Babylon 5

Ah, in that case, yes, you'll see the presidential election thread evolve into something during the series.

The Soul Hunters do appear once more, but not in the actual series (I refer to the stand-alone TV movie "River of Souls" which is set after the events of the series proper). They are referenced a couple times, though, in ways sufficient enough to address any lingering curiosities about them from the Soul Hunter episode.

Soul Hunter is a weird episode- I like it, but it is a bit of a strange episode to air so early, even if it introduces some questions and mysteries for some of the characters. It's approach to the nature of the soul and death with a range of opinions comes across as quite realistic, and quite different to generally black and white (or, at the very least, very clinical) approach Trek and other shows took at the time.

One other tidbit about The Gathering I'd like to add: there's a notable FX mistake in the movie. When the Vorlon ships arrive later on, the jump point effect is the wrong color (it's the reddish/brown/orange that is supposed to represent an "entering hyperspace" jump point, as opposed to the correct blue "existing" jump point). This is the only time in the series (AFAIK) that this mistake was made.


I figure it might be neat to also share some comments from JMS that he posted online back when the episode first aired, and in the years since, from The Lurker's Guide, though these are only some highlights, and I've filtered out the spoilery ones:

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The Gathering
The Vorlon ambassador is nearly killed by an assassin shortly after arriving at the station, and Commander Sinclair is the prime suspect.

-The one thing that I dropped fairly completely due to the delay in getting the series going was the Laurel thread, which has now mutated and become something even more interesting, actually. It's something that's enabled me to now build in a trap door that you won't see for a long time, even though it's sitting there in plain sight.

-What happened to the old characters on the pilot, not working on the series? jms: On a classified mission (which I hope we will be able to get into at some point), Laurel has been reassigned out on the Rim, and Dr. Kyle is now working with the EA President on the issue of alien migration to Earth, a growing problem to some, a benefit to others.

-Actually, I think we broke [the "Return of the Jedi"] record for ships on-screen in the pilot; Ron was rather pleased about it at the time.

-There was a reason we gave Londo the pilot opening monologue, yes. And another reason why we're giving Sinclair the opening monologue over credits of the first season, though with some differences. We're also considering rotating any such opening between other cast members as well, but *always* in the past-tense, "Babylon 5 *was*...." We're dealing in future history here, and we plan to do some interesting things with that aspect.

-I was at the Emmys tonight for the presentation of the B5 Emmy, and in the visual efx area, more than one shoe can get an Emmy. So we got one, DS9's pilot got one, and Lucas' Young Indy show got one. (We sat at the next table to Lucas and his bunch, in fact, and noted that he watched the B5 footage with considerable interest.) So when you come right down to it, here we were, our first shot out of the box, and we ended up on the same level of appreciation as Trek and Lucas. Not too dusty....And y'know...it's absolutely in keeping with the Straczynski luck, and the history of this show, that the year B5 wins an Emmy is the first year that they DON'T do the recap of last night's technical awards. Ah, well....

-As it turns out -- I today saw the list of nominees -- B5 is the ONLY TV-SF nominated for the Hugo. The rest are all feature films (JP, Addams Family, Nightmare Before Christmas, Groundhog Day).

-Here's one little extra for you: only one person aboard Babylon 5 has any idea of [hl=

 

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Midnight on the Firing Line
When the Narn attack a Centauri colony, Londo and G'Kar nearly come to blows. Meanwhile, raiders are attacking transport ships near the station.

-Approximately nine months have passed since the time of the pilot and the birth of the series.

-I *love* "Duck Dodgers." I have virtually all of the WB cartoons on tape or disk, and from where I sit, that's wonderful stuff that'll be around for a long, long time. No omens, just something I thought would be fun. (Again, connecting past/present/future, sort of our B5 theme.)

-"Midnight on the Firing Line" as a title was more my feelings about the episode and the series. I knew we'd come under considerable fire, figured it was cool.

-"...and if our future lies on the firing line, are we brave enough to see the signals and the signs...."
-- Harry Chapin
Just a thought.

-Down the road, we will be seeing more of Londo, and his people, and realize that they aren't as human looking as they first appear.

-The Raghesh 3 claim is only about 20 years old; the Centauri came to Narn over a hundred years ago.

-The Centauri station actually was rotating, as I recall, it's the camera angle that I believe doesn't showcase it as well as it might.

-The lights on the fighters during the examination of the rubble were visible due to particulate matter spewed out during and after the attack.

-Spoo is/are (the plural of spoo is spoo) small, white, pasty, mealy critters, rather worm-like, and generally regarded as the ugliest animals in the known galaxy by just about every sentient species capable of starflight, with the possible exception of the pak'ma'ra, who would simply recommend a more rigorous program of exercise. They are also generally considered the most delicious food in all of known space, regardless of the individual's biology, almost regardless of species, except for the pak'ma'ra, who like the flavor but generally won't say so simply to be contrary.

