JMS on CompuServe (May 25, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 2/2

[Brent Barrett]

 [ 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 
 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: #511731-<<WWE I etc.>>
    Sb: #511634-<WWE2>
    Sb: #511686-<<War Without End 1&2>>
    Sb: #511674-#<WWE2>
    Sb: #511916-<WWE2>


 #: 511731 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    24-May-96  19:50:22
Sb: #510083-#<<WWE I etc.>>
Fm: TRENT K. JOHNSON

>> Up until that moment, the total forces available to the shadows were an
unknown to us.<<

The question that begs to be asked is just how the shadows "recognized Babylon
4 for what it was" and attempted to destroy it.  Either they have very long
memories, or they're somehow "timeless".

By the way, after taking in and digesting everything that's transpired so far,
I can wait 'till October.  It'll give my synapses a chance to regenerate!


Trent/ReAnimators
                  ^^^^                           CD-RMES


 #: 511942 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    25-May-96  02:16:18
Sb: #511731-<<WWE I etc.>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Well, if the Minbari had records of B4's visual look, given that the
Shadows are advanced, would they not also have the potential to recognize it
for what it was once it was nearing completion from their own records?

                                                                        jms



 #: 511634 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    24-May-96  16:43:03
Sb: #<WWE2>
Fm: JIM DE VICO

Joe,

I don't usually gush, but I have to make an exception in this case.

WOW!  I still can't get over the excitement I feel for this show.  Last night's
episode was just amazing.  You tied up loose ends that I had forgotten about
but remembered as you did it.  First you kill off Kosh, this blew me away.
Then Bester is a good guy, this blew me away.  But now this!  There have been
good episodes in the past and this was better than those.

I still can't get over the fact that this show still has two years left!!!
What will you be tying up then?  Lord (and you) only knows.

With every episode I am more and more impressed by your talent and vision and
cajones (for lack of a better word) at keeping your vision and making sure it
is done this way.  The more I see, the more I liken what you are doing to how
Dickens told his stories in a serialized format back in the late 18th century.


Something else that this brings to mind is how many others in your field want
to tell a story this way, yet can't because they don't have the gumption?  Well
maybe your success at this will inspire more of the same kind of story telling.
I hope it does.

Back in the mid-80s I collected a comic book called Watchmen, by D.C..  I
looked forward to every issue of that comic as I do to every episode of this
show.  Nothing in the entertainment genre has lit my excitement like your show
does since this comic.  And for that I must say ... THANK YOU!

Jim


 #: 511943 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    25-May-96  02:16:20
Sb: #511634-<WWE2>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks (and I loved Watchmen myself).  It's certainly my hope that our
success with this will encourage others to follow in our footsteps.

                                                                      jms


 [ Summary: A poster who loved "War Without End" comments that she sees a
   common theme of destiny. "Every character seems to have some course or
   road before them. Some try to change it and others are allowing it to 
   run its course." ]

 #: 511944 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    25-May-96  02:16:21
Sb: #511686-<<War Without End 1&2>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      In a way, this question touches on the issue that got raised in another
thread here, about who's the "important" character.  We all have the potential
for importance, if we choose to exercise it, and recognize the necessity of
personal commitment.

                                                                      jms


 [ Summary: Asks if Londo currently has a Keeper, as seen in "War Without 
   End," attached to him. ]

 #: 511945 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    25-May-96  02:27:47
Sb: #511674-#<WWE2>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      No, Londo does not currently have a Keeper attached to him.

                                                                     jms


 [ Summary: Points out that JMS noted months ago, just after finishing the
   writing of "War Without End," that he couldn't fit one element from 
   "Babylon Squared" into the story.  This poster asks him which element
   that was. ]

 #: 511946 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    25-May-96  02:27:48
Sb: #511916-<WWE2>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      The element I couldn't quite fit into War....

      In B2, Krantz says they found Zathras when there was a flash, and he
appeared in a conference room.

      Now, I sketched out that scene when it came time to actually write the
whole WWE two-parter.  What happened, basically, was that Zathras was passing
by a room where he saw the one piece he still needed to finish his repairs on
the time stabalizer.  He slips in, as best he can, unnoticed...the meeting goes
on as he goes under a table to get the piece of equipment...he finishes just as
there's another time-flash...as it ends, momentarily disoriented, he's
discovered, and captured.

      This would've matched what was in B2, as I'd intended.  Unfortunately, it
added several minutes of screen time that I couldn't afford.  I would've had to
cut something somewhere else, and that script was so tight it screamed as it
was.  So I had to fudge how I did that and let the small inconsistency go.  The
only other thing I could've cut, the one moveable piece, was Sinclair trying to
radio Garibaldi at the end...and I didn't want to lose that.

                                                                         jms


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