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Redemption (201)
And it's into season 2.
Costumes
Since everyone has changed their clothes and Cally has cut most of her perm off (or put her head in the automated coiffure generator), I prefer to think that the beginning takes place a week or more later, which has given Avon lots of time to have worked out what he won't tell anyone unless they ask.
Blake - yay, the iconic goose turd green sleeves! I actually rather like the outfit.
Cally - very 60s SF with the wide padded shoulders, not also not that practical for the modern guerrilla. I'm not surprised the only wore it the once.
Jenna - I like her tunic, and though I've seen it referred to as 'carpet-pattern, it actually looks like a floaty and translucent chiffon. Very attractive but not perhaps the best around controls, but she wears more floaty tunics later so she obviously never watched any pilot safety vids.
Vila - nice understated grey suede tunic that he looks rather delectable in; pity about the yellow trousers and that thick belt which doesn't flatter him at all.
Gan - it might be impractical, but Gan's cloak gives him dignity, He's magnificent.
Avon - Ah, yes, the 'demented dentist'. This is the first appearance of studded leather. The letter fromm Avon fans must have induced them to pick it up as a theme.
The Altas - hmmm, blue bodysuits and plastic. I do like their hair though, especially Alta 2's; she looks quite modern.
Characters
My favourite scene for Blake is when he helps the slave who collapses under the weight of the pipe section. It's contrasts with his willingness to kill thousands if not millions by destroying Star One later makes me suspect he can care for individuals but not the faceless rabble. Rather like Vila being able to shoot at ships but not people.
I suppose Avon could be asserting his independence by refusing to jump to Blake's orders, but I find it equally hard to drop something I'm involved in and do something else. I want to finish what I'm doing, and Avon is the same; not just in this episode either.
Vila is excellent in this ep (and is adorable to boot). OK, I know I'm biased, but there are eps in which I could smack him hard, most of them written by Chris Boucher. Funny, that. I shall post more on that tonight. Here he's capable, he escapes from his cell and releases Jenna and Avon (and Avon even says he's sorry after he hits him), and he aggravates the System guards. We only see the blood on the wall and the wound on his forehead, but did he fight back as he did on Sardos? Cheek them? Nah, he probably just tried to run.
Cally seems to have considerable technical expertise, working on the teleport bracelets (of which there are now a full set--more evidence that time has passed) and assisting Avon by fitting the auto-navigator and replacing a detector unit.
Jenna, who is usually quite hostile to Avon seems to get on very well with him in their cell. I can't imagine Avon letting many people use him as a source of comfort or warmth. :-)
And as for Orac? He set this all up. Three shots at close range would fix him.
Orac
At the end of the previous season, the crew didn't seem that impressed with him, so he displayed a picture of an exploding DSV against the stars of Zen's home system (and System) which he probably got from Zen when he took him over in 'Orac'. He then had to make it happen--without blowing himself up as well. So he let the crew stew for several days or weeks, then contacted the System. If they had been able to detect the Liberator, they'd have done it before now, so Orac takes the initiative. Of course he also has to ensure that DSV1 is there--which isn't necessarily always so, given its name and function--and this could also explain the time lapse. And of course, when he blew up the DSV1, everyone was suitable grateful.
As for the tarial cell thing, it's specified that he can read any computer with them. It's not said that he can't read computers without them, and he obviously takes over Zen and the System's system with ease.
Unanswered questions
Why does the System use DSVs anyway? And why is DSV2 full of gems and clothes? It doesn't seem that the Altas would use either, and the System appears to be fairly self-contained and probably isolationist.
An enjoyable episode, though I could have had less running around up and down stairs and more about the slaves and System society.
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But Cally's dress...no. Just no. And Orac, the conniving little git.
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how could you? smack the writer instead ;0)
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Wait... if The Liberator was part of a 'great space battle' as tracked by the crew of the London, might it not be that it was part of a battle for supremecy between the Altas and those we eventually see as slaves? It might also explain the slaves surprising willingness to help outsiders. And explain why there were clothes and jewels on the ship, if it was originally crewed by those who later became slaves to the System.
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And I think Orac's responsible for a lot of what goes wrong, including Gauda Prime.
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I'll post more on this tonight when I get home. I expect a lot of outrage from the legion of Chris Boucher fans.
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We don't know how many people the Liberator could take, so it could also have carried a potential colony of slaves looking for a new world, hence the clothes for them all, and gems to buy their way onto a decent planet. I get the impression most planets weren't that hospitable, and if they came from a technological society, they might want to buy into an existing economy.
