Catherine Becic <73414.2603@compuserve.com> asks:
> Will their knowledge of the ending have adverse effects on the
> acting from this point forward? Also, if you've neatly tied
> everything up, what does that really leave for season 5? Filler,
> non-arc stories?

"You have spent the last 4 years keeping your actors in the dark as to
their final fates (for the most part). Will their knowledge of the
ending have adverse effects on the acting from this point forward? I
expect the answer is they are good at their jobs and will continue to
be outstanding in their performances, but many of them have mentioned
that the lack of knowledge of their future had played a part in their
performances."

Not really, no more so than seeing G'Kar and Londo strangling
each other as early as year one...but we didn't know what that *meant*
until later. And there's still a long, long way between that episode
and where we leave off at 421. A lot happens there that nobody else
knows, inclusive of the cast.

"Also, if you've neatly tied everything up, what does that really
leave for season 5? Filler, non-arc stories? This has been my biggest
fear. That season 5 will now be farmed out to other scriptwriters, who
don't have the intimacy with the story that you have, and that the
quality of stories will take a nose dive with filler material."

Without giving too much away, season 5 would be empire building.
It wouldn't be filler at all, but a logical extension of what has gone
before.

Basically...I often get messages from people worrying about what
might be...then they see what *is* and it's, "Oh...okay, got it."
Generally speaking, I think it's better to react to what is rather than
what might never in fact be an issue. I ain't let you down yet....

jms

(blocked) asks:
> And, should there not be a season 5, this would go into the
> spinoff?

In large part, yeah....

jms

Philip Hornsey <74053.2101@compuserve.com> asks:
> This would be empire building that takes place *after* the final
> scene of the final episode that you have said more than once you
> have *clearly* in your mind? If so, would it be fair to
> characterize a hypothetical Season Five as a 22 ep prelude to
> "Crusade"?

Negative; season 5 would take place in 2262, 19 years before
the "final scene" you mention. And no, I wouldn't want season 5 to be
just a setup for the sequel; it was sketched out long before that
became any kind of possibility, and I have no interest in doing that
sort of thing. We'd do one or two small things, but no more than that.

jms

Philip Hornsey <74053.2101@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, how do you do a Season 5 if Season 4 is already in the can?

Season 5 just follows season 4...don't understand the question.

jms

Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com> asks:
> Could you possibly give us a feel as you what you think the odds
> are of the sequel happening, or do you not want to jinx it by
> doing so?

My opinion on the fate of that and S5 changes on a daily,
sometimes an hourly basis...best to say when I know more for sure.

jms

Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> Did I get that right?

Correct; specifically, "Crusade" would take place about 3 years
after the events of season 5, in 2265.

jms