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[b]kit wrote:[/b]
[quote][/quote]Left you speechless, did it?
We just spent some time writing about HR in [u]Remembering Julia[/u], but probably this was as much if not more, a JK story. This is JK’s “We’re not in Kansas, anymore” tale. Just a few of thoughts/observations/questions about that…Stephen Jansen, please jump in when you have something to add. Really. It’s good to know if I picked up on what you intended.
[spoiler]It’s established early on that JK is/has been ambitious, but not ruthlessly so. This could probably be expected of someone who rises high within an organization, and to be the head of anything on Alpha, one probably has to want it, and have the ability to accomplish it, not just one or the other. For example, in the opening scene, he is on a salvage survey with Alan. They locate an ill-fated Eagle, yet Koenig’s first concerns are what they can use from it. His first question was not about the pilot. In one way, this is like a general who moves little miniature tanks around a battlefield map, while he is safely hundreds or thousands of miles away, but who is not thinking about the men who are in the tank. However, Koenig did go out to survey the waste dumps in [b]Breakaway[/b], and he had little patience with Simmonds who wanted to issue a communiqué, so he is not unthinking or unfeeling when it comes to people in the general sense. Also, folks are genuinely happy to see him when he arrives on Sept 9th; they’re not rolling their eyes and saying, Please, not him.I would hazard a guess that this story takes place 3-4 months after Breakaway. They are just settling down from the initial survival mode, JK and HR have developed a friendship to the point that he’s got an inkling of what makes her tick, and she the same of him, yet he has not come to the realization that he has to be concerned with everyone on that base as people, not just as positions/numbers. This sense is much more fully developed by the time we get to [b]The Troubled Spirit.[/b]
That he and his senior staff need to be open with the Alphans has got to be a given. After all, a cover-up was what got them into their situation in the first place. Everybody is going to be concerned when the slightest bit of information is perceived as hidden, some more sensitized than others. Some dwell on it longer, too, like Sanderson and his crew later in [b]The Séance Spectre[/b]. So, he dared not cut off transmission from the airlock scene, and he, to his credit, realizes this. Nevertheless, there is still some undercurrent of maintaining his position as commander, as well as maintaining the morale of the base. He wants to avoid a string of suicides and/or riot; a riot could lead not only to his checking out of the top slot, but losing his life as well, in the worst case scenario. However, he is still willing to leave another skeleton behind in this struggle, in the person of Helena Russell and her vulnerability. In fact, he is almost taking advantage of that very open wound of hers. He has to admit, when pressed, that he really doesn’t understand that gravity of what he is asking her to do. Bonus points for being honest, though.
Guilt gets piled on guilt over the course of the story. HR is obviously annoyed with the fact he had no idea who Julia and Richard Vale is/was. She’s equally annoyed that he can’t seem to grasp the concept that, although he may be …what’s the word here?… not happy, not contented…erm, I’m going to say he’s OK with the fact they are out in deep space, because that’s where he’s always wanted to be. Not the right circumstances, but the astronaut/explorer in him is digging it a little bit, until they meet up with the first race that wants to kill them all. While they were still in orbit, the base commander wouldn’t have to worry about who the transient researchers were, or the people who restocked the drink dispensers, so long as they didn’t get in the way and made sure the cappuccino machines always worked. They didn’t have to worry if didn’t know them from Adam – and they probably preferred it that way. Sure, it’s nice if the boss knows your name, but if he doesn’t, you get your hazard pay and retire early. Now, however, he is the captain of the ship, and he’s going to have to wrap his mind around the fact that he has a moral responsibility to be the last one on the lifeboat if the time comes. I think he is already aware of this at some level, but it has yet to be front and center.
Then, there is the security guard who has to remind Koenig of his name. No intentional swipe, but just another little reminder to JK about needing to get in touch.
Thirdly, Carter says he doesn’t need a file to know who Richard Vale was. He was, by all accounts, a really great guy, who faced a certain death when he walked back to the base. He was probably thinking there was some slim chance of a miracle, as opposed to certain death by asphyxiation, but has to know the odds were slim.
Finally, there is Julia Vale who hits him with everything he doesn’t want to hear. Yeah, she is drugged up, and the high doses of the Triazolam (a benzodiazepine, not barbiturate, BTW) would act like alcohol, in the sense that you’d be “disinhibited “ and less likely to hold back anything you wanted to say. Interestingly, Triazolam is one of the anxiolytics that has some really nasty side-effects, including psychosis, so, well-played in your drug of choice, Mr. Jansen!
