JMS on CompuServe (Nov 26, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Tue Nov 26 13:51:41 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: #616295-#Traffic to B5 from Earth
Sb: #616310-JMS: season 4 = arc end?
Sb: #616317-<The Summoning>
Sb: #616394-Sheridans Mistake
Sb: #616425-Attn JMS: B5 T-shirt
Sb: #616487-Comments
Sb: #Apologies on CO
Sb: #616710-jms co on station.com
Sb: #616713-thestation demographics?
Sb: #616715-<Summoning> thoughts
Sb: #616752-Paradigm shift
Sb: #616721-<Falling> question
Sb: #616756-<404: Falling>
#: 616295 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 06:45:16
Sb: #Traffic to B5 from Earth
Fm: RANDALL A. SCHANZE
Hi!
I'll keep this short, since I know you're busy, and, probably, someone else has
already asked you this:
Is trafic between Earth and B5 still open? The Preachers from earth in "No
Hiding Place" didn't seem to have any trouble getting to the station (or if
they did, they didn't mention it), but what the heck, they're clergy. THey can
disappear for months at a time, say they were on a 'missions' trip and no one
will be the wiser.
The Family in the Zocalo that Dr. Franklin bumped into were obviously on the
'wrong' side of the revolution, and seemed utterly opposed to the seccession.
(Well, at least the wife did.) How is it that people like that are still
coming through the station in the middle of a civil war?
Just curious, thanks for your time!
Mahatma Randy
#: 616532 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 16:54:13
Sb: #616295-#Traffic to B5 from Earth
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's difficult and limited, but yes, there's still some travel, just as
one may travel to countries that the US does not recognize officially or have
diplomatic relations with. How long they continue to allow this...we'll see.
jms
#: 616310 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 07:12:06
Sb: #615602-#JMS: season 4 = arc end?
Fm: SCOTT BAKER
So how many continuous episodes have you penned? from my count it is somewhere
near 30 by now, that's got to be a record.
--Scott
#: 616533 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 16:54:13
Sb: #616310-JMS: season 4 = arc end?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Just the 22 was a record. At this point, it's 39 consecutive scripts.
jms
#: 616317 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Nov-96 07:38:51
Sb: #616175-#<The Summoning>
Fm: ELIZABETH
<< Remember that often people will express an opinion as though it were the
fact. What we like, and what resonates with us, is subjective. What you like,
you like, and there's no need to defend it or feel pressured about it.
jms>>
Oh, I understand that completely. It was just a reaction to getting a *lot* of
that (and most of it much worse) yesterday. Just had to say something, you
know? Not to mention the fact that I was getting it right back -- "You mean
you actually *liked* that move? You moron! Couldn't you see all the stuff
that was wrong with it?"
<sigh> Much apologizings if I offended anybody.
Elizabeth
#: 616534 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Nov-96 16:54:14
Sb: #616317-<The Summoning>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Oh, no...no, no...you didn't offend anybody, I was only supporting your
argument, and your right to feel any way you choose about an episode.
jms
[ Summary: "Do you have any published works before B5?" ]
#: 616536 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Nov-96 16:58:27
Sb: #616394-Sheridans Mistake
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes...about 500 published articles, many short stories, 2 novels, 1
anthology, 12 produced plays, 12 produced radio dramas, and other stuff.
jms
[ Summary: Tells of his trip to see "Star Trek: First Contact." It seems
he was walking through the parking lot in his Babylon 5 T-Shirt and an
elderly lady broke away from her party and came over to ask him if he was
a Babylon 5 fan and told him that she really loves the show. She went on
to ask him where to get a T-Shirt. ]
#: 616537 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 16:58:28
Sb: #616425-Attn JMS: B5 T-shirt
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That's a great story, thanks...and I've heard elsewhere enough that
makes me think we have a very wide audience, from every level.
jms
[ Summary: Wen back and re-watched the entire third season after seeing
"The Summoning" and wanted to congratulate JMS on a wonderful job of
writing and tying together so much with very good foreshadowing. ]
#: 616538 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 16:58:29
Sb: #616487-Comments
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thank you...and believe me, the pleasure is entirely mine.
jms
#: 616738 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 21:41:20
Sb: #Apologies on CO
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Very quickly...my apologies for the fiasco on thestation.com tonight. Our
server is directnet, and...okay, you accept that at conventions, they always
underestimate us. They give us too small a room. Then our people show
up...and it's madness. Well, same thing happened here.
