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358 lines
14 KiB
<!-- TITLE Conflicts of Interest -->
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<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><cite>
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Garibaldi takes on a new job. The resistance's counter-propaganda
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broadcasts begin. Sheridan proposes a plan to protect the Non-Aligned Worlds
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from raiders.
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</cite>
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Choate,+Tim">Tim Choate</a> as Zathras.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Gentile,+Denise">Denise Gentile</a> as Lise Hampton.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Schneider,+Mark">Mark Schneider</a> as Wade.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Walker,+Charles">Charles Walker</a> as Ben.
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</blockquote>
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<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/078">8.04</a>
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Production number: 412
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Original air week: May 5, 1997
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DGBEY/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: January 6, 2004
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by David Eagle
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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">Plot Points</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li>@@@862814145 Wade and his group still consider Garibaldi expendable.
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<li>@@@862814145 Lise Hampton, Garibaldi's ex-lover
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(<a href="018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness"</a>)
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divorced her first husband and eventually married one of the richest
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men on Mars, William Edgars. Among other things, Edgars is the owner
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of the largest medical research center on the planet.
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<li>@@@862814145 Some medical researchers believe that one of the genes
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responsible for telepathy in humans has the potential to mutate into
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some form of communicable disease, lethal to other telepaths. There
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may be a cure, but there are those on Earth who'd rather the basis
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of the cure be destroyed to rid Earth of telepaths.
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<li>@@@862814854 Sheridan has proposed to assign the Rangers to patrol
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the borders between the various parts of alien-controlled space,
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protecting civilian transports from the Drakh
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(<a href="077.html">"Lines of Communication"</a>)
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and others.
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<li>@@@862814854 The Centauri have had contact with the Drakh in the past,
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but long enough ago that nowadays they're considered little more than
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legends.
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<li>@@@862814145 Zathras had nine brothers, all named Zathras but with
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slightly different intonations.
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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>@@@862814145 What exactly was the substance Lise was picking up?
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<li>@@@863201143 Were Wade and Lise and their contact telling the truth about
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the telepath virus, or was the substance something else entirely?
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<li>@@@862814145 Who were the gunmen? Were they with Psi Corps, or were
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they rogue telepaths? What did they mean by the phrase, "To the
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future?" (See
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<a href="#AN.future">Analysis</a>)
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<li>@@@864583160 Why didn't Garibaldi fire at the telepath?
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<li>@@@862817066 Did Wade know about Garibaldi's past association with
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Lise? Was she part of the test, to see how emotional stress would
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affect his performance?
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<li>@@@862814145 Does William Edgars' job offer conflict with whatever
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plans Wade and his cohorts have for Garibaldi, or is his employment
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just another part of the plan?
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<li>@@@862821469 Why didn't Edgars show Garibaldi his face?
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<li>@@@863076125 What was in the message Lise left for Garibaldi?
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<li>@@@863716541 Why did she send it using her maiden name?
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<li>@@@862817066 Did G'Kar and Londo take Sheridan up on his offer?
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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>@@@862814145 If Garibaldi takes the job, will he be working close to
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William Edgars? That would imply he'll also have frequent contact
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with Lise, which likely wouldn't be easy for either of them.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862817234 His consideration of the job offer is at odds with the
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glimpse of his programming, if that's what it was, in
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<a href="074.html">"The Illusion of Truth."</a>
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In that flashback, Garibaldi recalled being drilled over and over
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with the idea that he worked for nobody but his captors. Of course,
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if Edgars is involved with his captors, that might not be inconsistent.
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<p>@@@865362949
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It's also possible his captors <em>want</em> to get him close to
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Edgars, and that by taking the job he'd in fact be following their
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implanted orders.
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<P>
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<li>@@@863202655 Edgars claimed to have checked up on Garibaldi. Checked
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up on him how? Garibaldi himself has said on more than one occasion
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that his past is checkered at best, and his history isn't too closely
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guarded a secret (for example, the Senator knew about him in
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(<a href="000.html">"The Gathering."</a>)
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Maybe Edgars was taking Garibaldi's performance as security chief
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on Babylon 5 into account, or maybe his "checking up" involved talking
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to whoever captured Garibaldi
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(<a href="068.html">"Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?"</a>)
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<p>
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<li>@@@863490143 The Daffy Duck cartoon Garibaldi was watching (1953's
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact?Duck%20Amuck%20%281953%29">"Duck Amuck!"</a>)
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can be
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viewed as a metaphor for his situation; depending on what was done
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to him after his capture
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(<a href="068.html">"Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?"</a>)
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he may well no longer be in control of his own fate, and is certainly
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being influenced by forces he can't detect.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862814145 If the researchers are correct and the human telepathy
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genes can indeed mutate into a lethal virus, what are the parameters?
