- Today, incidentally, I finished the outline for "Chrysalis," whichwill be the last episode of this season, though we'll be shooting itmuch earlier, about 2/3rds through the run. It's a real corker inwhich we absolutely kick over the table and all hell breaks loose*bigtime*. This one I'm *really* looking forward to writing.
- I'm in the strange position of writing the season end episode now,to shoot #12, since it's going to require a lot of post productionwork, and it definitely puts one in a very strange state of mind. I have to be careful to refer to things that've happened in the pastepisodes, from the perspective of the last episode of the season, butwhich haven't yet been written or filmed in real-time. So I'm writing the second half of some stories before having written thefirst half (though I obviously know where they're all going)...whichreally bends your brain around after a while.
This episode is going to be highly classified; we're going to limitdistribution of scripts, and parts of scripts, put canary traps inall of the scripts that *are* distributed, and otherwise keep this one quiet. All I can say is that we're going to kick over everytable we've got. In any season finale, there are maybe 4-5 thingsyou know when you sit down to watch the show that they'll NEVER everdo. So we're doing all of them. If this one doesn't keep you gluedto your seats, you've lost your chair.
- But I'd say that our two *best* so far are still "And the Sky Full ofStars" and "Chrysalis." I just watched a cut of "Chrysalis" today which finally had all the CGI in it, and had to scrape my brain off the opposing wall, it's *that* good.
- I have just seen the director's cut of "Chrysalis," which will be thelast episode of this season...and I think it has just displaced "Sky"as the most heavy-weight episode of the season. Even knowing what wascoming, I just sat here, stunned, at the end of it. Seeing dailies, bits and pieces, doesn't really prepare you for the whole thing.What I like most about it are two things: one, by about halfway in, you really begin to understand that anything can happen, to anyone, and the rules that normally carry you through a television episode nolonger apply. It's a very dangerous, dislocating feeling. Two: you get the very real feeling that, after this episode, nothing is the same anymore. The show has taken a very profound and *irrevocable* turn that will have lasting effects on all of our characters. Of allthe episodes so far, this one has the most feeling of being the chapter end in a novel.The really hard part will not avoiding the temptation to show this topeople...because it really can't be allowed to get out prior to airing. There are too many twists and turns and revelations that spinone off into another.One other thing's certain: after you've seen "Chrysalis," you're goingto want to go back and check out three prior episodes...because something that you will have read/interpreted one way, without questionor hesitation accepting it as what it obviously appears to be, will suddenly be turned on its head, and a brand new interpretation will emerge. And it's *real* creepy....
- "Chrysalis" makes "Mind War" look like a still-life painting bycomparison....
- We finally delivered "Chrysalis" to Warner/PTEN, and heard back: ourliaison over there was stunned, describes it as the best season-endingcliffhanger he's ever seen, unlike anything done before. Suffice tosay we're pleased.
- We have a New Year's celebration in one episode laterthis season, and at some point will probably show otherstuff next year.
- What I like most about it are two things: one, by about halfway in, youreally begin to understand that anything can happen, to anyone, and the rulesthat normally carry you through a television episode no longer apply. It's avery dangerous, dislocating feeling. Two, you get the very real feeling that,after this episode, nothing is the same anymore. The show has taken a veryprofound and *irrevocable* turn that will have lasting effects on all of ourcharacters. Of all the episodes so far, this one has the most feeling ofbeing the chapter end in a novel.
- Someone complains about the characters not staying the same
Losing the characters she's come to enjoy? No. But the characters are changing. That's the point, and that's been the intent from dayone. But what's the alternative? I've heard ST fans complain loudlyand bitterly that after 7 years of TNG being on the air, nobody's really changed, nobody's been promoted into different ships or majorchanges in responsibilities...they've had Riker as XO for seven years,which in the real military would mean his career is *over*.
Change is the only other option.
The goal, from the start, was to create an overall story, but whichwould also require arcs for every single major character. They're allgoing somewhere. In many cases, that "somewhere" plays into the largerarc; in some cases, not. If a woman is single, then gets married, thengives birth, and she's your friend, have you "lost her" just because she's gone through these changes? Of course not. She has changed, ingood or bad ways, but she's still the same person.
