{original post unavailable}

"BTW --- I would like to see a female portrayed as an "evil dictator"
once in a while. We've gotten to the point where we can routinely
portray women in power...but we seem to have a problem believing that
somehow they are immune to the same faults that a man in power can
have."

Ah.

So...still single, then?

jms

Martin Toggweiler <74041.2400@compuserve.com> asks:
> It seemed strange that those coming to arrest Clarke did not have
> to fight through any guards, or were these his once most loyal
> troops who turned on him in the end? Are there many if any scenes
> from season 4 that never made it to TV, but could be edited in
> for release on video? Is this Greenwich Mean Time?
> Geneva Time?

Yes, EST = GMT.

And this episode wasn't rushed; it's what you do when you're
bringing any story to its climax. It's like watching Aliens, going
away before the last 20 minutes, coming back and saying, "Well, it
moved awfully fast." It has to, you're in the big moment. No, there
isn't time for everything, there is NEVER time for everything, there's
always stuff we might want to see...but what's in Endgame is what was
always going to be in Endgame. If I'd known there would be a 5th
season at the time, I still would've written it exactly the way it was
written.

The collapsing was done for the most part *long* before we ever
got to this part of the season.

It's just fast because that's what you need to do at this point.

jms

{original post had no questions}

"Well, unless its a coincidence, the "circled doodled message left by
madman after he commits suicide" is VERY similar to what happens in Dr.
Strangelove. Again, maybe its JMS's homage to Kubrick (like the "2001"
style spacesuit that appeared in a second or third season episode, I
forget which, of B5)."

Just to clarify this....

Re: the note...the script as written calls only for the finding
of a note with the words "scorched earth" on it. It was John
Copeland's idea to do the note as shown, and yes, he's said quite
openly over on AOL that it was his nod to Strangelove. (John directed
that episode.)

Re: the suit...that wasn't an intentional 2001 nod...we went to
Modern Props to get a space suit for Babylon Squared, and the only one
they had on hand that would work for us was one left-over from 2010,
which I asked the folks in costume to change as much as
possible...though it was pretty much what it was regardless. So that
one wasn't intentional.

jms

Koslosky <102365.2062@compuserve.com> asks:
> She thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I, but she was baffled by some
> medical questions: IV bags? Garibaldi having his wound sutured?
> Ivanava in a head restraint?
> She couldn't help but ask, if this is 300 years (give or take a
> few) in the future, why do the medical sets look more like 20th
> century medicine than 23rd century? Bob

Our shipment of medsupplies from the 23rd century hasn't arrived
yet.

jms

Steven K. Andeweg <72143.674@compuserve.com> asks:
> When you started the computer program that ran the CGI for that
> episode, just exactly how many homeowners in southern California
> lost power? I mean, the Agamemnon coming through that flaming
> explosion?

Thanks...a hideous amount of rendering power and time went into
that episode, and the result is all there on-screen. The only bigger
CGI feast is in the prequel, which is approximately 21% EFX, most of it
pure CGI and composites.

jms