Babylon 5 JMS Script Book #5

Ah, in this book we finish off season 2 and start season 3. This includes some wonderful episodes, including: The Fall of Night, Matters of Honor, A Day in the Strife, Passing Through Gethsemane, Messages from Earth, and Dust to Dust. I shouldn’t put it this way, but it is so fun to see the threads of fate squeeze tighter and tighter around our heroes . . . We get the demise of Keffer, the introduction of Marcus, and the atmosphere on set. Finally, we get treated to some preliminary notes on season three from the office of JMS. Another must have book for hardcore fans!

Edit: I can’t believe I forgot this! Arguably the most memorable and touching part of this script book are the reflections of JMS on Richard Biggs, Dr. Stephen Franklin on Babylon 5, who had passed away shortly before volume four came out. Richard Biggs, farewell. You will be missed.

Babylon 5 JMS Script Book #4

We get some very memorable episodes in this edition, including And Now For a Word, In the Shadow of Za’ha’dum, Confessions and Lamentations, Divided Loyalties, The Long Twilight Struggle, and Comes the Inquisitor. Yeah, JMS was definitely ramping everything up at the end of season two to lead into season three. Only one more episode is left to the season, after which anyone who has been paying attention realizes that the Babylon project has failed but is evolving into something new to face what is coming both at home and abroad. As for what is included in the book besides these wonderful scripts, JMS introduces us to the people who made Babylon 5 happen cast wise. He tells us who they are, what their job was, and what they did to make this show come together. There is also a nice tribute to Richard Biggs who played Dr. Franklin and who passed away shortly before this volume was released. As a special bonus, there is an episode named Festival that was not even half way completed because it wasn’t working. Yeah, going with The Parlament of Dreams was a much better way of dealing with religion in the end – the final scene especially was quite powerful – though some of the jokes and gags in Festival about religion were pretty funny. The non-religious part of the story had potential and it is a pity JMS was never able to bring in Mr. Jones into the series. Well, you can’t have everything. All in all, another must have for fans.

Babylon 5 JMS Script Book #3

So this script book commences season two. This in and of itself is of note, but Michael O’Hare who played Commander Sinclair left. JMS discusses this departure and casting Bruce Boxliner as the new Captain Sheridan and how he integrated Sheridan into the cast and the story – starting with one character, Ivanova, who already knew and liked Sheridan. Because of the roles Boxliner had previously played, JMS had to start at one point with the character and gradually move him over into a more serious role – that eventually includes going against his own government. He also talks about another new character, the starfury pilot Warren Keffer how he came to be and why JMS never liked the character (the actor was fine). All of this casting gives us some insight into some of the politics that go on behind the scenes between those who make shows and the powers that be. We have a number of excellent episodes included in this volume, from the introductory “Points of departure” to the sad and amusing “Acts of Sacrifice”. Once again, memos are included that detail script ideas. Some were discarded, some were used but rearranged or went in a different direction. And I agree with JMS, an episode with the alien ambassadors as the command staff and the command staff as the ambassadors would have rocked!

Babylon 5 JMS Script Book #2

I know, I haven’t been here for a while. <ducks behind Garibaldi for protection> Things have been rather busy, and my computer, well it’s almost three years old now so while I can easily watch B5 like normal on a DVD player, screenshots are another matter and my computer no longer seems to like DVDs very much. I’m working on a solution for this. In the mean time, here are a few thoughts on the second JMS script book.

This book finishes up season one script wise, which include some very powerful episodes: Signs and Portents, A Voice in the Wilderness, Babylon Squared, and Crystalis, among others. Besides these gems from the B5 universe, JMS gives us the story of the carpet that shows us his method of story telling. In the back, we get notes and memos which describes minor characters, some of which were never used or used less than JMS was hoping and episode concepts. It is particularly interesting to see the ones that didn’t get made, and the ones that did get made but in a very different form than originally envisioned. As always JMS has commentary on all of the episodes, including Claudia Christensen being stuck in a star furry during an earthquake . . .

A must have for fans.

Babylon 5 Quote Book

I have spent years compiling quotes from Babylon 5 (still working on it in fact). And now the B5 script team has beat me to the punch and published one theirselves. Sigh. Still, this quoe book is worth having. It is divided by various subjects (faith and hope, politics, war, power, and funny stuff) and various characters (Sheridan, Sinclair, Ivanova, Delenn, G’Kar, Londo, you get the idea). And added to this, we get the Great Maker’s comentary on each subject area at the begining. A must for any hardcore B5 fan.

The Chronologies of Babylon 5

Okay, so this isn’t exactly a script, but it is still very cool and I just finished it. It contains two timelines made by two different people. The first is quite detailed, the second not so much. Both pull together events not only from the series and the movies (including the Lost Tales), but the novels, short stories, comics, and posts by JMS. Each entry includes references. A must have for any die hard fan.