- I just showed "Chrysalis" to a couple of people today, who didn't know what was in it. And there's one thing that they had seen over and over in prior episodes of the series which they never thought twice about, which they just sorta accepted...only to suddenly have this understanding totally turned on its head.
The look on their faces was *priceless*.
This is probably the longest and most extensive setup/payoff in SF television history. And afterward, once you discover what that is, if you go back suddenly there's a LOT of different meaning in prior episodes.
- "Chrysalis," a cliffhanger of sorts, leads right into "Pointsof Departure," which picks up some of the tables kicked over by"Chrysalis," the balance of which are picked up in the second episode,"Revelations." By the end of the second new episode, pretty mucheverything is now in place for the rest of the second season...thoughnot everything is in quite the same position as it originally was.
- Except, of course, that where everyone goes is important to the restof the story, and that the purpose of the episode is to introduce massive change into the story overall; when Sinclair says "Nothing'sthe same anymore," he's deadly serious, and so are we. The changeswon't just be transitory or for a season-end hook; these are permanentand substantial changes in the arc.
- Now that you've seen this much, now you can begin putting togetherthe other level of the metaphor that is B5...consider: a war that did notend satisfactorily for us, not winning or losing, a sort of peace withhonor....the death of a president...the rise of intelligence agenciesand military power...start to sound familiar? Now what we begin to dois to start moving around the pieces, shifting the mirror of the storyto reveal different aspects of ourselves, as well as tell the otherseparate story of B5 itself. Again, the idea is for this story tofunction on *many* different levels: future-history, myth, adventurestory, mystery and a metaphor.
- Re: the staging of Morgan Clark taking the oath of office; I gavevery particular instructions to re-create the staging of the photographin which Lyndon Johnson takes over from JFK after the assassination. Thesame layout, posture, background, and so on. We even had a photo on setfor reference. The creepy thing is that the day we shot the scene was theanniversary of the day it actually took place; very weird atmosphere onset that day.
- Actually, I was born in 54, so we're about the same age. Oddly, Idon't remember the day of the shooting; what I *do* remember is watching JFK's funeral, and not entirely understanding the depth ofthe event, but fully grasping the emotions around me. That will linger forever.
- President Santiago is dead as a doorknob.
- Re: being fooled into thinking the crystal construct in Delenn'squarters was nothing more than a meditation thing...in general, it helpsto remember that I subscribe to Anton Chekov's First Rule of Playwriting:"If there's a gun on the wall in act one, scene one, you must fire thegun by act three, scene two. If you fire a gun in act three, scene two,you must see the gun on the wall in act one, scene one."
Waste nothing.
- About the marriage ceremony in "Parliament"
The marriage was a red-herring, a bit of misdirection. The key forany magician is to get the audience to look at your hand so they don't seethe elephant being wheeled onto the stage in full view. The line in"Parliament" is, "It's a rebirth ceremony all right, and sometimes doublesfor a marriage ceremony." When I wrote that, I knew instantly thateveryone would focus in on the second half (misdirection) and miss thefirst half. (Note that Delenn's "And so it begins" is echoed by Kosh inthe last episode.) I put out something that I figured everybody wouldlatch onto, ignoring the other meaning which is stated twice.
- Why did they turn Garibaldi onto his back, where the wound was?
I was told by our medical technology consultant that after you takecare of the basic external wound, you always turn the body over and goafter the internal damage from the *front*. I was told why three times,but still can't retain it. I think it involves easier access withoutcutting around the spine, and makes breathing less laborious.
- The teaser of that episode [Chrysalis] is verymuch just the sort of thing we've seen before; designed to lull you intoa sense of, "Yeah, yeah, we've seen this." Right down to the tired lookon Sinclair's face. Been there, done that. Then you yank the viewer'sblanket. And structurally, it was designed to somewhat mirror the eventsin the first episode; the balance is shifting, things are going in thereverse of what we saw before.
