|
<!-- TITLE Walkabout -->
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><cite>
|
|
Lyta tests the limits of the Shadows' newly-discovered weakness.
|
|
Dr. Franklin goes on a journey to discover his place in life, and meets a
|
|
singer in Downbelow. The new Ambassador Kosh arrives on the station.
|
|
</cite>
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Gimpel,+Erica+(II)">Erica Gimpel</a> as Cailyn.
|
|
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Balgobin,+Jennifer">Jennifer Balgobin</a> as Dr. Hobbs.
|
|
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Tallman,+Patricia">Patricia Tallman</a> as Lyta Alexander. <a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Sachs,+Robin">Robin Sachs</a> as Na'Kal.
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/062">7.89</a>
|
|
|
|
Production number: 318
|
|
Original air week: August 18, 1996 (UK)
|
|
September 30, 1996 (US)
|
|
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009OOFK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 12, 2003
|
|
|
|
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
|
|
Directed by Kevin Cremin
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002VUW/thelurkersguidet">An
|
|
episodic soundtrack is available.</a>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<hr size=3>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li> Lyta has previously carried "pieces" of Kosh with her. This is
|
|
most likely what she was doing at the end of
|
|
<a href="048.html">"Passing Through Gethsemane."</a>
|
|
|
|
<li> At least ten Narn ships have survived the battle with the Centauri,
|
|
damaged but able to be repaired. A new Narn fleet seems to be gathering.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@864894608 It takes the White Star 20 minutes to recharge its jump
|
|
engines after they've been taken offline and their energy diverted into
|
|
the weapons systems.
|
|
|
|
<li> The Vorlons are a long-lived race, are relatively few in number, and
|
|
death is a rarity among them. It had been a very long time since a
|
|
Vorlon had died.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844797640 Franklin is a Foundationist. The Foundation apparently
|
|
borrows customs and beliefs from various cultures, perhaps in the
|
|
belief that no one people has all the right spiritual answers.
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
<img src="/lurk/gif/062/vshipmsg.gif" border=1 width=160 hspace=2 height=120 align=right>
|
|
<li> What was the message the Vorlon ship showed to Sheridan?
|
|
|
|
<li> Lyta, a P5, could barely hold one Shadow ship at bay. How much
|
|
telepathic energy is required to defeat a Shadow ship? What effect
|
|
would a high-rated telepath like Bester have on a Shadow vessel?
|
|
|
|
<li> Is Lyta still "only" a P5, or has she been enhanced by her relationship
|
|
with Kosh?
|
|
|
|
<li> Why does the new Vorlon insist on being called Kosh in public and
|
|
private? What does he mean by his statement that "We are all Kosh?"
|
|
(see <A HREF="#AN">Analysis</A>)
|
|
|
|
<li> Where did the pattern in Kosh's quarters come from, and what does it
|
|
mean? (see <A HREF="#AN">Analysis</A>)
|
|
|
|
<li> Why did Lyta bleed from her eyes during the battle? Was it just the
|
|
strain, or is there some deeper explanation?
|
|
|
|
<li> Why didn't the forces of Light take the destroyed Shadow craft in tow
|
|
for analysis?
|
|
|
|
<li> Why didn't the Minbari cruiser open fire on the "held" shadows?
|
|
|
|
<li> Lyta required 'line of sight' to the Shadow ship in order to attack it.
|
|
Did the Minbari telepaths also need to see the Shadows in order to
|
|
attack them?
|
|
|
|
<li> How did the Vorlon ship know where to find Sheridan?
|
|
|
|
<li> Does the "piece" of Kosh that may be left behind in Sheridan have
|
|
anything to do with Sheridan's place as "The One?" How might it fit in
|
|
with Kosh's statement that if Sheridan goes to Z'ha'dum, he will die?
|
|
It may explain Kosh's final words to Sheridan: "As long as you're
|
|
here, I'll always be here."
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@847070191 Do the Shadows know a piece of Kosh survived?
|
|
|
|
<li> Does the different style and color of the new Vorlon ambassador's
|
|
encounter suit denote anything?
