JMS on CompuServe (May 06, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 1/2
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Mon May 6 17:52:29 EDT 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE
REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED
PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.
I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
any form, however I reserve all rights to them and
the right to revoke this permission at any time.
[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #498982-#Poisoning Kosh
Sb: #499487-<<Talia/Abbut Qs>>>
Sb: #499624-Jeff Sinclair
Sb: #499862-Bester and... Bester
Sb: #500174-#<Women on B5>
Sb: #500263-#Ivanova vs. The Markab
Sb: #500445-#season finale in October
Sb: #498923-<Ship of Tears>
Sb: #499640-<Ship of Tears>
Sb: #499872-#<Ship of Tears>
Sb: #500535-<Interludes questions>
[ Summary: Wonders if the Kosh poisoning thread from the pilot has ever
been fully resolved. ]
#: 500588 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:43
Sb: #498982-#Poisoning Kosh
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
What's really left to address? The reasons given were the reasons; the
Minbari warrior caste were very much against the Babylon project; an extremist
clan within that caste decided to frame Sinclair for murder, using what little
info they had on the vorlons, in an attempt to destabalize or defeat the goals
of B5.
jms
#: 499487 S5/Babylon 5: General
03-May-96 16:51:07
Sb: #<<Talia/Abbut Qs>>>
Fm: SIMON GRIERSON
Hi JMS,
I just rewatched "Deathwalker" (after purchasing it on Video) - and I noticed
somthing RE: Talia Winters.
Kosh comissioned this Abbut to "Record" somthing from Talia Winters - I would
assume this must be her Memories of somthing Terrible that happened to her and
traumatised her. (The Murderer she once scanned).
When questions about the Data chrystal, Kosh simply said it was "For Pain,
Surprise and Terror - and for later" -( Or at least somthing like that).
Now that we know that Talia had this secret personality hidden inside her mind,
that went on to consume her Real personality once activated by Lyita, I think I
need to ask the following:
1. Did Kosh know about the hidden personality within Talia Winters?
2. Does he simply distrust Telepaths?
3. Will he ever get to use this Data chrystal?
4. My memory seems to recall him giving the chrystal to Garibaldi ?
5. Abbut said somthing along the lines of "Nice doing business with you Mr
Kosh, A pleasure as allways" - did this mean Kosh has had a lot of Telepaths
scanned? - If so, did he know what Lyita knew - but didn't know what Telepath
was used, so had a number of them scanned?
I'm sure there are more questions I can think of - but I think I'll stick to
those :-)
Thanks again,
TTFN,
SImon Grierson
#: 500589 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:45
Sb: #499487-<<Talia/Abbut Qs>>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Kosh certainly knew more about her, and almost certainly her second
persona, than anyone suspected.
jms
[ Summary: Wants to know when Michael O'Hare will be back. Also asks if
he can get a copy of the fan club membership form sent to him. ]
#: 500590 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:46
Sb: #499624-Jeff Sinclair
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
If you write to the fan club, you can get the form; and yes, Sinclair
returns in this month's two parter.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if Bester's first name, Alfred, is a tribute. ]
#: 500591 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:48
Sb: #499862-Bester and... Bester
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, it's certainly a tribute to Alfie, a giant in the field.
jms
[ Summary: A female poster asks about the use of the phrase "We have women
and children down here" in "Severed Dreams." She goes on to explain that
she feels the phrase equates women to children, thus giving them some
sort of second-class citizenship. ]
#: 500592 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:51
Sb: #500174-#<Women on B5>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's got nothing to do with second class citizenship. I'm sorry, but
when lives are at stake, *any* justification is acceptable for saving them.
When a ship goes down at sea, as much as possible it tends to be the rule that
women and children go first. It's not putting women and children on the same
social level, that's silly and a misstatement of fact. The notion is that
often men are physically better suited to taking care of themselves in a
physically dangerous situation *as civilians*. Now, if you're talking
military, you need only to watch the same episode, "Severed," and you see women
combat soldiers slugging it out, and getting stabbed, and killed, right along
with the male soldiers.
Some people seem to feel that if one shows compassion for any group, that
somehow you are saying that's a lower or second class. It's sad when
compassion can become warped around to mean something else. It's also
illogical.
If the position is that women are second class citizens in this case,
then the cry would be, "Don't fire, we've got men down here." Because that
would imply that the men are more important; you'd get "men first" on sinking
ships because, as first class citizens, men would be more important, and thus
more worth saving, yes?
In a crisis situation, where people are going to die, you try to get out
those for whom you care, and to whom you give status. Those which are
important, and may be less able, physically, to deal with great stress or
danger.
So, basically, no, the statement did not come from any agenda; your
analysis, however, *did*.
jms
[ Summary: A German viewer comments on some more terrible things German TV
did to B5 in translation and in promos for the show. He also asks if
the vision Delenn had as a lost child was Valen or a Vorlon. ]
#: 500593 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:55
Sb: #500263-#Ivanova vs. The Markab
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I'd rather leave the question of what Delenn saw open for now.
jms
[ Summary: Asks about the schedule for the final episodes of this season. ]
#: 500594 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-May-96 22:01:56
Sb: #500445-#season finale in October
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I haven't heard this myself yet formally, so I really can't comment
until I know more.
jms
#: 498923 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
02-May-96 07:22:53
Sb: #498809-#<Ship of Tears>
Fm: JOHN M. KAHANE
Hullo, Joe,
< That's one of the things about the show that makes it very appealing to
write; you can go from fall down funny, broad comedy in "Vir" to something more
emotional, almost lyrical but serious in "Avalon," then right into something
vaguely horrific in "Ship." >
That was one of the things that I have found to be so terrific in the
last three episodes. The sheer breadth of stretching your creative wings and
doing stuff ranging from the humourous to the horrific is something that we've
seen before in the series, but it's reached a new height with these three
episodes. How difficult do you find it to change emotional strides when
writing stories like this?
