Babylon 5: The Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski, Volume 2.5

DID YOU REALLY SEE CAPTAIN SHERIDAN'S FIRST EPISODE?

WE COULDN'T HAVE SEEN THIS COMING

WHAT'S INCLUDED WITH VOLUME 2.5

NOTE TO COLLECTORS
The spine for Volume 2.5 lines up with previous volumes
in the series for a cohesive look.

Exhaustive analysis of how the two versions of "Points of Departure" differ and the story behind how the episode evolved from one of the few "lost episodes of BABYLON 5."

For example:

• How "Chrysalis, Part II" evolved into "Points of Departure."
• Storylines for Delenn, Londo Mollari, G'Kar, Anna Sheridan and the Rangers that were sidelined from the season premiere to focus on Sheridan's arrival.
• Lord Refa's first name (both of them)...and the writer who named him.
• The original "telling" title for an unproduced episode of season 2.
• How the Psi Corps would have figured prominently in an earlier concept for "Points of Departure."
• Why Director Janet Greek's cut of the original episode left little wiggle room for JMS and John Copeland to make their producers' edit.
• Why the Agamemnon was featured in the familiar version of "Points of Departure" -- as seen on DVD -- but not in the original version of the episode. (Hint: The reason relates to a set used in a later episode.)
• The complete dialogue spoken by the ambassadors and merchants in the Zocalo that was drowned out by Ivanova's voiceover.
• REVEALED: the Jarvis 2000 -- what is was, who it was named after and why it's not mentioned in the episode you have on DVD.
• The Ivanova line scripted as a "whisper" that Claudia Christian delivered with "force."
• The arcane history of Lt. Corwin's credited name across the first three seasons of B5.
• Why a C&C tech referenced the "station's destruct codes" in the original version of the episode.
• Why J. Michael Straczynski replaced President Morgan Clark with General William Hague during the reshoots of scenes 8 and 9.
• The scene cut from the original "Points of Departure" that continued to appear briefly in the Season 2 title sequence.
• Who said the line (which was eventually cut), "We never have any trouble here."
• How a scene cut from the original "Points of Departure" reappeared thematically in "No Compromises."
• The convoluted history of an unnamed character: how he was nameless in the teleplay and resulting episode (both versions), named in the credits of the episode and eventually renamed (after a member of B5's production staff) because footage of him was re-used in a TV Movie retroactively naming the originally unamed (within the episode) character. (Trust us; it makes sense after you've read the editor's note.)
• The deleted comment from Sheridan that established an interesting aspect of Minbari Warrior Caste culture.
• How key introductory scenes with Captain Sheridan were rearranged and strategically re-shot to strengthen the character's entry into the series.
• Sheridan's amusing quip about Earthforce that was cut from every edit of the episode.
• The scenes shot for "Points of Departure" that were reused in "In the Beginning" and how this led to a continuity error that Editor Jason Davis has explained away in the best tradition of fan rationalization.
• An alternate explanation for how Sheridan knew the Minbari cruiser would be waiting in hyperspace.
• A fact about the Minbari that was cut from the episode, but later reappeared as a "standard procedure" for the Psi Corps in "The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father."
• The ad lib by Bruce Boxleitner about Sheridan's speech that was featured in the producers' cut but deleted from the final episode.
• The dialogue exchange that was deleted, making Sheridan's speech in the empty C&C funnier.
• Which character from the pilot received an unexpected mention in the original version of "Points of Departure" that was deleted in the final version.
• How Warren Keffer's introduction would have changed dramatically if Director Janet Greek's original edit of the episode had remained intact.
• How Bruce Boxleitner's actions with the orange in the episode's final scene differed from what was scripted, and why Director Janet Greek fought with the studio about the scene's execution.

To round out Volume 2.5, J. Michael Straczynski also gave us permission to include something else we'd recently discovered: the complete outlines for the "Legions of Fire" and "The Passing of the Techno-Mages" novel trilogies.

Adapted into three novels each by Peter David and Jeanne Cavelos respectively, and published by Del Rey Books between 1999 and 2001, these outlines answer many questions including (1) "What was from the mind of JMS, and what elements were added by the authors?" and (2) "How might these books have differed if JMS had written them himself?"

• JMS's original name for the governess from "In the Beginning" and why was it changed to Senna.
• Which techno-mage had a sex change from the outline to the novel.
• Which of Londo's wives was inserted into the Centauri books by Peter David.
• What JMS told Peter David about the then-ongoing story of CRUSADE.
• Who created the concept of techno-mages having differing spell languages.
• The note at the end of the techno-mage outline that was NOT given to writer Jeanne Cavelos. (Hint: It was headed "Future CRUSADE Series Note.")
• And much more...

PAGE 9 OF THE VIDEO RE-CREATION
(100 PAGES TOTAL)


PAGE 19 OF THE VIDEO RE-CREATION


PAGE 24 OF THE VIDEO RE-CREATION


PAGES 16 AND 17 OF THE
ANNOTATED ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
(click to see bigger image)


PAGES 18 AND 19 OF THE
ANNOTATED ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
(click to see bigger image)

Index