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@871091092 Is this the same Vorlon who was on Minbar in
|
|
<a href="060.html">"War Without End?"</a>
|
|
|
|
<li> How did G'Kar manage to persuade the other races to come to Sheridan's
|
|
aid in his battle against the Shadows?
|
|
|
|
<br clear=all>
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
<img src="/lurk/gif/062/koshqtrs.gif" border=1 width=160 hspace=2 height=120 align=right>
|
|
<li> The strange pattern which the new Vorlon sees on the screen in
|
|
Kosh's quarters could be a representation of Kosh's death. It could be
|
|
construed as a diagram of two or more Shadows attacking a Vorlon. It
|
|
could also be construed as a diagram of Shadows being accompanied by a
|
|
human. Presumably the human would be Morden, and the images were
|
|
burned into the wall in some form, silhouettes, when Kosh was killed.
|
|
|
|
<li> It's clear that Lyta believes, based on her vision, that Sheridan may
|
|
hold part of Kosh within him. What that means -- for Sheridan, for
|
|
Lyta, and for Kosh -- remains to be seen.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844797979 How did the piece of Kosh get into Sheridan's mind? If
|
|
it was the result of Kosh's contact with Sheridan, might G'Kar also
|
|
have a piece of Kosh following their contact in
|
|
<a href="050.html">"Dust to Dust?"</a>
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844881004 More disturbingly, might Morden also have a piece of Kosh,
|
|
present as he was at Kosh's death? Perhaps that was why the Shadows
|
|
brought Morden along; they wanted someone there who could carry
|
|
part of a Vorlon.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844797979 In
|
|
<a href="033.html">"All Alone in the Night,"</a>
|
|
Kosh tells Sheridan, "I have always been here." Could he perhaps
|
|
have been referring to Sheridan's mind, implying that Sheridan has
|
|
carried a piece of Kosh for quite some time?
|
|
|
|
<li> Might the statement that "We are all Kosh" suggest that the Vorlons
|
|
exist more as a collective whole than as individual entities? (See also
|
|
<A href="#JS">JMS speaks</a>.)
|
|
|
|
<li> The tide may be turning, now that it's clear that telepaths are
|
|
effective weapons against the Shadows, especially considering that all
|
|
major races except the Narn have telepaths. (Which begs the question:
|
|
what will the Shadows' response be?)
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844376937 Telepathic control over Shadow ships is tenuous at
|
|
best, and may be limited to preventing them from attacking; the three
|
|
ships being held by the Minbari telepaths were free to flee the scene
|
|
when G'Kar and the others arrived.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844376937 In
|
|
<a href="024.html">"Revelations,"</a>
|
|
G'Kar told Na'Toth that when Narn warships jump into normal space,
|
|
they're briefly out of contact because of the energy drain of the
|
|
jump engines. Yet the G'Tok was able to fire on the Shadow warship
|
|
before it even left the vortex. Does that mean that the weapons
|
|
systems take less energy than establishing faster-than-light
|
|
communications? Perhaps Narn FTL communication involves the use
|
|
of the jump engines to beam a signal into hyperspace, and the
|
|
effect in "Revelations" was simply a matter of the jump engines
|
|
needing to recharge from the ship's main power source.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844895893 The Shadows now probably know that the White Star is
|
|
capable of solo jumps. It seems Sheridan has decided that keeping
|
|
that capability a secret is no longer of strategic importance
|
|
(<a href="045.html">"Matters of Honor."</a>)
|
|
Or perhaps he figures that the secret is out by now anyway, perhaps
|
|
as of Delenn's emergence from a jump point in the White Star in
|
|
close proximity to Babylon 5, and thus presumably in full view of
|
|
a large number of people
|
|
(<a href="054.html">"Severed Dreams."</a>)
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844376937 The new Kosh's ship is reddish in color, as is his
|
|
encounter suit's eyepiece, perhaps suggesting the link between Vorlons
|
|
and their ships.
|
|
|
|
<li>@@@844900656 Every sentient race, according to G'Kar, has food resembling
|
|
Swedish meatballs. The Narn call it "breen." Since the Vorlons have
|
|
manipulated all the younger races, perhaps Swedish meatballs are really
|
|
a Vorlon delicacy, part of an intricate plan to defeat the Shadows
|
|
through culinary unity.
