Letter from Ed Naha
How did Bryn lose her memory? What can't she remember? (And don't say everything...)
Bryn lost her memory when she was left for dead after her village was destroyed by a vengeful Rumina. What she doesn't remember could fill an entire season, as I had planned for Season Two. Bryn's mother was part of a small colony of people who, basically, practiced (and were born with) elemental magic. They communicated with both the flora and the fauna around them telepathically.Bryn's mother was kidnapped by Turok. She became Turok's wife. She gave birth to two daughters, Rumina, the elder, and Bryn, the younger; one daughter represented the dark side of the union, the other the light. When Bryn was still young, her mother, haven given up on daddy's little girl, Rumina, fled with Bryn and made her way back to her original colony. In a fit of anger, Turok uttered something along the lines of "I wish they both were dead!" (Closely akin to the line from Beckett, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?") Rumina took it literally, hoping to please her father. Much to Turok's dismay (He DID love his wife anddaughter, even if they didn't turn out the way he had hoped), Rumina swooped into the peaceful colony and destroyed them all....but for Bryn...who was left to die alone.
---
What's the whole story with the rainbow bracelets?
The rainbow bracelets are a gift to leaders (or those destined to be leaders) who promote Peace On Earth...from Alien "watchers."
---
What's the story on Dermott?
Dermott is Maeve's younger brother. On a trip for her own diabolical amusement, a younger Rumina was confronted by a younger Maeve. Maeve had the audacity to try to stop Rumina from enslaving some of the young, handsome men in her Irish village. Rumina could have killed Maeve but because Maeve was such a firebrand, chose, instead, to torture Maeve for the rest of her life. She reached out to the one closest to Maeve, Dermott, and transformed him into a hawk. This act was meant to plague Maeve for the rest of her life. The only way the spell could be broken, the only way Dermott could, once again, be the lad he was, was for Maeve, a farm girl with an attitude, to master the magical arts. For, only when Rumina, the spell caster, was destroyed, could Dermott become human once again.
---
Would Maeve have ever returned?
Frankly, I don't know whether Maeve would have returned. When the actress playing Maeve and the company producing the show parted ways, it wasn't pretty. I was flummoxed. I thought the problems, and there WERE problems, on the set could have been solved. The execs felt that they had been patient, and enough was enough. Depending on how angry I was about the "real life" situation, I envisioned Maeve either dying or returning as a firebrand "demon hunter" who would have no time for Sinbad. One thing I do know: Maeve and Sinbad would have never gotten together. I had conceived the two characters as being sort of a William Powell- Myrna Loy team ala "The Thin Man," or a John Wayne-Maureen O'Hara team ala "The Quiet Man." After the first two episodes, it became evident to all of us behind the cameras, that that kind of relationship wasn't going to be. The line readings left a bit to be desired. So, we gave up on that.
---
Was a romance blossoming between Sinbad and Bryn?
Sinbad and Bryn being a couple? I don't know. They were growing together as friends, with an occasional foray into flirtation. Had they become a couple, it would have been of the strongest kind. The two individuals who start off as best friends, get to know each others' strengths and weaknesses and, then, realize that they are inseparable...and cannot live without each other. The Sinbad and Bryn pairing would have been more romantic, in the classical sense of the word, and less about heaving bosoms and pawing.
---
Any chance Rumina and Sinbad would ever have had a fling???
The character of Rumina was one that I had envisioned as being a constant. She was out to ensnare Sinbad any way she could. Her motives were both vengeful and carnal. However, and this is where things get hinky, when All-American decided that the first season was "too Disney-esque" and "not dark enough," they singled out Rumina as the main cause. (In truth, this happened after the actress' representative tried to get "cute" with the company during negotiations for the third season.) By the end of season one, we had pretty much jettisoned the "carnal" aspect of Rumina's plans for Sinbad so, a future "fling" between them was pretty much out of the question.
---
What's the deal with Sinbad and Scratch? Why has Scratch been after Sinbad ever since he was born?
Scratch was after Sinbad because he instinctively "knew" that Sinbad represented a threat to Scratch's getting a toe-hold (or talon- hold) in the far East. Once Sinbad possessed the rainbow bracelet, Scratch realized that Sinbad was one big kahuna in the pantheon of righteous leaders.
