The one good thing I can say about the Byron arc is that it got Pat Tallman a lot of screen time. And a nude scene. I love Pat. Aside: Pat's comment about her nude scene (forgot where I read it) was something like, "So, Joe, why did you wait till I just had a baby and my boobs were huge to write this scene?"
I liked Crusade. It did remind me of a animated series I watched long ago called "All Star Blazers". That may not be the whole title. But it was alike in plot a lot. I wondered what would happen once Earth was "fixed". Hope that is not a spoiler. But what would they have done after that? The "All Star Blazers" show fell apart once that was done and it lost interest. As far as how I feel about season 5 of B5. I know the show was wrapped up in season 4 and not thought to be picked up for a 5th season. I know the people who did the show could have done a lot better if they had known. I hate how crappy that Leta was treated. And yeah all the telepath stuff is not fun to watch. I think that Leta given all the things she went thru should have been showed respect and given her own quarters. Treated more like the team the staff. I could list what she went thru: 1) Having to make the link with Kosh and then having to be on the run from the PSI cops and such. 2) Having to find the traitor 3) Having to deal with all the poor telepaths that were meant for the "Shadow ships" 4) Having to help get rid of the mean "Kosh" 5) Having to be with a poor ranger that dies and then the worst maybe 6) having to be reconnected to the PSI Corp. and giving her body to them after death. Yeah that is just too much.... I think this is just my opinion, but after finding out that the Vorlons made telepaths just so they could fight the Shadows. That all telepaths should have been told. And given their own homeworld if they wanted. I think also given how much the PSI Corp. was involved with all the Shadow stuff there should have been more of an investigation and the pressure should have been kept on them. I think the whole thing along that line was under done and should have been well a cool 2 or 3 part kick butt telepath war and it would have been more interesting to watch. And then give them there own world put Bester in jail ( who wants to see that!). I mean come on!! I have watched all the movies too. I really liked: The Gathering (there are two versions of it and I have both though one is on a VHS tape.) The Beginning is also first rate! Thirdspace is the stuff of nightmares for me. Anyone else? The River Of Souls, I would have done differently. I don't recall A Call To Arms, have to watch that one again. Is this too long sorry?
I loved CRUSADE. I think it could have easily equalled B5. I've met a number of the B5 cast, but Patricia Tallman has not happened yet. I'd love to hear her thoughts on Lyta, and her stunt work in the various STAR TREK shows. (I've met Ivanova, Delenn, Londo, Garibaldi, Vir, Sheridan, Marcus, Lochley. Have not met Lennier, Na'Toth (either of them), Talia, Keffer, or Lyta. Obviously, I'll never get the chance to meet Sinclair, G'Kar, Franklin, or Zack. Going by character names because it's faster to type on this phone.) I always did wonder why the B5 security chiefs always end up having a thing for telepaths... Garibaldi/Talia, Zack/Lyta.
Yeah Lyta was given a rough deal throughout the series and for all she did she deserved a shit ton more respect then she actually got. Talia also was treated badly and then dissected by the Psi Corp. Bester wasn't kidding. It was nice seeing a regular Trek actor as the bad guy.
Absolutely, but she was also the Vorlon telepathic equivalent as a 20 megaton bomb, I think they were too scared of her. And she really did piss Sheridan off triggering the self destruction of Z'ha'dum
I've often wondered if that wasn't at all under her control but programmed into her by the Vorlons. I mean she did do it but I have wondered if she had no real choice.
I might be wrong, but wasn't the initial "cure" for the Drakh Plague meant to be morally compromised in some way? I assume it was along the lines of the healing device. Society would be divided between those condemned to die and the "worthy" who were saved. Also the Plague, an engineered nanomachine with gestalt properties, was still active so Earth was likely still quarantined by the Interstellar Alliance.
Also, the way she danced around doing it when he confronted her over it added to his distrust. Had she just taken full responsibility saying she did it because everything down there was too dangerous to let loose on the galaxy and she knew that having worked for the Vorlons long enough I think Sheridan would have stayed just as pissed but wouldn't have had so much distrust of her.
