04.19.09
Posted in Books at 11:31 pm by Administrator
This is the first book in the Psi Corps trilogy, and one of the first B5 books to be written based on an outline by JMS. I still have my first-edition paperback copy of the book, and it was definitely interesting to go back for a re-read after so many years.
The first thing that struck me was how it definitely feels like it was written from an outline from JMS. And I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way. The story is essentially the story of Kevin Vacit, the man who would set the Psi Corps on its course through history while also setting up a resistance to keep it in check. It’s the story of where Vacit came from, how he fooled the world into believing that a mundane was leading the effort to control those dangerous telepaths, and how he begat Alfred Bester. Along the way, Kevin Vacit manages to learn, and keep very quiet, the truth about the origins of human telepaths.
In terms of shedding light on the hyper-detailed history of the “Babylon 5” universe, the book does its job. It introduces, among other things, the interesting notion that the telepath underground was a necessary counterweight to the Psi Corps. Unfortunately, the story is occasionally too scattered for its own good. It often feels like the author was under a deadline for the first book, and just did whatever he could to get the job done as quickly as possible. As such, some portions of the book are barely more than a slightly fleshed-out bullet point. Where the story could use much more depth and consideration, the author jumps to the next bullet point.
The end result is a book that sounds a lot better in theory than in reality. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy the book the first time around, as revelations abound throughout. But the book doesn’t hold up well the second time around.
Rating: 7/10
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01.18.09
Posted in Books at 3:02 am by Administrator
This was the final novel to be published under the original book contract, and it is by far the shining jewel of the collection. In a very real sense, this book presages the kind of tight continuity that marks the trilogies that followed. The story of what happened to Sinclair between his arrival on Minbar and his eventual return to Babylon 5 in “War Without End”, this is a gift to any dedicated Babylon 5 and Jeffrey Sinclair fan.
The author spends a great deal of time reconciling some apparent contradictions within the series proper: specifically, the political changes in Minbari society and the rise of the Rangers, a force consisting of Humans and Minbari. Why would a Grey Council, dominated by an isolationist warrior caste, agree to fund and foster a group of warrior-priests with a Human leader? This book makes the case fairly well, and explores Sinclair’s personal development in the process.
Two other topics are explored along the way: the personal history of Marcus Cole and the fate of Catherine Sakai. It’s always been odd to imagine that Marcus could undergo such strenuous training, substantial enough to make him an effective fighter and teach him so much else, when it had to happen in less than a year! It’s still a stretch of the imagination, but this novel does make a bit more sense of the notion.
Seasoned “Babylon 5” fans know that Catherine Sakai was originally meant to fulfill the role that Anna Sheridan ultimately held, had Sinclair remained the central character of the series. This book adjusts the overall story to give Catherine’s later absence a reasonable explanation, and even alludes to her ultimate fate.
The author was given the daunting task of repairing some of the damage done when the original plans for the series were altered after the first season by network intervention and the realities of syndicated television. The only complaint one might have is that the novel simply isn’t long enough or detailed enough. The reader is left wanting more. Is there any better compliment that can be made?
Rating: 10/10
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07.07.08
Posted in Books at 11:11 pm by Administrator
Following the poor reception of the first six “Babylon 5” novels, the publisher worked with JMS to commission three additional novels based on outlines supplied by the Great Maker himself. The first of the new novels, “The Shadow Within”, finally delivered a solid B5 novel and gave fans hope that all three new novels would meet or exceed expectations.
That did not happen.
This particular book is easily the worst of the B5 novels, and it’s hard to imagine why the final product was so shoddy in comparison. The author had a fairly good outline, as evidence by the fact that the book’s 60+ chapters might as well be the outline. Allow me to repeat that fact: the book, weighing in at just over 200 pages, has more than 60 chapters. It took me about two hours to read it from cover to cover, and that’s because I kept putting it down in disgust.
I’ve said it before: I can’t stand books where the chapters are only a couple pages long. It betrays the writer’s inability to think beyond the bullet points of an outline, and it completely disrupts the flow of characterization and nuanced plot progression. In this case, one can see how the author had absolutely no feel for the characters themselves, outside of the information supplied in the outline. The dialogue is all wrong, the motivations don’t mesh, and items that should have been fleshed out are minimalized. It’s the kind of book that fans slap on the table when the quality of fan fiction vs. professional work is debated.
