In the past, I've written a number of Babylon 5 related threads. One of them discuss the possibility of a remake of Babylon 5 being done. I did it to test the waters to see what people's reactions to such a remake would be like. At the same time, I was writing my pilot for a Babylon 5 remake for fun. After giving up the dream of making the pilot a reality on TV, I've decided to give you, in separate parts, my B5 remake pilot to see what you all think. But just to warn you, I've been having difficulty trying to locate the rest of the pilot so if I suddenly stop posting parts of the pilot, that would be why.
So here it is, Part 1:
B5 REMAKE EPISODE ONE: JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYS.
TEASER
(We open with Jeffrey Sinclair cooling his heels in the waiting room of a therapist's office. The year is 2258. Sinclair is in his mid-fifties and wearing civilian clothes, which shows that he isn't coming here as Sinclair the Earthforce Captain but Sinclair the human being. He looks at the old magazines on the table as he is waiting. One of the magazines talks about the plight of the Martians who feel their home becoming less theirs and becoming more of a piece of property increasingly taken by the influence of Earth and aliens. But the magazine that caught Sinclair's eye was the one that has the anniversary of the Battle of the Line printed on its front cover.)
(Suddenly a holographic secretary appears in the middle of the waiting room.)
HOLOGRAPHIC SECRETARY: The Doctor can see you now, Mr. Sinclair.
(Sinclair gets up from his seat and opens the door to....)
(CUT TO: The therapist's office. The therapist's office is the same as any therapist's office in today's world except in the background, we see through the windows of the office, the cityscape of a futuristic Earth at night with its colorful lights and flying vehicles. Sinclair's female therapist is standing in the middle of the room and takes a step forward with one of her hands raise, anticipating a friendly handshake from Sinclair.)
THERAPIST: Hello, Jeff.
(Sinclair steps towards the therapist and shakes her hand with some awkwardness like he shaken it before but hasn't fully gotten used to it.)
(When they stopped shaking each other's hands, the therapist looks at the patient's seat behind Sinclair.)
THERAPIST: Sit.
(Sinclair sits in the patient's seat and the therapist sits in her chair in front of him.)
THERAPIST: So, how have you been doing these days, Jeff?
SINCLAIR: Good...I've been doing good.
THERAPIST: Have you been sleeping better lately?
SINCLAIR: More or less.
THERAPIST: So you have been having less of the nightmares?
(Sinclair pauses and goes off changing the subject.)
SINCLAIR: I notice one of the magazines in the waiting room is about the Battle of the Line. Have you read it?
(The therapist is willing to go along with Sinclair's need to change the subject for now.)
THERAPIST: A little.
SINCLAIR: What does it say?
THERAPIST: That the battle was one of the most historic and unexplained events in human history.
SINCLAIR: Unexplained? I can see how one can think of it that way with the Minbari deciding to surrender out of the blue like that.
THERAPIST: Have you been thinking about the possible reasons why they surrendered again?
SINCLAIR: By asking that question, you've already suspected I have. I mean really, why did they surrendered? They had beaten us to a pulp and could have destroyed the planet Earth just like that (snaps his fingers). So why stop? Could the Minbari have something up their sleeves? A more sinister way of exacting revenge aganist the human race? Like killing so many of us wasn't enough for them.
THERAPIST: Jeff, as you already know, we've talked about this a few times in the past. You said you suspected that whatever the Minbari's reason for surrender had to do with the 24-hour memory gap you received during the Battle. But we stopped talking about it for a while. Why now? What brought this up?
(Sinclair pauses again.)
SINCLAIR: I've...I've been given command of the Babylon 5 station.
THERAPIST (happy): Oh, Jeff, that's great news. I heard a lot of good things about it.
SINCLAIR: A place of peace, commerce, and blah blah blah?
THERAPIST: Yes, something like that. But you don't seem to be happy about it.
SINCLAIR: I am the captain of an Earth Alliance Destroyer. One of the most mightiest ships in the fleet. To go from a Destroyer to one big bulk of metal in the middle of nowhere just shows what the higher-ups have in mind for me.
THERAPIST: And what is that?
SINCLAIR: Forced retirement. Ever since the Battle of the Line, they've always suspected that I was mentally unbalanced. They all did.
THERAPIST: 'They all did'? Are we just talking about Earthforce? Or are we talking about Earthforce and Catherine?
(Sinclair shows signs of discomfort when Catherine's name is mentioned.)
SINCLAIR: I...I don't want to talk about her.
THERAPIST: Jeff, we think we do. We really need to. It's been months since her death and you haven't spoken one word about how you feel about it since you briefly mentioned to me in a prior session. We need to talk about this.
(Sinclair gets a little angry.)
SINCLAIR: Alright. Alright. You really want to know how I feel? I feel pissed.
