Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 00:18:53
From: David Welle (dwelle@online.dct44.com)
Subject: Space1999: Duties/Roles; Oh, the Stress of Being an Alphan! (was Y2: Top/Bottom Five)
Hello! Hope you find this interesting....
At 09:38 AM 03/06/97 -0800, you wrote:
>
>the little human moment of Bill Fraser taking Maya and Helena
>closer to the planet and risking his own life, etc.
I liked that moment, and many others, as well. Shows the
>The only thing I have a problem with in The Immunity Syndrome is the
>voice characterization of the actor playing the entity. It's not compelling.
You know what? You may have just found what I couldn't put my finger
on--the thing that led me to feeling disappointed at the end of what had
been a very strong episode to that point. I'll have to listen more to the
actor's voice characterization next time I watch the episode.
>Someone noted in recent months that these lines sounded silly (lines like
>"I am I..."). I think this is actually a very interesting way to have an
alien
>speak (the words).
It *was* interesting, which is why I was confused when I ended up feeling
disappointed by the alien. The words are interesting because the alien is
coming from a very different context: a sort of loneliness where it hadn't
even known about other sentient beings. Its perception is so different, of
course it's going to think and thus speak in a rather different way, even
with its apparent abilities to blast (unknowingly) into people's minds.
It's been awhile since I've seen this episode, though. I'll have to pay
closer attention the next time I watch it.
>I agree with David about the problem with Helena and Maya basically
>abandoning Alpha and their responsibilities, though. That's why a
>character like Paul Morrow is such a good character to have, so you can
>leave someone in charge but let the stars go off and play.
I agree. Tony took over the role of first officer, but by then, the duties
were changed. This is certainly not unusual. Duties of a title often do
get changed. In Tony's case, he was on missions so often (including in
"Immunity Sydrome"), that it wasn't the quite the same role as Paul's had
been. Not that Paul didn't get out (e.g. "The Last Sunset"); but in Y2,
they did not consistently keep one certain officer behind on base, as they
did in ST: The Next Generation. Y1 came close, but they never really made
a point of it, like STNG did, and drifted away from the idea for Y2, which
instead varied who went on missions, and who stayed behind; and in
"Immunity Syndrome", just about everyone ended up on the planet.
>what Gene Rodenberry planned for ST:TNG with Picard and Riker. Riker
>would take off to the planets and Picard would stay on the ship.
>Because Patrick Stewart is such a compelling actor, however, it didn't
>work out that way.
That *is* the difficulty--and certainly not for just ST. How long can you
keep the characters--any characters in any series--consistently restricted
to the ship or base or wherever? Sure, Picard or Paul maybe should stay on
the ship or base as "standard operating procedure" (SOP), but you don't get
to see the full range of the character or actor that way. So it's real
tempting to vary the situation. I like seeing things stirred up that way,
as long as it is handled well, and used sparingly. Occasional changes are
okay, but if you're going to change the SOP of a character (e.g. making a
base officer become a field officer not just once or twice, but at every
turn), you ought to make a visible point--within an episode--of showing
that his/her job definition is being formally changed, through promotion,
or transfer, or some other means of changing/adding duties in a visible,
formal manner.
With Paul and Tony, however, their job definitions were obviously different
anyway. Paul was consistently a base officer; and Tony was obviously
called upon to be both a base officer and a field officer from the
beginning, depending on the situation and what kind of personnel were most
needed. Tony was either more flexible, or--and perhaps more likely--it was
because everyone had to be more flexible, given Alpha's small and ever
decreasing pool of qualified people. A doubling up of some duties makes
perfect sense in that regard. It also required having other characters
ready to take up certain duties more often, as needed. With the loss of
Paul, Victor, Kano, and Tanya (for whatever reason), Alpha got awfully thin
on officers all of a sudden, and even with new personnel, shuffling of
duties between several positions was probably necessary.
But speaking of the last points, it wasn't quite that simple. In
production terms, some of those characters were often brought in because
time constraints forced doubling up of some episodes, which lead to the
main cast being split between those episodes; and having less of the main
cast in any single one of those episodes means you have to have other cast
"brought in." In some cases, these secondary recurring characters worked
out okay (e.g. Fraser and to some degree Alibe, IMO), but other times, were
very non-descript replacements (e.g. Vincent) or outright poor (e.g.
Yasko), IMHO.
