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604 lines
25 KiB
<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><cite>
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Draal helps the crew attempt to contact more of the First Ones. Sheridan
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works to hide his conspiracy from the Nightwatch.
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</cite>
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Shattuck,+Shari">Shari Shattuck</a> as Julie Musante.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Schuck,+John">John Schuck</a> as Draal.
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</blockquote>
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<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/049">8.20</a>
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Production number: 304
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Original air week: January 29, 1996
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009OOFK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 12, 2003
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by Menachem Binitsky
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</pre>
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<p>
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<hr size=3>
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<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li> Morden was directly involved in the assassination of President Santiago,
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and was in contact with then-Vice President Clark at the time.
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<li> There is bad blood of some kind between the Vorlons and at least some
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of the First Ones.
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<li> G'Kar's operatives have told him something of the Rangers, though
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they don't know the whole story. He suspects Delenn is involved
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somehow.
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<li> The Ministry of Peace is planning to purge a number of high-level
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officials from the Earth government on charges of sedition, immoral
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conduct, and espionage. It has gained even wider powers recently,
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including the ability to investigate people based on past associations.
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</ul>
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<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li> Why were the First Ones upset at the Vorlons? Could it be related
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to the reason the Vorlons stayed behind when the other First Ones
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left? What did they say to Ivanova?
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<li> What does G'Kar want Garibaldi to find out from the Book of G'Quan?
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The book mentions the Shadows; how detailed is its information?
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<li> How did the Machine record the conversation between Clark and Morden?
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Is it monitoring all communications in a vast region of space, or does
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it concentrate on Shadow-related conversations?
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<li> What impact will the recording have?
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<li> Will Musante return to the station? What did she make of Zack's
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question? Will she link it to the release of the recording?
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</ul>
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<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li> The First Ones at Sigma 957 were annoyed at the mention of the Vorlons,
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suggesting that the two races had a disagreement at some point in the
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past. Perhaps the Vorlons prevented, intentionally or otherwise, the
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final defeat of the Shadows in the previous war. It could also have
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something to do with the Vorlons' manipulation of younger races
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(<a href="044.html">"The Fall of Night."</a>)
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Perhaps the Vorlons didn't depart with the other First Ones because
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they weren't allowed to do so.
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<li> "When it is time, come to this place. Call our name. We will be
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here." But what <em>is</em> their name? Does Draal know? Did the
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recognition code the White Star sent call them by name, or is this
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an additional hurdle to obtaining help from the Sigma 957 aliens?
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<li>@@@832310247 The manifestation of the First Ones bore some resemblance
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to a Native American totem, or an African wood figure. Coincidence,
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or are the Vorlons far from the only visitors to Earth?
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<li> Ivanova was able to extract more information from the Great Machine
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than any normal human could have, according to Draal, and she managed
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to find a pretty specific recording in what must have been huge
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mountains of data (literally!) Is that due to her latent psi ability?
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What would happen if a full telepath like Lyta were to step into the
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machine? (See
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<a href="#AN.path">below.</a>)
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<li> The Shadows (if that's what they were) sensed Ivanova's "presence"
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at Sigma 957. That implies that the Machine was actually projecting
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something there rather than passively scanning, and that the projection
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was tangible enough to provoke Ivanova to comment that the enemy
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"knows my name," an odd remark in itself.
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<li> There may be something significant in Draal's use of the term "the
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enemy" to describe Ivanova's visitors; he didn't say "Shadows." On
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the other hand, given that she heard the typical Shadow chitter and
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that the floating lights were in the same pattern as the glowing
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Shadow eyes seen by Sheridan in Kosh's vision
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(<a href="038.html">"In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum,"</a>
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and in the season three title sequence) it's probably safe to assume
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that she was in fact being observed by the Shadows.
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<li> Just how much contact there was between Ivanova and the Shadows wasn't
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clear. Did they find out enough about her to know about the conspiracy
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of light? Did they have a hand in her discovery of the Clark recording?