- I don't like loose threads hanging around, so all this will get tiedup. In some cases, we'll see flashbacks to stuff that happened "around thecorner," so to speak, and in others we'll have dialogue explanations. Weget the scoop on what question Delenn asked Kosh (via Lennier) before[season 2] is out.
- If the Shadows are visible, how did they get onto the station?
In "Chrysalis," they are distortions visible in the air when theywish to be...and not when they don't.
- "There is good reason to believe the Minbari Triluminary deviceis an artifact not created by the Minbari."
DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING!
- Actually, the first Triluminary was found by the Minbari, notmade by them, in a vessel they ran into about a thousand years ago.
- About Walker's lines in "TKO"
Re: "Watch your back," and "You never did know how to watch your back," yep, that was a bit of deliberate foreshadowing for "Chrysalis." When the episode aired,I mentioned at the time that there was something in that episode thatwould later be seen to be ironic or ominous, but didn't seem so atfirst. One or two caught it, but most didn't. This show is layeredvery, VERY carefully.
- Correct; Garibaldi's aide has *always* been a plant. I seeded himin from the beginning, specifically for that purpose. It was the aidewho got Sinclair out of his quarters in "Sky," was the liaison who gotBenson on line (also in security, you'll remember), and helped disposeof the body. If you watch his reaction in "Sky," he's the one who brings info to Garibaldi looking to clear Benson; and when Garibaldisees through it, you can see his aide move off looking very worried.
Originally, it was Laurel Takashima who would have betrayed thosearound her, as this character did. When Laurel was transferred, I hada choice: keep that arc for her replacement (Ivanova), or give this part of it to someone else. Now, knowing how the folks here on thenets and elsewhere think, and knowing that they knew about the Laurel-possible-traitor thread, I figured that everyone would assume thatIvanova would get that part. (And, sure enough, a lot of people did.)This became a wonderfully convenient blind behind which to build the*real* plant.
And thus far, *nobody's* seen it coming. He was right there in clearview, we used him many times (also in "By Any Means Necessary," forinstance), and nobody ever paid him the slightest attention.
It is, in a way, the classic magician's trick of misdirection: youtry to get everyone to look at your hand so they won't look at the huge elephant being wheeled up onto the stage in plain sight.
- No, the shooting of Garibaldi was always a very strongpart of the story for the end of first season; that line goesall the way back to the pilot, and Laurel Takashima.
- No, after the thread with Laurel was revealed, lots ofpeople *assumed* that that thread had been passed along toIvanova. It had never in fact been intended for her, butwhen it was broached, I simply didn't reply, on the theorythat if I said it *wasn't* her, it'd narrow it down to who it*was*.
- "I *liked* Laurel!"
Well, yes, that's rather the point; tragedy is onlytragedy if it happens to someone you care about and like.
- The Shadowmen stuff was all CGI, no models. Spiffy stuff. And yes, we'll find out in time what Delenn asked Kosh.
- "If the Shadows are active on Earth, we need to ask why Psi-Corpshaven't picked them up."
Yep.
- The chrysalis is virtually all prop, with some roto work to enhance the glow in "Chrysalis."
- Was it credible that President and Vice President would travel onthe same flight? Their twentieth-century American counterparts don'tfly together on Air Force One.
You're forgetting several elements.
1) It would be in the VP's best interests to go along on the trip, to help defuse any suspicion ("Boy, was I lucky.").
2) Going a few hours out of the country is one thing; you're not looking at the aspect that traveling in normal space takes a lot oftime and expense...a ship as massive as EF1 is hideously expensive; two would be a major waste of government money, and they'd both betraveling side by side, further wasting money. Also, whereas Air Force 1 travels nominally alone, EF1 has a full escort of fighters, with a minimum of four in the "air" at any one time, plus anotherbatch inside.
Going between planets is a much different process than going betweenhere and London; and if both parties are required at the other end, the only sensible way is to have them go together.
- Remember when I said there are things you learn midway into a seriesthat you can learn no other way? Yikes...
