And so it begins. Season 3 is where things change dramatically. The Federation is beaten but not destroyed. The cast changes drastically and the mission changes from rebellion to survival.
Episode description.
Star One has finally been destroyed and the Federation is in disarray. Stranded on the planet Sarran, Avon is struggling to return to the ship. But President Servalan has other ideas...
Episode description.
Star One has finally been destroyed and the Federation is in disarray. Stranded on the planet Sarran, Avon is struggling to return to the ship. But President Servalan has other ideas...
The episode opens towards the end of the war with the Andromedans. How long this war has gone on is unclear but we've reached the climactic battle by this point. Luckily for us we're winning. Unluckily for the Federation Star One goes the way of the Death Star. Even more unluckily for our merry band of outlaws Liberator has been beat to hell and back leading to a temporary evacuation. Why temporary? Because Liberator can repair herself but life support is out and won't be fixed in a timely fashion. Sorta like when the hot water heater goes out in your apartment midwinter and the super can't get to you until next week sometime.
And we’re the three best friends that anyone could have.
Blake and Jenna have already ejected off screen and our focus is on Avon, Cally and Vila. Let's go ahead and get this out of the way. Blake and Jenna are gone which is why they bail before the episode even starts. Garret Thomas, according to the stories, was pressured to give up Blake's 7 and focus on "real acting" by some snobby so and so. Sally Knyvette decided that she was tired of staying in the kitchen. Honestly I can't blame her there. She's a great actress and Jenna as a character had so much more potential than the writers allowed her. Much of the emphasis going forward is shifted onto Avon and this episode establishes that trend.
All about Avon? As if it wasn’t all along.
The episode begins with Avon, Villa and Cally attempting to escape the Liberator. Avon is bravely knocked unconscious and Cally has to do all of the work as usual and put him in an escape pod. Avon, and a host of others, crash land on the planet Sarran. The natives of Sarran, at least the ones we meet, are led by a chieftain named Chel and resemble a cross between Mad Max and Anglo Saxon culture. The B7 universe is so riddled with planets colonized by humans who eventually regress to premedieval levels that I wonder if it wasn’t deliberate on someone’s part. Did the Federation have a reason to do so, was it an outside agency or was it just the wildest coincidence in the universe? I can’t answer that here but I think some great stories could come out of that. I digress.
The natives have witnessed some of the results of the war in the form of crashed life capsules and debris. Chel decides that any outsider must die for fear that they will bring death. Two Federation Troopers who are so insignificant that they don’t even get names are the first to go. Their only contribution is to give us a little exposition on the war. We, and by that I mean humans, won the war but only because we had more ships to throw into the fight. Roughly 80% of the Federation fleet was wiped out. It’s interesting to me the irony here. The totalitarian, dictatorial, evil empire was also the savior of the galaxy and humanity. That element is a little hard to put across effectively in an hour long format but imagine if aliens had invaded earth during World War 2 and Nazi Germany wound up saving us all. The great evil, which they were, also saving the world. How do we square that debt with the reality of their atrocities? Can we? I’m sorry, I digress again. That might be too heavy a topic for a supposed light hearted review. Carry on. Pip pip and all that. Or whatever the Brit’s say.
Avon comes crashing down as does Servalan. Both, despite some initial tension shall we say, are rescued by Hal and Dayna Mellanby.
The natives have witnessed some of the results of the war in the form of crashed life capsules and debris. Chel decides that any outsider must die for fear that they will bring death. Two Federation Troopers who are so insignificant that they don’t even get names are the first to go. Their only contribution is to give us a little exposition on the war. We, and by that I mean humans, won the war but only because we had more ships to throw into the fight. Roughly 80% of the Federation fleet was wiped out. It’s interesting to me the irony here. The totalitarian, dictatorial, evil empire was also the savior of the galaxy and humanity. That element is a little hard to put across effectively in an hour long format but imagine if aliens had invaded earth during World War 2 and Nazi Germany wound up saving us all. The great evil, which they were, also saving the world. How do we square that debt with the reality of their atrocities? Can we? I’m sorry, I digress again. That might be too heavy a topic for a supposed light hearted review. Carry on. Pip pip and all that. Or whatever the Brit’s say.
Avon comes crashing down as does Servalan. Both, despite some initial tension shall we say, are rescued by Hal and Dayna Mellanby.
Rebel, lover, artist and all around cool cat.
Hal was a defeated rebel who was tortured and blinded before escaping earth with his daughter Dayna. On Sarran he adopted a native girl named Lauren. Luckily for Avon he has Orac the magic space computer. With it he contacts Zen and finds that the Liberator is fully repaired. Blake and Jenna have checked in safely and that is the last we hear from them. For now. Cally and Villa are MIA. Avon orders Zen to come pick him up which Servalan overhears. Always conniving she approaches Avon about using Orac and Liberator to take over what is left of the Federation. Not having any of that he tells her to go to hell.
When that tactic fails she simply switches gears. Always tenacious that Servalan. Murdering Hal and stealing Orac in the middle of the night she escapes the underground bunker. Unfortunately for her Chel and his crew are still outside waiting for an opportunity. She and Lauren, Hal’s adopted daughter, are captured by the Sarans. Lauren was captured earlier while standing guard outside the bunker. Which seems like a terrible plan in retrospect. Avon and a grief stricken Dana go after Servalan finding poor Lauren dead along the way.
When that tactic fails she simply switches gears. Always tenacious that Servalan. Murdering Hal and stealing Orac in the middle of the night she escapes the underground bunker. Unfortunately for her Chel and his crew are still outside waiting for an opportunity. She and Lauren, Hal’s adopted daughter, are captured by the Sarans. Lauren was captured earlier while standing guard outside the bunker. Which seems like a terrible plan in retrospect. Avon and a grief stricken Dana go after Servalan finding poor Lauren dead along the way.
This would NOT be ok on modern Television.
Despite Dana’s understandable desire for revenge they are forced to rescue Servalan so that she can lead them to where she hid Orac. At the last minute after the mother of all convoluted double cross schemes Avon and Dayna are teleported onboard Liberator while Servalan hides in the Melanby’s bunker.
All is well. Avon and our newest crew member are safely onboard Liberator. And then they are captured by Federation Troopers who have boarded while the ship was being repaired.
All is well. Avon and our newest crew member are safely onboard Liberator. And then they are captured by Federation Troopers who have boarded while the ship was being repaired.
Final Thoughts: All in all a solid episode. A lot of the changes for this season are set up here. Old characters are leaving us and new ones are replacing them. There is a new title sequence that reflects the changed nature of the Federation. I would have loved more details about the war. We get tidbits throughout the rest of the shows run but very little of it gives us details such as length and scope of the conflict. Sometimes the war seems like one big battle. Over and done, that sort of thing. Sometimes it seems to have stretched across the whole Federation and lasted for years. That does not distract however from this episode.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Memorable Quote: Avon “It’s difficult to sustain a military dictatorship when you’ve lost most of your military.”
Coffee of the Day: Community Coffee French Roast. This has been my go to for months now. It’s dark and bold, kinda like this show.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Memorable Quote: Avon “It’s difficult to sustain a military dictatorship when you’ve lost most of your military.”
Coffee of the Day: Community Coffee French Roast. This has been my go to for months now. It’s dark and bold, kinda like this show.