Blake's 7 - Powerplay

Powerplay

For those viewers new to Blake's 7, Series C continues as a lovely introduction. There are similarities to the first series as we essentially spend two episodes getting the crew together, ready to head off for adventures. Though I missed seeing Vila and Cally in Aftermath, introducing everyone across two episodes enables those two to have decent screentime and I liked that they both had their own little plots in Powerplay. This episode has a lot to do: Avon and Dayna are still getting to know each other, we need to reach Vila and Cally, plus include a plot that brings Tarrant in. It's impressive that on top of this, Vila and Cally are given a well-structured separate plot of their own.

Tarrant
To an extent, the fact I knew Tarrant would eventually be joining the Liberator affected my viewing. However, I was more inclined to believe he was a real Federation officer who would turn rogue and I was initially very convinced by his performance.

Despite my foreknowledge, I think I may still have rumbled him anyway. The murder of the first guard made me suspicious and there were more obvious hints that Tarrant was not all he seemed: we found out he arrived separately from the other guards, then when Avon and Dayna were hiding below the corridor, Tarrant paused over the hatch and clearly knew they were there, yet said nothing.

I do not trust Tarrant. I am unsure of his motivations for seeking the Liberator out. I remain doubtful of his backstory and think he is more of a criminal than an aspiring freedom fighter. I feel this, but acknowledge that I am hypocritical: I would have summarised most of the original Liberator crew this way when we first met them, especially Avon and Vila. Circumstances brought them together and it seemed enough to bind them. Like Jenna, Tarrant was a smuggler, but we quickly established that Jenna was a nice – too nice – smuggler. Tarrant now occupies the place of Avon in my view, as he’s the one I would expect to screw the others over. I need to see more of him though as it is currently all just vague distrust.

Avon and Dayna
It's great to watch Avon use his knowledge of the Liberator against the guards as it's so rare for the crew to have this type of advantage. It is also a good way of demonstrating to Dayna that he knows what he's doing - perhaps building up the trust between them; she has just run off with a complete stranger.

While Avon takes the lead, Dayna doesn't look left out and I enjoyed watching them together. Avon hasn't had particularly friendly relationships with any of the crew apart from Vila - his exchanges have often been functionary, issuing orders or plain hostile - so this is an interesting change. There is the potential for something more romantic between Avon and Dayna, but, as I said following Aftermath, I think such things would end badly. Having given it more thought since then, I would expect the series to kill off Dayna rather than let that carry on. So far though, she's continuing to impress me by getting involved with the physical fights. She has far less regard for life than Avon and isn't at all bothered or even interested in the death of the first guard.

Without ascribing any flirtatious connotations to their conversations, Avon is more relaxed with Dayna compared to when he first met the other Liberator crew. She might think he's secretive yet his overall demeanour is different. "Perhaps I'm just shy," is a lovely line and it appears a rushed response because Avon is suddenly realising that he now has little cause to be so secretive: he was understandably guarded originally, but no longer needs to be and his confidence is there in his firm declaration: "This is my ship." It was a comment that caught me for a moment until I realised that the Liberator really is all Avon's now. Powerplay's plot serves this nicely as well because Avon has fought for and earned the ship by the end.

Jenna and Blake
Jenna really has gone with no desire to be followed and I don’t blame her. It appears my belief following Aftermath was wrong - Blake cannot have deliberately disguised his destination because Zen was able to tell Avon where he had gone. I wondered why we have been given this information. My only conclusion is that Avon is going to try to find Blake, which would mean that despite the destruction of Star One, Avon still isn’t free of Blake after all.

Only a machine
Zen essentially disappeared as a substantial character during the last series. But as I spent so much of Series A critiquing him, it is only fair that I take a moment to commend him now, even if he is only a machine.

Despite a whole series of calling him a useless tosser, Zen’s betrayal – as I saw it – in Redemption remained hurtful - how dare he do this to our crew? However, I was pleased by his loyalty in Powerplay as he provided no control to the intruders. I don’t think we have previously established the idea of voice keys for Zen. It's something that seems as though it could come in useful in the future. Adding Dayna and Tarrant's keys is a suitable way of welcoming them on board, but I did think it seemed a bit premature in Tarrant's case. I want to yell: not all anti-Federation people are good guys!

