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Let me preface this that I am a huge lover of the show etc etc so this is not a troll or nit pick, but it is something that has always bothered me.
Why does the station go "offline" and have the Command and Control shut down for a period each day? There are numerous references to it and on a number of occasions we see Sheridan (in particular) having some alone time in the C&C while all is quiet etc.
Given that B5 is a port for the movement of goods, a military base, an airport (including traffic control for the sector/region), a small city, and in some respects it is analogous to a "ship it sea" - it makes no sense to me that it is not a 7x24 operation. In particular it is the port/airport/military aspects which seem to be the specific responsibility of the C&C that all seem to run 24 hours today on earth right now with a defined night and day, it makes less sense to have a defined shut down in space. This is just at a practical level, let alone at a plot device level - if the out of control soul hunter ship showed up when the station was offline it would have crashed into the station because nobody was in C&C to order it destroyed (let alone have Sinclair go get it). Plus whatever baddies or goodies show up unshcheduled.
I realize that the cast is already big enough, but there could have easily been a "third watch" officer who was referred to in passing but never seen. In some ways Ivanova and then Corwin filled this role originally. I was even prepared to suspend disbelief and assume that there must be somebody else there, we just are not following that person's story.
However, there are still the inexplicable - explicit references to the station being "offline", or "coming online soon" and scenes of an empty quiet C&C.
Whenever this happens something just goes clank with me and it takes me out of the story.
Does anybody have a theory or reference from JMS explaining this? Given the attention to physics, courts, religion and other *realistic* details that JMS invested in the show, this fairly obvious one just seemed out of place to me.
Thanks
Why does the station go "offline" and have the Command and Control shut down for a period each day? There are numerous references to it and on a number of occasions we see Sheridan (in particular) having some alone time in the C&C while all is quiet etc.
Given that B5 is a port for the movement of goods, a military base, an airport (including traffic control for the sector/region), a small city, and in some respects it is analogous to a "ship it sea" - it makes no sense to me that it is not a 7x24 operation. In particular it is the port/airport/military aspects which seem to be the specific responsibility of the C&C that all seem to run 24 hours today on earth right now with a defined night and day, it makes less sense to have a defined shut down in space. This is just at a practical level, let alone at a plot device level - if the out of control soul hunter ship showed up when the station was offline it would have crashed into the station because nobody was in C&C to order it destroyed (let alone have Sinclair go get it). Plus whatever baddies or goodies show up unshcheduled.
I realize that the cast is already big enough, but there could have easily been a "third watch" officer who was referred to in passing but never seen. In some ways Ivanova and then Corwin filled this role originally. I was even prepared to suspend disbelief and assume that there must be somebody else there, we just are not following that person's story.
However, there are still the inexplicable - explicit references to the station being "offline", or "coming online soon" and scenes of an empty quiet C&C.
Whenever this happens something just goes clank with me and it takes me out of the story.
Does anybody have a theory or reference from JMS explaining this? Given the attention to physics, courts, religion and other *realistic* details that JMS invested in the show, this fairly obvious one just seemed out of place to me.
Thanks
After all, there's all those corners and nooks and crannies.
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