Talia and Ivanova

[Skydiver]

i think the decision was made very last minute.

IIRC, she wanted guaranteed time off to do a movie, they wouldn't put it in her contract but said 'hey, we'll give you the time', they couldn't meet in the middle, so she walked.

i remember, when they got s5 at the last minute and sleeping in the light got moved from being the s4 (series) finale to being the s5 (new series finale) they had to reedit the cobbled together new s4 finale's open to take claudia out. Because, due to her contract, if she was in the open of an episode, she got paid for that episode...or she was paid to be in a number of episodes, and it'd cost them somehow to have her in the open.

It was a very confusing time, both in the fandom and i'm sure at the studio.

[mad_gater]

My friends all hated Marcus, but I really did like him. He was so innocent and selfless, but he allowed himself one worldly attachment; Susan, and she rebuffed him at every chance she got. And then, when he was gone, she realized that she had come to care for and need him in her own way, but it was too late to put that realization to use.

I liked Marcus too....I rather liked his sense of humor.....which included gems such as this:

bad guy: I don't like insults
Marcus: Funny with a face like yours I thought you'd be used to it by now

[Night Marshal]

Just FYI there was a kiss filmed between Talia and Ivanova. However the coverage was all messed up to the point of being unusable so that part of the show was talked out.

As for Marcus I liked him too. reading JMS comments on the subject it sounds like CC gave him the impresion she was going to sign up for the fifth season. When the time came she said that she needed time off to do some film work. JMS said ok I can work that but then CC came back and said I still want to paid as if I worked all 22 episodes. Now remember Babylon 5 was made on a VERY tight budget less than a million dollar an episode. You compare that to DS9 which was spending 2-3 million. Needless to say while they were willing to pay her for time there, they didn't have the money to pay her not to be there. Or that is what I remember of it. might be a few details wrong in there but in the end it came down to money. Which is to bad but we all have to pay the bills.

[DigiFluid]

Yeah that's one side of the story. I've also heard CC say in interviews that negotiations were ongoing, and then one day her agent told her that they'd begun production without her and wouldn't be requiring her services. So, who knows.

[Redhooks]

i think the decision was made very last minute.

IIRC, she wanted guaranteed time off to do a movie, they wouldn't put it in her contract but said 'hey, we'll give you the time', they couldn't meet in the middle, so she walked.

From what I had heard, what Skydiver said was the issue, but I also heard that the reason Claudia wanted the time off in writing was the people backing the movie wouldn't hire her if she was bound to B5 due to a tight production schedule on the movie. Claudia was going to be paid quite well for the movie and in the end a compromise couldn't be worked out in time.

[Skydiver]

so Ivanova got caught between

B5 that wouldn't give her guaranteed time off
the movie that demanded guaranteed time off

and, what i'm guessing happened, B5 moved on without her - the 'your services aren't required' bit and she was kinda left behind

[nx01a]

JMS was subtle about Ivanova and Talia. The woman who hated the Corps grew to love the woman who loved the Corps, even as the woman who loved the Corps began to doubt in the Corps. A lesbian relationship could have been played out for so much T&A, but that route was explicitly avoided.
---
It's interesting that no one can remember this 'movie' Claudia wanted time off for.
Could it be...
Running Home (1999)
A Wing and a Prayer (1998)
The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All (1999)
Final Voyage (1999) ...(just a few of the 'movies' she was in around 98/99)

She should have stuck with B5.

[s09119]

JMS was subtle about Ivanova and Talia. The woman who hated the Corps grew to love the woman who loved the Corps, even as the woman who loved the Corps began to doubt in the Corps. A lesbian relationship could have been played out for so much T&A, but that route was explicitly avoided.
---
It's interesting that no one can remember this 'movie' Claudia wanted time off for.
Could it be...
Running Home (1999)
A Wing and a Prayer (1998)
The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All (1999)
Final Voyage (1999) ...(just a few of the 'movies' she was in around 98/99)

She should have stuck with B5.

Yeah, B5 sounds like the better bet... and I just watched "Divided Loyalties" the other day, and you really are struck by just how close they were. There was implicit suggestion that there was something between them, if not a sexual relationship than at least a very, very close friendship.

[Skydiver]

she's not the first actor or actress to bail on a 'boring' episodic job for a movie that ends up not delivering

[Amalthea]

Yeah, B5 sounds like the better bet... and I just watched "Divided Loyalties" the other day, and you really are struck by just how close they were. There was implicit suggestion that there was something between them, if not a sexual relationship than at least a very, very close friendship.

I think you're right- they were like very close friends who were starting to realize they had feelings, but for so many reasons, weren't sure if they should act on them.

[Skydiver]

yeah, i'm sure the 'sleeping in the same bed' was platonic....but then, once talia was gone, susan started to realize that her feelings of missing her went beyond mere friendship

[Rudolph]

Interestingly, if Lyta had stayed on for Season, Susan and Lyta would have fallen in love. This is interesting because Lyta later fell in love with Byron, who would have Susan's love interest had she stayed on for an extra year.

Plus, if Laurel Takashima had stayed on from the pilot, Ivanova would have been introduced as her deputy before becoming lovers. Then it would turn out that Takashima had shot Garibaldi.