So while the varying roles would make sense in the context of an
ever-dwindling pool of qualified people, and having to train and use
others, it could lead to some power vacuums, or just poor story when the
main characters were spread too thin. Personally, when they "doubled-up",
I *missed* having Maya or Koenig or Tony or whoever around. That's why I
call this the "half cast" problem. I *do* like having strong secondary,
recurring characters around as well, as it builds up the cast and can lead
to even more interesting stories--but *not* as outright replacement for so
many main characters that go missing in several episodes.
One character missing here or there is one thing--say s/he is on vacation
or whatever and subtly show how the other characters re-orient their
approaches to temporarily "fill in" the missing character's role. It *is*
interesting to see this flexibility, when it's done well. But so many
episodes, many with two or three or even most main characters missing?
But yet, it curiously added something convincing in its own way, *showing*
how the mounting personnel losses were hurting Alpha, spreading its talent
thin and forcing other people to step forward and learn new roles faster
than they were sometimes able. Without the remaining officers being able
to adapt to varying situations, and other personnel being able and willing
to step forward into new roles/duties, Alpha would have been in even worse
shape.
IMO, Alpha is far from the happy place it might mean at the surface, and
they are, IMO, only laughing and joking to hide their own fears and
feelings of loss. The last statement is only what I've read in myself, of
course, but does it ring true? Koenig was on the edge of nervous breakdown
in Y2--or could be easily pushed to the appearance of it by outside
forces--as much as in Y1. Maya always seemed to be hiding her pain, but it
occasionally broke through to the surface, despite her own efforts to keep
it inside. Tony was consistently hyper and often paranoid (though not
necessarily without cause :-).
With mounting losses that were even cutting into command personnel, Koenig
must have had more than a few sleepless nights over the years, trying to
use his remaining people in varying ways (without completely them out), and
trying to get other people trained for things they really weren't used to
doing, even to the point where some people were barely qualified at all
when first thrown into new duties. Alpha had to continually adapt, and was
in a sense even closer to the edge than ever before.
And what about away missions? How many key personnel do you spare? Notice
the wording... "spare." Koenig had to be careful not to commit too many
key personnel into dangerous, life-threatening situations. Yet, it's often
the most qualified people that *must* be sent into a situation, to have any
hope actually resolving a situation successfully! And when you have so few
people to start with, it is that much more difficult of a situation. Do
you get aggresive and send more, or be conservative to protect what little
you have left? Do you take the risk of losing people, or risk losing the
battle? Each situation is different, too.
This really put Alpha on even more of a knife's edge.
Now, would any of you want to be commander when you have to go through the
torment of such decisions everytime some situation happens? What would you
do to keep yourself from going insane under such constant pressure?
And what about everyone else? Fewer people around to do the same amount of
working, taking on new duties without necessarily being able to release
their old duties to anyone else. More stress, exhaustion, burn-out, even
psychological problems leading down the road to outright insanity? These
people had to find more and more outlets, come together as a community,
lighten their mood whenever possible to keep themselves from going
nuts--whatever they could do to help themselves not only survive, but
survive with their sanity as well.
Even if you shut down certain things on Alpha, or automate them (partially
or fully), you're still fighting a war just to keep up with everything,
with fewer and fewer people. And the damage they keep sustaining keeps
lowering their capacity to the point they can't even afford to have
children other than Jackie Crawford (and maybe a few others), necessary as
that is in the long run. But even if they *could* have children, it would
be years before they could help in the most rudimentary ways.
Can you imagine being Koenig, watching the base slide closer and closer to
doom as it keeps losing people, forcing even greater use of those present?
Can you imagine being Koenig, and having to cope with this reality every
time another person is lost, on top of your own grief for having lost yet
another crew member and maybe friend? Or imagine being the other officers,
constantly pulling extra duties? Or the new officer-trainee types (Alibe,
etc.) having to make decisions affecting people you call your friends? Or
all the other people getting shifted into new duties, often without being
able to forsake old duties?
These are but a few aspects of Alpha's bind, one which Y2 ended up
portraying in some rather unexpected ways, in my opinion.
Opinions, anyone? Sound like fun? Was it as bad as I made it sound? If
so, what would you do if you were in Koenig's position, or Tony's, Maya's,
Helena's, Alan's, or someone else's? What would you do if you were
watching Alpha slip into deeper danger as its population gets depleted over
the course of what we call Y1 and then Y2 as well?
Thoughts?
