Tiny Dissapointment w/ WWE1 <Spoilers>

Mon May 20 06:53:57 EDT 1996

Subject: *Tiny* Dissapointment w/ WWE1 <*Spoilers*>
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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+  1: May 19, 1996: 3cjmd at qlink.queensu.ca (De Castellvi Jaime M)
*  2: May 20, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
+  3: May 20, 1996: beth at cais2.cais.com (TheWitch at Endor.com)
*  4: May 20, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: 3cjmd at qlink.queensu.ca (De Castellvi Jaime M)
Lines: 64

Spoiler Space...

<Relatively Minor Spoilers ahead...>

As much as it was nice to have Sinclair back (and I earnestly hope that 
the events coming up in WWE (2) do not close all doors to the possibility 
of us having him back in the future), I was dissapointed in that the 
fast-paced nature of the ep did not allow for any of the following:

	1.	A meeting of Sinclair with G'Kar such as he is *today*;
	2.	A meeting of today's Dark Londo with "my dear good friend
		Sinclair" of former such as he is today; and
	3.	A meeting of Vir (who, as Centauri Ambassador, would 
		certainly have met Ambassador Sinclair in Minbar in a 
		number of occasions.

I hope (perhaps against hope) that there is still scope in the future for 
a number of these to happen.

I'm also a tad dissapointed that we did not see Ivanova's initial 
re-encounter with Sinclair and that their interaction throughout was so 
understated (considering the concern and caring that Sinclair as a 
Commander had displayed towards Ivanova).

Am I the only one who feels a bit dissapointed about these precious 
moments that somehow failed to materialize?

Cheers,

Jaime

--
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>> Jaime M. de Castellvi          ^                                      <<
>> 3cjmd at qlink.queensu.ca         ^  'That is not what I meant at all.   <<
>> http://qlink.queensu.ca/~3cjmd ^  That is not it, at all.'  (T.S.E.)  <<
>>\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\^//////////////////////////////////////<<
>> 'When my uncle saw the note, he tugged out the flag of his            <<
>> handkerchief and blew such a hubbub of trumpets that the plates on    <<
>> the dresser shook. "It's the same every year," he said. And then he   <<
>> looked at me. "But this year it's different..." '   (D.T.)            <<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 35

The problem, Jaime, is that you've got about 42 minutes to tell your
story.  You have to get into it, and get into it fast.  Unless there's a
reason for the scene to be there, if it doesn't move the plot along, it
shouldn't be there.  You'll note there isn't even a B-story in the
two-parter...there wasn't room.

Sure, it would've been nice to have Sinclair  meet G'Kar, sit around, talk
about how they've changed...have Sinclair and Londo meet, talk about
stuff...have him and Ivanova sit around, talk about stuff...but then
you've got just a bunch of scenes that are basically, "Well, hello, how've
you been?"

The next sounds you would've heard would be the click of remote controls
changing channels across the nation.

As it is, in that two-part episode, you've got Delenn, Garibaldi,
Sinclair, Sheridan, Marcus, Ivanova, Lennier, Zathras, Major Krantz,
Krantz's second...it's our most character-intensive episode in a long
time, all of them being present in every other scene, plus the other three
characters we see in part two.  It was, quite simply, stuffed to the
gills, and there wasn't room for a single wasted word.  

That's the difference between a novel and a television show; you can stop
the action in a book as often as you want to have asides, but you can't do
that in TV with as much facility.  To do the scenes you describe would've
meant turning this into a three-parter, and as it is part one is almost an
extended teaser for part two.  It would've been moreso with these
additional scenes.

If it isn't necessary, it shouldn't be there.

 jms

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From: beth at cais2.cais.com (TheWitch at Endor.com)
Lines: 87

Jms at B5 (jmsatb5 at aol.com) wrote:

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

P

A

C

E

A

D

D

E

D

: The problem, Jaime, is that you've got about 42 minutes to tell your
: story.  You have to get into it, and get into it fast.  Unless there's a
: reason for the scene to be there, if it doesn't move the plot along, it
: shouldn't be there.  You'll note there isn't even a B-story in the
: two-parter...there wasn't room.

: Sure, it would've been nice to have Sinclair  meet G'Kar, sit around, talk
: about how they've changed...have Sinclair and Londo meet, talk about
: stuff...have him and Ivanova sit around, talk about stuff...but then
: you've got just a bunch of scenes that are basically, "Well, hello, how've
: you been?"

: The next sounds you would've heard would be the click of remote controls
: changing channels across the nation.

You know I really want to argue this point, but find that I can't. :(
However, one of the great things about B5 is that it *isn't* a story
that's being told in 42 minutes.  I don't know about the rest of people
here, but I think I would have been willing to deal with this being a
three parter, just so that there could have been incidental scenes between
Sinclair and the others.  I realize that this is probably not the case for
the majority of casual viewers and that you must keep the pacing at the
level of those who can only handle 15 second sound bites from our National
leaders.  (no, I'm not bitter)

BTW, a brilliant bit of writing/acting/directing involving Sinclair's
reaction to Sheridan taking Delenn's hand.  It spoke volumes about his
feelings for her and his satisfaction at the budding relationship. 

: As it is, in that two-part episode, you've got Delenn, Garibaldi,
: Sinclair, Sheridan, Marcus, Ivanova, Lennier, Zathras, Major Krantz,
: Krantz's second...it's our most character-intensive episode in a long
: time, all of them being present in every other scene, plus the other three
: characters we see in part two.  It was, quite simply, stuffed to the
: gills, and there wasn't room for a single wasted word.  

Ah, Zathras.  Now there's a creature that I believe is a lot more savvy
than he's letting on.  In some ways he reminds me of the Voltron from
Asprin's "Phule's" series.  Because he doesn't speak the language very
well, most people tend to look on him as stupid and ineffectual.  Not that
I'm going to get a straight answer from jms, but I'm wondering if he isn't
a *lot* more important to the arc than I originally thought.

: If it isn't necessary, it shouldn't be there.

Yeah, but it would have been nice. <sigh>  BTW, I'm NOT complaining, I'll
take whatever I can get, and be quite happy (for the most part).

--
Beth

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 10

Beth: I quite agree, didn't mean to imply otherwise...it would've been
nice to see some of those scenes, it just wasn't practical.  And you have
to make hard choices.  As someone once said of writing, "You have to kill
all your darlings," meaning the nifty little things you'd *like* to do, as
opposed to the things you *have* to do.

 jms

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