JMS on CompuServe (Dec 24, 1996) *HAPPY HOLIDAYS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Tue Dec 24 15:32:08 EST 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #629945-#Spinoff arc?
Sb: #629831-From jms re: yr 4/5
Sb: #629931-#TimeLine
Sb: #629994-Spinoff arc?
Sb: #629970-<Skyes, Sakai, and Anna>
[ Summary: Is sorry to hear that "I, Robot" has already been optioned. ]
#: 629966 S5/Babylon 5: General
23-Dec-96 21:22:42
Sb: #629945-#Spinoff arc?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah, pretty much all those books (and the other biggies) are under
option somewhere or other; there have been at least 6 attempts to adapt
Stranger in a Strange Land, but all died at script level.
jms
#: 629831 S5/Babylon 5: General
23-Dec-96 15:05:12
Sb: #628069-#From jms re: yr 4/5
Fm: MR. TRACY SCHELL
>> Thanks. I think the impact of the show will only continue to grow
with time. In a few years, we'll be discovered, as though suddenly we
materialized on TeeVee...but that's okay. It's the doing that matters. <<
Do you think B5 will live on in popularity and duration like the original Trek?
Mr.T- On Florida's Space Coast
#: 629968 S5/Babylon 5: General
23-Dec-96 21:22:45
Sb: #629831-From jms re: yr 4/5
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Do you think B5 will live on in popularity and duration like the original
Trek?"
That's a hard one for me to answer, because any reply I give would be
self-indulgent and proceed from a vested interest. Obviously, when you set out
to take on a project like this, you hope it will go on forever. But only the
audience can determine that.
What I *think* will be the case...duration, yes, I think that this show
is going to be around for a long time...popularity, maybe less so. By its
nature, B5 is a cerebral show, it requires that you pay attention. Such shows
traditionally have not become huge popular hits, though they have great staying
power. Police Squad was arguably one of the funniest sitcoms in recent memory;
it's still around, but it will never achieve the popularity of others because
it requires too much of the viewer (which was actually stated as one of the
main reasons it was canceled).
But that's fine by me; I didn't set out to create something on that
level, I just wanted to tell this story.
jms
[ Summary: Asks from where the Shadow ship that cut out the other one in
"Messages from Earth" came if the Shadows had yet to be awakened by the
Icarus. ]
#: 630012 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Dec-96 03:12:25
Sb: #629931-#TimeLine
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The shadows had allies, who watched over their cities, maintained their
machines, waited for their awakening...one of their tasks was to send out one
of the few dormant shadow vessels whenever one was discovered or unearthed.
This way, slowly, over centuries, the fleet would be built back up in strength.
jms
#: 629994 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Dec-96 01:05:42
Sb: #629966-#Spinoff arc?
Fm: BURHAAN AHMAD
>> there have been at least 6 attempts to adapt Stranger in a Strange Land,
but all died at script level. <<
On a related note, when I went to see Mars Attacks, they ran a trailer for
Starship Troopers. While it looked interesting, it also looked like an
Aliens-esque space monster flick. We'll see.
By the way, I dropped by the WB Bab5 site the other day and checked out the new
Quicktime VR images. Pretty spiffy. On the Zocalo image, when you turn to
face the newsstand you can zoom in and read the headlines. "Mars Riots!",
"Santiago Re-Elected". Pretty spiffy. You ought to consider making a bunch of
these QTVR images for the fanclub site, as a way to spruce up the "Station
Tour".
#: 630013 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Dec-96 03:14:37
Sb: #629994-Spinoff arc?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That's one of the ways we keep the sites separate, so we don't step on
one another's toes. They have the majority of downloads, and we get to create
the virtual fan environment (otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get the
fan site).
jms
#: 629970 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
23-Dec-96 21:42:02
Sb: #<Skyes, Sakai, and Anna>
Fm: ERIC ROCHKIND
WARNING: This includes spoilers up to "Zahadum." 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - Don't
read this if you haven't seen that episode. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 This
is a speculation that I've been working on for a while, and I'd love to run it
up the flagpole and see if anyone (JMS?) salutes it.