THERAPIST: At who?
SINCLAIR: Ha, where do I start? Earthforce Command. The Minbari. Catherine's coporate bosses sending me news of her death to me in a emotionless recorded message. Hell, at myself and how I made a complete mess of my life.
THERAPIST: Jeff, you've been through a terrible ordeal...
SINCLAIR: That's a bullshit excuse! Something I used to explain my behavior to Catherine when I told her why I couldn't get over what happened me on the Line. So does she do? She leaves me and calls off our engagement. But I don't really blame her. I would have had enough of me if I was her.
THERAPIST: But you always hoped that one day you two could get back together. Now that she's gone, it seems that day won't happen.
SINCLAIR: Good god. The way you say it, it sounds like I'm completely hopeless.
(Sinclair pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.)
THERAPIST: You're not hopeless, Jeff. Maybe you'll find what you're looking for at your new post.
SINCLAIR: Ha, yeah. Maybe I'll save the galaxy from darkness while I'm at it.
(The therapist pauses.)
THERAPIST: So, am I right in assuming that this may be our last session? You'll be very busy at your new job.
SINCLAIR: Yeah, I will. Doing tons of paper work, listening to diplomats bickering, being bored out of my mind. But at least it'll keep me distracted from the crap in my life. So that's a plus.
THERAPIST: Jeff, you need to learn to let go of the past. As long as you hold onto it as a reminder of what you've lost and failed in, you'll never be whole again the way you were before the Line.
SINCLAIR: You know what, Doctor? I think I stopped dreaming that when Catherine died.
(The therapist doesn't say anything and so doesn't Sinclair, who sits there contemplating the next stage of his downward spiral.)
(CUE OPENING CREDITS: It opens with a clip of Earth Alliance ships and fighters going up against Minbari war cruisers in some kind of battle. Then we cut to the clip of large spidery legs, coming from some kind of alien creature, walking on the ground of a rocky, reddish cavern. We don't see the rest of the creature, just the legs. Then we cut to the clip of people in the Times Square of a futuristic New York City celebrating New Year's Eve as the year 2258 begins. Those last three clips represent the past. After that, we cut to a newly operational Babylon 5 in space as starlight glimmers against its hull. That clip represents the present. Following that clip are three more clips, which represent the future as far as this season goes: a man's hand clasping a PPG (Plasma Pulse Gun) as he plans on using it for a deadly purpose, a pair of pale female hands holding up a crystal triangle, and a man's hand being raised up for some kind of declaration or ceremony. The clips end with a close-up image of the series' title, B5. No music or voiceover is being played during the opening credits sequence and the only sounds we hear are the beats between clips.)
So here it is, Part 1:
B5 REMAKE EPISODE ONE: JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYS.
TEASER
(We open with Jeffrey Sinclair cooling his heels in the waiting room of a therapist's office. The year is 2258. Sinclair is in his mid-fifties and wearing civilian clothes, which shows that he isn't coming here as Sinclair the Earthforce Captain but Sinclair the human being. He looks at the old magazines on the table as he is waiting. One of the magazines talks about the plight of the Martians who feel their home becoming less theirs and becoming more of a piece of property increasingly taken by the influence of Earth and aliens. But the magazine that caught Sinclair's eye was the one that has the anniversary of the Battle of the Line printed on its front cover.)
(Suddenly a holographic secretary appears in the middle of the waiting room.)
HOLOGRAPHIC SECRETARY: The Doctor can see you now, Mr. Sinclair.
(Sinclair gets up from his seat and opens the door to....)
(CUT TO: The therapist's office. The therapist's office is the same as any therapist's office in today's world except in the background, we see through the windows of the office, the cityscape of a futuristic Earth at night with its colorful lights and flying vehicles. Sinclair's female therapist is standing in the middle of the room and takes a step forward with one of her hands raise, anticipating a friendly handshake from Sinclair.)
THERAPIST: Hello, Jeff.
(Sinclair steps towards the therapist and shakes her hand with some awkwardness like he shaken it before but hasn't fully gotten used to it.)
(When they stopped shaking each other's hands, the therapist looks at the patient's seat behind Sinclair.)
THERAPIST: Sit.
(Sinclair sits in the patient's seat and the therapist sits in her chair in front of him.)
THERAPIST: So, how have you been doing these days, Jeff?
SINCLAIR: Good...I've been doing good.
THERAPIST: Have you been sleeping better lately?
SINCLAIR: More or less.
THERAPIST: So you have been having less of the nightmares?
(Sinclair pauses and goes off changing the subject.)
SINCLAIR: I notice one of the magazines in the waiting room is about the Battle of the Line. Have you read it?
(The therapist is willing to go along with Sinclair's need to change the subject for now.)
THERAPIST: A little.