She prods him with the nobody cares about the little people angle, and points out that she thinks some people and like hermits who have found hide-away heaven. When you think about it, go through the command staff…JK maybe just wants to get away from Earth (fed up with so-called humanity and progress, and it was the place where his wife was killed) , HR wants to get away from everything (she values life too much to end it physically, but she can commit emotional suicide), Victor is happy anywhere he can do research (can’t see him romping in the sunshine wherever he is), Carter is a gung-ho pilot who doesn’t have much a backstory, but he chooses Alpha over earth when given the choice, Kano can take his love wherever, if he can find a big enough flashdrive to transfer Computer (and gets a little too close by the time Born for Adversity rolls around), Morrow is there to please his father, who he can never please, because he was killed by a Queller Drive, and Sandra’s fiancé (Peter Rockwell from BoW) is a pilot, so she’s probably lucky(?) he wasn’t on waste-dispersal duty on the 13th. So, she’s right, and they all ought to think about that, not just JK.
Anyhow, I would say his turning point was as he was running to get to his pressure suit when HR went too far in her analogy. She may have been speaking metaphorically about the outside being only blackness and empty space, but that’s what Julia was looking forward to. You can almost see HR saying, “Oh, crap,” when she realized what she’d said. (And by the way, Helena, cool your jets about delineating the pathology of radiation overdose. I’m sure that’s really what Julia wanted to hear all about at that point. Lovely, just lovely. Like Commissioner Dixon telling you all about being drawn into Jupiter’s gravity well.) JK wanted Kano to cut the transmission in case something went horribly wrong, which it did, in order to stop base-wide chaos. However, in actually grabbing her and pulling her in, he opened himself to the truism of the proverb that in saving a life, you are responsible for that life. Julia Vale was one person, but she then became emblematic of each Alphan.
One thing I was not clear on: HR’s beginning psychotherapy courses…Continuing Medical Education/brushing up on rusty skills? Or undergoing some therapy herself? Or, beginning sessions with the Alphans to avoid similar things happening in the future? Just wondering your intent, because one could interpret it several ways.
Finally, connecting this story to Resurrection, it’s as if these tendencies to be a bit autocratic are things he keeps in check. When Balor introduces his “fear factor” to activate the fight-or-flight response, JK gets downright ugly, and not afraid to hurt anybody physically or emotionally to get what he wants.[/spoiler]
That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too. (John Cleese, as Anne Elk 🙂 )
Hi Pat,
Wow! :ohmy:
It’s a liitle difficult for me to remember Julia and all the reasons and plot points in the story (probably my Triazolam intake) as it was a while ago and many words have since been written, but reading your theory brought alot of it back and made me look on my hard drive for the earlier draft. (My first draft was called Eagle 31.)
I think you are on the money with your comments, but I must admit to not realising JK was more concerned about the Eagle wreck than the pilot, but his attitude change covers it later.
Mateo sent me a one page outline called LOSS, this was an idea about someone stealing drugs from the medical unit to kill the isolation and the trauma. Mateo very generously let me run with that as a start point and Remebering Julia came out of it.
(Remebering Julia is a rare David Sylvian song btw.)
Still on songs, I was also thinking of a song lyric that went, “we need someone to talk to and someone to sweep the floors…” that inspired the ‘don’t forget the little people’ speech. I think I was trying to show what was behind HR’s sometimes cold exterior. an image that sticks in my mind is in the Y2 opening credits when HR comes blasting out of the medical unit like Thunderbird One, and the expression on her face says, “you lot are going to get well, OR ELSE!” I felt I had to fix that, and Lee Russel was the key, and also the empathy for Julia.
Its really flattering that you’ve obviously invested so much time and thought into the meaning of the story. Thanks for bringing back the memory of writing it.
if I was asked what Remebering Julia is about, I’d say, “admiting the truth.”
That’s my theory, Pat….
I have another theory, my second theory, which is also mine…it’s been a lot of fun! etc.
B) sj
Very interesting to read Pat’s post about [b]”Remembering Julia”[/b] and SJ’s response to it. I’m planning to re-read this story at some point over the course of the next few days 😉
SPOILERS:
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I re-read [b]”Futility” [/b]last night. I have to say… I enjoyed reading it more the second time around! When Franklin hits the repeat button and the phrase “We’re all dying here…” is repeated again and again, I could hear the Year 1 drum roll into the opening titles in my head as he shouted “Doctor Russell! You better get out here!” The final paragraph of the piece stood out too. When I read it, I imagined Landau doing an “Arkadia”-type voice-over and closing the episode with the words “It was a thing called hope.”. Characterisation was spot-on too. I could literally “hear” the actors speaking the lines as I read them. I would say [b]”Futility”[/b] is less a short story and more a missing episode of Year 1 that never made it to the screen. I’ve always enjoyed JK-M’s work (The second half of “The Forsaken” is absolutely gripping!). This is a truly excellent piece of writing. Any flaws in the writing (see previous posts) were very minor imho and certainly didn’t detract from this complex and involving tale which I thought was very true to the spirit of the Year 1 format.