The story often tries to fall back on light comedy, as if that would overcome the weaknesses in the rest of the writing. The end result is amplification of the offense: during that moment in the series’ timeline, everything was deadly serious and heavily serialized. Not only would the characters have no time for the antics on display (particularly the officers on Babylon 5), but none of them would set aside the concerns of war for “playing James Bond”.
I have the feeling that JMS outlined the Centauri Prime story, because it fits the timeline relatively well. If the novel had focused entirely on Londo and Vir’s struggle to stop a Narn rescue squad from liberating G’Kar, it might have worked. I could even accept Lyndisty as a clever “complication” for Vir, approached with more care. Every other element, on the other hand, betrays continuity and undermines what was established early in the fourth season.
The bottom line is that JMS himself would have preferred a rewrite, but once he saw the final product, it was too late to make adjustments. I think it’s safe to say that he was being kind, because canceling the book altogether and sending out a postcard of apology to the entire fandom may have been a better use of the print stock.
Rating: 2/10
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06.22.08
Posted in Books at 10:36 pm by Administrator
While all of the volumes of this series have been educational and revelatory to say the least, it was always clear that this would be the motherlode. The additional scripts, series treatment, and season 1 series bible were all very interesting and worth the time, but the real gem in this final volume is a 9 page summary of the original intentions for the “Babylon 5” saga.
The summary is not, despite rumors to the contrary, the very first summary scribbled out by JMS in 1987 when he conceived of the series after a fall in his bathroom. Nor is it the 200 page series outline that JMS references in the season 1 bible. Instead, it is a relatively short and broad summary that he wrote between the pilot film and the first season, before all the changes made for the first season were finalized. JMS presented this summary to Michael O’Hare to give him a better idea of where the series would go.
The first thing that struck me, when reading the summary, is that the first season makes a lot more sense when seen from the perspective of the original version of the story. Looking back on the first season after the conclusion of the series, certain scenes don’t add up (particularly, the scene where a Grey Council member reminds Delenn that Sinclair must be killed if he suspects the truth). This summary explains exactly where the series was supposed to go with those ideas, and it’s clear that JMS was still thinking along those lines right up until “Chrysalis”.
I’ve always believed that Sheridan’s arc was essentially the same as what Sinclair’s original arc, but that’s not quite the case. A lot of the broad aspects are the same, but there are a number of abrupt left turns. The main revelation is that Sinclair was not meant to be Valen, and the fate of Babylon 4 was originally quite different (more on that in a moment). Sinclair was supposed to be with Delenn, as the first season suggests, and David would have been their son.
In terms of the Minbari, the Centauri, and the Narn, most of their arcs were exactly the same. The vague direction for Earth and the PsiCorps is also very similar, but the summary practically ignores much of the detail that made that part of the story so fascinating in the final version. The Vorlons are also very similar to the final product. The Shadows, however, are far less defined in their motivations, almost to a disappointing degree. I personally found the motivations eventually assigned to them in the series to be far more logical.
The main difference, and the one that was the most stunning, was the original intention for “Babylon 5” itself. The end of “Babylon 5” was exactly what was foretold in “Signs and Portents” and “Babylon Squared”, and JMS goes into detail as to who escapes B5 upon its destruction. But that was only half the overall story in the original conception! The rest of the story (basically the material seen in the final two seasons of the final series) would have been covered in a second five-year series entitled “Babylon Prime”, where the time-displaced Babylon 4 would have been used as the base of operations in the fight against the Shadows.
This, for me, is hard to reconcile. From the very beginning, JMS always said that “Babylon 5” was meant to be a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. Yet this summary does not bear that out; it was, instead, a 10-year cycle split in two halves. Much of what happens in the fourth and fifth seasons of the final series is, in essence, an abridged version of the original saga. And I’m not really sure what to think of that.
Within the context of this much larger canvas, the internal conflicts of the Humans, Minbari, Centauri, and Narn would have stretched over a few seasons. In particular, the Minbari civil war would have been far more substantial. The Vorlons and Shadows would not have exited stage left so abruptly; instead, like the rest of the conflicts, they would have endured until the end of “Babylon Prime”. Those who felt the conflicts felt artificially shortened should feel validated.
It does, however, bring up an interesting possible explanation for the issues that arose with WB, JMS, and Michael O’Hare just after production of the first season. I believe that WB was originally on board with the idea of the original saga, right down to the double-series idea, until the ratings for the first season were analyzed and the PTEN issues began. At that point, it would have been clear that the series was going to struggle and changes would have to be made.
