"By Any Means Necessary" discussion [spoilers]

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

(Sorry for the delay, folks! Working on a night shift + being in the pacific time zone == delays get stretched out.)

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X12, "By Any Means Necessary". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "By Any Means Necessary" at the Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite s1 episodes. Also nepotism done well, as the writer, Kathryn Drennan, was JMS' wife at the time. She also wrote the first decent B5 tie-in novel after a series of failures, To Dream in the Cities of Sorrows, about Sinclair between Chrysalis and War without End, which among other things showcases the often ignored Minbari working cast and Sinclair's growing sympathies for them, building on the themes developed here.

The idea of a union strike depicted in a sympathetic way was a good one, and Neeoma Connoly is one of my favourite one-shot characters. And a great example of a female character whose gender is immaterial to her job in the narrative. Both in the main plot and in the subplot with G'Kar and Londo, Sinclair displays his ability to think outside the box. The fact he gets away with his solution to the main problem is maybe wish fulfillment, but I like it anyway, plus Sinclair later does reap the results of pissing off the powers that be at home.

Naturally, I adore the Londo/G'Kar subplot. Both on a comedy and on a character level. And there is a character exploration level - G'Kar's religious side is for the first time on full display here. Incidentally, when Londo says that G'Kar just wants to maintain his social standing, I think he honestly believes that - and is completely wrong, of course. Londo is one of the few characters on the show who just doesn't get religion, or what it means to people. (Whereas he does get patriotism, by non-Centauri, I mean, hence his ability to come up with an alliance during the Cartagia days with G'Kar.) Whereas Sinclair gets religion very well, and the fact he can come up with something to satisfy G'Kar there that doesn't trivialize it is foreshadowing, if you like, of a certain future role. Seriousness aside, though, Londo and G'Kar arguing for a solid episode about a flower: as andrastewhite once said in a great review (http://andrastewhite.livejournal.com/195672.html), if this is not a slash cliché, it should be. Londo waving from the turbolift has me in stitches every time, too.

Lastly, it tickles me the Rush Act of Evil Anti-Union-Ness is named after Rush Limbaugh. (Otoh it's sad Limbaugh still hasn't disappeared from the publich consciousness, a decade later.)

[wychwood]

I've always liked this episode, and I love the handling of the union issues (although, um, having become a union member since the first time I saw this, I did have a number of flashbacks to union meetings *g*).

I also really noticed the way Londo gets it utterly wrong about G'Kar. It's another hint of the depths G'Kar is capable of later, his genuine and heartfelt beliefs (I expect social standing is a part of his upset, but more of it is a very real desire to practice his religion properly). And, as you say, of Londo's inability to understand religion.

Excellent stand-alone episode.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I find this episode somewhat hypocritical in retrospect given that B5 was made under non-union conditions (and there was a strike by crew later in the series).

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, when the show started it was impossible to make a show that cost less than $1M per episode under union conditions, because no such union contracts existed. The contract that JMS and the production company and the unions drew up became the template for all future "cheap" union productions.

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware of that, but I wonder:
is it known how happy jms was with the arrangement / is he already commneting here...

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

From how he discusses the union action in his script book, (Volume 5, for those playing at home,) it seems like going non-union for cheap shows was just how you did things. Here, lemme quote at length:

For the first two years of Babylon 5's production, we shot non-union below the line. (The aforementioned line separates out the crew from such personnel as writers, directors, and actors, all of whom had to be members of their various unions, WGA, DGA and SAG, respectively.) Most of our make-up people, wardrobe, carpenters and others were not union, or had turned their cards over, which was a fairly common practice. That we shot non-union did not mean that we took advantage of our people, however. Salaries were on a par with union wages and in many cases slightly higher. We also offered a health care package that was well in excess of what was being offered by the various unions, even extending it to include our office staff.

In short... our crew was happy. The union... less so. Most non-union-below-the-line shows were produced in other cities or states, outside of the union's jurisdiction or at least out of sight. But we were shooting in Los Angeles, on their home turf, and it was only a matter of time before they came knocking on our door.

...