** I HAVE RE-WRITTEN THE REST OF THIS POST ON 27/5/2010 AFTER RE-READING [b]”The Touch of Venus”[/b]. THIS IS BECAUSE SOME OF MY EARLIER COMMENTS WERE COMPLETELY INACURATE! APOLOGIES TO JK-M FOR THIS & THANKS ALSO TO ZACK FOR HIS THOUGHT-PROVOKING REPLY RE: THE USE OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF [b]SPACE: 1999’S[/b] 1970’S TECHNOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE.**
I should add that I also enjoyed [b]”The Touch of Venus” [/b]by the samer author, however, my enjoyment of said story was marred somewhat by the presence of some very-Star Trek sounding technobable (“Stereographic and altimetric maps” being the most jarring example of this. Why not just describe it as “a map of the surface”?). Then later, Tessa reviews “Log Entries”. Wouldn’t they be “Status Reports”? Evening Star being “Hailed” by the Morning Star’s advance party was also pure Trek. Nobody ever hails anybody in [b]’99[/b]. The use of the word sticks out like a sore thumb.
Characterisation-wise, Tony Cellini comes out best imo. I love the character and found the actor who played him gave a very passionate and believable performance on screen. Here, the character is faithfully re-created. I had trouble with the characterisation of Koenig though. He seemed to be doing complex tasks like Computer Modelling and so on which I didn’t think was in-character. Unlike [b]”Futility”[/b], where I could “hear” Landau’s voice loud and clear in the writing, I found this earlier version of John Koenig departed quite considerably from the characterisation established by Landau on-screen.
Still, the abiding image for me is that of Sam & Tessa, shadowy silhouettes standing sentinel-like at a window, silently watching as Koenig makes his escape. It is a chilling image and one that remained in my mind long after I’d finished reading the story.
Anyway, what I’ve written here is a lot more thought out and accurate compared to what I wrote previously… & I haven’t even mentioned the mind-bogglingly brilliant [b]”Spider’s Web”[/b] yet!. When I read that “RYAN” was the name on that Alphan’s spacesuit visor… well, chills ran down my spine! What an amazing image! A thrilling, intriguing tale!
[b]Shepherd Moon[/b] was an excellent novel. If there is a sequel (which I certainly hope there will be) I will certainly be buying it.
I think that the introduction of science and technology relevant to the world of 1999 ‘actual’ is perfecty reasonable. Laptops, Ipods and the like were around in our 1999 so they should be present in the new books. Resurresction used concepts of gene splicing tech to resolve its story and genetic manipulation was in its infancy in the 1970s and wasn’t mentioned in the original show. It isn’t so difficult to make the jump from comlock to mobile phone to ipod, they all have a screen and a scattering of buttons. We know why the comlock is shaped the way it was and I’m sure that if the flat screen technology of today was available in the 1970s it would be a completely different shape.
All of the books, including those of the 1970s introduced inconsitencies to the 1999 world and I won’t even touch on the changes wrought by Mr Frieberger. Most fans have accepted the lttle niggles and mistakes and used them to fuel debate for the past 30+ years, that’s just part of Fandom where would we be without it.
I agree with the ‘Log entry’ statement, it should be a status report. I’m happy to put these things down to poetic license. Any professionaly written 1999 is better than the hit-or-miss (more often miss) Fan fiction we have had up til now.On the technology front…
When I’m writing Space:1999 stuff, the general rule of thumb I go with is…well, did it exist in 1999? The Alphans clearly had more advanced technology in their 1999 than we did in ours — I generally try not to push the envelope too much on the technology beyond what WE had in 1999, but I also keep in mind that the 1970s view of what things would be like in 1999 didn’t exactly hit the mark (Victor Bergman’s anti-matter device being a good example).
What worries me more is pop culture references — if the Alphans start talking about Silly Bandz, it would take me right out of the moment. The closest thing to a pop culture reference I’ve made is a reference to chainsaws in Resurrection — clearly, John Koenig saw him some Tobe Hooper, but that was in the 1970s, so it’s fair game.
Of course, classic literature references are fair game. Moby Dick in Resurrection, for example. But the real reason for a reference to Moby Dick? Next time you’re watching a certain movie where somebody named Chekov puts his hand on a belt that says Botany Bay, check out the books (and listen to some of the bad guy’s dialogue — Moby Dick is a classic story of revenge!).
