A Niner Watches Babylon 5 (NO spoilers, please)
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The change was always planned for Delenn from before the pilot was even filmed. Interesting fact - the human-type makeup for Delenn took *longer* to apply (probably because of the hair involved). In regards to G'Kar's aide, the Ko D'Ath actress didn't want to wear the red contacts; the first Na'Toth had severe allergic reactions to the makeup (they did change the chemicals later apparently); and the second Na'Toth didn't play Na'Toth the same as the first Na'Toth. Na'Toth was in at least two other season two scripts ("The Coming of Shadows" and "There All the Honor Lies") where she didn't appear in the final episode. Adams just couldn't capture the spark that Brown had with the character.
Hard to do since before the pilot was filmed Delenn was supposed to be a man being played by a woman, no? If memory serves, the transformation was originally planned as Delenn becoming a woman, but I'm sure Jan can refute/correct where I'm wrong here.
Precisely my point here, really, as far as those went. You either have problems with it or you're like Mary Kay Adams; walking the line between Klingon and Narn with aplomb (while underwhelming as Na'Toth, I loved her Grilka, go figure.)
The initial idea was an androgyne played by a woman, dubbed by a man. They nixed the dubbing when it didn't work out well.
Yes there was the sex-change part, but ALSO a more *human* woman...because story-wise that's how
the genetics would be changed so that Sinclair[Sheridan] & Delenn would be paired up and could have their child together.
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You're right. Delenn was supposed to be male and change to a female as per
The others aren't really wrong, though. The male character being played by a female was supposed to create a disconnect in the viewers minds due to the innate differences in body language, etc.JMS said:
The gender change was dropped when A) Mira was concerned that not having any part of her real self visible was effecting her performance and B) the synthesis changing her female voice to male didn't work out and C) an early audience JMS showed the pilot to at a con reacted very favorable to Mira/Delenn as female.
The change that JoeD80 refers to was that Delenn was always supposed to become potentially genetically compatible with humans. That part was planned from the get-go.
Jan
Are there any successful examples of female main characters on SF TV series in which the actress is put under heavy enough prosthetics that it seriously detracts from her being recognizable as human? There don't seem to many examples in which such a character lasted more than one season.
On B5, you've got Delenn, but she started looking more or less human after one season. There were also some failed attempts at Na'Toth, and the rest of the women in the cast were all human. On Crusade, Dureena is supposed to be an alien, but she's an alien who looks virtually identical to humans.
On Trek, the half alien Deanna Troi looks exactly like a human. In DS9, VOY, and ENT, you've got characters with wrinkled noses, spots, and funny ears. But they all look pretty human, with just very minor deviations. On Farscape, the most alien female main character is Zhaan. The others look pretty human to me. I mean, OK, Gigi Edgley had to have her body painted a different color, but the shape of her face and body is left completely intact.
There is no female equivalent of, say, Worf or Neelix or D'Argo. One might get the impression that the TV networks want the viewers to be able to see the beautiful women they've cast without prosthetics getting in the way, whereas they don't have the same issue with regard to the men.
On B5, you've got Delenn, but she started looking more or less human after one season. There were also some failed attempts at Na'Toth, and the rest of the women in the cast were all human. On Crusade, Dureena is supposed to be an alien, but she's an alien who looks virtually identical to humans.
On Trek, the half alien Deanna Troi looks exactly like a human. In DS9, VOY, and ENT, you've got characters with wrinkled noses, spots, and funny ears. But they all look pretty human, with just very minor deviations. On Farscape, the most alien female main character is Zhaan. The others look pretty human to me. I mean, OK, Gigi Edgley had to have her body painted a different color, but the shape of her face and body is left completely intact.
There is no female equivalent of, say, Worf or Neelix or D'Argo. One might get the impression that the TV networks want the viewers to be able to see the beautiful women they've cast without prosthetics getting in the way, whereas they don't have the same issue with regard to the men.
Da'an and Zo'or on "Earth: Final Conflict"?
