Matters of Honor (re B5 s

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Subject: Matters of Honor (re B5 s
+  1: Nov  7, 1995: richard.mauren at data-base.com (Richard Mauren)
   2: Nov  8, 1995: jdunn at unlinfo.unl.edu (Jack Dunn)
   3: Nov  8, 1995: benn1 at uwindsor.ca (John Benn)
+  4: Nov 10, 1995: tomw at orac.engr.sgi.com (Tom Weinstein)
*  5: Nov 11, 1995: straczynski at genie.geis.com

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From: richard.mauren at data-base.com (Richard Mauren)
Lines: 54

This has some spoilers for the first episode
in the third season(Matters of Honor)
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ok, Jack Dunn said there was no technobabble in the B5 universe...
Actually I felt that the "bonehead maneuver" of opening a jumppoint in a
jump gate was bordering on such.  It came from out of nowhere to save
the whitestar from the shadow ship...  At any rate I would think that
this would alert the shadows that something was up -- especially if the
shadow ship were damaged or destroyed by the jump-jump...

The rest of the episode was very nice however...  (It was interesting
that the buerocrat from Earth was dealing with Morden)


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From: tomw at orac.engr.sgi.com (Tom Weinstein)
Lines: 90

In article <47p18h$17r at crcnis3.unl.edu>, jdunn at unlinfo.unl.edu (Jack Dunn) writes:
> Richard Mauren (richard.mauren at data-base.com) wrote:
> : This has some spoilers for the first episode
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> : ok, Jack Dunn said there was no technobabble in the B5 universe...
> : Actually I felt that the "bonehead maneuver" of opening a jumppoint in a
> : jump gate was bordering on such.  It came from out of nowhere to save
> : the whitestar from the shadow ship..



> I would ask for support from older (g) more experienced science 
> fiction hands like Gharlane and Franklin Hummel, but here's how it 
> plays to me.

> The jumpgates are an established fact of the B5 universe.  Operation 
> of such a gate into hyperspace would have to have some physical 
> consequences.  And the idea of opening such a point in a gate would 
> definately have physical consequences.  Sheridan's use of the bonehead
> manuver represented strategy (especially since the Shadow ship 
> couldn't know the white star could open it's own jump point - Sheridan
> made a point of hiding that fact from them).  My objection to the 
> technobabble stories on those other shows is that they regularly pull 
> new particles out of their hats and create whatever properties they 
> want for them every week.  The is the "we can send a pulse of 
> _____(name the particles) out and it will _______(reverse time, create
> new wormholes, make a dangerous cheese sandwich, etc.) and instantly 
> save our butts.  Sheridan used a manuever rather than sudden new 
> technology.  

Also recall that the Shadows did something similar when they
destabilized the Narn jump gates in TLTS.  Perhaps that is just a more
refined version of the "Bonehead Maneuver".

> .  At any rate I would think that
> : this would alert the shadows that something was up -- especially if the
> : shadow ship were damaged or destroyed by the jump-jump...

> Could be.  But then again, the point was to create a ship that didn't 
> look like any other (combined Vorlon, Human and Minbari technology) 
> and get the hell out of there before the Shadows could get a good look
> at it.  They tried (remember they shot to miss to assess 
> capabilities).  I think they'll know soon enough.

Since they destroyed the Shadow ship, this might give the Shadows pause.
This ship was sent to destroy the Rangers' outpost, so the Shadows will
think the Rangers managed to destroy the ship.  If I were them, I'd lay
low for a bit and try to figure out what this Ranger "secret weapon" was
that can take out one of their ships.


-- 
Sure we spend a lot of money, but that doesn't mean | Tom Weinstein
we *do* anything.  --  Washington DC motto          | tomw at engr.sgi.com

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From: straczynski at genie.geis.com
Lines: 26

     I don't consider the "bonehead maneuver" to be technobabble, for
several reasons.  For starters, the "babble" part isn't there; TB goes
on into long explanations of neutrino waves and particle theory and
elements that have to be recalibrated, on and on and on....

     Second, a prime requisite for TB is that it's a technology that
comes out of nowhere, artifically invented to create a problem and/or
create a solution.  Neither applies here; we've seen jump gates and
jump points now for three years; we've seen them disrupted in "The
Long Twilight Struggle."  It was just using the tech we've already
established.

     In a way, it's kind of unfair that we get hammered when we use a
little teeny piece of technology because ST has abused it for so man
years.  That's not our fault, and one shouldn't develop a kneejerk
response so that ANY reference to technology becomes technobabble.  If
that's the case, then the term becomes meaningless.

     This is, also, a *science* fiction show; if sometimes we have a
touch of science, it's the nature of the show; you can't have SF
without at least some measure of tech...otherwise you've got fantasy.
The day we do a page and a half of discussions about particles being
recalibrated, particles that didn't exist twenty minutes before the
need became apparent, *then* we can get gigged on technobabble.

                                                               jms