---
OK, Sinbad's parents died when he was a baby and Doubar was just a child, how did Sinbad become rich? ("Baghdad has made you a rich man.")
After leaving the care of Dim-Dim, Sinbad amassed a fortune by becoming a merchant, as his late father was before him. During his two-year disappearance, the spoiled Prince of Baghdad pilfered Sinbad's fortune for his own economic needs. The Prince, essentially, was a typical 1980s American yuppie puppy who had sucked up to Reaganomics; a laughable, short-term way to justify being greedy. Had Baghdad been into junk bonds and bank failures, the Prince's name would have been Milken.
---
What happened during the two years Sinbad can't remember?
During the two years Sinbad was gone, he essentially, was in a comatose state, nurtured by the alien "watchers." An interesting twist, though: Sinbad died when he ship went down. Bryn died when Rumina destroyed the village. Physically, they were out of it as far as this earthly plane was concerned. The aliens, realizing their potential, managed to get hold of their "spirits" and, after healing their battered bodies, gave them back their "souls," so to speak, and sent them off to fulfill their destinies.
---
What basic outline did you have for season 3?
Season Three would have picked up where Season Two left off. We would have found Rumina in a wretched state. Her powers were basically knocked out of her during the explosive finale in "Vengeance of Rumina." Now, a year or so later, she is the captive wench of a sorcerer just as evil as Rumina ever was. She tricks the sorcerer, robs him of his powers and leaves him for dead. She then goes after Sinbad. Sinbad, after all, has now killed her father twice. She stalks Sinbad and is about to kill him when Bryn enters. Rumina recognizes her immediately. Bryn, however, has no idea who Rumina is. In a magical face-off, Rumina retreats.
Rumina now has bigger fish to fry. She infuses Bryn with an incubus; a spirit which will slowly steal the life from Bryn's body. Through the help of Firouz and a mystic, Sinbad enters the mind of Bryn to try to save her life. While in her mind, the two of them unlock all the secrets of Bryn's past in a nightmarish landscape. However, there is the risk that Sinbad will be trapped and die in Bryn's mindscape; the incubus being very good at what he does.
Hearing of a hermit/healer in the hills, Doubar and Rongar set off on a perilous journey. They believe the hermit/healer is Dim-Dim. Only a master magician can save Bryn and Sinbad. They finally make it to the hermit's lair and find a man in a mask. The hermit isn't Dim-Dim but, rather Turok.
Turok survived the final blast at the end of "Vengeance. " He was enveloped in Scratch's hellfire. Now, he is whole but has changed drastically. His face is scarred. One half is hellfire-spawned, a hideous visage of molten skin. The other half is the old Turok's. His mind,also, is changed; half of him a homicidal maniac, the other half the sinister yet sarcastic Turok of old. Since he keeps his mask on, Turok hides his identity from Doubar and Rongar. When he hears that the source behind this incubus is Rumina, he agrees to help.
Turok returns and saves Sinbad and Bryn. Rumina appears. Turok unmasks himself. There's a battle between father and daughter. Rumina flees. Turok then asks Bryn to rejoin the family. She refuses. Turok makes a move to destroy Bryn's new family, the crew of The Nomad. She's willing to sacrifice her life to save them. Moved, Turok lets them go...this time. With the warning that, should their paths cross again, he'll forget Bryn is his baby girl.
Thus, the stage would have been set for a new battle between good and evil. Turok stalks Rumina. Rumina stalks Sinbad and Bryn. Doubar, realizing that Bryn is Turok's daughter, thinks that she may be some sort of unwitting spy and doesn't trust her. (This latter hiccup would have been resolved by about episode five wherein Rumina traps Doubar in way that he will slowly die. Bryn is temporarily robbed of her powers. She finds Doubar and, even though she is only human, refuses to leave his side and works with all her might to try to keep him alive.)
---
How would Sinbad have changed in season 3? (ie. season 1 = boy scout, season 2 = warrior, season 3 = ?)
