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Re-watching Crusade

I hope he doesn't,coz I really like Gideon...after all,we still have Galen,Galen could heal him(technomage,remember??).....

According to the novels, Galen has no talent for healing.

But Galen isn't what he used to be...he has evolved...he no longer control the tech to do what he wants...it's more like Galen:"Hey,I wanna fly"
Tech:"Sure no problem"
Kinda thing
 
I hope he doesn't,coz I really like Gideon...after all,we still have Galen,Galen could heal him(technomage,remember??).....

According to the novels, Galen has no talent for healing.

But Galen isn't what he used to be...he has evolved...he no longer control the tech to do what he wants...it's more like Galen:"Hey,I wanna fly"
Tech:"Sure no problem"
Kinda thing

...which is what I'm saying. All he has to do is think it, and if it's within the ability of the tech, it happens. If Ing-Radi could do it, it's within the ability of the tech, and therefore, Galen could do it.
 
If Ing-Radi could do it, it'w within the ability og the tech, and therefore, Galen could do it.
Except that we *know* that even among the full-blown technomages (not the apprentices), some of them are better at certain things than others. Each of them communicates with the tech through their own unique internal language, and that may favor or limit one form of "spell" relative to another.

Yes, Galen is much better at healing incantations after the tech is fully integrated than he was as an apprentice. However, he still was never going to approach Ing-Radi's facility with healing.

It If the reasoning in the quote above really applied, then the technomages would not favor any of their number over any other for healing particular critical and / or tricky cases. We know that isn't true. If it was, we wouldn't be holding Ing-Radi up as a particular example.
 
Yes, Galen is much better at healing incantations after the tech is fully integrated than he was as an apprentice. However, he still was never going to approach Ing-Radi's facility with healing.

It seems to me that you're positing two states here: apprentice and "fully integrated" technomage, where in fact there are three: There are apprentice and full-fledged techomages. But there is only one techmomage in the entire history of the order who totally integrates the tech, and that's Galen.

It If the reasoning in the quote above really applied, then the technomages would not favor any of their number over any other for healing particular critical and / or tricky cases. We know that isn't true. If it was, we wouldn't be holding Ing-Radi up as a particular example.

Again, you're mistaking the history of the Technomages before Galen's breakthrough with the situation that exists after it. True, the mages specialized in the days when none of them were able to completely integrate the tech. Such a thing may still be imposed by the inherent differences in their spell languages after Galen discovers the secret of joining with the tech, but it is equally possible that it won't. Since we don't have a lot of evidence even with Galen, and since we don't know if any of the other mages managed the same trick, we reallly can't say one way or the other. The only thing we can be reasonably certain about is that Galen, at least, is substantially different from every mage who had gone before him once he merges with his tech.

Regards,

Joe
 
Facts about Gideons "death":
JMS commentary on Racing the Night time 40:40: “This also establishes the Apacalypse Box, which is an advisor to Gideon. And there is the curse attaches to that box. Galen suspects that he, that Gideon, has it, and if he has that is seriously bad. In the cliffhanger, the season ender, Gideon was shot and wounded, and by-the–way dies. But his consciousness was for a time transferred to the Apocalypse Box.” “And if you listen to the Apocalypse speaking that is Gary Coles voice. Again setting up this relationship there, that he and the box becomes one at some point. It’s a lot going on in these stories that, like in B5, when we have seen it all, and we go back, there is the clue, there is the lead up to it, there is the hint of what is going to come.”

Time 43:00: “In the season ending he gets shot and dies for a time.”

So Gideons death is not final, he is cured, or brought back or whatever. JMS says Gary Coles voice, when he could have said Gideons voice, I don`t know if there is a difference between the two.

And facts about Dureena:

From the script 116 To The End Of The Line, to be shown as episode 22: Act Three "INT. DUREENA’S QUARTERS.
She’s in bed, asleep. She awakes to a sound, a shimmering sound nearby. She gets up, crosses to where she has stored the sword she gets in a later episode (which will be aired before this one). She unwraps it. It is glowing slightly along the edges. She holds it up, considering it, as she’s started by the door beeping. She covers it again.

And on Dureena becoming a Technomage. JMS on The Making of Crusade: “And she would be on her own path to gaining some of Galen’s abilities, but taking a darker road, which would in time lead these two into conflict
 
WHY!!! WHY DID IT END!!!WHY!!!

It's could have been the best thing on TV ever!!!

WHY!!!

Because TNT-Atlanta suits were spiteful, vindictive idiots, who prevented the show from going to The Sci-Fi Channel when it had a chance of continuing.