Thanks for your patience and interest in actually reading this far... :-)
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 14:44:04 -0500
From: Patricia Sokol
Subject: Space1999: I am I (was Duties/Roles)
It's been a while since I saw this episode, although I would
characterize it as one of those that I prefer, and I can't remember
*how* the voice sounded, but the statement, #I am I# is a loaded one.
I think it is more than just the perception being different because
it had no contact with other creatures. If I've missed your point,
David, I apologize in advance.
If you've ever read the novelized (Edge of the Infinite) version -
and it has been probably 10 years since I have, so forgive my
decrepit neurons - the alien didn't realize it was harming these
little organisms that had landed on it's planet. #I am I# really
underscores this point. Who else would it be? He learned the
language from listening to Koenig talk (quick study), and so this
phrase is perfectly in line, from an identity point of view.
Gramatically, it probably should have been, #I am Me#, though it has
much less punch, dramatically.
I got the impression that this being was sort of an amorphous entity,
rather than something that you could just walk up to, and thus was
essentially #planet-sized#. The being existed like #Gaia# (sp?), the
name given to the Earth's #consciousness#. The fact that it
controlled the poisoning of the water and the corrosive nature of the
atmosphere suggests that it does somehow co-exist with the planet.
Let's make an analogy (skip, if you're not into analogies): To those
little dust mites and things that live in your eyelashes (disgusting
concept, I know) you are a world. You wash your face, you splash
yourself with astringents, etc., and you have tears that are washing
away material in your eyes, and probably take some of these little
critters with them. Undoubtedly, you kill them, without even
realizing it. Now say you were the only living creature around for
thousands of miles. All of a sudden, these dust mites in your
eyelashes started talking to you. They ask you what you are called.
#I'm me,# you answer, because who else would you be? What a silly
question, you think. Your response answers that question, as far as
you know from your rudimentary understanding of dust mite language.
In #The Immunity Syndrome# - rejection of those small creatures I
suppose being the point of the title- this being could suddenly
communicate with other creatures, but its sense of identity was
influenced by the fact that it had never been able to enter into
discourse with another sentient creature, and so it didn't know how.
Or sure, it tried, like when it drove Tony boffo, but that is because
it tried with the enthusiasm of a puppy. A really big, big puppy
that can knock you over and hurt you, because it doesn't know any
better. Therefore, the response, #I am I,# with a shrug in the voice
that says, #Who else would I be?#
Alternatively, it's like "Sam I am", by Dr. Seuss :-)
>From yet another angle, #I am I# sounds extrordinarily close to, #I
am,# as the Old Testement God answers in stating His identity.
Another thing I remember clearly from Edge of the Infinite, the last
book of the novelizations, is that the Alphans figured they could
settle there after all, once the toxic nature of the planet had been
stopped. Of course, this was never followed up upon.
End of Part I.
-PTS.
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 13:55:57 -0600
From: mpoindexter@classtrain44.com (Marshall Poindexter)
Subject: Space1999: Re: "Immunity Syndrome"
Thanks, Pat! I'd never been able to figure out the title before your
explanation. But then, I've only seen the episode once or twice.
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 16:12:16 -0500
From: Patricia Sokol (sokolp@war.wyeth44.com)
Subject: Space1999: Duties/Roles...and production schedules
>>I agree with David about the problem with Helena and Maya basically
>>abandoning Alpha and their responsibilities, though.
I most definately agree with this one, also. Comes mighty close to
selfish, unless they reasoned that there would be some way to get
back, eventually. Helena's concern, in the televised version, if I
recall correctly, was to get to the injured Tony. Well, hey, so was
Maya's, but maybe she also figured she could figure out a way to
combat all the nasty things that were happening to them by being
there, first hand. In the novelized version, their motivations
seemed more to be with Koenig and Verdeschi, respectively, and to
heck with the supplies that they were bringing with them. Those all
got jettisoned out when the glider got hit by lightning, or
something, that let to its being unable to carry so much weight.
Frasier's only concern seemed to be that they understood it was
strictly a one-way trip. The cheerful, #Good luck, girls,# was a bit
much considering that Alpha was about to lose its two remaining senior
officers. Maybe he was power hungry, and this got him two steps
closer to the top. Of course, by this time, both could have been
thinking that they'd given enough to Alpha, and they were not going
to stick around while their better halves were marooned on a planet.