I think the main issue is the impact wearing heavy prosthetics can have on an actress's ability to find other work. For one thing, if they have a bad skin reaction then they're pretty much buggered as far as getting other gigs goes until it clears up. Even if they don't have that problem, imagine a casting director on a sitcom, soap, drama or any other non sci-fi show looking at a demo reel of an actress playing a spotty lizard. Not exactly what they'd be looking for.
Zhaan on Farspace probably had the most extensive make for a regular, female cast member, with the baldcap, contacts, and anything from just head, shoulders and hands to full head to toe body paint. A very intricate, laborious paint job at that. A close second would be the Talons from Earth Final Conflict (a more successful implementation of female performers playing androgynous aliens) followed by Chiana, again from Farscape with the much simpler paint job, contacts and hair piece.
Dureena's make-up on Crusade 7 'A Call to Arms' was actually deceptively human. Though she went through a few permutations, there was always a full forehead, brow and bridge-of-the-nose piece with a partial hair piece woven into her own, plus of course the contacts they had so much fun sorting out. So about on par with Worf, I'd say.
I suppose you could count Jool from Farscape too as she was around for about a season as the prosthetic looked pretty substantial. Just about, though not quite on par with Delenn's season one appliances.
So yes, most of them are Farscape.
Zhaan on Farspace probably had the most extensive make for a regular, female cast member, with the baldcap, contacts, and anything from just head, shoulders and hands to full head to toe body paint. A very intricate, laborious paint job at that. A close second would be the Talons from Earth Final Conflict (a more successful implementation of female performers playing androgynous aliens) followed by Chiana, again from Farscape with the much simpler paint job, contacts and hair piece.
Dureena's make-up on Crusade 7 'A Call to Arms' was actually deceptively human. Though she went through a few permutations, there was always a full forehead, brow and bridge-of-the-nose piece with a partial hair piece woven into her own, plus of course the contacts they had so much fun sorting out. So about on par with Worf, I'd say.
I suppose you could count Jool from Farscape too as she was around for about a season as the prosthetic looked pretty substantial. Just about, though not quite on par with Delenn's season one appliances.
So yes, most of them are Farscape.
Farscape has some good examples, including Jool, and probably most notably War Minister Ahkna. But the point is valid that, even in alien make-up, most of the time TV shows don't want to undermine the actress's human-sex-appeal.
I really hated this part, personally. The rationale the probe is given is absolutely ridiculous. It wants to know whether the species it encounters is advanced enough to be a threat? And if it is, it nukes them with a rather large but hardly extinctionary thermonuclear device? So the first contact this species has with other space-faring races that might be a threat--is to nuke them?The sci-fi plot about an alien probe threatening to blow up the station because of... reasons.... that wasn't so interesting, but my drink has put me in a good mood so I don't want to focus on it now.
I'm sure we all see how this is even dumber than the Drazi electoral process. I mean, the Vorlons, Shadows or Minbari probably killed these people to the last man centuries ago.
I can accept most of that, if the builders are paranoid enough. But to me, their criteria for deciding to nuke didn't ring true. Destroy them if they're advanced enough to pose a threat? Huh? If you're that paranoid, you destroy them anyway. You don't build in a set of conditions that may allow people off the hook if they play their cards right. Anyway, the fact they could make contact in the first place suggests they're a threat.
Also, I liked the nod to the berserker saga, but it was inappropriate. Berserkers don't do that either. Berserker see life, berserker kill.
Also, I liked the nod to the berserker saga, but it was inappropriate. Berserkers don't do that either. Berserker see life, berserker kill.
But that's the thing--you can't destroy anyone advanced enough to be a threat with one nuke. Like I said, imagine if a Vorlon ship encountered the probe. Boy, I'm sure they'd take that in stride. By the very logic of the proces, you've automatically converted a powerful, potentially threatening people into a wounded and very threatening people, without actually doing anything to seriously affect their ability to strike back.
Edit: Even if the paranoia is that great, it would be a great incentive to not bumble into confrontations with living gods.
Edit: Even if the paranoia is that great, it would be a great incentive to not bumble into confrontations with living gods.