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
<li> In Australian aboriginal cultures, a "walkabout" is a ritual in which
|
|
a young man goes on a solitary journey through the wilderness in an
|
|
attempt to learn more about his own character and strength.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@850757656 Metazine, the painkiller Cailyn used, was also used on
|
|
Sinclair to keep him unconscious in
|
|
<a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars."</a>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844882197 <a name="NO.credit">In the initial UK broadcast, as</a>
|
|
well as the first-run US broadcast, Patricia Tallman's first name
|
|
was misspelled "Patrica" in the opening credits.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> JMS wrote both songs in this episode. See
|
|
<a href="#JS.songs">jms speaks.</a>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> When the ship bearing the new ambassador arrives, Sheridan originally
|
|
says, "Welcome to Babylon 5." This line was edited out later.
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
<li> As it happens, as soon as I finish the two-parter, this
|
|
week, the next script will get a lot more into Lyta and the
|
|
Vorlons and all that jazz.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864605945 It came out pretty well; it's exceeded by Shadow Dancing,
|
|
Z'ha'dum and Rock, but it ain't bad.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864605945 Re: "Walkabout," thanks...of the final 5, it's not at the top,
|
|
but it ain't bad. If you happen to be out of the house this coming
|
|
Thursday, and miss "Grey 17 is Missing," you miss a little, but not a
|
|
lot. It's okay. But the ones after that are just *killer*.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864605945 <em>Was this supposed to come before "War Without
|
|
End?"</em><br>
|
|
Correct. Initially we'd wanted to put Walkabout in first, but
|
|
that would have meant airing only WWE1 in that sweeps period, and
|
|
having to wait until the fall for part 2, which seemed not only
|
|
excessive but remarkably stupid. So we reversed the shooting/airing
|
|
order to accommodate that, and the fact that we knew we'd need a LOT of
|
|
EFX in WWE1, and this would give us time to do it properly.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864605945 <em>Will the order be corrected when TNT airs the
|
|
series?</em><br>
|
|
Not really, because it doesn't make *that* much difference to
|
|
risk confusing them about it....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844882197 <em>About
|
|
<a href="#NO.credit">Patricia Tallman's misspelled name</a></em><br>
|
|
WHAT?!?!
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Are you sure? We changed it on my copies here.....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844882197 (slow burn)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
We delivered a corrected print ages ago.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Someone gon' DIE.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> It's fair to say that Lyta has been...aided, slightly, in
|
|
her abilities. But I'm not ready to pull the trigger on that one for a
|
|
while yet.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> The new Vorlon arrives in Walkabout.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li><em>Is the new ambassador the same as Kosh?</em><br>
|
|
Actually, no, the replacement isn't Kosh, as you say, it's
|
|
another Vorlon, with a very different personality...the "we are all
|
|
Kosh" is more of a conceptual thing....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864605945 I'd say this Kosh has a bit more of an edge to him....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@864605945 <em>Will we ever find out what was written on the side
|
|
of Kosh's ship?</em><br>
|
|
What, do I look like someone who can speak Vorlon? Oh, sure, a few
|
|
words, mainly "Where is the bathroom" and "What's that smell?" but to
|
|
translate something like that...pfsh, please.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
(Answer: probably not.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@865960802 <em>What did the ship say?</em><br>
|
|
"Welcome to Hawaii."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
There was apparently a hideous malfunction...they never talked
|
|
about it thereafter....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> Franklin isn't gone from the show; he's in the very next
|
|
episode, in a major way, and has a big part in "Shadow Dancing." He
|
|
just has a lot to work out right now.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844912488 "When is walkabout a legitimate choice, and when is it
|
|
a cop-out?"
