brennen
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lurkers-guide


								<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>


								<blockquote><cite>

								When a cryonic sleeper is awakened, a deadly, evil force is unleashed on

								the station.

								</cite>


								<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Johnson,+Anne-Marie">Anne-Marie Johnson</a> as Mariah Cirrus.

								<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Schultz,+Dwight">Dwight Schultz</a> as Amis.

								</blockquote>


								<pre>

								Sub-genre: Horror

								<a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/027">7.64</a>


								Production number: 205

								Original air date: November 30, 1994

								<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000087EYB/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: April 29, 2003


								Written by Scott Frost

								Directed by Mario DiLeo

								</pre>


								<h3>Watch For:</h3>

								<UL>

								   <LI>  An out-of-place cut of Garibaldi searching for Amis

								</UL>


								<p>

								<hr size=3>

								<p>


								<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li> Earth got jumpgate technology from the Centauri in the mid-22nd

									century.  Before then, humans were mostly confined to their own

									solar system.


								   <LI>  Sometime between the 20th century and the arrival of the Centauri,

									signals of <I>possible</I> extraterrestrial and intelligent origin were

									detected.


								   <li> A small number of explorers volunteered for long-term interstellar

									missions, so long-term that they had to be cryogenically frozen for

									the duration.  These missions were launched until the Centauri made

									contact with Earth, eliminating the need for sleeper ships.  At least

									some of these ships were set to home in on any signals they might

									encounter.


								   <li> During the war, Garibaldi was a "gropo" ("ground pounder"), stationed

									on an outpost or base rather than a ship.  He and some of his companions

									barely escaped death in a surprise attack by the Minbari.


								   <li> Another outpost was attacked by a vicious creature of some kind,

									an insidious beast that affected the minds of the soldiers stationed

									there, then killed them one by one, ripping their internal organs

									completely out of their bodies.


								   <li> The Markab, like the Narn, believe there was a great darkness in the

									past, something that was defeated only after a painful struggle.

									At least some among them suspect that the darkness is rising again.


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li> What was the creature?  Was it really one of the Shadows?


								   <li> How did it detect and board the Copernicus, which was travelling at

									a significant fraction of lightspeed?


								   <li> What did it want with people's internal organs?


								   <LI>  Is it really dead?  (We suspect so, but without a body....)


								   <li> What was the substance hanging off Amis when he was suspended in

									midair?  Garibaldi makes a face as he tears it off Amis.


								   <LI>  What happened to Amis afterward?


								   <li> Garibaldi says to Amis, "You were just about to accuse the Centauri

									ambassador of being in league with the devil... which might not be

									too far from the truth."  Just a meaningless offhand remark, or does

									Garibaldi somehow know what Londo is up to?


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li> The fact that the Copernicus was headed for Z'ha'dum indicates that

									the Shadows have been gathering their forces for some time, at least

									10 years, leading to the possibility that they've been meddling in the

									affairs of the major races before their recent involvement with Londo.


								   <li> Contempt for the Lurkers seems to be pervasive, if not almost

									universal.  Even Dr. Franklin, normally a level-headed person, was

									ready to dismiss a claim made by a Lurker out of hand, and one of

									the security officers said, "Damn lurkers, we should space 'em all."


								   <li> No mention was made of any attempt to retrieve the sleeper ships after

									first contact with the Centauri.  Presumably such a task would have

									been easily accomplished.  One explanation might be that the first

									contact threw Earth into such turmoil that retrieving frozen

									astronauts became an insignificant priority.  Perhaps an attempt

									was made but was unsuccessful; if the Copernicus had locked onto

									any signals along the way and changed course, it might be nearly

									impossible to track down in the vastness of space.


								   <LI>  The Copernicus timeline seems to be:


									<OL>

									   <LI>  Before the Centauri contact:  Signals of extraterrestrial origin were detected.

									   <LI>  100+ years ago:  Sleeper ships were launched on long voyages,

										Copernicus among them.

									   <LI>  12+ years ago:  Copernicus detects signals from the Minbari CP in

										an obscure system and homes in on them.  (Presumably the signals stop,

										and Copernicus doesn't revive the crew.)