Because the TNT-Atlanta suits got JMS pissed off, and JMS, in turn, got them pissed off.

Because the TNT-Atlanta suits never came clean with WHY they were requesting those changes to the show. I think, in a way, they were trying to mold it into their kind of show. If only they'd spoken to JMS honestly, and both sides had come to some kind of amicable agreement....

RW7427, you better get yours soon, if you want any JMS comments on your set. ;)
 
I've just finished watching my 4th episode of "Crusade". Apart from the music - it is great! ...

If that god-damned TNT would not cancelled it, I'd already seen last episode of season 5! (and watched yet another spin-off ;-) ).
 
I've just finished watching my 4th episode of "Crusade". Apart from the music - it is great! ...

If that god-damned TNT would not cancelled it, I'd already seen last episode of season 5! (and watched yet another spin-off ;-) ).

The funny thing is that after awhile, I find myself liking most of the music, just not the stuff on the end credits of "Ruling from the Tomb" (which is awful noise, not music.).

BTW, check this out:

DVD Verdict: Crusade - The Complete Series :D
 
Warning: Contains some SPOILERS for the Technomage trilogy of novels.

Wow, that's a really well written review!

Yes, except for....


"The year is 2265."

It's Jan. 2267 in "War Zone."


"They attack Earth without warning, and when on the verge of defeat, seed the entire planet with a bio-engineered virus."

Just a note, the Drakh originally intended the virus for use on the planet Minbar, after Earth had been destroyed by the deathcloud.


"Since humanity is a spacefaring race in 2265,"

Again, 2267.


"state-of-the-art destroyer Excalibur (built, like the White Star cruisers, with the help of Minbari technology)"

Minbari and *Vorlon* technology.


"Sheridan picks a quirky, somewhat unpredictable captain to command the Excalibur: a former Marine (or their equivalent) commando named Matthew Gideon (Gary Cole, Office Space, American Gothic)."

Don't know where he's getting this "Marine" thing, maybe from the flashbacks. Actually, it's more like space navy. Marines do not captain "ships," the Navy does. Gideon was previously captain of an Explorer class ship (main use: building jumpgates).


"Gideon also takes a liking to a grubby thief named Dureena Nafeel (Carrie Dobro),"

Grubby? Hardly. Gideon doesn't leave anybody behind.(ref. to "War Zone" & "The Path of Sorrows")


"Gideon also recruits a cynical, arrogant, annoying corporate shill named Max Eilerson (David Allen Brooks), who just happens to be a brilliant linguist and archaeologist. "

cynical, arrogant, annoying, *but likeable* :D


"Straczynski may have threatened to pull out of the project entirely,"

At one point, he *did* pull out of the project entirely.
http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-160&query=at%20one%20point%20walked%20off
"What's not generally known is that at one
point, I walked off Crusade. It was when the worst of the notes came in, and I
told Doug, and I told WB...I'm gone. I can't do what they're asking me to do,
it's wrong, find somebody who will."

"They prevailed on me to come back, and the main tool for this was "What about
the crew and the cast? If you walk, what happens to them?" Reluctantly, after
several days, I came back...and this led to the big notes meeting with TNT
where I told them I couldn't/wouldn't do what they were asking on moral,
ethical and creative grounds."


http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-16212&query=TNT%20survey
"Not that it made any difference to Crusade's eventual fate; that had zero to do with the writing, acting, or directing, and everything to do with an internal corporate TNT decision about SF in general. Even written at 100% of my energy level, even if it had been a GREAT show instead of a very good show, it STILLwould've met the fate it met. Of that there is no question."


http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17127&query=TNT%20survey
"JMS: I want the real truth to come out. Including the fact...I ran into some guys who worked for TNT about two years after Crusade went down. And they said, "Did you ever hear the rest of the story?" JMS: "What rest of the story?" TNT guys: "We found out, we did a research survey, a five year long study of our ratings. This was just after Crusade got going. And, we found out that the audience for B5 came for B5, then left afterward. And the TNT regular viewers didn't stick around for B5 and went away and came back. B5 wasn't adding to our viewer base."

So...they decided to pull the plug on Crusade for that reason and use the money to buy another show. But they couldn't say that because they'd be in breach of contract with Warner Bros. So their job was to make it impossible for us so they could then say, "We aren't getting the show we want, our notes aren't being dealt with, therefore we aren't responsible, we're canceling the show, this is your nut Warner Bros., you take care of it." That is why all the notes became so egregious. If I had given them everything they wanted, they still would have pulled the plug. They just wanted out. Yeah, I want that information out there."


BTW, the "other show" was Law & Order, the rerun rights.


"and TNT eventually backed down."