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
When you're more afraid of what you're running *to* than what you're
|
|
running *from*.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <a name="JS.songs">It's not widely known -- I guess
|
|
mainly</a>
|
|
because I haven't ever mentioned it much -- but from time to time I've
|
|
written songs. Mainly the lyrics; I know how the music should sound,
|
|
but I'm incapable of reading music...I think it's the same mental
|
|
glitch that hits me when I try to do certain kinds of math. "X is a
|
|
numerical value." "No, X is a letter, 7 is a numerical value." I can't
|
|
ever seem to make the one equal the other in my head. Similarly, a
|
|
black note on a piece of paper isn't the music...anyway, it's a
|
|
glitch.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
So when I write songs, and I have a specific melody I'm hearing
|
|
in my head, I'm invariably placed in the humiliating position (since I
|
|
can't play a musical instrument) of humming it, or somehow trying to
|
|
suggest it to the music-person. Suffice to say it looks really goofy
|
|
and stupid.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Anyway...despite this, I do sometimes write songs, and like to
|
|
keep my hand in, as they say. I did two songs for an ABC-TV prime-time
|
|
Real Ghostbusters special, did a few songs that have been recorded by
|
|
small groups (you've never heard of any of them, trust me), another
|
|
song that, much to my chagrin, is apparently still being used in church
|
|
songbooks (and that's all I will ever say about that)...and when I
|
|
decided to do a show with a singer for B5, I wrote a couple of songs
|
|
for that one, with Chris Franke providing the music.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
They're bluesy, Billie Holliday kinds of songs, updated
|
|
slightly. I'm actually very pleased with how they came out (Erica
|
|
Gimpel, one of the cast members from Fame, plays the part and sings the
|
|
songs). Several folks around here want either or both songs to come
|
|
out on the next B5 album, but I"m loathe to do so, on the theory that
|
|
the soundtracks work better in the style we've already used, all
|
|
instrumental. (There've even been some inquiries from music people
|
|
who've heard the songs about releasing them commercially, but that
|
|
would mean adding about 30 seconds to each song to make them airplay
|
|
compatible, and I'm not sure I want to take on the extra hassle just
|
|
now.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Who did the music?</em><br>
|
|
I wrote the lyrics, Chris Franke did the music.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Are the songs linked to elements of the
|
|
story?</em><br>
|
|
Not coincidences, no, but not quite as tightly linked as you suggest.
|
|
Thematically indicative more than anything that points to story specific
|
|
elements.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 I figured it might be cool to continue the song over the
|
|
credits. That happens one more time this season.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844881146 Here's what I think is a bit of cultural short-sightedness.
|
|
Everybody keeps saying, "well, if they had that kind of music,
|
|
shouldn't it have been shown to be an oldies bar or something?"
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Look at classical music for a moment. Goes back to Beethoven,
|
|
Brahms, Bach and lots of composers whose names don't even begin with
|
|
B. And earlier. Now, I don't mean to alarm anyone or startle anyone
|
|
with this revelation, but classical music is *still being written and
|
|
performed* hundreds of years later. Not old stuff, new stuff, of
|
|
that school and in that style. The orchestral suites in the Star
|
|
Wars movies are strongly based on classical compositions...is that
|
|
"oldies" stuff? You've got one of the longest running musical plays
|
|
running now in London, in "Phantom of the Opera," a *new* composition
|
|
(well, mostly, knowing how Webber works).
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jazz and blues kinda formally began in the 1920s and 1930s, but its
|
|
roots run back to spirituals and african-american music in the
|
|
1800s. And it didn't just stop suddenly in the 1930s. There's still
|
|
new material being written in that style now; so should Stevie Ray
|
|
Vaughn's albums or performances have been labeled "oldies?" After
|
|
all, it's sixty years later and more.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Certain musical styles will stay with us for a long, long time. Not
|
|
performances based on old stuff, but new material in that vein, for
|
|
those forms that have shown themselves to be enduring. 200 years
|
|
from now, in addition to other forms, you're still going to have
|
|
original blues songs, original classical compositions, original jazz,
|
|
original compositions in the style of gregorian chants, on and on and
|
|
on.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It's odd when people try to apply illogical rules to the future that
|
|
don't apply now; no one said, as noted, that a Stevie Ray Vaughn
|
|
concert should be billed as an "oldies" event, or an oldies
|
|
bar...even though it's over half a century since serious blues
|
|
started going...it's just silly.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844028242 Vorlon ships come out backwards when possible to help
|
|
decelerate.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Pat has interesting eyes...they're slightly larger than is the norm, and