SINCLAIR: What does it say?
THERAPIST: That the battle was one of the most historic and unexplained events in human history.
SINCLAIR: Unexplained? I can see how one can think of it that way with the Minbari deciding to surrender out of the blue like that.
THERAPIST: Have you been thinking about the possible reasons why they surrendered again?
SINCLAIR: By asking that question, you've already suspected I have. I mean really, why did they surrendered? They had beaten us to a pulp and could have destroyed the planet Earth just like that (snaps his fingers). So why stop? Could the Minbari have something up their sleeves? A more sinister way of exacting revenge aganist the human race? Like killing so many of us wasn't enough for them.
THERAPIST: Jeff, as you already know, we've talked about this a few times in the past. You said you suspected that whatever the Minbari's reason for surrender had to do with the 24-hour memory gap you received during the Battle. But we stopped talking about it for a while. Why now? What brought this up?
(Sinclair pauses again.)
SINCLAIR: I've...I've been given command of the Babylon 5 station.
THERAPIST (happy): Oh, Jeff, that's great news. I heard a lot of good things about it.
SINCLAIR: A place of peace, commerce, and blah blah blah?
THERAPIST: Yes, something like that. But you don't seem to be happy about it.
SINCLAIR: I am the captain of an Earth Alliance Destroyer. One of the most mightiest ships in the fleet. To go from a Destroyer to one big bulk of metal in the middle of nowhere just shows what the higher-ups have in mind for me.
THERAPIST: And what is that?
SINCLAIR: Forced retirement. Ever since the Battle of the Line, they've always suspected that I was mentally unbalanced. They all did.
THERAPIST: 'They all did'? Are we just talking about Earthforce? Or are we talking about Earthforce and Catherine?
(Sinclair shows signs of discomfort when Catherine's name is mentioned.)
SINCLAIR: I...I don't want to talk about her.
THERAPIST: Jeff, we think we do. We really need to. It's been months since her death and you haven't spoken one word about how you feel about it since you briefly mentioned to me in a prior session. We need to talk about this.
(Sinclair gets a little angry.)
SINCLAIR: Alright. Alright. You really want to know how I feel? I feel pissed.
THERAPIST: At who?
SINCLAIR: Ha, where do I start? Earthforce Command. The Minbari. Catherine's coporate bosses sending me news of her death to me in a emotionless recorded message. Hell, at myself and how I made a complete mess of my life.
THERAPIST: Jeff, you've been through a terrible ordeal...
SINCLAIR: That's a bullshit excuse! Something I used to explain my behavior to Catherine when I told her why I couldn't get over what happened me on the Line. So does she do? She leaves me and calls off our engagement. But I don't really blame her. I would have had enough of me if I was her.
THERAPIST: But you always hoped that one day you two could get back together. Now that she's gone, it seems that day won't happen.
SINCLAIR: Good god. The way you say it, it sounds like I'm completely hopeless.
(Sinclair pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.)
THERAPIST: You're not hopeless, Jeff. Maybe you'll find what you're looking for at your new post.
SINCLAIR: Ha, yeah. Maybe I'll save the galaxy from darkness while I'm at it.
(The therapist pauses.)
THERAPIST: So, am I right in assuming that this may be our last session? You'll be very busy at your new job.
SINCLAIR: Yeah, I will. Doing tons of paper work, listening to diplomats bickering, being bored out of my mind. But at least it'll keep me distracted from the crap in my life. So that's a plus.
THERAPIST: Jeff, you need to learn to let go of the past. As long as you hold onto it as a reminder of what you've lost and failed in, you'll never be whole again the way you were before the Line.
SINCLAIR: You know what, Doctor? I think I stopped dreaming that when Catherine died.
(The therapist doesn't say anything and so doesn't Sinclair, who sits there contemplating the next stage of his downward spiral.)
(CUE OPENING CREDITS: It opens with a clip of Earth Alliance ships and fighters going up against Minbari war cruisers in some kind of battle. Then we cut to the clip of large spidery legs, coming from some kind of alien creature, walking on the ground of a rocky, reddish cavern. We don't see the rest of the creature, just the legs. Then we cut to the clip of people in the Times Square of a futuristic New York City celebrating New Year's Eve as the year 2258 begins. Those last three clips represent the past. After that, we cut to a newly operational Babylon 5 in space as starlight glimmers against its hull. That clip represents the present. Following that clip are three more clips, which represent the future as far as this season goes: a man's hand clasping a PPG (Plasma Pulse Gun) as he plans on using it for a deadly purpose, a pair of pale female hands holding up a crystal triangle, and a man's hand being raised up for some kind of declaration or ceremony. The clips end with a close-up image of the series' title, B5. No music or voiceover is being played during the opening credits sequence and the only sounds we hear are the beats between clips.)
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