Excellent Book!! It really gives you an insight into how Bester works. It was also nice how this book tied into B5 novel 7, The Shadow Within.
Question: I do not ever remember seeing that Bester has a lame left hand at any time during the series. I wondered if they simply did not mention that it got fixed before the B5 seires began, but the crippled hand is treated as a current fact in both this book and the one after it, Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester. I need to get my tapes out and check.
Yes, though, a good book. Very creepy, if like myself you prefer trying to forget that human beings can become 'monsters' like this. I find Bester both fascinating and a bit scary.
BTW, Mr. Moderator, could you put up a board for Final Reckoning: the Fate of Bester? Please? It's my favorite novel of these three.
I'm not sure if Bester's lame hand was ever mentioned as such, but he always wore a black glove on that hand even when he was off duty. And in The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father he was seen flexing that hand painfully while he was in his quarters - which, now I come to think of it, conflicts with the novels because he wouldn't have been able to flex it if the novels are accurate!
Okay, I've been skimming through my tapes. Yes, he always wore a glove on that hand, and more than that, that hand is always clenched into a fist, just like in the books. It is never mentioned, which is why I missed it until I read the novels, and it sure doesn't slow him down, but it is obvious if you're looking. For instance, instead of using his PPG two-handed, like most characters, he uses it with his right hand and braces it against his left wrist [Dust to Dust]. As far as I have checked, he never unclenches this hand, even when trying to support himself [Rising Star].
Callie, I couldn't find the place you mentioned in "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father", where he flexes his hand. When does this occur?
I'm wondering now if this was just an example of JMS's famed continuity, or if Walter Koenig(sp?) has a bad hand. Whichever, it sure works good in the overall Bester storyline. If I find nits in this area, they'll be posted in the appropriate episode boards.
Trust the Corps.
It's been ages since I saw the episode - all I remember is that he was in his quarters, so it was either before the girl telepath came to 'offer' herself to him, or later when he was summoned to leave for B5 by the boy telepath.
AFAIK Walter doesn't have a bad hand. Presumably Joe originally wrote in Bester's crippled hand with the intention of it being mentioned in an episode. Maybe it would have been done in the fourth season before they had to rush the ending in case there'd have been no fifth season? And once season 5 was confirmed, he may have forgotten that he'd not mentioned it yet!
Callie, I just watched "Corps is Mother..." and still did not see the moment you mention. I paid close attention to Bester's left hand throughout the episode, and it seemed to stay clenched the whole time. I watched especially well during the two scenes you mention, but in the first there's no time--we join the scene as she's knocking--and in the second we see Bester's left hand only briefly. We're mostly focused on his face and his bare right hand as he concentrates on the photo of the murderer and then does his little mirror-image questioning session. There may be no nit in the entire series to contradict the information in these books. It would be amazing, but possible. I wish I could write to JMS and ask him about this whole thing. It's driving me up the wall! [but of course it's fun, too--a little bonus in an already complex series]
Actually, it was Walter Koenig, as I recall, who chose to play Bester with a bad hand... sort of a disability to contrast with his exception psi-abilities. The explanation for the hand was neatly woven into the books much later... I don't know if JMS or the author thought up the cause, but it was definately Koenig's idea to play Bester with the crippled hand.