>In production terms, some of those characters were often brought in because
>time constraints forced doubling up of some episodes
It is a shame that production schedules dictated who was in the
episodes. This led to one on my favorite
slap-the-palm-on-the-forehead-this-doesn't-make-sense-scenarios:
Where was Helena when Koenig had been supposedly killed in #Devil's
Moon#? Seems to me that if Barbara Bain had not been off filming
#Dorzak#, Helena would have been on the first Eagle off the base
going down to demand to know what happened. She would have been
dragging Alan to the launch pad (of course, he was stuck with Dorzak,
too), not Alibe and Frasier. Would have made for better pathos, too,
if Koenig could have seen Helena out there, walking away, instead of
Frasier and Alibe. If there was a #rewrite an ending# thread, this
would be number one on my list. (Of course, having said that, if
anyone would like to continue on this thread, feel free.) Again, if
it had been Y1, probably it would have been Helena in the Eagle with
Koenig in the first place, instead of an extra that was destined to
be fried. Now, suppose the extra only *looked* like he got fried,
and suppose that it *had* been Helena in his place, and suppose,
therefore, it *looked* like Helena got fried. All kinds of emotional
turmoil. Would Koenig have even wanted to go back to Alpha, then? Or
would he have not particularly cared?
>One character missing here or there is one thing--say s/he is on vacation
>or whatever and subtly show how the other characters re-orient their
>approaches to temporarily "fill in" the missing character's role
This was done effectively in Y1 in #The Infernal Machine# when
Winters is asked to fill Morrow's seat. Previously, he'd been an
extra milling about and one might imagine he might have even had the
graveyard shift on occassion. Yes, the actor was reading the lines
written for Prentise Hancock, but his delivery was such that the
meaning sounded so different. Morrow was so hot-headed, usually, and
Winters seemed, well, cold as winter. I quite liked the character.
>... what would you do if you were in Koenig's position, or Tony's, Maya's,
>Helena's, Alan's, or someone else's? What would you do if you were
>watching Alpha slip into deeper danger as its population gets depleted over
>the course of what we call Y1 and then Y2 as well?
Cross-train. Buckle down and not go off exploring all the while.
Okay, trouble seemed to come to them all the time rather than they
going to it, but maybe a remote controlled Eagle instead of a manned
craft would have made better sence. How many times does Koenig drag
Maya off the base and they're nearly killed? I can think of four
circumstances off the bat... #Seance Spectre#, #Mark of Archanon#,
#Rules of Luton#, and #Catacombs of the Moon#. No - five: #AB
Chrysalis#, too. Don't you think at some point he would have
reasoned that it might be better if he sent out a (sure-to-be doomed)
pilot alone (as he did frequently in Y1), or maybe they should have
just stayed on base and let the sensors do the work? Close the
shutters, batton down the hatches, and let the stupid heat storm just
go by. You're not gonna do anything by flying off into it. Well,
in #AB Chrysalis# it did ultimately do some good, but that was an
exception, and there was someone to *reason* with, there, not just a
phenomenon that had to be studied. Yet again, part of Koenig's
personality (According to fanfic writer Philippa Sidle's portrayal)
is supposed to be his disinclination to send anybody out to risk his
life if he wasn't willing to do it first. Makes sence, and is the
only explanation - apart from the fact ML was the star of the show
:-) - for Koenig running off to explore every blip in the sensors
that pops up.
That's enough. I think I'll be quiet for another six months, now.
-PTS
Subject: Re: Space1999: I am I (was Duties/Roles)
From: djlerda@juno44.com (David J Lerda)
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 11:22:56 EST
>Another thing I remember clearly from Edge of the Infinite, the last
>book of the novelizations, is that the Alphans figured they could
>settle there after all, once the toxic nature of the planet had been
>stopped. Of course, this was never followed up upon.
Patti,
I always was left with the impression from "Edge of the Infinite" that
the Alphans were going to settle the new planet. The novel had the
sub-plot that the moon was headed for intergalactic space and they would
not be able to survive the long journey. I figured the author wrote this
book knowing the show would not be renewed and just wanted to give a stab
at wrapping up the series.
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 08:11:36 -0600
From: mpoindexter@classtrain44.com (Marshall Poindexter)
Subject: Space1999: Re: The Stress of Being an Alphan!