Their conferences run maybe 100 people tops most days, and that's what
they figured here *without asking us*.
Their memory and system allocations were therefore in that area.
Just one teensy, weensy little problem: something in excess of 2,000
people showed up.
And I and others got frozen out of the system, the thing was delayed 30
minutes, it was chaos, angry phone calls were made from B5 to directnet that
fried phone lines....
Anyway...my apologies to those who showed up and may have been
disappointed. We've registered our extreme displeasure with directnet, and are
strongly considering changing servers because of this.
jms
#: 616710 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 21:12:57
Sb: #616042-#jms co on station.com
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
<< Nothing's wrong with the site...but it takes Netscape 2.0
minimum to get it. >>
I'm still seething about the wasted time I had trying to get into the
conference tonight. If the server wasn't kicking me out or not letting
me in, Netscape 3.0 was performing "illegal operations." All I managed
was about 2 screens' worth of people logging in -- after that it was a
total lost cause. Oh, the joy of comms...
-rje-
I can almost feel the rustling-in of some kind of enchantment already.
#: 616787 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Nov-96 01:14:18
Sb: #616710-jms co on station.com
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah, I know...I went through the same thing. Much apologizings. The
server, DirectNet, was blown out by 2,000 or so hits at the same time, and they
(stupidly) hadn't been prepared to face that many when they approached us and
told us we could do this. I'm *extremely* annoyed at this, and we're going to
take some serious steps to correct this and make sure it never, ever, EVER
happens again.
jms
#: 616713 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 21:13:10
Sb: #thestation demographics?
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
Have you gotten any kind of report yet as to what percentage of people logging
on to thestation.com are opting for Earthforce, Minbari, etc.? If so, did the
percentages surprise you in any way?
-rje-
I can almost feel the rustling-in of some kind of enchantment already.
#: 616788 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Nov-96 01:14:20
Sb: #616713-thestation demographics?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Haven't seen that figure yet.
jms
#: 616715 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 21:13:32
Sb: #<Summoning> thoughts
Fm: RAY PELZER
Joe: a couple additional comments & compliments on 403,
* Vir's comments following Cartagia's impression of Pontius Pilate: Besides
the chilling tone of the entire scene, Stephen Furst did a GREAT performance.
So nice to see Vir turn stone cold once he's been pushed over the edge. I
suspect if G'kar had been killed, Vir would do the job himself without a
flinch. You've really given Furst the chance to prove he's so much more of an
actor than his Flounder stereotype gave him.
* It's true. No one come back from Z'ha'dum the same. Even given the
stress Sheridan had been though, his speech in the Zocalo was a rallying cry
that sounded just a step away from megalomania when taken by itself. Actually,
I'm surprised that Lorien was willing to let Sheridan promote the annihilation
of one of "his children", unless he's just fed up with them, too.
Ray
#: 616789 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Nov-96 01:14:22
Sb: #616715-<Summoning> thoughts
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Assuming that annhilation was the goal...which wasn't exactly stated.
jms
#: 616752 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Nov-96 22:39:32
Sb: #Paradigm shift
Fm: MICHAEL GRABOIS
Something interesting happened over the weekend when I went with a group of
people to see the new Star Trek movie.
Two years ago, when the last Trek movie came out, I had only been watching B5
for a few months. I had been a Trek fan for many years, so B5 didn't really
enter into my evaluation of the "Generations" movie.
This time, however, I heard comments from my co-workers to the effect of "I
wonder if it'll be as good as B5." "Let's see if they can pull off the special
effects like Joe does." "Looks like they've been taking lessons from Joe on how
to create a show that doesn't come together with just 30 seconds left."
"Finally, we see characters that are flawed. Too bad Joe's been doing it for
years." That kind of stuff.
I found myself comparing the movie and the tv shows to B5, rather than
comparing B5 to Trek. A subtle yet important difference.
But it was all said with affection towards Trek, from long-time fans who've
seen the bar raised and want the competition to follow the lead of the
innovators rather than just rest on their laurels.