I think, also, that JMS had to be aware that the series would have to end definitively in five years, and that would mean substantial alterations to get the major plot points (especially the ones from the second proposed series) crammed into the shorter span. That would have meant a lot of changes from this summary we’ve now seen, and I can’t imagine that Michael O’Hare would have liked those changes.
So I believe that JMS is completely honest when he says that all three parties came to a mutually satisfactory and non-confrontational agreement. The writing was on the wall, the grand saga would have to be compressed and revised, and that was that. Michael O’Hare wasn’t going to get the story he was originally sold the part with, he politely declined to come back, JMS needed to replace Sinclair, WB agreed because it could boost the ratings and return on investment to have a “name” actor. The rest, as they say, is history.
This doesn’t necessarily undermine my love for the series. If anything, it explains why JMS had to write the last three seasons himself; only he could find a way to take eight years of story and compress it into three (never mind that he really had to do it in two, with elements removed, when the fourth season appeared to be the last). But some illusions have been broken, and I don’t think I’ll be able to look at the series quite the same way again. If anything, I’m more impressed than ever that the story was even told in the first place.
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08.24.07
Posted in Podcasts at 12:27 am by Administrator
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing a little project that I’ve only talked about on the podcast.
Voices of Babylon
The current project is entitled “Three-Edged Sword”. It is an audiodrama set within the Babylon 5 universe, set during the late-third season (circa “Ship of Tears”, for the initiated). I play T’John of the Narn Regime, commander of an advanced fighter group hiding in hyperspace. So far, we’ve been working on this for about 3 months, with the majority of the segments showing up on The Babylon Podcast. (TBP is co-hosted by Jeffrey Willerth, the man who played Kosh on the series!)
For those wondering, yes, this is a form of fan fiction, which I had no intentions of ever doing again. Ironically, none of us intended to make a production out of this; it evolved out of a series of short segments that we made for the show. This is what happens when you try to outdo each other! And it presents a different kind of writing challenge. It’s been a lot of fun so far, and we have some interesting plans. You don’t even have to be a fan of the series to understand the story, especially once the ball gets rolling! The episodes are only about 5-10 minutes long, so I invite all of you to enjoy!
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08.08.07
Posted in Reviews at 11:02 pm by Administrator
Now that the official review is completed, I wanted to delve more deeply into the continuity questions raised by each of the “Lost Tales”, segment by segment. The logical place to begin, of course, is the Lochley segment “Over Here”.
It seems unusual that Colonel Lochley would remain in command of Babylon 5 for such a long time. If there’s one constant in the Babylon 5 universe, it’s change in command staff. When it comes to the military, long-term assignments are a rarity. Perhaps Lochley came to the conclusion that she was content where she was, or during the Drakh crisis, harbors like Babylon 5 and the colony worlds were more important in terms of providing a stable leadership.
The conversation between Lochley and Father Kelly seems to overlook the arrival of Brother Theo and his order in the third season. In fact, given some of the conversations between Brother Theo and Commander Ivanova in that episode, this might have been a better story for her character. It would have tied into the early episodes related to her faith in the first season as well.
The story comes down to the idea of non-corporeal “demonic” entities trapped on Earth, looking for a way to get off the planet and back among the stars. Lochley ties this idea to the Biblical concept of the fallen angels, more or less equating the “heavens” with Heaven and Earth as “hell”.
What’s unusual is that this idea is never once tied into the themes and continuity of the original B5 series. After all, within the series, there were angelic types (the Vorlons and some of the other First Ones) and demonic types (the Shadows and their minions). In episodes like “The Long Dark”, non-corporeal servants of the Shadows were already established. Why not tie this particular situation into the history of the series more directly?
One could argue that, like the Vorlons and their use of angelic imagery within the religions and folklore of countless younger races, the First Ones built the idea of fallen angels into the cultures of the younger races as a touchstone to the previous imprisonment of Shadow minions (or alternatively, some other ancient species). In fact, by this logic, Earth may not have been the only prison for such entities.
This would have opened the door for speculation that the “demon” Asmodeus in this episode had chosen this time to leave Earth because the Vorlons had left the galaxy and the ban on travel from Earth had been lifted after the resolution of the Drakh virus crisis. It could have been a situation not unlike the return of “The Hand” in “Legends of the Rangers”. Whatever the case, there was a complete disconnect between the obvious Vorlon/Shadow connection to angel/demon symbolism in the original series.