|
|
they take some getting used to. Those eyes are one of the things that
|
|
beckoned to me to cast her...they're the eyes of a telepath, who sees
|
|
more than should be seen. They're terrific eyes.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>So, were the shadows following Lyta, or were they an image on the
|
|
wall?</em><br>
|
|
They weren't following Lyta. We were in Kosh's old quarters, and those
|
|
images were burned into the wall when Kosh died. Bear in mind that she
|
|
doesn't actually meet the new ambassador until the next scene.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It was the same effect you would get in a massive energy burst that
|
|
"paints" shadows on the wall, which only he could see.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Those are two different scenes; the first one takes place in Kosh's
|
|
quarters, the second one out in the hallway. Perhaps that could've been
|
|
made clearer....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Garibaldi said he went over Kosh's quarters with a
|
|
fine-toothed comb. How'd he miss the image?</em><br>
|
|
Watch the scene again; the first time the new Vorlon looks at the wall,
|
|
he sees nothing; the next time he looks at it, the lens wide open, the
|
|
image is somewhat distorted around the edges, and now he's seeing the
|
|
afterflash. Only certain types can see it.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Is there significance to the different eye-piece colors
|
|
of the two Koshes? Why no one would suspect Kosh suddenly
|
|
having a different encounter suit?</em><br>
|
|
No signicance to the eyepiece color; no reason to assume Vorlons only
|
|
have one encounter suit their entire life.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 Actually, the new Vorlon's encounter suit is more
|
|
purple/red than green. The design is a matter of form following
|
|
function.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>On differences between the two Koshes:</em><br>
|
|
They're not that far apart in age, but yes, Kosh would be a bit
|
|
older.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> The look of the new Vorlon was developed by John Vulich of Optic Nerve
|
|
based on my suggestions. I got in after a bit and redesigned/sketched
|
|
the headpiece a bit, and recommended the colors used. We're actually
|
|
doing a bit of fine-tuning on the new Vorlon prior to next season.<p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844880143 Re: the new Kosh...yeah, the look is intentional. I
|
|
worked with Optic Nerve to get the new lines right, messed with their
|
|
sketches until I had what I wanted. It's very effective in some lights,
|
|
less so in others, but the sense comes across.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@889494600 <em>Is the new Kosh really Ulkesh from the novel
|
|
<a href="/lurk/novels/009.html">"To Dream in the City of Sorrows?"</a>
|
|
</em><br>
|
|
The new Vorlon was Ulkesh, yes...the Kosh thing was meant in a
|
|
Vorlon philosophical sense. They ain't wired up like the rest of us.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 Sheridan commands the Army of Light, Delenn as second.
|
|
If the AOL speaks with one voice on something of importance, they have
|
|
to be listened to. When Sheridan put himself on the front lines, he was
|
|
then taking on the role of soldier, not commander. They also felt it
|
|
risked leaving them without said commander if it went wrong.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Bear in mind that their orders in *no* way compromised his actual
|
|
mission, or over-rode his decision. They were sending along a secondary
|
|
mission to keep an eye on the primary mission. I don't see a conflict
|
|
here.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 Just some comparisons to illustrate...during
|
|
WW II, the head of naval operations for the Japanese fleet insisted
|
|
on being on board during several of their more pivotal missions. His
|
|
subordinates insisted that additional ships be sent as escorts given
|
|
his importance to war strategy. That's a very rigid military
|
|
structure, but when *all* the subordinates get together on something,
|
|
to go against it causes more problems than it's worth.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Even within the context of a conventional military situation, there's
|
|
flexibility. If a commanding officer gives an order which is
|
|
immoral, illegal, or against the rules of engagement, a subordinate
|
|
can refuse to implement that order, even give a countermanding order
|
|
which, depending on the situation (such as a nuclear missile firing)
|
|
would take precedence over the CO's order (though you'd first have to
|
|
relieve the CO of command, and if you do that, you'd darned well
|
|
better be prepared to back it up with every legal and moral means at
|
|
your disposal, or it's mutiny). Heck, it was just this kind of
|
|
dilemma that was at the core of the movie "Crimson Tide," and was
|
|
brought up in the recent war crime trials going on investigating what
|
|
happened in Bosnia, with a soldier being asked why he didn't refuse
|
|
to carry out an order to kill civilians.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Ain't a lot of black-and-whites in the world, but a whole lotta
|
|
greys.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 There's nothing dangerous at all about a fleet coming out of
|
|