As I've mentioned before, in our season ender, "Chrysalis," we tip over every table we've got. I'm talking here *major* stuff, thatprofoundly and permanently affects many of our primary characters.Well, you build that as a two parter, and even *try* to resolve all ofthat in the second part. It doesn't work, because the repercussions are so substantial. (What it is, really, is something that'll be feltthroughout the entire second season.)
You can try to pack all the loose thread-tying into part two, but it'slike trying to pack 10 pounds of potatos into a 5 pound bag. One other option is making it a six parter, but *that's* really silly. Sowhat I'm doing, I've decided, is to take the major elements and playthem out over the first five or so episodes. This will give me timeto give each of the threads the necessary time to play out effectively,rather than rushing things.
So Chrysalis stands alone as a season ender, and a prelude to the BigStuff in season two. Episode 1 of year two, therefore, won't be "Chrysalis, Part Two," but have its own title, allowing me to spread the stuff over the next few episodes. (Probable title: "Points of Departure.")
I showed "Chrysalis" to some people the other day, and the reaction was across the board astonishment. Just stunned. Which was prettymuch the desired result. It's an absolute left-turn for the series.
- Since I mentioned it over on Internet (but not where it belongs), Igive y'all a little gift...Kosh's very last line of the season, in "Chrysalis."
"You have...forgotten something."
It's not nearly as straightforward as it looks, and that one line willcarry with it *major* repercussions. (And no, it doesn't refer to the24 hours.)
- Only two Shadowman vessels hit the Narn base at Quadrant 37, notthree.
- Sometimes it gets wonky. We filmed "Chrysalis" twelfth in shootingorder, to air twenty-second. Part of the setup to "Chrysalis" is "Signs and Portents," which shot 4 episodes later. Meaning the actors had to act familiar with elements they hadn't performed yet,and hadn't seen yet in script form. So in that case, I had to sit down and explain what the various aspects of "Chrysalis" meant, andwhere we were going, for it all to play. Later, when "Signs" was published in-house, they got to see in more detail how the setup fitin with the payoff.
If asked, I would probably try to refrain from telling any of theactors the full story. Let me rephrase: I simply wouldn't do it. Ifthey would ask where their individual character is going -- and some have -- what I do is give them the general arc, but leave out a lot of specifics. For instance, Peter knows *in general* that his character is going in a darker direction, but not how he's going to get there or what it means to the overall story. And that, I think,is as it should be.
- Every so often, a screwup takes place that is so breathtakingly stupidthat it defies all logic and reason. I just learned of one this evening, and I'm still reeling a bit from it. Consequently, this isaddress to anyone who watched the satellite uplink of "Chrysalis" or has seen it in the US in the last day or so.
Once we deliver an episode, it goes to two places: Modern Video and CVC.CVC checks an episode of any series prior to uplink to make sure it'sokay. Though they've had it for four months, they only got around tochecking it the day before uplink. During this, they found a couple ofsmall audio pops. The kind of thing that could be fixed in about fiveminutes. But since it was the evening, Modern Video decided to fix itfor us...by *rebuilding the entire episode*.
Without calling us, notifying us, or checking with us, when we could'veeasily had someone on-hand there to supervise at a moment's notice.
Well, when they rebuilt the episode...they didn't use all the correctfootage. Some of what was used was RAW FOOTAGE. Example: when Londogoes to meet someone in the Garden, there's supposed to be a great composite shot there of the interior of the Garden area, and a hedgemaze. (The UK saw this version of it last month.) But when the episode was rebuilt, they used the raw footage segment showing Londoand a partial hedge IN THE SOUNDSTAGE, where you can see the stage wall, and the pipes, and the EXIT sign. No composite. Nada.
We don't yet know what else has been included incorrectly, because wewon't see a copy until morning. Suffice to say that this is being taken care of *our* way overnight, and a correct version will be sentout via satellite in time for the Wednesday first airings in most markets, and the reruns in those markets where it's already aired.
At this moment, I am preternaturally calm about all this, having passedbeyond anger earlier this evening into a kind of zen state of consciousness, utterly unable to wrap my brain around the absolute stupidity of something like this for more than two minutes at a time.
By morning, this will have worn off.
