"Stupid request" from the big man

\"Stupid request\" from the big man

Saw this on jmsnews.com and he may have all the responses he needs by now, but I decided to pass it along anyway.

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For reasons too obscure to explain right now, I need a reference point into B5 and because I can see only the overall story in my head, I'm having a hard time picking this moment.

What I'm looking for is the ending of a B5 episode that ends with action or a big moment right before fade-out, something that's kind of a visual wow moment, and I'm in forest-for-the-trees mode.

Any suggestions appreciated.

jms
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The biggest "action moment" I can think of directly before fadeout was from "Epiphanies" when the eyeball opens on the Regent's shoulder. That shriek of Chris Franke's music, and the Regent's expression. A definite "Holy Crap!" moment.

Another big visual moment was in "Crysalis". It is either the last scene or next to the last scene when we see Morden sitting in his room with the Shadows hovering over him.

If anyone hooked up to the moderated board would like to post these, assuming they haven't already been suggested, feel free to do so.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

I saw this and its a toughie. I think he is asking for an action moment like a big fight ending or something shocking like that, but I cant think of any. Lots of episodes had endings that hit hard before fadeout, but they were for different reasons, usually story related. It will be interesting to see what some people pick.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

How about the end of "Shadow Dancing"?

<font class="small">Spoiler:</font>
<table bgcolor="#000000" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" border="0"><tr bgcolor="#000000"><td bgcolor="#000000" id="spoiler"><font color="#000000"> When Anna Sheridan shows up </font></td></tr></table>
/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

Also the End of "Messages from Earth" when Clark declares Martial Law.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

It is true JMS has quite a streak to end his shows on a speech or some kind of dramatic moment, but there is one exception.

Movements of Fire and Shadow is the best example - the Drazi/Narn fleet fire their weapons on Centauri Prime and then it gives us that damned 'To be continued' line, assuring we watch next week.

I'd post the message to the Great Maker himself, but I don't have usenet /forums/images/icons/frown.gif

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

What about the big fleets we see assembled in:
And the rock cried out....
The long night
Between the darkness....

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

We've already mentioned that one where JMS can see it. e.g.


"Signs and Portents" as B5 is destroyed in Lady Ladira's vision.

"GROPOS" - ending with the war scene, showing the dead GROPOS.

"The Fall of Night" - ending with the gun camera footage showing the destruction of Keffer and his Starfury.

"Ship of Tears" - ending with the shadow ships firing.

"Epiphanies" - When the regent wakes up from a nightmare and we see his keeper for the first time.

"Moments of Transition" - when Susan goes ballistic, and Sheridan ends with "And God help anybody who gets in our way."

"The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father" - as the girl spaces the mundane, and we see him become conscious in the void of hyperspace, and Bester tells her she might be Psi Corps material.

Falling toward Apotheosis - as Cartagia orders one of G'Kar's eyes plucked out.

"Movements of Fire and Shadow" - as the bombardment of Centauri Prime begins.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

Why is he asking us ? He wrote it for pete`s sake ?
I was thinking maybe he was trying to engage our opinions on the most dramatic ending moment for some obscure reason ..... or maybe im being a little too paranoid ..... /forums/images/icons/devil.gif /forums/images/icons/devil.gif

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Why is he asking us ?

[/quote]

I suspect that it is just as he said:
In his head B5 is one big story. The episode boundaries (especially with regard to exactly was the final shot) are really a bit artificial from the global, one-big-story point of view. So he loses track of what most of those closing shots are. I can believe that.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

I hated the one where Susan went ballistic. It wasn't realistic at all - came out of nowhere - and the actress just seemed so fake...

...gah!

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I hated the one where Susan went ballistic. It wasn't realistic at all - came out of nowhere - and the actress just seemed so fake...

[/quote]

I agree, mostly. I could see Ivanova going off because of something like that. However, that is always the first scene that jumps into my head whenever someone talks about the acting on B5 not being uniformily good. CC just didn't pull that one off so that I believed it. (Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy most of her work as Ivanova immensely.)

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I was thinking maybe he was trying to engage our opinions on the most dramatic ending moment for some obscure reason

[/quote]

Why is that obscure?

OBVIOUSLY he is trying to gather opinions.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

I wonder if JMS has a bet with someone. They claimed all his endings were unhappy or something. I can imagine a suit being unhappy about a lack of happy endings. They may have been planning future episodes of Jeremiah.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

Eh, the problem with Susan yelling was that she was...yelling. Lines like "Cold-hearted rat bastards." are strange enough, especially when your character is screaming them.

But if Ivanova would have done it quietly it would have worked. If you'll notice, anytime something seriously shaking effects her, she'll say it silently. Take Sheridan's death in "Z'Ha'Dum" as an example.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Eh, the problem with Susan yelling was that she was...yelling. Lines like "Cold-hearted rat bastards." are strange enough, especially when your character is screaming them.

[/quote]

I've seen other actors carry off that kind of reaction, even with that kind of dialog. CC didn't in that instance. (Not that I could do any better or anything like that). Her thumping her fist into her other hand just didn't feel natural to me. It felt like an actor trying to find something physical to do to match what she was doing with her voice.

I would agree that CC is much more effective doing those things quietly. I don't agree that it can't be done loudly and violently while still being effective and believable. PJ's scenery chewing tantrum after Londo learns that Morden was repsonsible for Adira's death worked much better for me than CC's performance after the transport massacre, for example. AK did screaming anger a number of times as G'Kar without ever having me react the way that I did to this scene.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

I think the problem was in the acting rather than anything else. I always got the impression that JMS had deliberately written that scene that way because we were used to seeing Ivanova deal with these things quietly.

To emphasise the point that her reaction to this was so strong that she responded in a way we had not seen before.

Even when we saw her loud and irritated (the lift at the start of "Points of Departure" for example) she always came across as controlled and focussed. This particular scene, I always thought, was meant to take her beyond that to that strong, emotional response that just cannot be contained in the same way.

And lets face it people look stupid/awkward and say some ridiculous things when they are like that.

Re: \"Stupid request\" from the big man

Meanwhile..back at the topic...
I agree that the most dramatic moment from a battle point of view is from Movements..wiht the Narn and Drazi fleet firing on Centauri Prime. In that episode we also know that Delenn and Lennier are in a damaged ship (or did that happen next?) waiting to be rescued or killed.
I think that is really the only time that an episode actually ended on an action sequence.
So what if he's asking us because of a bet? I agree that he has the overall story in his head and in order for him to track down a specific scene he would have to go through all of the episodes. Believe me, I've done that before, looking for a specific quote. Being an old tabletop rpg player, I remember leaving off from one game to the next and trying to remember where we had left off. I would always ask someone to keep a journal so we could remember 'where we last left our intrepid heroes.'
The only other scene that comes to mind is the destrcution of the station in Sleeping In Light. But that episode actualy ends on another quieter scene.
So....if anyone else has usenet hookup...pass it along will you?