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Given their apparent affinity for chaos in the ranks of potential
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enemies, the release of the recording and the subsequent upheaval on
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Earth might be exactly what they want.
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<li> The fact that Ivanova was able to escape the Shadows by returning to
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the "path" that connects all living things is perhaps more significant;
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what does it imply about the Shadows that they're somehow excluded
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from that path? Does that have anything to do with their motive in
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participating in war after war across the millenia?
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<li> Presumably the machine was projecting Ivanova's consciousness out among
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the stars; her greater-than-expected control over the machine, as
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mentioned above, suggests that the experience was telepathic in nature.
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That implies that to sense her, the Shadows must have some telepathic
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abilities as well; or perhaps they have a machine like Draal's that
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can provide the equivalent.
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<li> <a name="AN.path">The path might be related</a>
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to the way telepathy works in the first place;
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if all life is connected on some level, then perhaps telepaths are
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simply beings who can make use of those connections. The Shadows'
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involvement with Psi Corps
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(<a href="045.html">"Matters of Honor,"</a>
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among others) suggests that they consider telepaths important; that may
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relate to their apparent exclusion from the path as noted above. There
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may also be a reason they chose to use the Narn homeworld as a base
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in the last war
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(<a href="045.html">"Matters of Honor"</a>)
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--
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the Narn have no telepaths of their own
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(<a href="000.html">"The Gathering."</a>)
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A more sinister possibility is that the Shadow occupation is the
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<em>reason</em> there are no Narn telepaths; perhaps the Shadows
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eliminated them, leaving the Narn without the genetic code for psi
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ability. If that's true, they may be cultivating contacts with the
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Psi Corps so they have an easy way to do the same to humans when the
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time comes.
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<li> The assignment of a "political officer" to military units
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is reminiscent of the way in which the Soviet Union
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maintained control over military units. Each unit had
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its own political officer whose job it was to maintain
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ideological purity. These officers were tolerated at best,
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and were generally despised and feared.
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<li> Another link to Soviet history was Musante's allusion to
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purging a number of high officials in a very public and
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permanent way. This brings to mind the purges experienced
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by the Soviet Union in the 30s -- the great show trials
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of prominent individuals, the mass purges of the army
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(which wrought such havoc over the military that, by the
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time that the Soviets were actively engaged in World War II, most
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of the experienced officers had been removed, thus
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weakening the Soviet army to the point where the Germans
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felt they could easily defeat the Soviets.)
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<li> Why would Musante have to be recalled to Earth? Is she the low-level
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operative she appears to be, or someone more important? Perhaps the
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Nightwatch is simply short-staffed enough that they need all the
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manpower they can get to deal with such a potentially damaging
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situation.
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<li> Delenn's denial of knowledge about the Rangers was an out-and-out lie,
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not a deception or a mistruth or a careful omission. Whose honor was
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she protecting, or does that rule no longer apply to her?
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(<a href="036.html">"There All the Honor Lies"</a>)
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Perhaps, since her transformation, she no longer feels quite so bound
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by Minbari tradition; on the other hand, she still seems to cite it
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regularly.
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<li> Zack's uniform troubles may be a metaphor for his situation; he doesn't
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know where he fits in the scheme of things, and is uncomfortable no
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matter what he does.
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<li> Now that Ivanova has made contact with the First Ones at Sigma 957,
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might the forces of light be able to use the quantium-40 (if there
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actually is any on the planet) that Catherine Sakai was sent to
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investigate in
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<a href="006.html">"Mind War?"</a>
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</ul>
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<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li> The First Ones at Sigma 957 were first seen in the first-season episode
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<a href="006.html">"Mind War."</a>
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Although the existence of the First Ones hadn't been revealed at that
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point, G'Kar's description of this race coincided almost exactly with
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Delenn's description of the First Ones, an early piece of foreshadowing.
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<li> Julie Musante is named after two fans, Julie Helmer and Mark Musante.
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<li> Musante's Earth-bound ship is the Loki, named for the Norse god of fire
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and mischief.
