ATTN JMS: Flawed Concept in Crusade? (Possible Spoiler)

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: Raymond_Finn at hotmail.com
Date: 7 Apr 1998 05:51:53 -0600
Lines: 23

JMS,
  I was reading in an article recently, (I think Dreamwatch) about the 
concept behind the new series, Crusade. After I had read it, I was struck by 
the thought that there was a basic flaw in it. (Forgive the comparison, but I
felt 
the same way when I read the concept behind Voyager, before it aired.)
If the 
show's basic premise is that the hero's are searching for something
(in 
Voyager's case, a way home; in Crusade, a cure) then the viewer knows in

advance that they will not find it (until possibly the end of the series, if
at all). 
Because if they did, it would by defintion, change the shape of the
show. 
(Voyager is doing that this year, apparently, getting them a way home,
and 
then re-tooling the show as a TNG clone.)

  If the viewer knows in
advance they can't find what they're looking for, 
then the majority of the
storylines (by definition, about the search) have 
forgone conclusions. The
only storylines that are unknown are character 
driven or unrelated to the
main story of the series.


  This is even ignoring the fact that by seeing
"Deconstruction..." and the 
yet to air "Sleeping in Light" we see people are
still alive and living on Earth, 
so there is much less "drama" & "tension"
in searching for the cure.


  So can you tell me please, have I
misunderstood the concept? Or is the 
"cure" storyline just something you're
putting out now, so you can "thwack" 
the viewer by the middle of year 2 with
something completely different? Or am I 
wrong in some other way?


Ray.

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 8 Apr 1998 20:49:53 -0600
Lines: 56

A couple of other people have raised this question; here's why I consider it a
non-issue.

Does anyone here really think that, after X-years of following the Crusade
story, we're going to come to the end in which our heroes look out through the
window of the Excalibur at a dead Earth...glance at each other...shrug...and
say, "Oh, well, I guess we should've found it ten minutes earlier, huh?"...and
head off into the sunset.

Anybody out there see this as a likely scenario?  Raise your hands.  

Yes, they're going to find the cure at some point.  Where and when and how, and
in what segments, is one issue...and the rest is the journey to *get* there. 
It's like saying, "We know the wagon trains got to California, so nothing
interesting could've happened along the way."  Tell that to those who died
along the way.

You're confusing the issues with the following:

>If the 
>show's basic premise is that the hero's are searching for something
>(in 
>Voyager's case, a way home; in Crusade, a cure) then the viewer knows in
>
>advance that they will not find it (until possibly the end of the series, if
>at all). 
>Because if they did, it would by defintion, change the shape of the
>show. 

There you make my point for me.  That's the frustration aspect: you know if
they get home, the show's over.  So they will never get home, the viewer knows
that, and gets frustrated.

Here, you know that eventually, somehow, humanity will be saved.  So there's no
frustration knowing it ain't ever gonna happen.  Instead, you can sit back and
see how it happens, and who is affected by what happens.  

This is something very common to what I've done with B5's story telling. 
Starting at episode 1 of season 1, we learn that G'Kar and Londo will die
strangling one another.  I put those cards right on the table, face-up.  Did
that ruin anything for anybody?  Much to the contrary, as we learned the
process that led up to, and following, that incident.  If anything, knowing
that in advance added a whole new layer and subtext to the show.

I've always looked for ways to experiment and turn viewers preconceptions
upside down and back on themselves.  Crusade will let me take this a step
further.

Bottom line...I didn't turn suddenly stupid.  I know exactly what I'm doing
with this.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
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