worse -- to a normal human?
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* The awakened telepath didn't react reflexively to Lyta's Psi Corps
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badge the way Carolyn did in [34]"Ship of Tears." Why not? He
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wasn't merged with any machinery as Carolyn was, so he couldn't
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have thrown lightning bolts. But he didn't appear to react at all.
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Perhaps the Shadows' anti-Corps conditioning wasn't universally
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applied.
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* Lyta's indignant response to Zack's request was likely brought on
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by his previous request that he scan Garibaldi ([35]"Moments of
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Transition.") That request may have led her to automatically
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assume the worst when Zack asked for her services.
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* Edgars and Clark may believe that Clark is using the Psi Corps,
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but it's just as plausible that by now, they're using him. The
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Corps could feed misinformation to Clark in order to bolster its
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own standing, and since, as Edgars said, Clark is trusting the
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Corps to ferret out liars and turncoats, he'd be unable to tell
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that they were leading him on.
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Notes
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* The title is a reference to Aristotle's definition of happiness:
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"The exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life
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affording them scope."
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* Edgars alluded to "Clark's 'Night of the Long Knives.'" That's a
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reference to Roman history, when, in the year 31 AD, the emperor
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Tiberius had his aide Sejanus and his followers killed in a purge.
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A more recent use of the same term was to describe Hitler's
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[36]purge of the rival SA faction of the Nazi Party in 1934.
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* The title as shown at the top of act one is missing the leading
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"The." But the "The" was present in the pre-show information
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screen on the initial US satellite feed, and it's present in the
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episode listings sent out by Warner Bros., so it's included here.
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* Both Edgars and Sheridan love fresh orange juice ([37]"The
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Geometry of Shadows.")
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* Continuity glitch: When Lise and Garibaldi are talking in his
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room, after she brings him dinner, she starts to leave, but stays
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and closes the door most of the way. After she's done talking,
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Garibaldi moves across the room to her and shuts the wide-open
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door.
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jms speaks
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* It's a very different feel...leisurely, in a way, but no less
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tense. A good addition to the mix.
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* One thing on the line Wade speaks...the actor consistently got the
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line wrong. It read, "Everything is illusion, Mr. Garibaldi;
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_constructs_ of light, language, metaphor," rather than concepts.
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There is a subtle but distinct difference.
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* Garibaldi's said he doesn't trust telepaths ever since the pilot
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movie. It's a question of degrees at this point.
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* _What book was Edgars reading when Garibaldi walked in?_
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The Bible.
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* _Were the scars on the sick telepaths from the removal of
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implants?_
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No, just standard lesions.
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Remember, a man as smart and rich as Edgars can surely afford
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private lesions for his "kids."
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[43][Next]
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[44]Last update: January 8, 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/082.shtml
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/082.html
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/082.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/081.html
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8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/083.html
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9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#OV
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10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#BP
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11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#UQ
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12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#AN
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13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#NO
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#JS
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15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Gentile,+Denise
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16. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Schneider,+Mark
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17. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Zimbalist+Jr.,+Efrem
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18. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
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19. file://localhost/lurk/p5/082
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20. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/058.html
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21. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/004.html
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22. file://localhost/lurk/comic/
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23. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/011.html
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24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/019.html
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25. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/080.html
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27. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/018.html
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28. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/068.html
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29. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/008.html
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32. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/070.html
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33. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/058.html
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34. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/058.html
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35. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/080.html
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36. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm
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37. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/025.html
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38. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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39. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/082.html#TOP
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40. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
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41. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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44. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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