BL
“Brackets…Mr…Brackets”
[b]blatham wrote:[/b]
[quote]On the technology front…
What worries me more is pop culture references — if the Alphans start talking about Silly Bandz, it would take me right out of the moment. …. Of course, classic literature references are fair game. Moby Dick in Resurrection, for example.
[/quote]For what it is worth, I whole-heartedly agree. Nothing will date a story quicker than a contemporary pop reference. Not so long ago we were watching an old Buck Rodgers ep with Gil Gerard and I had to explain to my son a reference to Three Dog Night. While one could argue that this sort of anachronism fit the series, any suspension of disbelief went right out the window. And I agree. I do think the various Star Trek series did a pretty good job at staying ‘classic’ (which is why I feel the show has had such staying power… certainly not for the 40, or even 20, year old SFX!).
It’s interesting to hear that in the original Breakaway episode there was dialogue between commanders Gorski and Koenig about the possible emotional impact of HR losing her husband.
This underscores Stephen Jansen’s insightful interpretation of HR’s response to this loss in Remembering Julia.
You can hear several takes of the original audio from the missing Breakaway scene here:
Wow! How exciting, I have always wonderd if, somewhere out there, the lost 90 minute version of breakaway existed somewhere, somehow. Even in script form it would be interesting to see the cuts to the story. This stuff is gold. :cheer: Thankyou so much for sharing.
Whoa – way cool. Thanks for the tip! [url=http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php][img]http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-basic/stereo.gif[/img][/url]
-Pat.
Yes, this is pure gold. I found out about this lost audio from the Space:2099 mailing list. Here’s the background info Richard Bendell emailed the group 10-26-2010:
Hi all,
As Simmonds once said so well “the impossible takes just a little longer, that’s all!” This has rarely been more true than today.
Unbelievable as it may seem, apparently a college student was given various audio tape reels to practise with, erase and return many years back. Turns out these were actual rare audio takes from the episode Breakaway and contained scenes that were filmed but never used and the student realized what it was he had and wisely didn’t erase them and got permission to keep them which he did for the past 35 years or so.
Now, with the help of a friend he is now making them available to all 1999 fans, something for which we all can be very, very grateful for.
The first example was posted at Eagle Transporter and comprises of several takes of a cut scene where Gorski and Koenig are talking about Dr. Russell. Gorski in particular reveals the simmering animosity that exists between them when he says “I don’t like you either Koenig” and he gives a rather harsh assessment that Helena is incapable of assessing the situation they’re facing due to personal issues from her past… fascinating stuff!
http://www.eagletransporter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46472
Further takes are available at the link that was kindly posted on the ITC DVD yahoo group:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Spaceman042
The audio is by no means perfect but this is an amazing treasure trove of footage that was believed to have been shot but feared lost for all-time. Perhaps the video is out there too somewhere just waiting to be rediscovered as well, here’s hoping!
Richard B
I found these on youtube last week. I was sent the link by a friend and fellow sp1999 nut !!
They are incredible. What a find.
I spent a few hours the other day [i]when I should have been working [/i]( shhhh don’t tell anyone ) acually transcribing them for another friend who lives in France. She has a computer that is just about to die and has no sound :huh: so she wasn’t able to hear them.
I listened to them over and over again. Well I was helping out a friend in need !! It was fascinating to hear the actors working through scipts that we never atually got to hear. I’ve only heard five so far but I really hope there are more to come.
[quote]The audio is by no means perfect but this is an amazing treasure trove of footage that was believed to have been shot but feared lost for all-time. Perhaps the video is out there too somewhere just waiting to be rediscovered as well, here’s hoping!
[/quote]Now wouldn’t that be amazing… :cheer:
For the completists (like me)…
http://www.youtube.com/user/Spaceman042#p/u/4/qqD9WAzvJr4
http://www.youtube.com/user/Spaceman042#p/u/3/xb2DAOeGBRs
http://www.youtube.com/user/Spaceman042#p/u/1/cAf2j8FKW84
http://www.youtube.com/user/Spaceman042#p/u/0/Qe3Eh9n7pgc
http://www.youtube.com/user/Spaceman042#p/u/2/QwQMQitencw
Tex
(y’all save the audio from these, in case Youtube yoinks them)>semi cross-posted to the Year One Omnibus topic<
It was also great to hear them laughing at the end of a take in one of the clips (Barry Morse tripping over a piece of furniture maybe?)
There aren’t many S99 bloopers available so this was fun to hear.
The original script for Breakaway was called The Void Ahead, I believe. As Zack said, it would be interesting to see if these and other missing scenes are in it.
They might provide further interesting tidbits about characters and relationships for future novels. Who knows.
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