									   <LI>  About 12 years ago:  Amis has his encounter with the creature.  The

										EarthForce listening post is essentially destroyed by it.  Amis is kept

										alive.  For some reason the creature does not interfere when he is rescued.

									   <LI>  Less than 12 years ago:  Copernicus passes through the system.  The

										creature boards, changes course, and kills Mariah's husband before settling

										into the "life tube" with her.

									   <LI>  4+ years ago:  Copernicus detects signals from the region of space where

										the Babylon stations are under construction.  In keeping with its underlying

										directive to seek out such signals, the vessel changes course.

									   <LI>  A year or less ago:  Copernicus begins decelerating, and apparently uses

										up all its remaining fuel to do so.  At some point it begins transmitting

										a greeting signal.

									   <LI>  Now:  Copernicus arrives, unpowered and without even any thruster fuel

										remaining (it's tumbling when first spotted).

									</OL>


								   <LI>  10% of the air supply aboard Copernicus was lost when the creature boarded,

									presumably vented into space.  This implies that for some reason the creature

									came in through the door (there was no airlock) or penetrated the hull physically

									to gain entry.  This is only odd because Amis insists that it could pass through walls.


								   <LI>  Why wasn't Copernicus detected earlier?  There could be a few reasons.  First,

									the ship apparently used up all of its hydrogen fuel and all of its thruster fuel

									on approach to B5.  This leaves unanswered the question of what it was doing

									for power afterward, but apparently it had enough to keep transmitting its

									greeting message and keep internal systems going.  But tumbling, it may have

									been unable to keep a high gain antenna pointed in-system.  Add to this the

									fact that nobody was listening for it (Ivanova says it's on an unusual frequency)

									and it becomes fairly reasonable that it came all the way insystem without being

									detected.


								   <LI>  How fast and far did Copernicus travel?  This one is more difficult.  The minimum

									answer is 25 LY and .25C.  The distance between the Sol System and B5 seems to

									be about 25 light years, and this is the minimum distance Copernicus had to cover.

									To cover 25 LY in 100+ years, Copernicus had to travel at 1/4 C (on average).

									Typical predictions for nuclear engines driving ships to low-reletivistic speeds say

									that it takes between 10 and 40 tons of reaction mass/fuel per ton of dry weight

									to accelerate a ship to low-C (1/10C to 1/4C more or less) and decelerate it again.

									So either the ship we saw was the core of a much larger ship and all the empty tanks

									were ejected, or it's made of very lightweight materials, or both.


								   <li> 100 years seems like a reasonable time for a slower-than-light

									interstellar journey, yet Mariah was surprised to learn that much

									time had passed.  Her reaction could just be due to the disorientation

									she was probably experiencing, or perhaps the mission was planned

									to be less than 100 years long due to limitations of the cryogenic

									units or some other shipboard system.


								   <li> The name Amis seems to be a pun, as in something is

									amiss with Amis. The name Amis is pronounced the same as "Amos,"

									the name of an Old Testament prophet. Prophets like

									Amos spent lots of time warning folks about dire and

									immediate events, much like what Amis did in the Zoccalo.


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li> Writer Scott Frost was also on the writing staff of

									<a href="http://pogo.wright.edu/TwinPeaks/TPHome.html"><cite>Twin

									Peaks</cite></a>,

									a show whose atmosphere was often similar to that of this episode.


								   <li> When Garibaldi is in the Zocalo, the Drazi sitting next to him is

									not wearing a colored sash.  Since the ritual combat in

									<a href="025.html">"The Geometry of Shadows"</a>

									was supposed to last 1.2 earth years, shouldn't he have been

									wearing a purple sash, per Ivanova's solution to the problem?

									A possible explanation is that once she did what she did, the

									combat was over on Babylon 5 and sashes were no longer required.


								   <li> A possible reference to Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to

									the Galaxy" takes place as Amis leaves his cell.  With a towel around

									his neck, he claims, "I've got everything a man needs."


								   <li> Franklin administers a drug to a catatonic patient called

									DeValera.  Eammon DeValera was an Irish politician and

									poet, with a real gift for rabble-rousing.