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<li> The silhouetted figure on the Nightwatch poster on the wall during
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Musante's presentation bears a striking resemblance to the figure of
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Lenin used in Soviet propaganda posters between World Wars I and II.
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<li> The same figure also appears to have a raven on its shoulder,
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reminiscent of Ivanova's appearance in Sheridan's dream in
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<a href="033.html">"All Alone in the Night."</a>
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<li> The skeletal spines sticking out of the Sigma 957 aliens' ship are
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made of a computer model of a human footbone replicated and arranged
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in rows; that earned the ship the nickname "the footbone ship" at
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Foundation Imaging. There are also some triceratops parts used in
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the model.
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<li> Ardwight Chamberlain, who does Kosh's voice (or rather, the English
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translation thereof) was also the voice of the First One in this
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episode. (See
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<a href="#JS.ardwight">jms speaks.</a>)
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</ul>
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<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li> I do plan to do more with Ivanova this season, yes, and get her out
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of C&C a bit more often. (Especially in "Voices of Authority," coming
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up.)
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<p>
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<li> <em>Where's this big war we've been hearing about?</em><br>
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What we're doing in the meantime is plenty. Originally, the fourth and
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final episode in this first batch of four was going to be "Voices of
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Authority," which deals with just this question of preparing for the war
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in a big way, has major developments, gets into the White Star...but the
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CGI requirements of that episode were hideous, so we had to move it to
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#5 in the lineup, moving up "Gethsemane." Once we come back with new
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episodes, we'll hit the ground running hard on all this stuff.
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<p>
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Also bear in mind that wars aren't instant; in the real world, you have
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to line up support, get into alliances, move all your pieces around
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before you can get into it. We're taking a similar path here. Also,
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the term "shadow war" refers to more than just the shadows as a race;
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they refer to what's going on back on earth as well, as metaphor as
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well as plot point, and that's a huge part of the next batch of eps.
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<p>
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<li> Yeah, I'd intended to end with "Voices of Authority," which is a HUGE
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arc episode this week, but the EFX weren't ready yet (huge
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requirements), so we put "Passing" in its place.
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<p>
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<li> It takes us no longer to make the episodes or the EFX really
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than it did before. But PTEN will not air shows out of sweeps periods,
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for the most part. The episodes on hand now were finished weeks, and in
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a couple of cases over a month ago. They sit on the shelf until PTEN
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decides to air them. The only thing we did was swap "VoA" with
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"Passing Through Gethsemane" to give that one a little bit more time.
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That's it.
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<p>
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<li>@@@864891987 <em>You should use Claudia Christian more.</em><br>
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You're absolutely correct, which is why in the very first episode up in
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the next batch, we send Ivanova off in the White Star as its commander,
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and we involve her and her charactder more strongly in subsequent
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episodes as well.
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<p>
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<li> "Voices of Authority" - Earth begins tightening the screws on the folks
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at B5 to try and exert more control there. Steps are taken to
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help prepare for the shadow conflict. (Here, again, the
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"shadow war" means both the obvious, and the more subtle
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conflict brewing at home; it's description and metaphor.) The
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White Star voyages to some territory not seen since the first
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episode, Ivanova helms the ship, a major dramatic turning point
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is reached, and there is the single funniest scene in probably
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the series to date. A strong arc story.
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<p>
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<li> If you want some fun with your wham, and there's a lot of
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fun to be had in this one, go for the first one up, "Voices
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of Authority." If you want serious, serious wham, go for
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"Messages From Earth."
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<p>
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<li> As y'all know, next week the latest batch of new episodes
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begins to air. The first one up, "Voices of Authority," is an absolute
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hoot; if you've been looking to bring in other viewers, that's a good
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one to start them with, because it sets up a lot of what's going to
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happen in this episode, it has a lot of background, and it's a lot of
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fun.