Location, location, location
The location filming in this series has already been more impressive than in previous ones. Aftermath's visit to an actual sunny beach seems phenomenal as it would normally be inevitable for British weather to conspire against such plans and deliver grim, overcast days, even at the height of Summer. Blake's 7 may have used forests before, but Powerplay's setting is still different; Vila's clearing next to the stream with its rocks and vapour provides more variety than previous forest scenes.

Vila and Cally
It felt like it took forever to see Vila and Cally as I was still concerned - I later discovered it was a mere seven minutes until Vila appears! Vila's message that he was hurt was a nice bit of dragging out the suspense for those lengthy minutes. Knowing Vila, half of me expected him to have only a relatively minor injury. Once we saw his fire next to his escape capsule, it was clear he hadn't been able to move far for several days. I enjoyed the scene with Vila putting on voices to deter would-be attackers and it's the sort of tailored comedy gift for Michael Keating that can be provided now we are a few series in.

As Vila was led off to the facility, I was unsure whether or not to trust the Hi-Techs. Dudley Simpson's incidental music had wonderfully subtle notes that enabled a sense of foreboding to emerge. While this is a common technique in both film and television, it was just done so delicately here that I was really impressed. I've liked Blake's 7's sounds and soundtrack throughout but this episode in particular caught my ear. I especially enjoyed a small section when Avon and Dayna surfaced from the below the corridor, as it reminded me of a piece from the ITC series Man in a Suitcase (1967), for which I adore Albert Elm's soundtrack.

Cally has more focus in Powerplay than she did across most of the last series. Her backseat as teleport operator and occasional nurse has coloured my view of her as I expected her to be meek but I liked how she stood up to Servalan. It reminded me that in The Keeper she also refused to follow Avon's order to attack a second ship, so there has been something there and it would be good to see her character built on.

Servalan's gleeful reveal of the facility's purpose is so perfectly in character for her. The revelation that they were at an organ harvesting facility turned my stomach as nastily as it did Vila's face. Instantly, images flashed across my mind's eye of an episode of Waking the Dead (2000-2011) - the only one I've ever seen - in which a man had volunteered to sell one of his kidneys, but had then had his eyes stolen as well. That was the first time I became aware of the practice and I've continued to find it horrifying.

I wasn't clockwatching but I was sure we must be near the end of the episode so both immediately following the revelation and when Cally and Vila lay on the operating tables I was panicking, worried that the episode would end on another cliffhanger. I was so relieved when they teleported up - it felt like one of the worst last-second rescues yet.

Looking forward
There is some more Federation lore added when Tarrant tells us the guards on the Liberator are part of a Death Squad. It's extra information for those of us who have been watching for a while, as well as an easy way of telling the new audience that Blake's 7's bad guys are properly evil. Servalan's presence adds a tad more too.

A running theme throughout Series B was how undefeatable the Federation seemed, especially in the first half of that series, and I began to feel frustrated as the crew were repeatedly knocked back. Aftermath told us that the Federation was on its knees, barely surviving. But this did look like it could be a bluff and Powerplay shows the Federation comfortably holding on. The Death Squad survived the Battle for Star One and even after finding herself on a 'neutral' planet, Servalan has managed to wrangle a lift out of there. She is President now, presumably with even less to hold her back and with even more resources at her command, so, with a certain amount of trepidation for the new Team Avon, I am looking forward to what Servalan will do next.

Blake's 7 - Aftermath

Aftermath

Star One is still vying in my affections for Best Episode So Far and I am fairly sure Aftermath didn't answer a single question I had at the end of it. Once again though, I didn't care because Aftermath has instead given us an interesting setup for a series that looks vastly different from the last couple.

I liked the new title sequence as its effects seem slightly more modern but I've grown hugely fond of the original, adoring the visuals almost as much as the theme, so I will miss it. Following this, a couple of papier-mâché models couldn't dampen my joy during the space battle as the explosions were superb. It's great when we can jump straight into the action and this situation felt unique because the series has never left us on such a clear cliffhanger before.

Do we need the Liberator?
I was sure the Liberator was gone. The episode's early shots had convinced me as we never saw anyone on the flight deck: all the shots were empty, and I wondered if the production was using old or unused shots from previous series because they had got rid of the set. On the beach, I felt a pang of sadness when Avon picked up then chucked aside his gun, realising it was useless without the Liberator to recharge it – I have loved the design of those weapons.

A weakness in this plotline is that taking away the Liberator then easily giving it back seemed like cheating. It would have been better to tell us that the Liberator might be failing. I spent the episode wondering how Avon was going to get off the planet when the episode should have made me worry whether the Liberator was going to survive.