I'm finding more and more people here in Houston (at NASA, no less!) to discuss
the new B5 episode each week. (But I've given up on trying to figure out what
you're going to do next, and just roll with what you throw out at us.) Thanks!
mg
#: 616790 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Nov-96 01:14:25
Sb: #616752-Paradigm shift
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I think you're right. Interestingly, David Gerrold first pegged this one
way back in the first season, saying that with B5, a paradigm shift had taken
place, only most people hadn't twigged to it yet. I guess he called it right.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if the part of Kosh inside Sheridan knew of the plan to
battle the Vorlon Ambassador. ]
#: 616791 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Nov-96 01:14:27
Sb: #616721-<Falling> question
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I'd say it was aware of this, yes...and you can hear just a trace of its
voice just before it emerges.
jms
#: 616756 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Nov-96 22:48:45
Sb: #<404: Falling>
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Howdy, Joe;
Well, I just watched and re-watched 404, "Falling Toward Apotheosis," and I
really rather enjoyed it. I have to admit that the Centauri storyline wasn't
terribly interesting to me this time out -- perhaps the crazed emperor bit is
just getting thin with me, I dunno. But the Vorlon thread and the John/Delenn
thread were some of the best I've yet seen on the show.
And, once again, you manage to apply the title to many different threads.
Everyone seems to be falling in this episode, and three characters are even
falling toward apotheosis: Cartagia, Sheridan and even G'Kar, in his own way.
Of course, the contrasts are fascinating.
Cartagia is actively seeking divine status and is willing to sacrifice
everyone and everything to get it. Sheridan doesn't want divine status, but
it's being given to him -- and his primary goal is the preservation of everyone
and everything. G'Kar, I believe, is heading toward some sort of divine status
among his people and others, but he has no desire one way or the other. He has
no free will in his current situation.
In the scene in which Delenn tells John of her guilt, you get the clear
impression that she doesn't even feel she's worthy of his forgiveness. The way
she turns her back to him -- she's ashamed to even look at him at this point.
She can't even bring herself to ask him for forgiveness. But he gives it to
her in a way that doesn't seem as though he's doing it for her sake -- he tells
her that she was his reason for living and that he, in essence, forgave her a
long time ago.
And when he jumps in front of the Vorlon to save Delenn -- shades of her
jumping in front of a knife to save him -- the look in her face as she realizes
she may yet lose him -- it's almost too painful to watch. And what exactly did
Lorien mean by "the last of Kosh, and some of him and some of me"? Was the
energy/being that ripped out of Sheridan's chest not *just* Kosh? Was it part
of all three of them? Did Lorien also have to use some of his energy to keep
the piece of Kosh alive long enough to battle the Vorlon Ambassador?
Regardless of my feelings toward the Centauri storyline in this episode, once
again, Londo works wonders with twisted logic and convinces Cartagia to leave
to Narn. I can see now what you mean about Londo not shutting up when it's his
turn to speak in your mind. :-)
Oh, boy, that's a lot of ships. May I ask if we'll see any rebel EA ships in
that fleet? It would seem a bit unfair for the rest of the worlds to put it
all on the line without a single human ship to stand with them.
And Lorien's explanation -- and Delenn's reaction to it -- so very sad.
Again Mira does a fabulous job showing Delenn's horror and sadness. That last
look by Lorien . . . I know you put it there for a reason. It couldn't have
just been Lorien getting a good look at John's reason for living -- he had that
chance long before. It must have had something to do with the news he just
gave her. But what?
And the proposal -- well, more a statement of fact than a question, but --
was absolutely wonderful, Joe. Again, Mira/Delenn's expression as John says
"married," and she realizes what he just said, was perfect beyond words. She
just nailed it. And who in their right mind thinks she'll ever give up that
ring for a "better" one someday? Yeah, right. That ring will mean more to her
than any other piece of jewelry ever could. Except, perhaps, that wedding
band. And I really worry for Lennier. Poor Lennier. How will he react to
that ring on her finger and her explanation of what it means? Ouch.
But Londo's answer to Cartagia's question of what to do about G'Kar looking
at him was a bit forced, I felt. I mean as soon as Cartagia asked the
question, my mind shouted, "Blindfold him." A perfectly logical solution to
the problem that wouldn't have offended the emperor in any way -- he was,
afterall, asking Londo for advice. It would have solved the problem. But, I
know you had to get that eye plucked out somehow. I just felt this set-up to
it was a bit weak. Andreas has to wear a patch for the rest of the run and you
*still* wanna punish him? You mean man, you. ;-)
Good job, Joe. Congrats to all around for a very good end to the current
batch. At least we weren't left hanging, as it were.
Thanks,
-- Brent
#: 616792 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Nov-96 01:14:29
Sb: #616756-<404: Falling>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks, and I agree with all your picks on the scenes. It came out very
nicely...a good one to end this batch on. Thanks again.
jms
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