Warner Bros. Legal Affairs took a hard-line position: we'd have to either shut down the show, or move to Canada, because in their opinion there was no way we could shoot full union and still make this series for the money we had in the budget, which at this point was somewhere in the vicinity of $900,000.

...

The problem was that there was no contract model in existence that would allow a union hour drama series to shoot in LA for less than a million dollars. So we decided to create one. Babylon 5 had been at the cutting edge of everything else SFTV-related to that point, why not go all the way?

So much to the union's astonishment, we sat down with them, opened our books to their inspection, and said, "We want this to happen, tell us how we can make this work." I think it was the first time that producers had sat down with them in a non-confrontational manner and given them total access to every line in the budget. What I didn't know at the time, and only found out later, was that our crew, which liked us a great deal, and whom we had treated with respect from day one, had told the union, "Don't hurt them."

They worked something out, and in order to close the negotiations JMS gave up a script fee for an episode and John Flinn gave up a director's fee for an episode. So it is ironic that the most pro-union episode of the show was made while the crew wasn't organized, but I wouldn't call it hypocritical.

(And no, I make no claims at being JMS! I just memorize lots of information about this show!)

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

Thank you, that is interesting!

I really need to get my paws on the script books! :-)

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favourite episodes from the first season. Not sure why; it’s got a lot of flaws – Zento’s never anything but a one-dimensional villain, and it seems a little contrived that the Rush Act gives Sinclair personally the power to take any means necessary, and not the senate or their representative…
What can I say? I guess I just like to see a story once in a while where organised labour is unquestionably the good guys.

- Random design detail – I like that the Narn freighter looks like it has the same forward section as the Narn fighters in other episodes. Makes sense the Narn would be using modular designs for most of their ships, and that there’s not much difference between civilian and military craft.

- One of the things I like about the episode as part of the greater series is that it establishes B5 as a community, with its own internal disputes and crises. It makes it feel more plausible in season 3 that B5 could go it alone, that it’s got its own guilds and businesses and people who’ve made a life there, that it could work as a self-sufficient entity – I don’t think that would have worked if there hadn’t been a few episodes here and there focusing on civilian life on the station.

- It’s interesting that there seem to be clouds gathering over the Earth government even before President Santiago’s assassination – Sinclair says things are changing, and not for the better, and the senator seems to be just looking for an excuse to invoke the Rush Act. One rather wonders whether it would have made much difference for how Earth turned out if Santiago’s assassination had been prevented after all…

- On that note; there were riots on Ganymede twenty years ago, resulting in deaths. Mars we know is on the verge of open revolt. We never hear much about Proxima III, but they’re just as quick to declare independence in season 3 as Mars is. One wonders if the Earth government intentionally panders to xenophobia knowing that external threats are the only thing keeping the human colonies in the Alliance…

- C&C really needs some guards, or maybe just a lock on the door or something. I’m assuming the reporter from “Infection” was originally intended to be more of a recurring character… I don’t remember her appearing again after this. Probably for the better – the apparent ‘gag’ of ‘look, a reporter trying to cover a developing news event!’ is rather irritating. Works better here than in “Infection”, since here it ties into the episode better, by denying Sinclair even a moment’s peace…

- Narn seems to be very close to Babylon 5 – are we ever given similarly explicit information on how far away the other homeworlds are? Later episodes imply the fate of the galaxy's at stake in the Shadow war, but I've always preferred to believe that B5 only takes place in a very small section of space - if nothing else, the Earth Alliance only seems to have control of our system and Alpha Centauri, yet it's considered a major player.

- There’s only six other followers of G’quan there with G’kar; I’ve always wondered just how popular a faith it is. I’ve always rather felt it’s a minority religion – if nothing else, one assumes G’kar would have found it much easier to convince his government that the Shadows were returning in early season 2 if the majority of Narn were familiar with the Book of G’quan.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

One wonders if the Earth government intentionally panders to xenophobia knowing that external threats are the only thing keeping the human colonies in the Alliance…

Sounds plausible to me. Especially since given the relatively recent Earth/Minbari war (during which laws like the Rush Act were installed), during which humanity rallied behind one goverment, is fresh in everyone's memories, so trying to recreate an ongoing sense of threat in order to recreate unity was probably an easy strategy to think of. We've always been at war with Eurasia, etc, to quote good old Orwell.