On 10 March 1997, David Welle (dwelle@online.dct.com) wrote about how
personnel losses on Alpha might affect the community:
>And what about everyone else? Fewer people around to do the same amount of
>working, taking on new duties without necessarily being able to release
>their old duties to anyone else. More stress, exhaustion, burn-out, even
>psychological problems leading down the road to outright insanity?
I really appreciated David bringing up this point. I think that's why Year
2's "Seance Spectre" is such a great one: a few Alphans go nuts from being
cooped up. It was bound to happen. In fact, it would have been nice to see
the effects of that stress pop up more often in the character's
interactions with each other. How about a scene of Sandra rubbing her neck
to relax her taut and sore muscles? Or, Tony, in a private moment, pounding
his fists into his bed or onto the floor in frustration over the loss of an
Alphan colleague? You could even have a scene with Koenig and Russell
having a fight, soon to be followed by apologies. I know that none of this
sounds particularly fun, but it would have made their plight more real to
me.
I think that the producers and writers had so much potential to make Space:
1999 a drama that viewers would really be able to identify with: if these
people were facing and overcoming stress, depression, disappointments,
death, etc., in a smaller version of our society (on a moonbase flung far
into space), why couldn't we draw inspiration from them to do the same here
on Earth?
It just occurred to me that perhaps Space: 1999 would have been better
suited to the culture of the 1990s than the 1970s. Yes, there were societal
problems back in the '70s, too, but wasn't there more a mood of optimism
then than there is now? (Help me out here, older members of the list. I was
only 10 in 1977.) There seem to be more TV shows today that are darker and
grittier, with fewer "happy endings."
In that sense, I'd have to say that Year 1 of S1999 probably would do
extremely well today, and that Year 2 of S1999 might not do as well.
Well, I've brought up enough topics to stir the pot a bit. What do you all
think?
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 12:24:18 -0500
From: John J Fleming (John@coldnorth44.com)
Subject: Re: Space1999: Re: The Stress of Being an Alphan!
This is one of the reasons I liked Earth 2 so much. It was dark, and
graining. Not everyone got along. And the stress of the whole situation took
its tole on everyone.
1999 at least showed a little of this stree, with the aforementioned
"Seance Spectre", and we can't forget "Dragon's Domain". Voyager just
glosses over this aspect of it. And that is onething where Voyager can use
some improvement. Earth 2 took this subject head on. The had fist-fights,
tried to kill each other, outcast others, and so on.
And our little community in cyberspace has these very same issues going
on. Just look at the last few days/weeks. We, as OLA, should almost be
required to be unsubed for at least two weeks a year. A kinda forced holidy.
But please don't do that, it was just a passing comment. "I want my... I
want my.. I want my 1999 list!!!" A realy bad adaptation of Dire Straight's
"Money for nothin'" song.
From: jeff findley (jeff.findley@sdrc44.com)
Subject: Re: Space1999: Re: The Stress of Being an Alphan!
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 13:33:00 -0500 (EST)
Voyager tries, at times, to have episodes that are dark. What's the name
of that race that likes to steal body parts? They are, for the most part,
a dark and mysterious lot. However, Voyager being what it is, they also
had an episode where the doctor was trying to save one of their race and
he ended up falling in love (if you can consider a computer generated
hologram in love) with her.
The producers of Voyager must have some rule that says that every race
must have some redeeming factor. This runs contrary to episodes of
Space: 1999 like "Dragon's Domain" where the creature really didn't have
any redeeming qualities. You can't reason with a creature that only
wants to eat you and doesn't seem to be extremely smart.
Come to think of it STNG, DS9, and Voyager all seem to deal with this
issue in a similar way. The most dark and evil of races, creatures, or
characters always seem to have some redeeming value.
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 13:31:22 -0500 (EST)
From: Eurothug@aol44.com
Subject: Re: Space1999: Re: The Stress of Being an Alphan!
Hi All !
Speaking of Alpha stress, If there are any AOL members lurking why don't we
all get together in one of the sci-fi chat rooms ?. i'm fed up of listening
about the new star trek film , i have not seen it but now i know the entire
script , also star wars trilogy gets a little boring ! . i tried the IRC but
no one home , my girlfriend said something about time zones and europe so i
will have to start being a A.M rather than a P.M alphan. i'm still waiting
for the YEAR 1 CD on import so as always were a bit behind the U.S but
everybody thinks its great ! i hope CD 1 comes off as well.
As always i do enjoy reading 'my letters from america' and hope we can get
more input from europe !