***
Now that the official review is completed, I wanted to delve more deeply into the continuity questions raised by each of the “Lost Tales”, segment by segment. This concluding segment delves into the material from Sheridan’s segment, “Over There”.
First, there is the issue of “quantum space”. The idea that the Vorlons had the technology to use something other than hyperspace is hardly new; in fact, it was the basis behind “Thirdspace”. This concept of quantum space completely ignores the fact that Vorlons used hyperspace all the time during the original series, and hyperspace was still in use during “Sleeping in Light”. Unless some future installment of “Lost Tales” covers an incident with the use of quantum space in the meantime, this is an unnecessary continuity error.
Sheridan’s vision of the future New York, and Galen’s warning about its destruction, poses an array of questions. To begin with, why would the Centauri of 2291 see the Earth Alliance as the most pressing threat to restoration of the Republic to former glory? It was the Interstellar Alliance, or rather elements of it, that attacked Centauri Prime. One would expect the Centauri to go after Minbar or some Ranger installation. Whatever the case, if the Centauri returned as a problem state, the IA would have dealt with them before a war with Earth came along.
One might suspect that the Earth Alliance was causing trouble, but even at that point, one would expect Earth to be rebuilding and solidifying its forces for protection, not trouble with a state that had been in hiding. The Earth Alliance would have dealt with the effects of the Minbari War (2245-2248), the Civil War (2259-2261), the Telepath War (~2263-2264), and the Drakh crisis (~2267-2271). Why would they be making trouble anywhere?
Galen also frames the devastation of Earth as a level of destruction far beyond Sheridan’s imagination. This is hard to believe, since Sheridan had been witness to the Vorlon and Shadow planet-killers. Galen would have known this from his association with Sheridan in “A Call to Arms”. Why, then, would Galen overstate the situation? For that matter, why wouldn’t Sheridan have pointed out the disparity?
Given how the story ends, one could conclude that the visions of the future provided to Sheridan were a complete fabrication, and that Galen chose Earth at the target of Vintari’s supposed attack to get the most reaction out of Sheridan. It is more likely that Galen saw Vintari as a potential threat and wanted Sheridan to take him by the hand and prevent another future conflict.
This brings up the question of whether or not Vintari’s time with Sheridan, Delenn, and David makes sense within the context of the events in “War Without End”. Why would Londo agree to such a thing? Perhaps he would see the possibility of continued salvation for his people, knowing that Vir would still be around to help Centauri Prime prosper.
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08.01.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:09 pm by Administrator
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by J. Michael Straczynski
It’s been more than five years since the last new entry in the “Babylon 5” franchise. “The Legends of the Rangers” TV-movie had its own particular crosses to bear. As a “backdoor pilot”, it had to introduce characters, setting, and initial apparent conflicts, yet it also had to stand on its own. While criticism of that film was often unfair, it was hardly the best way for the on-screen “Babylon 5” franchise to come to an end.
Plans for a feature film went as far as a script and pre-production, but “The Memory of Shadows” never found its footing and the project was cancelled. When even new novels were ultimately scuttled in 2006, fans had every reason to wonder if the franchise had come to an end. When the announcement for “The Lost Tales” came later in the same year, it was a pleasant shock.
Of course, there was reason to be wary. This project, direct to DVD, is something of a test case for shows without a network and a limited studio budget. Instead of a full-length film, the DVD would feature two stories, largely stand-alone but concurrent, featuring a limited cast. Given some of the limitations and challenges, some fans found it hard to believe “The Lost Tales” would ever come to fruition, at least until the product was in hand.
Some of the initial criticisms of the project have been disingenuous. Many complain about the length; these critics claim that a two-episode release should have been two hours long. Basic knowledge of the television medium corrects this misconception. The standard television episode runs, without commercials, 40-42 minutes, and those episodes typically involve more than one plot thread at a time. Segments on this volume of “The Lost Tales” are each 35 minutes long, only 5-7 minutes shorter, and focus on one specific plot element. So those complaining about the length of the production are being needlessly selfish; the product is effectively two normal episodes with the subplots removed!
Creatively, the challenge of any post-series venture has been one of relevancy. The hallmark of “Babylon 5” was its deeply serialized plot and character arcs. Decisions and events had consequences. Cause and effect played out over the span of seasons. Many fans argue that the weakest episodes had the least connection to the big picture, and for similar reasons, TV-movies like “Thirdspace”, “The River of Souls”, and the aforementioned “Rangers” can seem extraneous.
