JMS on CompuServe (May 11, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 2/2
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Sat May 11 17:56:07 EDT 1996
[ Continued from previous section -- BB ]
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 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
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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
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#: 503503 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
10-May-96 20:12:04
Sb: #<Interludes>
Fm: JOHN M. KAHANE
Hullo, Joe,
Well, I managed to catch "Interludes and Examinations" on Tuesday night,
and just had to drop you a line to tell you what a terrific episode this was.
I was all but in tears at the end of the episode, with Kosh's death and the
manner in which Morden manipulated Londo into rejoining the forces of Darkness.
It seems that the redemption that one might have thought Londo could obtain is
definitely, firmly out of reach. Add to these three the fact that Franklin's
time on the station seems to be running out (I really don't see Franklin
leaving the station at this point, but have to wonder about this - guess I'll
find out in "War Without End", right?), and this episode marked a changing
point for the series in some ways and a rather potent lesson about the cost in
lives that the Shadow war will have on the allies of Light.
I have to admit that I was stunned at Kosh's violence towards Sheridan,
but wonder if perhaps this wasn't a means of tempering Sheridan somewhat and
showing him the "dark" side of the Vorlons. Since another Vorlon will come to
B5 to take Kosh's place presumably, I suspect that Sheridan needed to see that
not all Vorlons are like Kosh. On the related subject of the Shadows, the
sheer evil nature of Morden came to the forefront of this episode, and Ed
Wasser did a tremendous job of the role.
Which brings me to a couple of questions. There is one scene of a human
following Morden, but nothing else of this was shown... What was going on, who
was this fellow, and what happened to him? The second question relates to the
two aliens seen at the beginning of the episode. Who were these two species,
have we seen them before, and are they part of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds
(given the hints of their proximity to Brikiri space)?
Overall, "Interludes and Examinations" was an episode of change, of loss,
and of the manner in which war can affect individuals. The evil of Morden,
the gullibility of Londo, the inner strength and tenacity of Sheridan, the
self-sacrificing nature of Kosh and his realization that *something* had to be
done to give heart to and encourage the lesser races to join the struggle, all
of these made for a terrific episode and one with a heart-wrenching final set
of sequences. I'm looking forward to "War Without End." :)
jmk
#: 503545 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
10-May-96 22:08:11
Sb: #503503-<Interludes>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks. The two aliens in the start of the episode were a Brakiri and a
Gaim.
"Interludes" for me marks a slight transition in the story, from one
"shape" to the next up...the demarkation between the hero-cycle and the
myth-cycle in the arc.
jms
#: 503415 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
10-May-96 17:52:32
Sb: #503301-#I&E Support
Fm: KAREN E. BAHNSEN
Re: Kosh
I thought it was perfect. Idea and execution both. Using John's
father...makes me tear up just thinking about it. Great ep. I saw it last
night and I'm still in the stunned and boggled stage.
I stumbled over an unprotected spoiler thread and so knew beforehand
that Kosh was history, but didn't tell the others in the family. It affected
me almost as much as it did them.
Was this the thing you did that caused everybody to avoid you at lunch
for two days?
Karen
Who is considering joining the Spoiler Police. Careful please everybody!
#: 503546 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
10-May-96 22:08:13
Sb: #503415-I&E Support
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah, it's funny, out of all the awful terrible things I've done to our
characters over these 3 years, the one that honked off the whole crew was the
Kosh development. On one level, they loved it...loved how it tightened the
screws...but they still didn't want to know from me for a day or two.
jms
#: 503554 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
10-May-96 22:45:42
Sb: #<<Interludes>>
Fm: RAE AUGENSTEIN
Joe,
Wow!
It's been a really long while since an episode made me feel like this one did.
>From the first frame I knew it was going to be something special. Where to
begin...
* For the first time this whole season the opening credits seemed to fit the
mood of the show. I know we've been leading up to this point for a long time,
but Susan's narration over the teaser and its continuation in the credits set
the mood for the episode.
* Interesting parallels between this episode and "Matters of Honor." I just so
happened to watch a little bit of that one today, and was stunned.
1. Sheridan tells Kosh, "How do we know it's even you in that encounter
suit? For all we know your government could have sent somebody else." Wow, is
that foreshadowing or what?
2. Londo breaks his alliance with Morden and they carve up the sector
between themselves in MoH. In I&E, Londo and Morden refer to that scene, and
then Londo reaffiliates himself with Morden.
* The new War Room is totally different than anything we've seen on the
station before. It's bright, big, and airy. Every other space we've seen is
small, dark, and somewhat claustrophobic (even C-n-C and the Zocalo). It's a
good HQ for the Army of Light.
* Kosh's death was stunning. That was a great bit of acting, writing, editing,
and directing. Kudos to all involved. It made me think of "Star Wars" when Ben
Kenobi knew he had to die, and just raised his lightsaber so Vader could get in
his killing blow. Kosh knew what was happening, and he knew the part he had to
play. Very much the Christ figure.
* Sheridan is awesome. I *loved* his confrontation of Kosh. "My own government
wants me dead." That was chilling. Kosh's throwing him up against the wall and
choking him was reminiscent for me of Darth Vader's choking the military
officer on the Death Star. Something tells me Kosh was using more than the
Force.
* The ambassador that was with the Brakiri in the beginning has always made me
think of the Tie Figther pilots in "Star Wars." (I'm just full of Star Wars
references this morning!)
* My friend Jack pegged it after watching the episode: this show was all about
regret. Kosh's regreat that his fear prevented him from doing more; Franklin's
regret over his addiction; Sheridan's regret over losing Kosh.
* It was very nice to see intimacy between two men -- Franklin and Garibaldi
-- that wasn't creepy. Garibaldi's a good friend. The best kind. Here's a
concept: men can actually *care* about each other. Wow.
* Rance Howard as David Sheridan was a casting coup. He's just wonderful!
* Is the last voyage or duty of Kosh's ship something we'll see in more
detail? The end was kind of ambiguous. I wasn't sure if you meant the ships's
grieving and ferrying Kosh's remains were the duty, or if there's something
more.
* My husband wants to know if you're going to get Dick Sergeant to play the
new Kosh? (you know, he was the second Darin... oh, nevermind. <g>)
This will be an interesting weekend for me. A friend just finished her
first year of grad school and hasn't seen one season 3 episode yet. We started
with Matters of Honor tonight, and she anticipates watching everything up
through "Interludes" this weekend. I really hope I get to sit through most of
the episodes again.
It's hard for me to believe that it's finally time for "War Without End." I've
been looking forward to this episode for a *really* long time. Just when I
finally started getting over Sinclair... *sigh*
Thanks for a wonderful show!!!!!
Rae ^^^^
"We've secretly replaced this Vorlon with Folger's Crystals. Let's see if
anyone notices."
#: 503586 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
11-May-96 01:35:27
Sb: #503554-<<Interludes>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks; there's a lot in the episode that plays very well on all the
levels you mention. A lot of meat there.
As for Kosh's ship...it headed for the nearest star, the local one, and
basically dived into it....
jms
[ Summary: Wonders why Londo hasn't mentioned Adira before if she was so
important to him. ]
#: 503587 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
11-May-96 01:35:28
Sb: #503563-<<Interludes Question>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Basically because it's hard in an episode to just bring up something out
of the blue unless you're going to use it. You're stuck with, "Boy, I wish
Adira were here...so what's for dinner?" Which will mean nothing to the folks
who didn't see the first season unless you then talk more about her, show
her...and then suddenly you REALLY have to deal with it or it's intrusive.
jms
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