Will "Rangers" resolve the Drakh plague story?

[Chris Springob]

Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

If Crusade doesn't get resurrected by the SciFi Channel, then might we see at least some of the Crusade storyline resolved on LOTR? Maybe not the personal storylines of the individual characters, but it seems hard to believe that something like the Drakh plague won't be dealt with at all on LOTR.

Half of the main characters on LOTR will be human. When Earth gets struck by the plague in LOTR's second season, won't that necessarily have a pretty large emotional impact on the human characters on the show? Wouldn't the plague affect how all the other races view humans, and wouldn't this have to be addressed on the show?

I was thinking that since the Rangers were doing the initial work of investigating worlds that the Excalibur should explore in Crusade, maybe LOTR will be the flip side of this story, and we'll see the Crusade story from another perspective.

Thoughts?


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[Sinclair]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

I would assume that the Drakh plague will be referenced to many times. Giving that they'll probably talk about it somewhat, I would think that they'd give little hints here and there about how it was resolved and even refer to some of the people that helped do it. I really hope that they'll talk about it, but I don't want them to reveal too much, as I am still not giving up hope for a Crusade telemovie or something of the sort in the future.

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You name it, sooner or later, everyone comes to Babylon 5.
-Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair, The Gathering

 

[Hesperous]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

I may be wrong, but B5LR is three years prior to Crusade. JMS is a brilliant thinker though, look for B5LR season 4 to restart Crusade, with a crusade movie of the Season finally that never happened. Then one year of both shows in a liner timeline, and Crusade to run for 3 more seasons.

Note: this is my wish, not a rumor or inside information.

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[Jomar]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

We don't have 100% assurance that there will be a series but if there is there are a number of things happening in the period between Objects at Rest and A Call to Arms. For one thing, there is the telepath war, and there are problems with Centauri Prime (see the Centauri trilogy). Also there is the problem of Lennier to redeem himself. The Drakh plague starts with A Call to Arms so there are at least two, maybe three years to go before we reach that point.

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[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

The Rangers pilot film is set in 2265, ("just under three years after the events of 'Objects at Rest'" in 2262.) A Call to Arms was set in late 2266 or early 2267, and Crusade season one was set in 2267.

So the movie takes place approximately two years before the Drakh attack on Earth. Depending on when in 2265 the movie is set, it is fairly likely that Rangers S1 will take place in 2266 - which means that the plague hits late in S1 or early in S2. Naturally the fact of the plague will affect Rangers, but if it is an arc show, by S2 it will have started down the road of its own story, and only marginally intersect with Crusade. The plague will have apparently been cured by Rangers S3 anyway, so I don't think it will play a major role.

I'm not sure why everyone is so interested in the Drakh plague anyway. We've known since before Crusade started (since "Sleeping in Light" aired, in fact) that the plague is cured somehow. So it was clear to anyone paying attention that the story of Crusade was not going to be "the search for the cure." That was merely our way into the story, just as Sinclair's missing 24 hours and the Minbari surrender were our way into the story of B5.

By S2 Crusade would have gone off in a whole different direction - one with which I doubt Rangers will overlap much. And since Rangers should end at least a year earlier in "story time" than Crusade would, there is no way it could show us the end of the real Crusade story. At best we'll learn something about the mechanics of how the plague was finally cured - the single least interesting aspect of Crusade, as far as I'm concerned.

Although this has been suggested at least three times before on this board, I don't seen JMS using Rangers as a back-door way to finish Crusade. If Rangers is a success, it is likely that Sci-Fi will revisit Crusade in some form or another. They'd be fools not to, especially given how poorly some of their other original series have been doing. If Rangers flops, it won't last long enough to get to the Crusade story.

It is hard to imagine a scenario in which Rangers is a success, but Crusade can't be revived to finish its own story.