From: "Peters, Pete" (BPeters@gwinnett.tec44.ga.us)
Subject: Space1999: Alpha Stress Syndrome
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 14:28:04 -0500
>.....our little community in cyberspace has these very same issues going
>on. Just look at the last few days/weeks. We, as OLA, should almost be
>required to be unsubed for at least two weeks a year. A kinda forced
>holidy.
PP:Beautifully, and well put John. We aren't exactly a closed
community, like Alpha. Those who have been on the list awhile, most in
lurk mode, have learned how to function while in constant contact with
one another. We've learned that to maintain peace is part of the
survival mechanism for any society, if it wants to remain viable. In a
sense, we are a society, and we've learned how to maintain our health
and spirit in the way we communicate. and interact.
Some of our visitors are like people that have been torn away from Earth
and dropped into a situation like Alpha with no warning, no adjustment.
and no way to cope. They don't know the un-written rules, It's no
wonder that some of them don't pop off more often. I know I would be
frustrated in a like situation. It takes a long time to be able to look
at a friend and know what their thinking.
And yes, even oldtimers fill the stack occasionally and have to vent or
risk their emotional sanity and stability. I don't blame them. That's
life! Could you imagine living in a tiny one dimensional existence like
Alpha and never being able to get out to restore your balance?
(shudder,.....goose-bumps,.....cold sweat!!)
I guess what I'm trying to say is, isn't it great that we have the
ability to get up and walk away and vent and renew, like those on Alpha
don't have.
Just some sobering reflection.
OK,.....Big Breath,.....Smile, everything's gonna be all right ;-)
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 16:15:14 -0500
From: Patricia Sokol (sokolp@war.wyeth44.com)
Subject: Space1999: Re:Re:The Stress of Being an Alphan
>The producers of Voyager must have some rule that says that every race
>must have some redeeming factor.
I statred to write a post about Space:1999 having swung too far in
the other direction in Y1, but as I write it, I guess not all the
races they encountered were all that bad. The Etherians ("Collision
Course"), although they were using the moon/Alpha to their own ends,
never had a quarrel with the little humans.
I can't come up with just the right term to describe the Caldorians
(Earthbound), with their funky Sta-Puft marshmallow spaceship, who
allowed Simmonds to believe he was headed back to Earth. Can't you
just see Capt. Zantor confronted with the dusty remains of Simonds
if/when they get to Earth? I can just see him with an impassive
shrug and an understated, "Oops," in Christopher Lee's imimitable
baritone.
It's just too bad that none of the races they encountered offered any
help. In Y2, both the Archanons ("Mark of the Archanons") and the
Crotons(?) ("Dorzak") both had superior interstellar travel
capabilities, yet neither offered any assiatance to the Alphans in
exchange for either what they'd endured at the hands of their
respective outcasts, or for the help they received in getting back
the offending parties. It would have been nice if one or they other
had said, "Hey, thanks for your trouble. Here, we#ve got an empty
planet that we#ll take you to." It makes one wonder if these
respective races went back to their homeworlds and told their friends
and colleagues about this bunch of Earthmen that are roaming around
the galaxy looking for a place to live. I'm sure one of you more
creative types can come up with a good joke along these lines.
Hey, did ya hear the one about the Eagle pilot that tried to land on
beta-gamma-12?...ha,ha,ha...
From: Atomic Possum (atomicpossum@juno44.com)
Subject: Re: Space1999: Re:Re:The Stress of Being an Alphan
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 16:58:04 -0600
Actually, I always thought that Simmonds' fate was pretty much what
Zantor had planned. He had referred to Simmonds as 'diseased' and a few
other things, when Simmonds was threatening to kill the entire base if he
didn't get to go. I always thought Zantor just thought, well, the best
thing to do is get him out of here where he can't hurt anybody ever again,
and that'll be it for him....
From: PatriEmb@aol44.com
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 21:30:52 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Space1999: RE: Alphan Stress OT: Dr. Who
After reading the previous postings about alphan stress, I have to pose a
question to the group. I know that Sanderson, et. al, used Koenig as a focus
of their anger in their little revolt. Now, do you think that any other
member of the command staff could have so much anger, negative emotion
focused upon them? Do you think members of the base could come to resent, or
even hate Carter for crashing so many eagles, and having so many co-pilots
die? Or, do you think the Alphans were too carefully screened for that, and
were pretty well-adjusted?
Off topic I've never watched any Dr, Who episodes, but from all of the
postings about the recent loss of a key figure in production, I'm interested.