I'm looking forward to it immensely.
- As it turns out, we discovered that there were TWO comp shots missing (including one in DownBelow), and that's how the "to be continued" got added in at the end. We rousted our people out of bed and had them atthe Modern Video facility at 2:30 a.m. fixing other people's mistakes,rebuilding the entire episode so it could be birded out this afternoon.
- If you saw TBC at the end of the episode, it was NOT the correctversion.
- Well, we tracked down more on the screw-up, and that's how the "To becontinued" got in, and there's a second composite shot missing (from the DownBelow area). We rousted our post production people out of bedlast night, and at 3:30 a.m. had them correcting the mistakes made byothers, reassembling the entire episode. The correct version is goingout on the bird today, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. It will also behand-delivered to KCOP here in town to make sure they get it.
I encourage anyone who saw "Chrysalis" over the last day or so to lookat it again on the rerun; I think you'll find parts of it much better.
This has been a complete and utter meltdown, and we're all out for blood at the moment.
- Yeah, it can make you crazy. Y'know that game, where you have a malletand your job is to whack the gophers as they stick their head up out ofthe ground? That's as good a description of my job as I've ever seen.And there are always new gophers....
- KCOP Channel 13 replaced the *good* version of Chrysalis with the messed-up version
I know...I know....
Hand me my chainsaw, I'm going shopping for dinner.
- The mistake wasn't made by us. It was broadcast correctly overseas, in the UK, perfectly. This was done by the video house that suppliedthe satellite feed.
- Here is Londo's arc through the five year storyline:
Funny and light; then funny and dark; then dark and tragic; then tragic and light.
- Yeah, there's hope for Londo...but not in the way I think anybody will expect, and not in the way Londo would like.
- Londo is a fascinating character to write; there's layers upon layers, and every time I sit down to write him, he surprises me withsomething else. And it's certainly more interesting to watch someoneyou like falling into something terrible than to set up a bad guyfrom day one; no complexity or sympathy there. It's kind of like watching an accident in slow motion. But in the final analysis, allis not dark for Londo.
- What's the story on the god Vir doesn't consider part ofthe Centauri pantheon?
Ah, yes...that one wasn't an emperor, that was Zoog, which was really justa household god, primarily associated with one noble family, that somewhatimposed Zoog where possible, forced the religious establishment torecognize the temple they'd built to Zoog...it was strictly an act ofvanity on their part, to create a god, and elevate a household god, whichnever really carries much weight, to something greater, adding to thegeneral pantheon. - No, alas, Tech #1, Marianne Robertson has decided that she wouldlike to travel next year with her husband Dick Robertson, and has some other personal plans in mind, and thus won't be back next season.
- Just FYI...Marianne Robertson, Tech #1, was Swedish, not Russian.
- "JMS has specifically told us that one MAIN character will die in Chrysalis or Points of Departure (I don't remember which)."
No I haven't.
Never said it.
Sometimes, what happens is that people guess about what's going to happen in the story...and gradually that becomes the assumption on the part of some people that this WILL happen...which in timemetamorphoses into "JMS said this would happen."
This is yet another of those. Never said it.
While I understand how this happens (and it happens a lot), the onlyreal complication that I get from it is that suddenly I'm being held to promises I never made...and if it doesn't happen as I supposedlysaid, then it's somehow my fault.
- The Douglas Adams "homage." Nope. Eric Sevareid once wrote that"working in television is like being nibbled to death by ducks." Ithink it was in his book "Not So Wild A Dream," itself a line borrowed from a poem by Norman Corwin. It's also a fairly commonphrase.
- Scenes you should look at differently after "Chrysalis"...one thatcomes to mind offhand is "Sky," in the various Garibaldi scenes (can't be more specific than that right now).
- Have we learned the fate of Garibaldi's friend LiannaKemmer, from "Survivors?" Was she on Santiago's ship?
No, we haven't established what happened to her, but wewill in time. - If we go into what happened, and where she is, itkinda behooves us to show her.
- As with her arrival at B5, she would'vebeen handling the advance work on Io prior to Santiago'sarrival.
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