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<p>
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The next two are somewhat more straightforward, stand-alones
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(to some extent; there's some arc stuff there, however, which becomes
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more important later). Then the last two in this batch represent some
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of the best work we've ever done, "Messages From Earth" and "Point of
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No Return." They follow directly on the footsteps of "Voices," so
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those three together would be great for new viewers.
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<P>
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<li> If you're talking about the conference room scene...Draal wasn't
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put into the scene digitally. You do a split screen, with the camera
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locked off. In one Delenn walks over to a point just short of the
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line; in another you get a shot just of the wall; then Draal walks up.
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You then use a dissolve technique to fade him into the room on his side
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of the split screen. But he's not being put *into* the room, he's
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already there, so he's neither bigger nor smaller than he is in real
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life, since he IS in real life there, not added in.
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<p>
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<li> <em>And what about the machine room scene on the planet?</em><br>
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We shot two plates, first with him in the machine, then him out,
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never moving the camera, so it matched exactly.
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<p>
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<li>@@@864891987 The crew you see on the White Star doesn't reflect those in other
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parts of the ship. Also, being fairly advanced, it doesn't require a
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big crew in command. You could even fly it single-handedly if it came
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to that.
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<p>
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<li> <em>The First Ones sure have fragile egos.</em><br>
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The other part, I think, is that they were kind of amused to see
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this dinky little ship getting in their face, when they *knew* the
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First Ones could blast 'em to bits....
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<p>
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<li> Ivanova wanted to get in the face of the First Ones, to say,
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"Look, you can blow me away, but damn it, listen to me." If she'd said
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that "more reverently," as your friend noted, it would've worked
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against the logic of the scene and the resolution.
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<p>
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<li> <em>Would it be fair to say the First Ones weren't pleased to hear
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the Vorlons mentioned?</em>
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Fair, yes.
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<p>
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<li> Well, this isn't a *literal* translation, because some words don't
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translate, but the *sense* of the sentence would be "the vorlons can
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kiss my ____."
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<p>
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<li>@@@864891987 <em>Was the mask image just a representation, or was it
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what the Walkers actually look like?</em><br>
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It's certainly a form of representation, an icon, rather than the
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literal entity, yes.
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<p>
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<li>@@@840476527 "So who is older, the Shadows or the Walkers???"
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<p>
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The shadows, but just by a smidge.
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<p>
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<li> <em>Why didn't they recognize Morden's voice?</em><br>
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Who said they didn't recognize it?
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<p>
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<li> What's fun, for me, about the Minipax lady, is that she *clearly*
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knows that this is a game on one level, her comment about just
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rewriting the dictionary...she knows the problems aren't *really* gone,
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they just defined them away. But when she's in front of a crowd of
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folks predisposed to her message, she goes full-tilt. Showmanship.....
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<p>
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<li> <em>A lot of the Nightwatch members looked pretty disturbed by
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what Musante was saying.</em><br>
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Now the weeding out process starts.
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<p>
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<li> <em>What do civilians think of Nightwatch?</em><br>
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Some are scared of Nightwatch, others feel it's a good thing, and
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darn it, it's about time....
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<p>
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<li> On the other hand, Zack *didn't* rat out the code 7-R stuff to
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her in any detail. He's absolutely caught between the two sides, and
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not sure which way to jump.
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<p>
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<li> <em>Parallels between Nightwatch and the Gestapo?</em><br>
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While yes, there are some intentional WW II parallels here, do
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bear in mind that you don't have to go all the way back to the Gestapo
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to find this kind of mentality...Sen. McCarthy would've been quite at
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home in Nightwatch.
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<p>
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<li>@@@864891987 <em>Is Nightwatch going to clear the lurkers out of
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the station?</em><br>
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Nightwatch has bigger goals than dealing with lurkers....
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<p>
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<li>@@@864891987 <em>Is the Nightwatch the same group referred to as
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Bureau 13 in
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<a href="028.html">"A Spider in the Web?"</a></em><br>
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No, the Bureau would've been a secret organization, a la the NSA
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or a covert military/spy group. This is a much more public face.