Where is everyone?
I spent most of Aftermath feeling anxious – I wanted to know what had happened to the rest of the crew! “Jenna’s gone with Blake,” Cally told Avon as they were hurrying to escape the Liberator. Gone where? The ship was failing – where else could they go? Then we lost Cally and Vila too. Even after Avon managed to contact Zen, I still only knew about Jenna. A hospital ship may sound safe enough, but I remained a tad concerned that Jenna may fall into the Federation’s hands.

I found the details about Blake confusing and couldn’t work out whether he was still on the Liberator or not - it doesn't look like it. He appears to have deliberately left things in a state that means he cannot be traced - a more thorough disappearance than his one during Trial. I wonder if they will try a code word again to see if he has left another video message?

The end of the cult of Blake
I would not have expected to be happy with an episode that only really featured one member of the crew, but by the end, it had become apparent that Aftermath is setting up a series that will have Avon as the main lead.

Last series established a ‘cult of Blake’, where his name represented the actions of the Liberator crew; I’ve compared Blake to Robin Hood a couple of times but suddenly I’ve got a lot more sympathy for all those uncredited Merry Men. This, combined with his natural assumption of leadership, ensured it was Blake who the natives turned to when the Liberator visited anywhere.

The cult of Blake is still echoing in Aftermath with Mellanby saying, "Blake? You were with Blake? [...]Blake and the Liberator? I've been hearing reports for the last couple of years! You were magnificent!" Avon's reply is telling: "Not from where I was sitting." Avon has never been motivated in the same way as Blake and in Star One he had been determined to end his involvement in fighting the Federation.

Setting up the future
Star One is gone and so has the alien threat. The Federation is severely weakened. Avon’s got what he wanted – he just needs to outrun Servalan. I had expected Series B to see Servalan chasing the Liberator to try to get Orac and it seems like Series C could involve a similar plotline. Yet wouldn’t outrunning her be easier if the Federation was really, truly defeated? Or if Avon simply killed Servalan? Unlike Blake with Travis, I wouldn’t expect Avon to wait until his life depended on it to kill Servalan.

Series B had incrementally created real antagonism between Avon and Travis, but Servalan has often operated from a distance and with Travis gone/dead/in a parallel universe, it makes sense to increase the animosity between Avon and Servalan. If Avon is stepping in to replace Blake, this new series has a lot to do.

The scenes between Avon and Servalan were my favourites in the episode. It was wonderful to watch two such compelling actors for a decent length of time and a lovely insight into where the series might head.

Avon doubts they are alike but I am unsure why as Servalan's summary of, "You are ambitious, ruthless, you want power and you never let conscience stand in the way of achieving it," is close - I might have substituted power for money, but then he did fancy taking control of Star One. However, Avon's response, "You overestimate me," is accurate, something I realised when I understood that I had too.

"It's a great pity that you and I have always been on opposite sides, Servalan," Avon says, and until recently I wouldn't have put it past him to change sides. Servalan describes him as "infinitely corruptible" but Avon almost immediately proves her wrong when he wisely turns down her offer of ruling the galaxy together. As they went in for that kiss, with the atmosphere the scene had built up, I was still wondering if Avon would join her for a chance at everything.

Regardless of the logic of that particular moment, I don't believe Avon is all that ruthless anymore - he just doesn't act like the same person that nearly abandoned everyone on Horizon. Avon is presented in a more human, mortal way: he's knocked unconscious; his body can't withstand the g-force in the escape pod; he remains weak after the landing; he is alone and gets into plenty of physical fights; his emotions have rarely seemed so apparent, as he is concerned about his friends throughout the episode and is impatient and anxious while trying to contact Zen. It felt like Servalan had caught him off-guard and in a rare, vulnerable moment when she walked in. Over time I began to think Travis had an advantage over Blake because he was prepared to act so remorselessly, and I am concerned that Servalan has the same over Avon.

Dayna: the action woman Blake's 7 deserves
I had seen later publicity photos featuring a couple of new people, so I recognised Dayna without knowing her name and realised she would probably be coming with Avon at the end of Aftermath.

I immediately liked Dayna because she was an action woman. We meet her when she shoots someone in the back using a bow and arrow: she looks incredible. She tells Avon, "Without danger, there's no pleasure," and I was already thinking: you're going to love life with our lot. I would be so disappointed if this characterisation was dropped because I am hoping the production has learned from the mistakes they made with Jenna.