With the limited scope of each segment and the inability to plan ahead for long-term story arcs, “The Lost Tales” struggle to justify their existence within the grand scheme. J. Michael Straczynski (JMS, to the initiated) does everything possible to make these stories stand out without unnecessary connections to the original series. Even so, the stories fit within a set tapestry, and understanding the context requires prior knowledge. New viewers may find it hard to understand, for instance, the relationships at play in Sheridan’s segment.
JMS must have understood that issue, because in the end, the two stories boil down to concepts that could viably exist without any connection at all to “Babylon 5”. Given JMS’ experience with the 1980s incarnation of “The Twilight Zone”, there is a similar tone and approach. Generally speaking, success or failure of each segment comes down to the core concept.
The first segment (“Over Here”) centers on a possible religious crisis on the Babylon 5 station. Colonel Lochley (played by Tracy Scoggins) is still in command after 10 years, having settled in for the long run. One of her maintenance crew appears to be possessed by a demon, so she calls in a priest from Earth. What results is an interesting and often creepy look at the effects of space travel on religion. This entire segment is essentially a three-person stage play with the occasional special effects shot, with an aesthetic not unlike the classic episode “Intersections in Real Time”.
The story is intriguing, but two aspects keep it from reaching its full potential. First and foremost, Lochley was a late addition to “Babylon 5” and hardly one of the fan favorites. Her character was one of the least developed, and Scoggins always seemed to struggle with her performance and line delivery. None of that has changed. If anything, Lochley is still generic enough that it’s difficult to understand why this situation has meaning for the character. Since the segment focuses on Lochley, one might assume that the events should hold personal meaning.
On top of that, as explained, the “possession” and everything surrounding it doesn’t quite mesh with the “Babylon 5” universe. While the events and ideas themselves can be incorporated into the tapestry of the franchise mythology, this is ultimately a story that just happens to take place on Babylon 5. In the end, that keeps the story from reaching its full potential.
On the surface of things, the second segment (“Over There”) resolves that issue by dealing with political issues that pertain specifically to the Babylon 5 continuity. Certainly the details tie into a few open questions from the series and its successors. Still, the core concept is more generic: “if you could knew Hitler as a child, knowing what he would become, would you kill him to save millions?”. Everything that happens to President Sheridan (played perfectly by Bruce Boxleitner), as prompted by technomage Galen (played by the equally perfect Peter Woodward) comes down to that philosophical question.
It becomes a balance between letting the core concept dictate the setting or the setting informing the core concept. In this case, the situation with Centauri Prince Vintari is staged in a manner that sometimes overlooks elements of the series’ continuity to present the key point about the young man’s future. The threat Vintari is meant to represent pales in comparison to the threat posed by the Shadows from the original series or the “planet killer” from “A Call to Arms”. The final solution also introduces certain continuity complications, but serves the core concept more readily.
These concerns make it sound as though the writing was a major issue; in the end, that’s not true. For an ongoing anthology series set in the “Babylon 5” universe, either story would have made a solid, compelling episode. The stakes are simply raised based on the ephemeral nature of the format. When these are the only definite entries for the project, one is left wanting material that couldn’t have been applied to any other franchise. This is why the Sheridan entry works better than the Lochley entry (aside from the disparity in popularity).
The majority of the performances are solid. While Scoggins does struggle with her part, it’s no different than her struggles on the series. Boxleitner and Woodward, as noted previously, stepped right back into their roles as if no time had passed. The guest stars were all on top of their game. Special mention goes to Teryl Rothery, who has never looked better, even in all the time spent on “Stargate SG-1”.
Visually, the Babylon 5 station has never looked better, and the virtual sets are leaps and bounds above the original series. Some of the green screen work is a bit rough, but to a certain extent, it fits the franchise. Straczynski doesn’t have much experience as a director, beyond the series finale of the original series, and sometimes the lack of experience shows, especially in the Lochley segment. The score by Christopher Franke is far better than the score for “Rangers”, more in keeping with his best work.
Overall, given the many challenges (specifically, budget), this is a good beginning. There’s certainly room to grow, especially in terms of linking the stories more directly to the characters and the Babylon 5 universe, but the concepts were strong. Hopefully the sales for this volume will justify a future installment, so this won’t be the last statement on the franchise.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
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