It's interesting how Sheridan couldn't believe that they would only give the helpful information to races that were advanced enough. Could this be a subtle jab at Trek's Prime Directive?
Ah. I didn't think about that. Then about the only way the builders could make it work is to seek out worlds that haven't developed space travel yet, and "nip them in the bud", so to speak. And even THAT has a lot of logical flaws.
Passing Through Gethsemane (**½)
Almost as soon as I saw Brother Edward I pegged him as the murderer. There was no hint of a murder yet, and there wouldn't be for another ten minutes, but when I looked into his eyes I knew there would be a murder and he would be the one that committed it. Everyone knows that if you want someone to play a demented murderer with a calm and collected exterior then there's no one better for the job than Scott Bakula.
Typecasting is a problem here, but an even bigger problem is a horrible scene of exposition involving Garibaldi and Delenn which completely gives the game away before it even begins properly. Without that scene I would have guessed that Edward had suppressed the memory of the murder on his own, but that scene made it far too obvious that he had been mind-wiped. As is stands Edward running through the corridor while hearing "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! We're going to candy mountain, Charlie!" held no mystery, it was just an episode going through the motions. The show continued to pretend it didn't know what was going on for another few minutes, even going so far as to create an artificial impediment to plot-progression by having his search for answers take four hours. So in the future we'll have instantaneous interstellar video communication, but a Google search will take four hours? This is why we need to ensure net neutrality now!
The final ten minutes of the episode are better because Edward has figured out the truth and decides that he deserves to be killed for his crimes. As a result he is lynched by the families of the women he murdered, something Sheridan can't comprehend... until Edward's murderer is marched in front of him. Ooh, burn! Not so enlighten now, are you, bitch?!
Sorry, something seems to have gone very wrong with my personality.
In other news... Lyta is back, this time working with the Vorlons. Her scene with Londo was good, but that's because Londo has become such a fascinating character, other than that not much happened with her. At the end of the episode we learn that she's screwing Kosh, or something, and I have absolutely no idea what that's all about.
Scott Bakula: 40
Almost as soon as I saw Brother Edward I pegged him as the murderer. There was no hint of a murder yet, and there wouldn't be for another ten minutes, but when I looked into his eyes I knew there would be a murder and he would be the one that committed it. Everyone knows that if you want someone to play a demented murderer with a calm and collected exterior then there's no one better for the job than Scott Bakula.
Typecasting is a problem here, but an even bigger problem is a horrible scene of exposition involving Garibaldi and Delenn which completely gives the game away before it even begins properly. Without that scene I would have guessed that Edward had suppressed the memory of the murder on his own, but that scene made it far too obvious that he had been mind-wiped. As is stands Edward running through the corridor while hearing "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! We're going to candy mountain, Charlie!" held no mystery, it was just an episode going through the motions. The show continued to pretend it didn't know what was going on for another few minutes, even going so far as to create an artificial impediment to plot-progression by having his search for answers take four hours. So in the future we'll have instantaneous interstellar video communication, but a Google search will take four hours? This is why we need to ensure net neutrality now!
The final ten minutes of the episode are better because Edward has figured out the truth and decides that he deserves to be killed for his crimes. As a result he is lynched by the families of the women he murdered, something Sheridan can't comprehend... until Edward's murderer is marched in front of him. Ooh, burn! Not so enlighten now, are you, bitch?!
Sorry, something seems to have gone very wrong with my personality.
In other news... Lyta is back, this time working with the Vorlons. Her scene with Londo was good, but that's because Londo has become such a fascinating character, other than that not much happened with her. At the end of the episode we learn that she's screwing Kosh, or something, and I have absolutely no idea what that's all about.
Scott Bakula: 40
I really like this episode and I find it to be one of the best, if not the best, standalones in the series.
Agreed. This one and "Believers" (not counting that dumb raiders plot) are in the top tier of the B5 standalones for me. Granted, it's a pretty small tier, but when B5 gets non-core-arc-related stuff right, it gets it REALLY right.
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