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I plan to list (very briefly) what Vila does in each ep so that people can see the pattern I perceived last night.
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PS--thanks again for reposting these notes in LJ, I somehow got disconnected from the Lyst so I enjoy seeing them here.
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Thank you for saying so! I'm not sure I'll keep on posting the full review to the Lyst. I hardly get any response so I suspect a shorter version might work better there. I'm also going to stop leaving a week before I post here as there's not much overlap and my posts haven't been that instrumental in starting discussions there anyway.
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I like the scene where Blake helps the slave, although I'm a little puzzled about why the Altas don't kill him, or at least torture him a bit more, as a response. My favorite scene, though (because it's hilariously silly but also rather effective) is Blake being attacked by the electrical cable on the Liberator. And then making Avon come and rescue him without bothering to actually tell Avon what's happening. Way to use those leadership and communication skills, Blake. *pets him*
My other favorite scene is Avon inexplicably throwing his arm around Blake's neck when they fall down. But as you're not a Blake/Avon slasher, I'll try not to go on about that too much in your journal!
I like your Orac theory. For one thing, it gets us out of having to believe that Orac really can predict the future, which makes no sense and which he only seems to be able to do in this episode anyway.
As for DSV2, do we know how long it had been missing before Blake and co. acquired it? I kind of like the idea the pirates or the like had got ahold of it (hence all the treasure and stuff) and then had to abandon ship after the space battle. But I don't know that any explanation will ever really make sense, since Terry Nation doesn't seem to have been worried about plausibility when he wrote in those details during S1. The wardrobe room was just handwaving of the costume changes, and the treasure room was a plot device to give Avon extra incentive to leave during "Cygnus Alpha." Of course, the backstory we eventually get in "Redemption" is about as far from an explanation as it could possibly be and just creates more problems. I don't think continuity was one of the show's strong points.
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He's still a vast improvement on the loathsome Ben Steed though.
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It is the most subtle of his studded leather outfits, and the one I usually choose to draw him in. He is still showing some restraint. :-)
Blake being attacked by the cable is wonderfully funny, and yes, he should have given Avon a reason for dropping what he was doing. He's usually good at manipulating people (which is why I think he was in management on the matter transmission project) but maybe he was unnerved by a cable going for him.
As for Orac, I wrote a ficlet about why he doesn't make any more 'predictions' after this: Oracle (http://vilakins.livejournal.com/131251.html). In my fanon, it happened.
Of course, the backstory we eventually get in "Redemption" is about as far from an explanation as it could possibly be and just creates more problems.
Absolutely. It answers no questions and just poses more. I have a lot of respect for Terry Nation's world-building, (the Federation and its pervasive corruption) but that was really, really badly done.
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He doesn't really go sartorially crazy until the second half of S3, I think. For a lot of S2 he's quite restrained--he often wears that very chaste and stern grey jacket which I adore--then gradually gets more and more flamboyant in S3 until it's studded gloves time.
he should have given Avon a reason for dropping what he was doing
Not to mention giving Avon a bit of warning about what he was walking in to. No wonder Avon's so cranky with him afterwards.
I have a lot of respect for Terry Nation's world-building, (the Federation and its pervasive corruption)
Oh, yes, absolutely.
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Avon's apology is one of the great memorable moments of the series.
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Hey, we're coming back after a break. Give it a bit more of a chance...
I'm sorry I haven't done this week's yet -- houseguests (of which one is ten years old) makes it a bit difficult to snatch an hour in which to watch B7.
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I'm about to get visitors including the SIL from hell. :-(
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Asking questions does help prompt discussion, I think. After all, most people probably think "yes, yes, yes, I agree with all that, good review" and don't actually say anything.
I'm about to get visitors including the SIL from hell. :-(
{hugs}
My currently-visiting SIL is definitely not from hell; she is Asian, and very polite.
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Yes, I disliked Avon from the start, I think it is his voice that puts me off just as much as what he says. I always liked Cally as well, I've probably told you that I still have a doll I named after her, for her brown curls ;0)
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I can't imagine Avon letting many people use him as a source of comfort or warmth
Has she given him much choice? She seems to have fallen asleep on him; short of moving and letting her crash there's little he can do. He doesn't look too pleased. Her best moment in this is when she jumps to protect Blake, nicely mirroring Avon in the Electrical Snake Room.
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And Blake's still worth dying for at this stage.
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