Pat once said there was a point where the cast was treating her, personally, the same way they were treating Lyta onscreen. Leaving her out socially, treating her poorly at work. Damn method actors! That's all under the bridge now. She's always a part of their get-togethers these days. There have been some cool posts on her and Claudia's facebooks with them all out together.
I think there were issues on both sides. Lyta deserved to be treated better, but she made mistakes of her own as well, as did the other telepaths. It's fair to ask whether someone who'd been manipulated by the Vorlons as Lyta had been could ever really be trusted, not because of who they were as people, but simply because there was no way to know. We think of Data as generally trustworthy, but Soong or Lore pushes a button and Data is immediately compromised. I suppose in a future where mind control and telepathy seem reasonably commonplace for those willing to use them, there is a question of whether anyone can really be trusted, but in the cases of androids and telepaths there are perhaps more than the usual number of reasons to have concerns. IIRC Byron made a whole lot of noise about being anti-violence...but he didn't seem to have any compunctions about going into the ambassadors' heads so he could threaten to reveal their secrets if they didn't give the telepaths a planet. And given what we generally know of Byron's character, it almost seems like a plot contrivance that he went all "we want a planet now" and was willing to make threats within, what, five minutes of his initial request? That's not how politics works, and one would think someone as cultured as he was supposed to have been would have known better. Sheridan or Lochley even called him out on it with a bit of a "What did you think was going to happen?" tone, I believe.
I don’t think the Byron arc was a bad idea, just not executed that well. I had a problem with the way Lyta was treated at the end. She saved the damn galaxy.
Er...when did she save the galaxy? She was pivotal in the battle for Earth, though we don't know that Our Heroes wouldn't have found a different path to victory were she not an option. I think one of my other concerns is...did she ever make her feelings known to others? I mean, did she ever meet with Sheridan and say 'Hey, how about I not be assigned to crappy quarters over a money issue?' Perhaps he knew what was going on, but perhaps not.I remember her complaining to Zack, but I don't remember him ever escalating her concerns, nor her asking him to.
I think from her perspective, given her contributions, she shouldn't have to ask. And I would agree. However, I can see why the distrust of Sheridan would happen. And of telepaths in general. I don't think I could ever fully trust a telepath.
Quarters, why not use Lennier's old quarters since he'd gone off to join the Rangers. Unless, Delenn was using him for a doormat which wouldn't surprise me from the Minbari religious cast. Jokes aside, she trusted Delenn in the past, I don't see why she wouldn't in s5 even if she was married to Sheridan.
From what I've read, the Drach plague was suppose to be cured early on, like season 2, and it turn into the battle with the lingering shadow influence like in Earth Force, as that "Shadow Ship" that destroyed the captians destroyer was Earth's ship..
I've asked many things I shouldn't have had to ask, and not asked many things I should have asked. I agree that maybe she shouldn't have had to ask, but if it would have taken her five minutes to ask the question and get bigger quarters, with a minimum of wounded pride in the process, then... I mean, I'm oversimplifying here, but that does seem to be one of the issues with the telepaths in general...they didn't ask for a homeworld, they demanded one. Lyta didn't ask for bigger quarters, she just got upset with what she got.
Telepaths were basically 2nd class citizens. They were given a binary choice in life: join the corps or be drugged. What would lead them to believe asking for anything would work?
Let’s remember, Sheridan himself nearly got evicted from his quarters because of budget concerns. And does Lyta really want free quarters without asking? Does she really wish Sheridan had, unilaterally, classified her as “staff”? Free agents get to blow up planets without checking with an authority figure first. If staff does that, they get spaced for mutiny. Honestly, it may just be that Lyta never had a “real” job, so the whole thing of suddenly having to live like a mundane caught her by surprise. Psi-Corps paid for all of her essentials, then she was an outlaw and didn’t pay for anything, then the Vorlons paid for her stuff. It’s probably entirely outside of her experience to have to make money doing a job she had to seek out herself, and then use that money to pay for housing, food, and such.