hyperspace or a jump point together.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li><em>The UK cut Lyta's line from the Shadow battle, "Burn, you
|
|
bastards!"</em><br>
|
|
They cut that? How curious...I didn't know that. From what I'd seen of
|
|
British TV, some shows use the word bastard like I use a comma, they're
|
|
ubiquitous....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Why not use Bester in the test?</em><br>
|
|
Because Bester is on Earth or Mars, can't just drop everything and come
|
|
when beckoned, and it would take 3 days to get there, and they were in
|
|
kind of a hurry to test this. Besides, P10s are very few and far
|
|
between; they're more likely to have lower levels as their main weapons,
|
|
so best to see what impact those will have.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844882375 The fragmentation or fractionalizing is also
|
|
visually cued by the last shot of Franklin through the window, split
|
|
into many versions of himself.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Re: the hand-on-shoulder gesture, from Marcus it was an
|
|
upbraiding, stop-him motion, whereas from Sheridan it was one of
|
|
congratulation.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@845974618 It's imagery, yes, of his still being fractured, still
|
|
looking to find himself, as it were.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Why isn't Sheridan setting up propaganda to help
|
|
turn the Shadows' allies, such as Earth, against them?</em><br>
|
|
There's really no need for propgaganda. By about now, everybody out
|
|
in this part of space knows the situation...and what's going on back
|
|
home is secondary to winning the war. Also, you can be sure that if
|
|
they set up a network -- and who has time in the middle of a war -- you
|
|
can be sure Earth would find some way to jam it.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 You're the leader of an isolated space station with a
|
|
quarter million inhabitants, who need air, food, supplies, space,
|
|
support. You no longer have ties to Earth, no support from there, no
|
|
money, so you have to rely on whatever docking fees you can get from
|
|
other worlds. You're in the midst of a war in which you have few
|
|
resources, little money, allies that have a tendency to turn on one
|
|
another, nobody's giving you a break, your position is tenuous as
|
|
hell, you're constantly undermanned, shorthanded....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Now you tell me where the heck you're going to get the time,
|
|
resources, money and manpower to launch a propaganda operation, which
|
|
if you're going to broadcast (and what's the point otherwise?) on an
|
|
interstellar basis is going to require extensive and expensive
|
|
facilities, broadcast repeaters, tacyhon carrier wave generators to
|
|
get around the time-delay aspects, writers, directors, broadcast
|
|
engineers, spokespersons, propaganda specialists, psychologists,
|
|
technicians, camera equipment, space in which to PUT all of this
|
|
stuff...on and on and on.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 <em>The Minbari could help with the propaganda.</em><br>
|
|
For starters, having just had a MAJOR WAR with the Minbari, which
|
|
nearly wiped out Earth, and many folks back home *hating* the
|
|
Minbari...do you think for one second that they're going to believe a
|
|
word of what the Minbari say to them? Do you think the government
|
|
would allow this to go through unjammed? Hell, EarthGov would have a
|
|
field day with this..."See? It's all alien propaganda, just like we
|
|
told you, they're trying to destabalize Earth."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Second, I don't think the Minbari have the propagandists, writers,
|
|
directors, and others needed to put together a propaganda network,
|
|
and would find the whole idea immoral to begin with...and a couple of
|
|
paragraphs of text are meaningless...Earthgov says "it's not true,"
|
|
and it's your word against theirs. That's why you must have
|
|
absolute, unvarnished PROOF, otherwise it blows up in your face,
|
|
which any journalist worth his or her salt knows.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Does the Army of Light have access to any of the
|
|
Minbari's resources?</em><br>
|
|
Yes, they do...but bear in mind that the Minbari are currently having
|
|
their own problems. The Grey Council has fallen apart, the Military
|
|
Caste (as we'll see in one of the next episodes) is having some
|
|
serious doubts about how the Religious Caste is handling things, and
|
|
that much of the support given Earth (by way of B5) has been covert;
|
|
the White Star program was launched in secret, and the greater amount
|
|
of the Minbari population aren't aware they're so much "in bed" with
|
|
the humans (as it were). As far as they're concerned, we're
|
|
apparently necessary to the plan, but not much more than that. So I
|
|
think they wouldn't be warm to the notion of extending their services
|
|
overmuch to Earth.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@844882375 <em>Is the White Star more powerful than a regular Minbari
|
|
cruiser because of the Vorlons' involvement in its design?</em><br>
|
|
The Vorlons were cooperating in the recent past, yes, and it
|
|
still takes a couple of Minbari cruisers under most circumstances to
|
|
take out an immobilized shadow vessel, though one can do it if the
|
|
firepower is concentrated and prolonged.
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Originally compiled by Jason Snell.
|