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<p>
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<li> The political officer: improbable dialogue? Most of it was
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taken direct from political statements, public ones, made by Goebbels,
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Hitler, Joseph McCarthy, Stalin, and other fanatics. The kind of Big
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Lie dialogue people continue to fall for today. Go to a Pat Buchanan
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rally sometime and tell me it's unlikely dialogue.
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<p>
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<li> DLyulkin...exactly. You don't just take something and transplant it
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wholecloth...you change and modify it. Nightwatch was never meant to be
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on a one-to-one corrolation to the SS, or Stasi, or McCarthy...the whole
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POINT is that this kind of mentality crops up in new forms from time to
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time, in different names, different approaches, but at its heartmeat
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core the same thing. By saying it's "That over there," we can relax,
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since that specific incident can't recur...making us vulnerable to the
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next version.
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<p>
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<li> Yes, those were shadow eyes; and it was probably a raven on the
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poster.
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<p>
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<li> <em>Can the machine see everywhere, or can it be blocked?</em><br>
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No, Varn's people aren't first ones...and the machine can be
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blocked.
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<p>
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<li> My sense was that basically Ivanova jumped onto the wrong path as she
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fled...the shadows were in proximity, and she ended up briefly on
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their path, which took her to the interception of the transmission.
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<p>
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The one comment that I find most interesting, repeated here a few
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times, is that they didn't buy the Nightwitch (as some have dubbed
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her) because in her address to the Nightwatch, she was not exactly
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what you might call subtle, and thus nobody'd believe her, and see
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her for what she was.
|
|
|
|
<p>
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|
I find it interesting because we always think we're smarter than
|
|
that, when history proves *exactly* the opposite. The Big Lie,
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|
spoken not just openly, but loudly, firmly and with conviction, has
|
|
been one of the most successful tactics in history. When Hitler and
|
|
Goebbels stood before a crowd and blamed jews for destroying society,
|
|
circulated pamphlets with ugly cariacatures, indicated that they
|
|
weren't *really* human (this in actual newsreels provided to the
|
|
medical profession members charged with eliminating "mental
|
|
defectives and jews")...when Joseph McCarthy stood up in front of the
|
|
nation waving a list of names of commies in the state department, the
|
|
military, congress, showbiz, and the sciences...the public didn't
|
|
suddenly wake up, hear the voice of the fanatic, and say, "Hey, this
|
|
guy's nuts!"
|
|
|
|
<p>
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|
They bought it. Because they were primed to believe it. Because
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|
they wanted to believe it. Because they were afraid *not* to believe
|
|
it. No, she wasn't subtle. Because there's a time for subtlety,
|
|
and there's a time to perform grandly for your hand-picked audience
|
|
and go for the Big Lie. If she were addressing a larger audience,
|
|
she might softpedal her message. To the Nightwatch, she's got to
|
|
hammer them, just as the Hitler Youth were hammered, as the
|
|
Anti-Communist Youth meetings were hammered about the Red Peril, as
|
|
Croatian or Serbian soldiers were hammered about the need to rape
|
|
women of the other "race" to make the resultant babies more
|
|
ethnically pure...which happened.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Most of her dialogue was paraphrased from actual speeches given over
|
|
the decades, or longer, by fanatical leaders to their followers.
|
|
There's bits of Hitler, of Goerring, of Goebbels...bits of McCarthy,
|
|
bits of Stalin, bits of Pat Buchanan and Rep. Dornan.
|
|
|
|
<p>
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|
Because people fell for it. It did work.