There are several episodes available at the local video outlet. Are there
any really great ones I should look for, as an introduction to the series?
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 23:29:51 -0500
From: Marcy Kulic (mkulic@wizard44.com)
Subject: Space1999: Re: Alphan Stress, BOW OT: Dr. Who
While I'm sure the Alphans were screened to some extent, no one could
foresee that the moon was going to be flung out of orbit and the community
would be a closed one. The screening probably wasn't totally vigourous,
since if they screwed up all they had to do was send the unadjusted person
back to earth.
> Off topic I've never watched any Dr, Who episodes, but from all of the
> postings about the recent loss of a key figure in production, I'm interested.
> There are several episodes available at the local video outlet. Are there
> any really great ones I should look for, as an introduction to the series?
Wow. Hard question. The problem is that the show spanned almost 3 decades
and so many different actors/styles that it is really several different
series all tied together by recurring theme. My favorite style was that of
Tom Baker, Doctor No. 4, but he was also the first one I ever saw. My
personal favorites are Pyramids of Mars (loved the mummy) and The City of
Death (written by Douglas Adams, guest star Catherine Schell with a cameo
by John Cleese...what more could you ask?).
Now onto a BOW aside. As I was thinking about Alphans going off and getting
themselves killed (like Sanderson in Seance Spectre) that brought to my
mind the reunion scene in BOW. How come there weren't people there looking
for Paul Morrow, Kano, Victor, Sanderson, etc? How did they explain that no
one came for the Alphans killed on the journey so far...quite a respectable
number. I can't see how they could know who was killed.
Marcy
"True power is knowing that you can, but you don't." --J.A. Jarvis
From: DAllard422@aol44.com
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 08:01:42 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Space1999: re: stress of being alphan who's resented
I wonder what the anti-depressent drug consumption was on Alpha. Or maybe
they sent people on vacation by hooking them up to that brain wave machine.
Do you think they gave vacations? Where could you go? Off to mine rock?
I think Koenig would have come in to being resented very soon. It was his
decision not to return to Earth. Even faced with facts there would have been
those who decided he had been wrong. And He was the one who decided about
other worlds.
And his circle of friends and advisors would come into it next.
Tony would have been resented because he was second in command. There must
have been other qualified people who thought it should have been them.
Alan - as pet pilot he was off of the moon more than almost anyone else.
Everyone must have wanted a holiday.
Helena - Lambda Factor - she was the head of Medical, resentment comes with
the job. She also had the Commanders ear.
Victor - I don't know how anyone could resent him. Ditto for Sandra.
Maya - I think fear would come in on this. Some would fear her because she'
s different. People are made nervous by something different (just try
standing in an elevator facing the people and not the door - smiling. You'll
make people nervous.) Then between what they know of Mentor, and their
experience with Dorzak, there would be talk of lynching. And then here she
is new girl on the block and she gets not only the hunk, but the second in
command hunk.
just my opinion,
Lynn Allard
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 08:15:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Deborah Capuano (magneto@bc.seflin44.org)
Subject: Re: Space1999: re: stress of being alphan who's resented
> Maya - I think fear would come in on this.
There was a little of this in "The Dorcons"....the scene where the two
crewmen stagger into Command Center during the bombardment, and one of them
suggests handing Maya over (how did they know that was what the attackers
wanted, anyway? they hadn't been in CC when the message came in) and nearly
gets punched into next week by Tony?
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 13:32:12 -0500 (EST)
From: StarParty@aol44.com
Subject: Re: Space1999: Re:Re:The Stress of Being an Alphan
>Actually, I always thought that Simmonds' fate was pretty much what
>Zantor had planned.
It seems to me that Zantor had reservations about Simmonds going because he
was not properly prepared, or some such. However, Simmonds had everyone at
laser-point and insisted... But yes, Zantor did not have any stenuous
arguments about not letting Simmonds go. Am I recalling this correctly?
Tony Wynn
From: Brian Dowling (brian.dowling@drugnet44.co.uk)
Subject: Space1999: Stress
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 20:42:00 GMT
>>And what about everyone else? Fewer people around to do the same amount of
>>working, taking on new duties without necessarily being able to release
>>their old duties to anyone else. More stress, exhaustion, burn-out, even
>>psychological problems leading down the road to outright insanity?
All that on top of being wrenched away from home, and losing various
friends as well.