Spoo are raised on ranches on worlds with a damp, moist, somewhat chilly climate so that their skin can acquire just the right shade of paleness. Spoo travel in herds, if moving a total of six inches in any given direction in the course of a given year can actually be considered moving. They stay in herds ostensibly for mutual protection, but the reality is that if they weren't propped up against one another, most of them would simply fall down. They do not howl, bark, moo, purr, yap, squeak or speak. Mainly, they sigh. Herds of sighing spoo can reportedly induce unparalleled bouts of depression, which is why most spoo ranchers wear earmuffs even when it's only mildly cold, damp, wet and dreary outside. If there is any life-or-death struggle for dominance within the spoo herd, it has not yet been detected by modern science.

Spoo ranching is one of the least regarded professions known. Little or no skill is required, once you've got a planet with the right climate. You bring in two hundred spoo, plop them down in the middle of your ranch, and go back to the nearby house. Soon you've got more. When it comes time to cull out the ones ready for market (the softest, mealiest, palest, most forlorn-looking spoo of the pack), little physical effort is required since they're incapable of rapid movement without falling over (see above). They do not resist, fight, or whine; they only sigh more loudly. When spoo harvest time comes, the air is full of the sound of whacking and sighing, whacking and sighing. Even an experienced spoo rancher can only harvest for brief periods of a time, due to the increased volume of sighing, which even the sound of whacking cannot altogether erase. (also see above) Some have simply gone mad.

Spoo are the only creatures of which the Interstellar Animal Rights Protection League sa

 

Actually, now that I think about it, we do see their ships again at least once (outside of River of Souls), even if the subsequent scene with the Hunters themselves was cut for time (it was either for a flashback scene in an episode or the In the Beginning TV movie).

 

The first season is a lot better after you've seen the series and start rewatching it, then you get to pick up all the foreshadowing and plot building hints that were layered quite well throughout.

 

I think I understand Omega's point though- that even if the broader strokes of foreshadowing are more evident upon repeat viewings, they don't entirely validate an episode you may not have liked all of a sudden.

Infection and TKO will still be among the worst episodes of the series even after you appreciate the connections to the last Shadow War, the CPU telepaths and cultural tensions between humans and aliens.

But I think some of the layered subtext of history in some episodes *do* elevate them somewhat, at leats in terms of exploring certain characters, even if the plot itself is not up to snuff.

 

Exactly!

By comparison, I'm still digging through the early DS9 episodes, and most of these standalones don't have any direct relevance to the later story arc of the series. Not much reason to watch the bad ones again.

 

From JMS's Facebook page:

"...got word that the B5 related stuff is still proceeding along, just can't say anything yet...

&

"Re: the B5 thing...I'm not being coy, it's just that over the years, it's like B5 has been the football, the fans (and I to a degree) have been Charlie Brown, and the studios/networks have dutifully executed their role as Lucy. Consequently, I'm not saying anyTHING to anyONE for any REASON until I know for a stone cold fact that there's ink on contracts and we're moving ahead on something of substance."

 

Jeff Conaway has died.

 

At Comic-Con:

The future of "Babylon 5" is still being negotiated, JMS said in response to one questioner, explaining that two years ago, when he was last asked to work on a new "Babylon 5," he told the producers, "I need three things. Two to three million dollars per episode, a full season commitment and creative control." At the time, they seemed amiable to his plan, but some parts of the deal fell apart. That said, negotiations are still ongoing.

!

 

More details tweeted:

RE: B5 Yes, there was a B5 thing in negotiations (yes, good budget -
yes, full season commitment, yes, creative control) for a new
distribution system but that venue never materialized.

BUT - after this, JMS went to them and said that if they weren't going
to do A, B & C, let him do D, E & F. So there are negotiations going
on but nothing he can talk about in detail.

 

More details from the B5 Books mailing list from JMS:

Last year, the studio offered a full season of a new and rebooted B5 as part of a new distribution venue they were creating (us and several other shows from the same studio were part of the same deal). We'd have a full season, a big budget, and total creative control. The negotiations (not between us but between the participants of the venue) dragged on for over a year, we were told repeatedly this is going to happen, but finally, the participants couldn't make the math work. So we and the other three shows that they were hoping to put out there got set aside.

At this point, I've told the studio that if this isn't going to move ahead, there's something else they need to consider and there's a very informal negotiation going on now in that regard. We'll see where it goes from there.

But again, B5 was never created to be a Deep Space Franchise, we wanted to do our 5 years and get out clean. That was my intent going into this, and if that's where this ends up, I'm happy to stick with that.

On FB, he also added that any reboot would include as many of the original cast members as possible (which suggests to me that it wouldn't be a total reboot but perhaps something more along the lines of the Doctor Who relaunch?).

 

Posted on Patricia Tallman's and JMS's FB pages, from a B5 dinner:
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