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|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It does work.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And it will *continue* to work...for as long as people think that
|
|
THEY would NEVER fall for such a thing....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> Never said they're all convinced of it. Just as all Germans weren't
|
|
convined of the views advanced by Hitler.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
You don't need all of them. You just need *enough* of them.
|
|
|
|
<p>
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|
Preferably, enough of them with guns.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Remember, too, that we just came out of the Earth/Minbari War about ten
|
|
years ago, when we stood at the edge of extinction. The threat of a new
|
|
alien race makes a good device.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>How much does Nightwatch pay members?</em><br>
|
|
Basically, it's a weekly bonus added onto their weekly salary; 50 creds
|
|
is a pretty enticing bump, equal to about 50 pounds British.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Didn't the security people already know about the
|
|
assassination?</em><br>
|
|
You have to remember that all Garibaldi's people knew was that a
|
|
few guys came through the station that may have been involved in the
|
|
assassination. That is NOT the same thing as showing that Clark is
|
|
involved. There was no apparent connection. We the audience suspect
|
|
it, from what happens, but until now there has been no evidence of it.
|
|
So yes, they know that Santiago is dead; that there's some indication
|
|
that he may have been assassinated...but that's a long way from
|
|
pointing to Clark.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864891987 <em>Why aren't Sheridan and company going public with
|
|
this information?</em><br>
|
|
With Clark removing all the evidence, and others giving orders to
|
|
drop it, and knowing Clark would stop any kind of investigation, what
|
|
is there for them to do officially? They had to begin working covertly
|
|
to prove it, which is what they've been doing ever since "Hunter,
|
|
Prey." If you're a military officer, and you're given a direct order
|
|
from your commander in chief or the Senate Oversight Committee to drop
|
|
something, and you violate those orders, you're up on charges or fired.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Was that Ed Wasser's voice? (He plays Morden.)</em><br>
|
|
It was definitely Ed Wasser.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Did Musante seduce Zack?</em><br>
|
|
No, that wasn't the relationship between her and Zack, much as he
|
|
might've wished for it. As for the walkers at sigma 957...the
|
|
recognition signal is their name, which is 15,000 letters long (we had
|
|
to cut this line for time). So I can't really repeat it here.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Why did she think seducing Sheridan would work?</em><br>
|
|
Her feeling was likely that it has always worked with her in the
|
|
past. He's widowed, probably hasn't had any in a long time, he's
|
|
vulnerable, a perfect target.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> Basically, like many manipulative people, she projects whatever
|
|
she thinks will work best with her audience. Appealing to Zack's
|
|
patriotism, trying to find Sheridan's affections by flattering him
|
|
mercilessly (on many levels), playing the straight-chinned leader in an
|
|
address to security forces...she puts on whatever face she thinks will
|
|
work.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Why didn't Sheridan just get rid of her?</em><br>
|
|
This is the difference between TV logic and Real logic. In TV
|
|
logic, yeah, she should've tossed her outta there...but we try to be
|
|
rigorously real about the B5 universe. She was sent by the Senate
|
|
Oversight Committee, as is their province, with the backing of several
|
|
governmental offices, in an area over which Sheridan doesn't have
|
|
jusrisdiction: the political arena back home. In the real world, you
|
|
can't just toss somebody out the door because you don't like them...not
|
|
if you're a career military officer who answers to a civilian authority
|
|
or government.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Did I imagine Marcus's line about the French?</em><br>
|
|
You didn't imagine it....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Part of what appeals to me is the idea that the English/French
|
|
animosity you often see (though clearly not in all cases) would
|
|
continue not only into the future, but outside Earth. Realistically,
|
|
if you go into Europe, you find people holding grudges 500 years old,
|
|
or more. Seemed appropriate to carry this small one forward as well.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@852231211 I wrote that particular line; knowing the longstanding
|
|
British/French "feud," for lack of a better term, it seemed appropriate.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>What does Marcus know about Vorlon theology?</em><br>
|
|
Marcus was making that part up.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> Weren't me. It was Marcus. Blame him.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>So the actor ad-libbed that line?</em><br>
|
|
Actor? What actor? I'm talking about Marcus here. I just
|
|
write down what he says.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>The First Ones had Kosh's voice.</em><br>
|
|
I figured that some elements of the First Ones should be consistent
|
|
with one another; others should have specific differences. Using
|
|
Ardwight subliminally reinforced some of the consistencies.
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|