Starting season 5 again, I'm reminded that JMS's apparent plant to have Ivanova be Byron's love interest, etc, would not have worked as well. JMS reportedly had "trap doors" that allowed him to more easily replace actors/characters who left, compared to other shows. I maintain that in Bob Ross "Happy Accident" style, most if not all of these "trap door" events actually wound up making the show better.
Apparently one of these "trap doors" involved Claudia Christian leaving at the end of season 4. And supposedly the original plan was for Ivanova to be Byron's love interest in season 5, due to her being a latent telepath etc.
No doubt the episodes would have been written differently in that situation, but I just don't see Ivanova's status as a lovelorn latent telepath being as powerful as Lyta who was not just a telepath because of Vorlon intervention in human genetics, but had been further modified by the Vorlons to suit their purposes; and then became a terrible weapon, etc.
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Reply by wonder2wonder
on September 23, 2021 at 9:12 PM
Patricia Tallman was perfect as Lyta Alexander. After "Night of the Living Dead (1990)" and "Army of Darkness (1992)" there was a horror aspect attached to her, that made her an ideal 'agent' for the Vorlons.
It's too bad that Claudia Christian didn't return in season 5. The love between her character Ivanova and Byron would have been another tragic one, a boring repeat of the 'unrequited love ' trope, but I'd certainly be interested to see how her latent telepathic abilities would develop. Could Talia or Control - presumed dead - return with Bester?
Reply by Knixon
on September 23, 2021 at 9:49 PM
Maybe, but like I said, and as you put it, the one-more-time unrequited love trope would have been pretty much all Ivanova could offer. But Lyta, having been weaponized by the Vorlons, could take it a lot farther. If it had been Ivanova who got "pissed off" by what happened to Byron, the most she could have done would be to ask Lyta for help. And even if Lyta agreed, it wouldn't have been nearly as strong. Making Lyta the one seeking revenge directly, was much more effective. And yet it was another "happy accident," NOT what JMS had intended.
Reply by Knixon
on September 23, 2021 at 10:19 PM
Talia was an okay character, but Lyta was better.
On the plus side, Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi) got to be married to Andrea Thompson (Talia) for a while, in real life, so there is that. But I think I would have preferred to be Jeffrey Willerth (Kosh's "body" in the encounter suit) married to Patricia Tallman (Lyta) in real life. And they have a son.
Reply by wonder2wonder
on September 24, 2021 at 12:03 AM
That must have been awesome for Julian, knowing that he - as a baby - was there on the set when his mother was filming "Babylon 5".
These marriages between actors of the same show got me thinking about Adrianne Palicki and Scott Grimes. There must be something special about Scott, he's been married twice before.
Reply by Knixon
on September 24, 2021 at 2:36 AM
Somehow I don't think any children of Adrianne and Scott will have a story as cool as "My parents are Kosh and Lyta!"
I expect their son would be very popular at B5 conventions/events, if he ever attends them.