The stage was set at the end of Season Two for a new Sinbad to emerge in Season Three. Zen and I discussed combining the warrior Sinbad with the "humor-empowered" Sinbad in Season One and coming up with a more well-rounded character. We were both pretty excited about it. The stage was set. The President of All-American had agreed to step down, editorially, for Season Three, passing the baton to the Vice-President whom I'd met with and fashioned the original show with two years earlier. The Veep, Zen and I were in total agreement about Season Three. Tribune, our distributor, giave us the go ahead for Season Three. Then, Pearson, the new British owners of All-American, abruptly pulled the plug. By the by, with the exception of "Baywatch" and any spin-offs, Pearson is now out of the one hour dramatic TV business. (The lone one hour show they'll debut this fall is a pick-up deal. They're not hands-on producing it.)
---
Does Sinbad have magical abilities?
Sinbad possesses the magical abilities all people with strong hearts, a sense of justice, a respect for life and a wonderful soul do. He's just a good human being. (His rainbow bracelet is not really part of him but, in times of real emergency, it sometimes shimmers to life and helps him out of a tight spot, gives him a clue, etc. Remember, Sinbad doesn't know that history of the bracelet. That was to be revealed in the final show of the series; probably a two-parter.)
---
How would you have revealed Bryn's relationship to Rumina?
Bryn's relationship with Rumina would have been revealed in the first show of the Third Season.
---
Did season 2 make Sinbad a "deadbeat dad"?
I'm not sure what you mean in terms of Sinbad being a "deadbeat dad." If you're referring to Zen and his juggling abilities between being an actor and a real life father, he managed both magnificently (even when he was so tired he could barely stand). Season Two was a lot calmer on the set, except for the occasional hiccup, than Season One was. Season One was.-.surreal.
---
How did Firouz first meet Doubar and Sinbad?
Sinbad and Doubar first met Firouz on one of their earlier voyages when they needed to customize their ship for a journey through monster-laden waters. They met this weird fellow in a pub, overheard his babblings and were intrigued. Upon journeying to his lab, they found that he could back up his talk with actions. He became an on-again/off-again member of the crew and continued as such until Sinbad "disappeared."
---
What kind of "fun" would Rumina have had with the new Sinbad?
Rumina wouldn't have had too much fun in the cat and mouse sense with Sinbad in Season Three. She would have, basically, been on a search and destroy mission.
---
In season 3, would you have brought back the season 1 humor?
Season Three would have brought back a lot of the humor and a lot of the characters from Season One. It would have also kept the amped-up action beats of the Second Season. It would have been a humdinger, stressing swashbuckling over slaughter.
---
Would Sinbad ever have found Dim-Dim?
Sinbad would have found Dim-Dim by the finale. Rumina would have been destroyed and Dermott would have been transformed back into a human lad...The Nomad's new cabin boy.
---
What would have happened with Turok?
Turok would have been an interesting enemy/ally, swinging pendulum-style between helping and hindering Sinbad and Bryn. Finding out that Bryn was still alive would have mellowed Turok a tad and would have increased the amount of animosity he had for his older, more selfish daughter, Rumina. At one point, I toyed with the idea of it being Turok that destroys Rumina and saves our heroes, thus restoring Dermott by series' end.
---
What would you have done for the "end all and be all" series finale?
The end of the series would have been an almost "Close Encounters" type show, wherein everyone wearing a rainbow bracelet gets visions of a certain geographical spot in what is now called The United Kingdom. They all journey to the spot (our crew follows, confused) and are confronted by the last of the Alien "watchers," a dragon-like creature whose spaceship is no longer capable of flight. He has allowed the other watchers to flee safely. It seems that these creatures, when discovered, are tracked down and killed by various knights out to have a dragon head on their mantels. Since they are non-violent, they are like lambs led to slaughter.
The Alien creature basically repeats the New Testament's "beatitudes" for the assembled rainbow bracelet wearing crowd. ("Blessed are the peacemakers, etc.") He tells them all that they and their children and their children's children are now entrusted with saving humanity from its own foibles. They have been chosen because they best exemplify what is strong and true in the human spirit. The path will be hard. There will be set-backs but, until the "watchers" return, it is up to these peacemakers to guide the planet. In the crowd, along with Sinbad, Bryn and Tetsu would have been ancient citizens who bore more than a casual resemblance to Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, etc.; thus hinting that this line of strength and goodness is still around us.
After the crowd disperses, the large reptilian alien goes off to fulfill its destiny...at the hands of a brash young British knight, Sir George.