No, they didn't, well not on the "notes" issue. They did back down on their stance of trying to get out of paying for Crusade, but that was forced by Warner Brothers.


"However, not all reconciliations last. This one lasted until the thirteenth episode (out of 17 planned),"
Actually, 22 were planned. It was going to be a 22 episode season:
The existing 13.
"To the Ends of the Earth" and "End of the Line" by JMS
"Value Judgements" by Fiona Avery
The Dureena "sword trilogy"
plus 3 more that hadn't reached the script writing stage yet.


"TNT did pay for the completion of the existing episodes—but that was it."

Yes, *after* Warner Brothers twisted their arm. TNT tried to get out of paying for the completion of the existing 13 episodes, *especially* the first five (the Grey/Red uniform, pre-interference episodes). TNT tried to stop those from going through post-production, from *ever* seeing the light of day.


"In any event, thirteen episodes of Crusade were produced, and are now available in this DVD set,"
Yes, in the TNT broadcast order, *not* the better, but still flawed, Sci-Fi/JMS broadcast order.

Better, but still flawed, Sci-Fi/JMS broadcast order:
"Racing the Night"
"The Needs of Earth"
"The Memory of War" - nanovirus shield discovered
"The Long Road"
"Visitors from Down the Street"
"The Well of Forever"
"Each Night I Dream of Home" - more cautious early-stage flirting. Looping added at TNT's request: "Nice to see you again, Captain Lochley."
"Patterns of the Soul" - nanovirus shield used
"The Path of Sorrows"
"Ruling from the Tomb" - Gideon and Lochley first meet. Cautious early-stage flirting.
"The Rules of the Game" - Gideon bangs Lochley in the shower (not really "horny-teenager level petting").
"War Zone"
"Appearances and Other Deceits"



"Galen hijacks the Excalibur in order to fulfill a promise he made to his dying wife."

Not wife, fellow technomage and lover, Isabelle.


"First, there were a couple of atypically glaring continuity errors—for example, Gideon and Lochley go from horny-teenager level petting in one episode to cautious early-stage flirting in a later episode."

TNT Broadcast and DVD Set Order:
“War Zone”
“The Long Road”
“The Well of Forever”
“The Path of Sorrows”
“Patterns of the Soul” - nanovirus shield used
“Ruling from the Tomb” - Gideon and Lochley first meet. Cautious early-stage flirting.
“The Rules of the Game” - Gideon bangs Lochley in the shower (not really "horny-teenager level petting").
“Appearances and Other Deceits”
“Racing the Night”
“The Memory of War” - nanovirus shield discovered
“The Needs of Earth”
“Visitors from Down the Street”
“Each Night I Dream of Home” - more cautious early-stage flirting. Looping added at TNT's request: "Nice to see you again, Captain Lochley."


"The TNT Era episodes aren't bad, per se (except for the pilot), but the sudden jump to the Straczynski-controlled early episodes, which have the same level of quality and intensity in their writing as his Babylon 5 episodes, jarringly highlights the negative impact that TNT's meddling had on the show."

IMHO, "The Path of Sorrows" is right up there in quality with the first produced (last five aired by TNT). I was also impressed by Brian Thompson's against-type performance in "Patterns of the Soul."


"Galen is a larger-than-life kind of character, due to his immense knowledge and power."

Yes, and we find out just how **immense** in the Technomage trilogy of canonical novels. He's the only technomage who has achieved a perfect synergy/simpatico with the "tech." All the other mages are trying to control the tech and resist the superimposed Shadow programming. Galen's destroyed the shadow programming in his tech, and now reaches the tech directly. The "tech" implanted in every technomage, is an actual lifeform.


"He tactfully discusses the trials and tribulations the show faced in production,"
"But if you're expecting him to spend 45 minutes ripping into TNT and its programming executives with all claws bared, you'll be disappointed."

Actually, his attempt to get the real story of why Crusade was cancelled, was recorded, and edited out, AFTER Warner Brothers had agreed to put it in. As a result, in all future pressings, JMS's comments will not be included.
See:
http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17253&query=furious
http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17279&query=future%20pressings


"The show was shot in a full screen format and is presented as such,"

Almost right. Like B5, the live action was shot widescreen but all the important stuff was kept in the 4:3 frame. All the CGI and composite CGI (live action scenes that use any CGI at all), were shot/rendered 4:3 (to save time and money). This, the way they put Crusade on DVD, is the way they should have put all of B5 on DVD. That way, the top and bottom of the CGI frames aren't *cropped*, and the frame doesn't have to be enlarged to fit the widescreen frame left to right (which introduces the shimmering artifacts).


