|
|
|
|
Stephen Franklin
|
| |
|
| |
Stephen Franklin is a fictional lead character in the universe of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, played by the late Richard Biggs. He serves as the chief medical officer on the Babylon 5 space station.
Character descriptionPersonalityDr. Franklin is a strong-willed, kind person and idealistic leader on Babylon 5; he is also a workaholic. He is not afraid to take risks to save a patient's life; this habit can occasionally get him into trouble. He has strong moral and ethical values, but he can also be self-righteous and a perfectionist at times. He apparently has a good relationship with his mother and siblings, although his long absences from Earth often lead them to complain that they rarely see him. His father - a famous general in EarthForce- has a domineering personality, and that has led Stephen to have a strained relationship with him. When they are together they frequently argue and they have conflicting views on a number of subjects. For example, Stephen's father is suspicious of aliens and believes that humans should "take care of their own", while Stephen believes that humanity should be more open to relations with alien races and civilizations. However, in many ways Stephen and his father are more alike than they will admit, and in the series second season they meet and begin to ease their differences. In terms of love and romance Dr. Franklin is one of the luckier characters on Babylon 5, and throughout the course of the series he has a number of love affairs with various women. His most prominent and long-lasting affair is with "Number One", the attractive and tough-minded leader of the Mars Resistance.
While the character was explicitly described as black in the script of the episode Soul Hunter, his first appearance on the show, J. Michael Straczynski was adamant throughout the run of the series that Franklin be a true individual who could have been played by an actor of any race. Richard Biggs later expressed his gratitude at being able to play a role purely as an actor, not a black actor.
Babylon 5In 2258, he was assigned to the Babylon 5 station as chief surgeon after the recall of Dr. Benjamin Kyle to Earth. He stayed there for four years.
Franklin had strong moral convictions, and this was evident numerous times during his tenure at Babylon 5. Sometimes, his convictions conflicted with his duties as an EarthForce officer. These transgressions included the illegal operation of a free health clinic in Down Below, a part of the station where the poorest members of many alien races lived. He also insisted on performing a life-saving operation on an alien child against the parents' wishes; under the alien's religion any surgery was a violation of their religious beliefs. Franklin was devastated when the parents, acting according to their religion, killed their own child after the successful surgery. Dr. Franklin was also a leading participant in an "underground railroad" that helped rogue telepaths who had refused to join PsiCorps make their way to freedom; the telepaths were trying to escape from the ruthless Psi Cops. He was also a Foundationist, a new religion on Earth which incorporated the basic beliefs of many older human religions into a single faith.
As with many characters on Babylon 5, Franklin's personality contained the seeds of his own weaknesses. In his case, Franklin's passionate interest in saving lives and meeting a very high personal standard led to his use of stimulants ("stims") as shown starting in the third season episode, A Day in the Strife. Stims were a powerful but dangerous drug, and Franklin admitted his addiction obliquely to Delenn in Ceremonies of Light and Dark, and finally was forced by Garibaldi to confront this addiction in Interludes and Examinations. After he admitted his addiction, Franklin resigned as Babylon 5's medical chief and embarked on a walkabout of the space station (in the episode of the same name). The term "walkabout" comes from the aborigines in Australia; Franklin had learned of the practice from his Foundationist religious beliefs. In a later episode Franklin finally realized that he had run away from problems his entire life, and that he was doing so again. He finally confronted his problem, and although his "walkabout" nearly killed him, he returned to medlab a stronger and wiser person for the experience.
Although he spent most of the series in medlab saving lives, Franklin also saw his share of action and adventure during the series. He was an active participant in the Earth Alliance Civil War, where he aided the Mars Resistance in its fight to free the Mars colony from Earth control. During the war between the Centauri Republic and the Interstellar Alliance he also worked with the telepath Lyta Alexander in investigating reports of Drazi atrocities against the Centauri on the Drazi homeworld; both Franklin and Lyta were nearly killed during the investigation.
In 2262, during the series fifth and final season, Franklin resigned from his post at Babylon 5 to accept the position of Head of Xenobiological Research on Earth upon the retirement of Dr. Benjamin Kyle. At the beginning of 2263, he selected Dr. Lillian Hobbes as his replacement on Babylon 5. Franklin later conducted research in the attempt to fight the plague the Drakh inflicted on Earth. He is seen in the Crusade episode "Each Night I Dream of Home".
Current statusAt the end of the series, Franklin was still the head of Xenobiological research on Earth. When Sheridan learned he was dying, Franklin went to Minbar for one last party. From there, Franklin traveled to Babylon 5, where he witnessed the station's decommissioning and destruction. J. Michael Straczynski has said that Franklin eventually dies while exploring an unknown planet, but has not revealed the details of exactly how or when he dies.
As Richard Biggs had died in 2004, the Franklin character will not make any further appearances on any future Babylon 5 movies or television series. When Biggs died, Straczynski had been working on a Babylon 5 script titled The Memory of Shadows. Straczynski decided not to recast the Franklin character, and rewrote the script to remove the character from the story. In the anthology, it is explained that both Franklin and G'Kar - played by the also late Andreas Katsulas - had left to explore space beyond the galactic
tic rim.
|
| |
|
|