We know that JMS has designed the story arc around certain characters, who were
supposed to perform certain actions and do certain things in the story. Yet,
as Elric told London in "Geometry of Shadows" - "I could kill you, but then
someone would just take your place." No character is indispensible - but their
roles are, and would be fulfilled by someone else. For example, there were four
characters who were in the pilot movie, but did not return to the series. They
were all replaced by people similar to them, who performed similar functions in
the arc. Dr. Kyle was replaced by Dr. Franklin; Lt. Laurel Takashima was
replaced by Lt. Susan Ivanova, Lyta Alexander was replaced by Talia Winters
(who was later replaced by Lyta!) and Carolyn Sykes was replaced by Catherine
Sakai.
After Sinclair was replaced by Sheridan, Sakai was written out of the arc..
Yet, she had to be somebody important, or JMS wouldn't have written her to
replace Carolyn Sykes. They needed somebody to perform her function. But who?
Since Sakai wasn't replaced by another regular, and no other regular characters
were added in Season II, who was she replacing?
My guess - Anna Sheridan! JMS once said that one of the benefits of having
John Sheridan was having someone who had a connection with the shadows, through
Anna, since connecting Sinclair would have stretched credibility. Or would it?
They're all performing similar functions. First of all, there's the romantic
connection with the hero. Anna is John Sheridan's wife. Catherine was Jeff
Sinclair's fiancee. Carolyn was his girlfriend - but would probably have been
promoted to fiancee by the end of season I if she had stayed with the series.
Anna was an archaeologist who worked for IPX. Carolyn and Catherine were both
free traders who had connections with IPX. Even if they were not sent to
Zahadum, it's my guess that they would have gone there some time during Season
II, suffered a similar fate as Anna, and returned in Season III apparently from
the dead.
This could work! The connection with Morden, the Icarus, and Anna didn't appear
until "In the Shadow of Zahadum" which was one of the last episodes of season
II - well after Sinclair and Sakai had left. Now, Keffer was introduced as a
pilot who had an interest in the shadows. It's entirely possible that part of
the Sykes/Sakai arc was transmitted over to him - without the romantic interest
and the connection to Zahadum. After all, JMS' replacements aren't exactly
1:1. Takashima was the traitor, but her replacement, Ivanova, was not - that
became Talia! Now, Ivanova was supposed to be Takashima's #2, that part of her
arc was probably translated to David Corwin, but not everything - Corwin isn't
an unregistered telepath, for example.
Finally, we know that whatever Sykes or Sakai would do in the arc would have to
be dependent on Sinclair - that's why they left when he left. Yet, nobody else
in the Season II cast is entirely dependent on Sheridan for their role in the
story - except Anna! (Keffer obviously isn't!)
So, that's my speculation - Sykes became Sakai who became Anna Sheridan. If
they and Sinclair had stayed in the series until the end of Season III, I think
they would have suffered similar fates. What do you think?
#: 630014 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
24-Dec-96 03:19:26
Sb: #629970-<Skyes, Sakai, and Anna>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Even if they were not sent to Zahadum, it's my guess that they (Sakai or
Sykes) would have gone there some time during Season II, suffered a similar
fate as Anna, and returned in Season III apparently from the dead."
A fine theory.
Utterly wrong, but a fine theory.
Here's where a big ol' hole gets blown in the theory: THE SHADOWS WERE
ALREADY UP AND AROUND IN YEAR ONE. Morden was up and around and working in
year one. So they were awakened prior to then. So neither Sakai nor Sykes
could have gone there later and awoken them, or been in any way involved with
Morden and the Icarus (or any substitute). Morden was already *out,* the
Icarus had already been destroyed...long before Sakai ever walked back into
B5's storyline.
jms
[END]
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