David Cerreta <72630.3433@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you have big plans for him later in the season?
> How much do his operatives know?
> Can he get some to honor their commitment to help him when the
> time comes if they don't know what they will be fighting or whom?

Thanks. Yeah, Exo is the last non-arc episode for a long time,
and the last chance to catch one's breath before the big fall.

My personal evaluation of the episode is that it's okay. The
second half, I think, isn't as strong as the first half. Halfway
through writing the episode, we had a problem come up in production
that unexpectedly took me away from the script for about a week.
(Nothing major, but it had to be dealt with and it took time.)
Usually, I write copious notes on a script before I begin writing it.
In this case, the story was so crystalline clear in my head that I just
dived in, and was blasting away terrific when the hit came midway
through. By the time I got back, I'd lost some of the fingerprints of
the story, and had to kind of re-find them again. Mainly, I think the
expository sequence at the end could've been done better.

Needless to say, that's the last time I trusted myself without
notes, no matter how well I "see" the episode in my head. It'd be a
great script for second or first season, but we have to keep raising
the bar, every aspect has to be better than the last thing we did, so
for my money it's not quite up to that standard. Happily, it's the
*only* episode this season that I feel that way about...the rest are
all just nifty.

That said, I think it has some great moments for Marcus, Franklin
and others...and yes, there's a lot more planned with Franklin coming
up this season, particularly toward the latter third of the season.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks...on every level.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks (I think). Yeah, I've said from the git-go that in my
view the second half of Exo isn't up to the first half. It is, in my
view, the weakest of this season's 22. On the flip side, that means
the other 21 are pretty nifty.

Agree with you on Marcus. I'm finding I have the same problem
with him I have with Londo...getting him to shut up once I wire him up
and let him go. He's a lot of fun to write, in that he can do the
physical action stuff very well, he can do comedy, more dramatic
emotional stuff...the whole range. I can take him places and do things
with him that I can't in some ways for the other characters, in that he
has only one responsibility, whereas the others have larger
responsibilities to more people.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks. Yes, Marcus and Ivanova should get along
well...assuming one doesn't kill the other first....

jms