"Chrysalis" -- MAJOR SPOILERS
David Allsopp
the wall, OK? ...<scrape, scrape, scrape>...
And I thought that JMS was indulging in a bit of excessive parental
fondness when he said that "Chrysalis" was that good...
Well, before I get to the spoilers, I would just like to say
DO NOT MISS THIS EPISODE FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER!!
In fact, if you have any access to a video recorder, record it, because
you'll probably want to watch it again straight away.
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SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
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So, that thing that Delenn has been playing with in her quarters *isn't*
just something to occupy her time. I wonder what else it does, and is
the Triluminary essential in making it work? Actually, my SO (who isn't
really into sf but likes the show) has been saying all along "What *is*
that thing in Delenn's quarters?" and I, fool that I am, have been saying
"Oh, it's just something to aid in meditation", or similar half-witted
guesses. I should have known that JMS would be more sneaky than that.
Londo's relationship with the Shadows deepens and becomes somewhat
worrying. Will he be as malleable as Morden thinks?
And who is behind the assassination ("accident" indeed -- pshaw!) of the
President? The Earth Firsters? PsiCorps? The Shadows again? And
*don't* tell me that the Vice-President wasn't in on it. He just
*happens* to get a "viral infection" at the right time -- yeah, sure.
Other high spots:
Sinclair and Catherine: just how I would have expected him to pop
the question. And it was good to see that Sinclair, Garibaldi and
Ivanova actually do wear civvies occasionally.
Londo and Vir: Vir is definitely talking back more to Londo.
And I thought the duck/cat line was hilarious.
So, I can hardly wait -- when does the new series start?
--
David Allsopp (d...@seachang.demon.co.uk), SeaChange Ltd., UK.
J. A. Fryer
In article aa1...@seachang.demon.co.uk, d...@seachang.demon.co.uk (David Allsopp) writes:
> So, that thing that Delenn has been playing with in her quarters *isn't*
> just something to occupy her time. I wonder what else it does, and is
> the Triluminary essential in making it work? Actually, my SO (who isn't
> really into sf but likes the show) has been saying all along "What *is*
> that thing in Delenn's quarters?" and I, fool that I am, have been saying
> "Oh, it's just something to aid in meditation", or similar half-witted
> guesses. I should have known that JMS would be more sneaky than that.
>
> Londo's relationship with the Shadows deepens and becomes somewhat
> worrying. Will he be as malleable as Morden thinks?
Do they care ? Morden's conversation at the end suggests not.
>
> And who is behind the assassination ("accident" indeed -- pshaw!) of the
> President? The Earth Firsters? PsiCorps? The Shadows again? And
> *don't* tell me that the Vice-President wasn't in on it. He just
> *happens* to get a "viral infection" at the right time -- yeah, sure.
>
> Other high spots:
> Sinclair and Catherine: just how I would have expected him to pop
> the question. And it was good to see that Sinclair, Garibaldi and
> Ivanova actually do wear civvies occasionally.
>
She looked "pretty darn good" in them too...
> Londo and Vir: Vir is definitely talking back more to Londo.
> And I thought the duck/cat line was hilarious.
>
> So, I can hardly wait -- when does the new series start?
Not soon enough ;(
> --
> David Allsopp (d...@seachang.demon.co.uk), SeaChange Ltd., UK.
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Andy Fryer j.a....@reading.ac.uk
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Active Robotics Group, http://skynet.reading.ac.uk/
Dept of Computer Science, http://www.cs.reading.ac.uk/
University of Reading. http://www.rdg.ac.uk/
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strac...@genie.geis.com
quarters was nothing more than a meditation thing...in general, it helps
to 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 the
gun 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.
jms
Terrance Lewis
Very true, of course, but the problem is, we in the
audience shouldn't be able to tell if the gun on the wall is there
to tell us something about the character whose wall (or at least
gun) it is, or if it's going to be used to shoot (or try to shoot)
someone. If we know from the beginning *how* it's going to be used,
it isn't good writing.
I, at least, rarely know what the hell you're up to.
"T"
Gharlane of Eddore
*URK* So now Joe's back on the subject of gun control again...
A gun, if present, *must* be used? I don't think so.
I've seen a good many well-scripted, well-plotted, *riveting*
scripts where the cops never even draw their guns.
Chekhov was speaking metaphorically, and providing a general guideline
for an older style of play, with telegraphed plot elements.
JMS' approach, for example, with Delenn's sculpture work, is entirely
different; the objects are there, they're underscored repeatedly,
but WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE FOR OR HOW THEY WILL BE USED.
Chekhov woudln't have come up with something like that on his best day,
since he, and his audience, were constrained to plot devices and
techniques which had not yet fully benefitted from the 20th-century
development of the imaginative novel.