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>


								<ul>


								   <li> To follow up on your (Dianne's) other point...yes, from time to time,

									as we push ourselves to the limit, we're going to crash and burn.

									That's part of the risk if you really want to try and do something

									different.  We push the envelope...and sometimes get a papercut.  I

									had, for instance, MUCH more in mind for the EFX in the final

									confrontation in "The Long Dark."  But we were, alas, about this

									&gt; &lt; much ahead of the technology to pull off what I wanted.


								<p>

								   <li> The shadows have their servants, which are being

									recalled to their places of power.  That was one of  their

									lower-level types.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@846702919 Shadow servent.  Soldier of darkness.  Not a shadow,

									but a good, close friend of same.


								<p>

								   <li> RE: Londo looking "more wicked," we're doing some very small,

									subtle things to his appearance, his wardrobe, pulling him into a

									darker range of fabrics.  (Honest to god, you wouldn't believe how

									careful and detailed we are in setting this stuff up.)  He'll even

									be getting a new, slightly darker coat, straighter lines, closer in

									style to Refa's, before the season's out.  It's really interesting

									when you know where you're going....


								<p>

								   <li> <em>What was the race of that ambassador?</em><br>

									I believe that was a Markab.


								<p>

								   <li> Tom: the quibble you raise is one of the points I'm trying to make.

									You say someone from 1890 would go crazy.  I vehemently don't agree.

									Go back and read letters from the 1890s.  Heck, go read letters from

									1776; the language, the emotions, they're all very much the same.  The

									chrome of technology has changed, some social styles and attitudes

									have changed, but people still go through school (usually), get married,

									raise kids, hold jobs, and look to a better future one day.


									<p>

									Mariah was also a scientist, sent forth expecting and prepared to see

									new things; this isn't the same thing as an average person just plucked

									out of time.


									<p>

									I think people -- Americans in particular -- over-emphasize how much

									things change with time, in large measure because in a country that's

									only 200+ years old, we *really* don't understand what time IS here.

									The Romans who left grafitti all over parts of England are only one

									step removed from the South Central taggers of today....


								<p>

								   <li> Re: Ivanova and Sheridan going into the Cortez upon it being pulled

									into B5...this was an Earth vessel, remember, stating it's on a mission

									of peace, with a cryogenic suspension chamber in use.  There was zero

									perceived danger.  Also, if I were the captain of a naval vessel today,

									and I came across an intact sailing vessel that went missing in the

									1890s, you'd have to hold a gun at my head to KEEP me out of that ship.

									People are, by nature, curious...and this would be a fascinating puzzle

									to solve.  <em>(Editor's note: the Cortez was the ship in "A Distant

									Star."  JMS meant the Copernicus.)</em>


								<p>

								   <li> A couple of thoughts on Sheridan, btw...triggered by messages I've seen

									or had alluded to in which he's gigged for smiling too much, unlike

									Sinclair...just checked back in some of my archives, and for the first

									four or five episodes, the number one complaint about Sinclair was that

									he either smiled or smirked too much....

									<p>

									Meanwhile, just a little something for the folks on-line to

									contemplate...remember the first rule of Babylon 5: nobody is what they

									appear.  Not entirely, anyway.  There's always something going on,

									something that somebody's not telling.  Some folks are making the error

									of looking at Sheridan -- as they looked at Sinclair, or Londo, or Vir,

									or G'Kar -- and thinking "this is all that he is."  Except, of course,

									that they weren't and he's not.  I would not create a character that is

									just what you're seeing.

									<p>

									Aside from that, and this is a separate issue...there are really two

									ways to deepen a character and give him a dark side.  One is to do

									something to him *before* you meet him, which he's still recovering

									from (Sinclair).  The other is to meet him, and THEN drop him down a

									well.  In a way, Londo is illustrative of the latter; you get to know

									him, and he's funny, colorful...and then you start to move him.

									<p>

									So suffice to say that Sheridan is going to end up getting more and

									more conflicts, and getting booted to the head, and as someone noted

									above, caught in the conflict between being a good officer and being a

									patriot...which can sometimes be the same, and sometimes VERY different

									things.


								</ul>