"Crusade and its cast and crew aren't guilty of anything, so they're completely free to go. The TNT people who botched this opportunity to create quality television are sentenced to watch endless repeats of Cletus Done Got His Hand Mangled In The Cotton Gin Agin, or whatever the hell they show on that network now."

I couldn't agree more. :D


ps.

"• Episode 4: "The Path of Sorrows"
The Excalibur visits a planet rumored to have been a center of healing in the distant past. They find a creature encased in its own spherical fishbowl, who heals psychological ailments, not physical ones. The alien helps various crewmembers confront their inner fears, their closely-held secrets, and their self-doubt. There are some deep, dark secrets hiding within Gideon, Dureena, and Galen…"

Gideon, MATHESON, and Galen. Those were the flashback sequences. Some of Dureena's secrets came out in "The Needs of Earth" and "The Well of Forever," but not really "The Path of Sorrows."



• Episode 5: "Patterns of the Soul"
Upon stopping at the small colony Theta 49, Gideon is shocked to find that the local population has been infected with the Drakh plague even though they left Earth before the Drakh attacked. Earth Force insists he evacuate them from the colony and return them to Earth, but Galen becomes suspicious. Upon further investigation, he discovers ....

GIDEON becomes suspicious.
 
Just finished "Crusade". I'm devastated. It's great! And it cancelled... :(
Dammit! Damn! :( :( :(

And yes, I like the music by the end of the series. And last 5 episodes (by DVD and broadcast order) are the best - but in fact the rest is not much worse, only that damn scene in the beginning of "War Zone".

:mad:
I know, I cannot do a lot, but there are some things that cannot be tolerated and TNT is now one of them for me. I'm getting a cable TV in May (I do not like watching TV actually) and there was TNT in the list of channels. Notice the word WAS in the previous sentence :mad:
 
[
Grumbler asserts that "actors are paid by the week"
Note that Joe gets it wrong, as usual. Actors under the "Major Role' guidelines get paid for eight days. Not even in Joe's world is a week equal, to eight days. And note that I am not complaining that, after all this time Joe dM has STILL not noticed that there is no capital in “grumbler.”

Especially given the Grumble subsequently dug up a copy of a SAG contract and posted a quotation that proves I was right in the first place. Actors are not "paid by the week".
He really means “grumbler” and he is right I really devastated the “daily” argument using primary sources. Actors are paid by an eight day period, not “a week”

1) A one page scene does not a "major role" make.

Nope. The guild rules tell us what a “major role” is. And I leave it to you to argue that Pat Tallman appearing in the role of Lyta Alexander would not apply. Please attempt this, as it will amuse us all.

2) It is only a "major role", "gues star" or "special guest star" part if that is what is [ii]negotiated[/i]. If a part is a "major role" because of screen time then the actor is already going to be paid for multiple days, because the actor will have to be on set that long to film the episode. So it looks like Pat wanted special billing and extra money for filming what she knew was going to be a cameo. WB didn't have the money in the budget and the deal wasn't made.
It seems that Pat wanted what would be hers under any designation that said “special guest star” and she said “no.” Actually, “no” is a good word for the period. She is to be congratulated for seeing that before the rest.

3) Was the material you quoted from the network broadcast section of the contract, the syndication section, or the basic cable one? Or do the same definitons apply to all. I'm curious because they differ in so many other areas and I've only seen summaries of the current contract, not the full text.
The main text, as presented, for TV and theatrical performances. You are welcome to present alternatives, but attacking my primary sources because they tell you things you don’t like is so JdM as to be ..nevermind

But, you reached conclusions based on your ignorance. I dunno the answers, but I do know that, when someone tells me that he know the answers, he is lying.

Oh, and no capitals in grumbler. Good to remember. Just in case.
 
grumbler, I assure you, whether you are wrong or not, you're still OK in my book, as your avatar appears to be a Warren Zevon logo, and that is cool.
 
It seems to me that you're positing two states here: apprentice and "fully integrated" technomage, where in fact there are three: There are apprentice and full-fledged techomages. But there is only one techmomage in the entire history of the order who totally integrates the tech, and that's Galen.

You're thinking in exactly the right lanes. If healing was one of the purposes for which the Tech was made, Galen would be as good as healer as Ing-Radi or anybody else, save for his bedside manner. :cool:

However, if healing was only accheived through complicated spells, and did things for which the Tech really wasn't designed, then it's an open question. Maybe he could, and maybe he couldn't. Being more integrated could mean that he easily could learn healing, but it could also mean that healing became even more difficult to learn since it was so removed from the intended purpose.

Was healing one of the intended uses? I can't remember now... I read it last year.
 

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