>I really appreciated David bringing up this point. I think that's why Year
>2's "Seance Spectre" is such a great one: a few Alphans go nuts from being
>cooped up. It was bound to happen.
And, for me anyway, should have happened sooner. I think I would have
been climbing the walls within a few weeks, never mind months or years.
>In fact, it would have been nice to see the effects of that stress pop
>up more often in the character's interactions with each other.
That's a great point. Carter smashing up stuff in the Eagle hangar
after losing another co-pilot... Any suggestions how Maya would have
handled the stress?
>I think that the producers and writers had so much potential to make Space:
>1999 a drama that viewers would really be able to identify with
Well, they succeeded with us, didn't they?
>problems back in the '70s, too, but wasn't there more a mood of optimism
>then than there is now? (Help me out here, older members of the list. I was
>only 10 in 1977.) There seem to be more TV shows today that are darker and
>grittier, with fewer "happy endings."
Can't say much about other places, but England's hardly the brightest
place to be right now. And I'm not sure I believe in "happy endings"
any more.
Methinks your point about year 1 being better received than year 2 might
generate some discussion, but I agree with it. Year 2 would have fared
better during the mid 80s, I think.
Later,
Brian Dowling - Birmingham, England
Alphan #144
Eagle_1@compuserve.com
---
* OLX 2.1 TD * Unable to find scrumpy, operator halted
From: Brian Dowling
Subject: Space1999: Stress (2)
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 21:39:00 GMT
Greetings all,
Going parallel to the Alphan stress discussion, and bought on by John's
comments about stress and the problems it causes, I thought I'd chip in
a bit as well.
As many of you know, I lost my grandfather in November, and there were
problems with the supposed "health care" provided by the local hospital,
which I found out about rather later than I would have liked. My family
looked to follow certain courses of action, and I unhesitatingly acted
on their behalf for a full two months, giving my all and trying as hard
as I could to get the task in hand done.
Within the context of my family I was fine, doing what I like to do -
stand up, make the perceived offender's life a misery until I win, and
believing 100 per cent in what I was doing. It was a fight, and like
all Irish, when things get a bit rough, so do we. And things got a bit
nasty, so I did.
Outside of my family, I was still carrying the whole lot with me. I
must have been an absolute {insert expletive here} to work with, because
the thing was starting to consume me. I lost weight, paled visibly, and
became incredibly intense. It didn't help that matters went a different
way than I hoped, and I was not able to explode, and let it all go in
the direction that it needed to.
This may sound bitter, but I cannot forget what happened, and neither
can I forgive. There is still some of that stress left in me to this
day, because of certain issues which I fervently believe need
addressing. I'm sure we all have issues we feel strongly about.
I've never relaxed easily, and since that dark time, I have often
wondered if there is one all-encompassing way to relieve stress and help
bring on relaxation. Massages are nice, but I have to wait for
university holidays or go to Wales for one of those, and blowing away
posters of Manchester United doesn't cut the mustard, even though it has
its appeal.
So, does anyone out there have any advice on stress handling and
release?
I'm off to play Dark Forces...
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 09:07:16 -0500
From: Patricia Sokol (sokolp@war.wyeth44.com)
Subject: Space1999: Re:The Stress of Being an Alphan -Reply
>I always thought Zantor just thought, well,
>the best thing to do is get him out of here where he can't
>hurt anybody ever again, and that'll be it for him....
Oh! I fully agree. That's the aspect of it I enjoyed the most.
Kind of an "in your face" scenario. Maybe I should include a little
smirk in my visualization of his reaction to the deposed Simmonds.
Pat.
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 12:36:02 -0600
From: mpoindexter@classtrain44.com (Marshall Poindexter)
Subject: Space1999: Re: Resentment toward Koenig et al
>I think Koenig would have come in to being resented very soon. It was his
>decision not to return to Earth. Even faced with facts there would have been
>those who decided he had been wrong. And He was the one who decided about
>other worlds.
>And his circle of friends and advisors would come into it next.
While I don't think that everyone would end up resenting Koenig, I do think
that some would. When you think about it, the only defense that Koenig had
from mutiny was his higher-up friends (Russell, Verdeschi, Maya, etc.) and
Security. Now what would happen if the whole Security force rebelled
against Tony Verdeschi and Koenig. I guess they'd have a problem on their
hands. I mean, heck, it's happened in some countries on this planet, why
not on Alpha?