And the cast is not an insuperable problem. At this point Warner Bros. has more than made its money back on the original 13 episodes. If they had to they can afford to scrap them, recast the entire show and start over from scratch. While I would personally love to see most or all of the cast return, I can't imagine that any of them are literally irreplaceable. I loved Peter Woodward as Galen. But I had never seen Peter Woodward in any other role before that. How many other actors that I've never seen are out there who could absolutely nail the role or Galen, or Gideon or Dureena?

Matching A Call to Arms is no big deal. The only major roles that carry over to the series are a heavily cloaked, bald guy with a British accent and a heavily made-up attractive female alien. It isn't like anyone would have any trouble realizing that the Galen and Dureena in the series are supposed to be the same characters from the movie, even if new actors are playing the roles. (Heck, there are people who didn't realize that a new actress was playing Na'Toth when Julie Caitlin Brown left.)

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[Fleeced]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Springob:
If Crusade doesn't get resurrected by the SciFi Channel, then might we see at least some of the Crusade storyline resolved on LOTR?

(snip...)

Thoughts?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't B5LR (sorry, LOTR makes me think "Lord of the Rings") set 3 years after B5? Crusades was set 5 years after.

So - if it lasts a couple years, then I guess you might see something... otherwise, I don't see how.


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[Ninja_Squirrel]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

Hey, Joe, did you notice that the actress who played the doctor in the series (Marjean Holden, I believe) also played a bridge officer in ACtA?

The guy who played Morden was also a C&C officer in B5's pilot movie.

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[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>For one thing, there is the telepath war<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Over before the movie begins. It starts in 2264, when Lyta and G'Kar return from self-imposed exile and ends in 2265. The TV movie picks up later in 2265.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>and there are problems with Centauri Prime (see the Centauri trilogy)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mostly a covert-intelligence problem during the years Rangers would cover. Depending on the crew's mission we may or may not hear much about it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Also there is the problem of Lennier to redeem himself.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Resolved before the movie begins. This will not play a part in the series. Trust me.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>The guy who played Morden was also a C&C officer in B5's pilot movie.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Are you kidding? I'm putting together a pool to bet on which minor background actor in the Rangers pilot comes back in a different role as a regular or major recurring character in the series. (BTW, Carrie Dobro, who played Dureena, appeared in B5 as a doctor in MedLab once.

)

Regards,

Joe



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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

I had forgotten about Dobro's guest appearance. According to The Babylon File, she played Dr. Harrison in Exogenesis (307). Thanks for refreshing my memory.

I believe Mary Kay Adams [one of the actresses] who played Na'Toth came back later to play a human in one episode. I'm guessing she was the one who was alergic to the make-up.

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[Kribu]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ninja_Squirrel:
I believe Mary Kay Adams [one of the actresses] who played Na'Toth came back later to play a human in one episode. I'm guessing she was the one who was alergic to the make-up.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wasn't that Julie Caitlin Brown, the first Na'Toth? I think she played a lawyer or something like that in a later episode.

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"You've misspelled this. There's no 'Y' in liberties."
"Oh, go away. Repress someone else."

 

[sputnik]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

yeah, caitlin brown played guinevere corey(?) in that S2 ep where sheridan was accused of killing a minbari who attacked him (sorry, utterly forgotten the name of the ep.). she was his earth appointed attorney...

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[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

Julie Caitlin Brown was the first (and last) Na'Toth and also played attorney Guinevere Corey in "There All the Honor Lies" Na'Toth replaced G'Kar's original aide, Ko'Dath, played by Mary Woronov. (She was the one who had the problem with the make-up.)

Since JMS does not like recasting roles if it can be avoided, he gave G'Kar a new aide and stuck in a line about Ko'Dath being killed in an airlock accident. Brown came in on such short notice that in her first episode she actually wore the latex appliances originally created for Woronov. There was simply not enough time to create new ones molded for her own face.

JMS has said that for a time he toyed with the idea of pulling a Murphy Brown and giving G'Kar a new aide every week, each of whom would be reported killed in a freak airlock or other accident the next week, but that he went and lay down for awhile and the notion went away.