< I like to stretch, try something I haven't tried before. Which means from
time to time I fall on my face, but that's okay; it's the only way to learn. I
have absolutely no qualms about making an ass of myself and failing if it means
that the next time, I can do it right. >
That's all right, Joe... You've written enough gems in the series that we
can allow you to make an ass of yourself once in a while. I don't think so,
but ...that begs the question of whether you consider some of the episodes
you've written in the last three seasons of B5 that run the gamut from humour
to horror to be successful or not.
< I didn't give Mira or Andreas any instructions on that scene except what was
in the script, which was minimal. When you have two performers that solid in
the room, just give them the lines and run like hell. >
I was stunned when I watched that scene, especially given that it was so
evocative and so draining when it was over. I'd appreciate it next time you
talk to Mira or Andreas if you'd give them my regards and compliment them on
that wonderful scene. It's going to go down in my memory as a truly exquisite
characterization moment.
< Speaking of going back and rewatching episodes...part of this goes right
back to the *pilot*, where, you'll recall, G'Kar tried to seduce Lyta,
mentioning that there are no Narn telepaths, and they feel very strongly it's
important to their survival that they start breeding them at the first
opportunity. >
Yes, I remember that bit...and thought back to it when Garibaldi had
G'Kar reading the whole sequence out of the Book of G'Quan. I've always
thought that there was more to the business of Narn telepaths than meets the
eye, but it was just a matter of time before the evidence came out in the
series.
By the way, any chance I can get the spelling for the two Narn words that
mean "mindwalker" and "destroyed" that Garibaldi mentioned at one point in that
discussion? (And I trust that you've not forgotten about digging out the term
for the Minbari ritual from "C of L and D" for me?)
jmk
#: 500595 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-May-96 22:01:59
Sb: #498923-<Ship of Tears>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, it's never difficult for me to go from horror to romance to comedy to
action; they're just different colors in the artist's toolbox...you go from red
to blue to green to yellow, and it's not difficult doing it, just in knowing
*when* to do it, and *how* to do it.
jms
[ Summary: Wonders if Minbari telepaths can also have an effect on Shadow
ships. ]
#: 500596 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-May-96 22:02:00
Sb: #499640-<Ship of Tears>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, Minbari telepaths can also have an effect, as we'll see soon.
jms
[ Summary: Lots and lots (and *lots*) of praise and commentary on "Ship
of Tears." ]
#: 500597 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-May-96 22:02:02
Sb: #499872-#<Ship of Tears>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks for that...well, for *all* of that, as there was much good stuff
and kind words therein. Just got in from Ohio, so I'm bushed, but still very
appreciative.
jms
#: 500535 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-May-96 20:19:10
Sb: #<Interludes questions>
Fm: DANIEL M. UPTON
First off this was an excellent episode, very powerful and gripping. It was
good to see the Shadows get their heads handed to them for once in a stand up
fight. It appears that in a one to one engagement that the Vorlons have the
advantage. It appeared that the Vorlon fleet used a conventional jump point.
could it be that the Shadows technical advantage lies in the field of
propulsion?
There are, however, several questions which beg to be asked. First, why didn't
Kosh flee the station and go into Vorlon space before ordering the attack on
the Shadows? Were Shadow vessels haunting hyperspace in the region of the
station ready to destroy him if he tried to leave? Why didn't he ask Sheridan
and Delenn for Ranger bodyguards? Would the Shadows have simply killed them
and then pressed their attack on Kosh or would bringing things that far out in
the open have left the Shadows with no more reason not to directly attack the
station? Why was Kosh able to order the Vorlon fleet to attack the Shadows?
Was his position in the Vorlon hierarchy higher than the title of ambassador
would indicate? was he, like Delenn was originally, part of some kind of
governing body? Why did Morden and the Shadows automatically know that when
the Vorlon fleet attacked them that Kosh was behind it? And most importantly,
why are the Vorlon still "too few" to directly engage the Shadows? The
Vorlon's side won the last Shadow War. The Shadows were driven from Za'ha'dum
and their other places of power. Their minions were scattered and they had to
flee to the fringes of the galaxy. The Vorlons, no matter how badly they were
depleted by the war effort, were left in control of their colony worlds and
their manufacturing base. It doesn't take an Adam Smith to figure out that
they were in a better position to recover and rebuild than the Shadows were.
So again, why aren't they ready? Why are the Shadows, who had to play catchup
in a big way, able to field a navy that has the "thousands" of ships that Londo
saw in his vision while the Vorlons are still "too few"?
Dan^^^^
danupton at blueridge.net
#: 500607 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-May-96 22:02:23
Sb: #500535-<Interludes questions>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Because I think, on some level, Kosh knew it was inevitable; a price had
to be paid. In a way, Lincoln had the same feelings...why was he to live when
so many had died? In a way, he knew he wouldn't live much longer. Also, it
would mean running...and the Vorlons don't run. If he fled, another would pay
the price...and that also wouldn't be right.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
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