[alexcat.livejournal.com]

Everyone else is so darned eloquent in their posts that I'm not sure mine is even needed but since I am a faithful member of the rewatch, of course I want to stick in my little tidbit here and there.

I actually found this show timely in an economy where unemployment is so high that unions are often regarded as more trouble than anythig else, especially to the millions who live and work in non-union states. This episode always did remind me too of the breakup of the Air Traffic Controllers Union by Reagan in the 80's, an act which we are still paying for IMHO. I think JMS even mentions this in his notes.

Sinclair does find a clever solution and he pays later but he seemed to be the first one to admit that he'd eventually pay for his actions... it's almost as if he has begun a series of actions that spiral out of control finally and that he does intentionally. It's almost as if he knows... but he doesn't.

G'Kar certainly begins to emerge as something much more than a devious plotting alien in this episode. We see his religious side and how serious and devout he is. Of course, we also see Londo at his most petty and annoying best. He simply doesn't care and he seriously does not understand why his religion is so important to G'Kar. Their relationship is hilarious in this one. As someone else mentioned, especially Londo's little wave, which certainly reminded me of Vir's wave at Morden!

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

This episode always did remind me too of the breakup of the Air Traffic Controllers Union by Reagan in the 80's, an act which we are still paying for IMHO.

Miners' strike in 80's Britain, ditto (more or less)....

[marphilly.livejournal.com]

A great episode and an especially good Sinclair episode.

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

This is probably my favourite s1 episode (I reserve final judgement till I've rewatched all), certainly my favourite standalone.

These are among the best examples of Sinclair-style diplomacy, and I think it is important that it is mentioned at the end how unpopular he is making himself on Earth (given he was never their first choice for command anyway.
It occurred to me that the change of actor in a way was a blessing of sorts for the Sinclair character - it saved him having to deal with whta Sheridan is going to face. At least as commander - Ranger 1 may be a much better role for such a spiritual character to be in.
Then again, it would be intersting to know how Sinclair would have dewalt with it ...:-)

The comment about the "current" recession sent a shiver down my spine.

As for Londo & G'Kar, each time they have such a comic relief type outing in s1, their characters almost surreptitiously gain depth (see various comments above). Their arc is arguably the widest and most profound, and it is nice to see aspects emerging this early which will become important later on.

[bonspiel.livejournal.com]

Their arc is arguably the widest and most profound, and it is nice to see aspects emerging this early which will become important later on.

I'd forgotten how wide their arc truly was, having not seen the first season in a long time. I totally agree. On the surface it doesn't seem that there's a lot going on - Londo steals G'Kar's plant! G'Kar gets mad! But it shows more of both of their motivations and why they do the things they do.

I like this episode for a lot of the same reasons that others have mentioned. I thought the union plot was dealt with evenhandedness, and it foreshadowed a lot of the later larger issues with the Earth government. I always liked how B5 does give time to the 'background' characters, like the dockhands. One of my favorite episodes, the name of which I've totally forgotten right now, is the one done completely from the POV of two... I think they're maintenance workers? during the war.

[shapinglight]

Coming along very late, to add - well, not very much. I thought it a good, solid episode with a great one-off character in Neeoma Connolly (I think she's name-dropped in later episodes but never seen in person again) and a very welcome look into the grittier side of things on B5 where people actually get their hands dirty (something we never saw in Star Trek).

The Londo/G'Kar subplot is excellent. I think this was the first episode where I really disliked Londo. Before, his hatred of G'Kar seemed personal. In this episode, it became a racial thing. Of course, their relationship will go on to transcend that, but here I found Londo's attitude despicable.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

My two cents is that I liked this episode, because it showed that life on a space station isn't always about Grand Space Battles(TM), but dealing with things like labour and union issues. Even in the future there will probably still be those who want to cut corners to the detriment of workers.

Playing poker with Sinclair wouldn't be a good idea. :-p

I thought it was ironic though that he annoys Earth Gov because he *didn't* use force to resolve the situation...