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Likely it's something that's telepathically transmitted. For example,
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it might cause a telepath to broadcast noise on whatever medium
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telepaths use to read thoughts. Telepathic interference can cause
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physical effects (Ben Zayn doubling over in
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<a href="016.html">"Eyes,"</a>
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or Lyta's bloodied eyes in
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<a href="062.html">"Walkabout"</a>)
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so it's not inconceivable that telepathic broadcasts of the right
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type could kill someone attuned to them.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862814145 Which begs the question, was this some kind of genetic
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timebomb intentionally implanted by the Vorlons when they modified
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humans to give them telepathic ability
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(<a href="066.html">"Z'ha'dum?"</a>)
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Since the Vorlons, according to Morden, created human telepaths to
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use as weapons against the Shadows, perhaps the Vorlons also put a
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time limit on human telepathy so it wouldn't remain once the upcoming
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conflict with the Shadows was resolved.
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<p>
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That would put a different spin on the disappearance of Narn telepaths
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(<a href="058.html">"Ship of Tears."</a>)
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The Book of G'Quan was probably correct about the Shadows killing
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most of the Narn telepaths. But maybe the reason the gene never
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resurfaced in the Narn population wasn't that it wasn't strong
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enough, as G'Kar supposed, but that it was only designed to last a
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few generations, and once the previous Shadow War was over, its time
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simply ran out. Of course, that assumes the Vorlons implanted
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telepathy into the Narn.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862956627 The threat isn't limited to Psi Corps; Ivanova's latent
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telepathy makes her vulnerable to any sort of disease that's
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transmitted between telepaths.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862814377 The fact that Wade was cooperating with Lise in her effort
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to get the vial into her husband's hands implies that he's at least
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somewhat sympathetic to telepaths, and perhaps to the Psi Corps.
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If he were one of the people who wanted to see all telepaths dead,
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presumably he'd've arranged for the vial to quietly vanish on
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its way to Lise. That ties into the apparent contradiction mentioned
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above between Garibaldi's programming
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(<a href="074.html">"The Illusion of Truth"</a>)
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and his consideration of Edgars' job offer.
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<p>
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<li>@@@865363280 <a name="AN.future">The telepathic assassins' closing
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phrase</a>
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bears some similarity to a description of another telepath: Talia
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Winters in
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<a href="030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places."</a>
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<p>
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<b>Lurker:</b> You tipped the balance. I felt it when we were joined.
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You're more than you think you are.
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<br>
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<b>Talia:</b> Then what am I?
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<br>
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<b>Lurker:</b> The future.
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<p>
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<li>@@@864585035 The last time Garibaldi resigned, even briefly
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(<a href="038.html">"In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum"</a>)
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he offered up his gun, his station ID, and his link. So did the
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security staff who resigned rather than join Nightwatch in
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<a href="053.html">"Point of No Return."</a>
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Why did Garibaldi keep them this time? Was he perhaps intending
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to return at some point?
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<p>
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<li>@@@862814444 Sheridan said of Garibaldi, "I don't like the company he's
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been keeping." How does Sheridan know what kind of company Garibaldi
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has been keeping? Is he having Garibaldi watched? And is he referring
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specifically to Wade's people? If so, what does Sheridan know about
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them?
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<p>
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<li>@@@862817302 Was there a reason Sheridan kept the lights in his office
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low when he met others there, or was it just a directorial touch?
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<p>
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<li>@@@864846643 Franklin commented to Ivanova that Mars was cold. But in
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<a href="076.html">"Racing Mars,"</a>
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the tunnels where Franklin and Marcus were staying were noted as
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uncomfortably warm. Significant, or was Franklin simply referring
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to the surface, which is indeed cold?
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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>@@@862814145 In
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared,"</a>
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Zathras complained, "Zathras warned, but nobody listens to poor
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Zathras." In this episode, that's doubly true: even <em>Zathras</em>
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doesn't listen to Zathras.
