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132 lines
4.0 KiB
132 lines
4.0 KiB
<!-- TITLE Racing the Night -->
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<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><cite>
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The crew discovers a planet that was devastated by a plague similar to the
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one threatening Earth.
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</cite>
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</blockquote>
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<pre>
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Production number: 103
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Original air date: August 4, 1999
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00061QJSK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: December 7, 2004
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by Mike Vejar
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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>@@@934310143 The Shadows used the plague in the last Shadow War, a
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thousand years ago. They infected a planet, not yet technologically
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advanced enough for starflight, that refused to allow
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them to set up a base. After three years of struggling to find a
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cure, the inhabitants of that planet froze themselves. Every two
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years, when the five-year clock expires, another individual is
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awakened to guard over the planet. Anyone who stumbles onto
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the planet is abducted and dissected in the hopes that they'll
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prove immune to the plague and thus show the way to a cure.
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<li>@@@934310143 Gideon consults the apocalypse box
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(<a href="504.html">"The Path of Sorrows"</a>)
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to find out about new planets to explore. It knows about worlds the
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Rangers haven't discovered yet.
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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>@@@934310143 How did the apocalypse box know about the planet?
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Did it know what was really going on there?
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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>@@@934310143 In
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<a href="115.html">"A Call to Arms,"</a>
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Sheridan said that the reason the plague will take five years to kill
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everyone on Earth is that the Drakh didn't have time to adjust it for
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Earth biology before releasing it. If that's true, why didn't the
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plague act more quickly on the aliens, given that it was the Shadows
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themselves who released it? Maybe they released it at the very end
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of the last Shadow War and, like the Drakh, didn't have time to
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adjust it beforehand, but it's also possible that the analysis Sheridan
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was quoting was flawed. If so, the five-year figure might be incorrect
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as well.
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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>@@@931207368 This episode was originally slated to air first, until
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TNT decided that it preferred to have some introductory episodes
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to ease viewers into the series' premise.
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<li>@@@934310691 Galen's closing line, "Expect me when you see me," is
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a quote from "The Lord of the Rings," spoken by Gandalf. The quote
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was also used by G'Kar in
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<a href="022.html">"Chrysalis."</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>@@@936120977 Racing was finished last December.
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<p>
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<li>@@@936120833 <em>What does the box say to Gideon?</em><br>
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"Things change...long time gone."
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<p>
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And in later instances when the box talks, it's Gideon's/Gary's
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voice. You may take that as foreshadowing if you wish.
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<p>
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<li>@@@936120977 Also, no one else on the crew knows about the box. Well,
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officially. One other person knows about it, but he's not supposed to
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know. And Galen suspects something amiss from his passing comment at
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the end of the ep.
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<p>
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<li>@@@936120977 "Do we find out who this is in the remaining four
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(*sniff*) episodes? And if not, can you give us a little hint?"
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<p>
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Nope.
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<p>
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<li>@@@936121166 <em>Gideon can take the moral high ground now. But how
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long will he keep being polite when there are billions of lives at
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stake?</em><br>
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Exactly.
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<p>
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As Eilerson said, "Wouldn't you sacrifice a hundred Narns to
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save Earth?" It was a question Gideon didn't answer.
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<p>
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<li>@@@936121166 "JMS has hinted elsewhere that the cure might be found
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before the end of the series. He's also said the show we think we're
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watching will turn out not to be the show we're actually watching. Put
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these two together, and I wonder greatly if, had the next few years
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played out, he might have gradually uncovered some other, greater theme
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or conflict that would overshadow the plague, and take over the plot
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for the last year or so."
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<p>
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If not sooner....
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</ul>
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