Caitlin Brown came in to replace Woronov on short notice as a favor to the casting director. At the time she was just beginning to get bigger roles in features, so JMS knew that they might only have her for a limited time. When she left to do a theatrical film there were no hard feelings, hence her return as a Human in S2.

Mary Kay Adams was cast an Na'Toth, rather than a new character, because there were things Na'Toth knew that had to carry over into future episodes. But JMS was not happy with M.K.A.'s performance so once essential plot elements had been worked out, Na'Toth was allowed to disappear.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>The only time it hasn't worked out as well as I'd've liked was when we cast Mary Kay Adams, who was very strong in the auditions, and then made an actor's choice to play the character very quiet, to not push against Andreas... but you fade into the woodwork if you do that. So it's not a question of technique there, but of choice. She was right in the audition, but her choice later wasn't what we'd initially hoped for.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I can't find any references to Adams being in any other role or any subsequent episodes on B5. This isn't really surprising since she was bascially let go for not taking direction - when JMS and others asked her to "toughen" her characterization of Na'Toth she just didn't do so.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

[This message has been edited by Joseph DeMartino (edited May 27, 2001).]

 

[drakh]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
Brown came in on such short notice that in her first episode she actually wore the latex appliances originally created for Woronov. There was simply not enough time to create new ones molded for her own face.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>You're forgetting that Brown was only called in after another actress was cast as Na'Toth, who was totaly freaked out by the makeup before they'd filmed any scenes. That's why there was no time to create aditional prostetics for Brown.

 

[Jomar]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

I have to come in at this point and say Thanks to Joe for keeping us all on track. I thought I knew the series inside out but I am constantly surprised to find that I have it "almost right" but not quite.

Thanks, Joe.

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[Babylon-ocholic]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

On the subject on people playing multiple parts in B5... the Green or was it purple...Drazi leader came back as many other people, more Drazi I believe, and I distinctivly heard/saw him as a Narn.

Very talented man.

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Don't think about it,
Signed,
Board Idiot

 

[drakh]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

Since it costs money to create the face molds used to fit a prosthetic face on an actor, they several actors with face molds on file who they'd use to play the smaller alien parts.

 

[hypatia]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ninja_Squirrel:
Hey, Joe, did you notice that the actress who played the doctor in the series (Marjean Holden, I believe) also played a bridge officer in ACtA?

The guy who played Morden was also a C&C officer in B5's pilot movie.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I saw part of the B5 series out of order. Man, was I confused when I saw Morden on the bridge, the C&C! I thought "what a hell of a plot twist" until I realized that many series use actors in minor roles early in a series, and then recast them in more major roles later. But for one minute, I thought it had something to do with the plot!

BTW, what does ACtA mean?

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[GideonsMine]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

Joe, we ought to put you and Mike Helba together, the two of you could give the entire history of B5.

Thanks for all the information. I just saw the episode last week with Carrie in it on B5, I couldn't miss that voice. She has unique vocal chords.

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Colleen L. Stanford
Gideon's Mine, all Mine
(he just doesn't know it yet, LOL)

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Will \"Rangers\" resolve the Drakh plague story?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>BTW, what does ACtA mean?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sometimes we get a little acronym happy around here. I try to make it a point to spell out titles once in each message, but sometimes I forget.

ACtA = A Call to Arms, the last B5 TV movie produced (until now.

) It told the story of an attack on Earth, in the process setting up the initial situation for Crusade and introducing the starship Excalibur, which was used in the series, and a couple of the regular characters. It was not, strictly speaking, the pilot for Crusade because almost none of the regular cast was in it. (And because Crusade never had a pilot film or episode. TNT signed the deal for the series based on the "sell-bible" and their experience with Babylonian on B5 S5. The show went straight into production without any kind of "sample" being committed to film.)

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net