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<li>@@@864002892 G'Kar's artificial eye is now brown, rather than red like
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his natural one or blue like its initial color
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(<a href="075.html">"Atonement."</a>)
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<li>@@@862814145 The onscreen logo displayed while Garibaldi spoke to
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William Edgars read "EI" (presumably short for "Edgars Industries"
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or some such.) Underneath, it read, "Mars - Phobos - Deimos."
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Phobos and Deimos are the two moons of Mars. Presumably this
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implies that there are people living or working on those moons,
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which in fact are little more than large asteroids and would thus
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be attractive for microgravity pharmaceutical research.
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<li>@@@863215545 William Edgars' voice was played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
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<li>@@@864585237 The telepaths' PPG blasts penetrated the floor of the air
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duct. In
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<a href="063.html">"Grey 17 Is Missing,"</a>
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Garibaldi commented that PPGs are used rather than traditional guns
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because they don't penetrate hulls. Of course, an outer hull is
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likely quite a lot thicker than an air duct wall, and likely made
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of material with a higher melting temperature, so this most likely
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isn't a contradiction.
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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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<p>
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<li>@@@863023688 BTW, there's another example of a long single take
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coming up soon, on Epsilon 3, which is all I'll specify. I kinda
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wanted the scene to play itself out, without cutting, and to show just
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how amazingly capable some of our actors can be. We're talking here
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almost 4 minutes of footage, not one cut in the whole thing, very fast
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dialogue, and not a single muffed line, with the performances working
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wonderfully. You'll know it when you see it.
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<p>
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<li>@@@867048477 Our cast invariably comes in knowing full scenes, and
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can hit them without breaking or blowing a line. So we have a tendency
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at times to just let the master play out, keeping the intensity, which
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can sometimes be broken by too much cross-editing. (Note that the
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Zathras/Ivanova scene a few episodes back is *entirely* one shot, four
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minutes.)
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<p>
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<li>@@@863716015 Re: Daffy...I knew that cartoon, and had that definitely
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in mind when I wrote the script. Took some maneuvering to get WB to
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let us use that much of it.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862989776 Re: the cartoon...I'm a big WB cartoon fan, and knew that
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one very well, and there were two places where it would've fit with the
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story; the other one, which I almost used, was when you see two Daffy's
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arguing with each other.
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<p>
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Re: the CGI...we've been fairly conventional with the CGI in
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recent seasons, we're trying to get a bit more adventurous.
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<p>
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The Lise flashback material is all exactly as was filmed for
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"Babylon Squared." I think we used a few more pieces of the original
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footage, but it was all stet.
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<p>
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<em>Why didn't we see what happened to Delenn, since she
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left in the previous episode?</em><br>
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Re: Delenn...these episodes happen close to one another in
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time, so you have to allow travel time for her to get to Minbar.
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<p>
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<li>@@@862989776 <em>Lise was the typical "woman in distress."</em><br>
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Re: Lise...well, everybody can't be a fighter; we've had guys
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and the occasional female character who isn't used to being shot at. I
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daresay I'm not terribly used to being shot at, and someone who's
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mainly a civilian would probably react about that same way. It's just
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a matter of showing that diversity realistically rather than saying,
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"Okay, let's have a helpless female now." Having every female (or
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male) hard-nosed and laughing off PPG bursts is as unrealistic as its
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opposite.
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<p>
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<li>@@@864028652 <em>Was there anything important in Lise's
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message?</em><br>
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No, nothing you need worry about.
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<p>
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<li>@@@863715985 <em>Why didn't Edgars show his face?</em><br>
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As we'll learn shortly, he doesn't want his face seen around.
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<p>
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But we'll see him soon enough.
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<p>
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(And the voice belongs to Efram Zimbalist Jr.)
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<p>
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<li>@@@865786929 <em>Did the PPG blasts melt through the air conditioning
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duct wall?</em><br>
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This is substantially correct. The PPG blast is extremely hot, and will
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melt through the plastic coating and the metal lining inside the tube.
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The entire energy of a PPG will not come through the tube (unless by
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some coincidence the exact same area is hit twice or three times), and I
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believe that this was propoerly portrayed in the sequence. Even if it
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isn't the entire energy blast, it will hurt like hell and de-mobilize an
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individual meat packet (person) for the bad guys to come get later.
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<p>
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It did take a *very* long time to burn through the bulkhead door to
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allow them access to the hallway, and said door did mildly glow in the
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affected areas prior to melting through. The station hull is even more
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heat resistant.
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<p>
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George Johnsen<br>
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CoProducer, B5
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</ul>
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