Blake prevented Avon from killing people several times, so it was an interesting change of position when Avon stopped Dayna murdering a Saren. Blake’s reasonings were always hanging by a thread I felt, while here Avon’s is in keeping with his character as he deduces it will only bring reprisals from the other Sarens. I've considered Avon a keen shooter, but Dayna is something else and has clearly been itching for more action. Blake did alright, but Avon always appeared more able when it came to hand-to-hand combat. It will be great to have someone else equally competent in their skills and who also seems to enjoy a good fight.

It was almost inevitable that Dayna's father, Mellanby, had to get killed. The episode needs a reason for her to leave the planet and a strong reason for her to hate Servalan, which will presumably motivate her from now on because she was pretty apathetic about the Federation in a 'live and let live' way. The grim fate of her sister cements it (The Keeper should take note: THAT is how you show "they're a cruel lot on Goth").

Avon's reaction following the discovery of both bodies ensures we see the man we have known. His line to Dayna on Mellanby, "He got away from here after all," is misjudged and reminded me of his inappropriate remarks after the Dreamer's death in Shadow. Though in Shadow the effect was intentional, I don't think he understood the impact of his quip here until afterwards; maybe that is why he says nothing when they find Dayna's sister and instead stands to stare, blankly, allowing her those moments.

I’m all in favour of healthy curiosity
Blake’s 7 hasn’t really done intimacy. It’s done sexy and, while I’d argue that there has been something from both sexes, in a very 1970s' way, the show has leaned more towards 'something for the dads'. Dayna’s kiss was mildly surprising, yet it came across as cheeky flirting, so although it will stay in the back of my mind, I don’t expect much to come from it. Regardless of what fan fiction may want to imagine (I’m told), personally, I think things would quickly get complicated if there was a free for all of snogging on the Liberator.

While it had been a long time since the first kiss between people of different races on British television, the moment left me curious how it would have been received in 1980. I know racism was still a lot more prominent than today but I wasn’t sure just how deep that went throughout the general population. Starting in 1983, the British Social Attitudes survey asked people if they would mind if a close relative married a black or Asian person. 57% of people answered “a little” or “a lot” for the former, with 51% for the latter. The most recent statistics I can find show that by 2013 this had fallen to 22% and 21% respectively. It’s certainly an indication that Avon and Dayna would have raised a few eyebrows across the country, at the very least.

New beginnings
I was expecting this episode to feel like more of a Part Two to Star One, yet it functions fantastically as a separate episode. Partly, its because there is an awful lot going on: the Liberator seems to be gone, we have lost everyone, Servalan turns up, there's some action with the Sarens in a totally new type of location (surely this isn't the end of Blake's 7's visits to quarries and forests?), and then - BASE UNDER THE SEA.

As a series opener, Aftermath is also a decent introduction for new viewers: we are drawn in with a swift space battle - long enough to indulge but short enough to avoid boredom - then spend most of the episode following a single regular character, learn about their personality, meet their new friend, get to know the main baddie and understand their relationship - all with a bit of plot that offers some action. Aftermath works as a very character-driven episode and it's an impressive feat to provide something extraordinary for the regular audience, while also reinventing the series in a way that provides an accessible entry point for a new one.

I don't want to make too many assumptions yet about what is different about this series. I do think Aftermath offers a suitable link to the last one though as it conveys that no one is safe in this world: here are three lead characters - now two of them are missing; have an exposition scene with two Federation guards setting everything up - oh, they've both been killed; meet Dayna's father and sister - we will brutally murder them.

SPOILERS
At the start of the last series, I explained what spoilers I had encountered for Blake’s 7, which didn’t actually have any bearing on my viewing of Series B but already has a tad for Series C.

I have known that Jenna, Cally and Blake all disappear at some point. Jenna is on the hospital ship and as far as I’m concerned that’s it for her. I’m not so sure about Cally or Blake and I can’t figure out whether we will see either of them again. I hope so.

The photos I had seen meant I recognised Dayna. Aftermath’s credits confirmed that the man on the Liberator at the end of the episode is Tarrant, whose name I had seen with his photo before. If anything, this has left me even more confused though – who is he? What is he doing on the Liberator if he’s a Federation officer? Is he or has he stolen the uniform?

I was so keen to press on with Aftermath after Star One’s cliffhanger. But although that was exciting, Aftermath has opened up such a huge number of questions about characters and where this new series will be heading that it has made me want to press on even more than Star One’s ending did.