Today was a big day. I got to watch this episode on our tv in the living room courtesy of YouTube and Roku instead of on my phone or tablet as usual. This weeks episode deals with the aftermath of Pressure Point from both Blake and Co's perspective as well as from the Federation point of view. Instead of including a separate link to YouTube I've just embedded the video in this blog and left it alone.
This episode essentially covers two concurrent story lines. I've debated the best way to review this episode and I feel the best way is to tackle them separately. This will cut down tremendously on the confusion of swapping back and forth. To be honest it will also shorten things a little as well. Let's start with the Federation first.
The Trial of Travis
We're going to skip some minutiae and get straight to the meet of the story. Travis is on trial for a massacre that he ordered against roughly 1,000 unarmed civilians. Except, that's not really why he's on trial. He's on trial because Servelan knows that she screwed up when Blake penetrated Federation security under her watch and then got away. The only thing that prevented complete disaster was someone's forethought to move Control off planet. Fortunately for her the only one who can truly sink her in a court martial is Travis. Thus she puts together a kangaroo court to get him executed.
In an effort to impress the judges he wore his fancy patch.
A tribunal is formed, which apparently includes a very prominent commander dubbed Starkiller, and away we go. Obviously Travis' defense, Major Thania, is secretly working for Servelan but hey, that's just how we do people. To me there are really three big take always from this segment.
Number one, Travis is certifiably insane. We've known this all along because Blake has told us but today we get to see it first hand. Travis doesn't even deny it. As a matter of fact he tells the judges it's part of the reason he's such a good officer. He was trained to be ruthless and so therefore he is so.
The next takeaway is that even though is a heartless bastard, his men do give him grudging respect. During one scene a trooper named Par sneaks booze to him in his cell. We learn afterwards that he did it with help from Travis' defense counsel but he makes it clear to her that he didn't do it for her. He tells her that Travis never wasted the lives of the men under him. In his words " When you are neck deep in slime and lasers, that's everything".
Number one, Travis is certifiably insane. We've known this all along because Blake has told us but today we get to see it first hand. Travis doesn't even deny it. As a matter of fact he tells the judges it's part of the reason he's such a good officer. He was trained to be ruthless and so therefore he is so.
The next takeaway is that even though is a heartless bastard, his men do give him grudging respect. During one scene a trooper named Par sneaks booze to him in his cell. We learn afterwards that he did it with help from Travis' defense counsel but he makes it clear to her that he didn't do it for her. He tells her that Travis never wasted the lives of the men under him. In his words " When you are neck deep in slime and lasers, that's everything".
Soooo, man crush or nah?
Now, why exactly we're sneaking in booze to a prisoner is never fully explained. Perhaps the counselor just wanted him drunk to make him more pliable. This is only one fault in this episode.
The third takeaway is the inclusion of two observers, Rontane and Bercol, who give a running commentary on the trial and the motivations behind it. I believe they were also briefly in Seek-Locate-Destroy but I don't remember much of them from that episode.
We learn that they are there on behalf of the president who feels that Servelan is a threat to his regime. President is a bit of a misnomer. Don't forget that he got "elected" through the use of drugs, brainwashing and straight up murdering people. But I digress. It's clear that they know how badly Servelan failed concerning the Blake debacle but it's also clear that knowing and proving are two different things. Another flaw in this episode is that these two characters just wander off screen and don't come back. It's left unclear whether or not Servelan offed them or what. I feel like so much more could have been done with these two characters.
it is nice to see that the Federation is prone to its own backstabbing a and intrigue though. It makes them much more interesting as villains than if they were just an implacable, monolithic empire who never failed. I digress however. A sentence finally comes down and Travis is found guilty and sentenced to death. Surprise surprise. We've got to leave off on this story line for now but I promise we'll be back soon.
The third takeaway is the inclusion of two observers, Rontane and Bercol, who give a running commentary on the trial and the motivations behind it. I believe they were also briefly in Seek-Locate-Destroy but I don't remember much of them from that episode.
We learn that they are there on behalf of the president who feels that Servelan is a threat to his regime. President is a bit of a misnomer. Don't forget that he got "elected" through the use of drugs, brainwashing and straight up murdering people. But I digress. It's clear that they know how badly Servelan failed concerning the Blake debacle but it's also clear that knowing and proving are two different things. Another flaw in this episode is that these two characters just wander off screen and don't come back. It's left unclear whether or not Servelan offed them or what. I feel like so much more could have been done with these two characters.
it is nice to see that the Federation is prone to its own backstabbing a and intrigue though. It makes them much more interesting as villains than if they were just an implacable, monolithic empire who never failed. I digress however. A sentence finally comes down and Travis is found guilty and sentenced to death. Surprise surprise. We've got to leave off on this story line for now but I promise we'll be back soon.
The Trial of Blake
Lest you think Travis was the only one on trial in this episode. Although this trial is of two parts. The one that goes on in Blake's mind and the one that goes on amongst the crew. To be upfront and honest, this storyline is by far the weaker of the two.
Blake finds an uninhabited, or so we think, planet to teleport down to to do some soul searching. He takes great pins to keep the crew from being able to track him but leaves them a rambling message about how they all need to decide how they're going to proceed. Typical Blake hubris, he leaves to decide and just expects everyone to go along. Of course Avon is having none of it and has taken several opportunities to remind him that it's his fault Gan is dead.
After teleporting down Blake is immediately treated to having rocks thrown at him and his stuff stolen. Because even on an uninhabited planet he ain't welcome. We soon meet Zil who tells Blake that to move is to live.
Blake finds an uninhabited, or so we think, planet to teleport down to to do some soul searching. He takes great pins to keep the crew from being able to track him but leaves them a rambling message about how they all need to decide how they're going to proceed. Typical Blake hubris, he leaves to decide and just expects everyone to go along. Of course Avon is having none of it and has taken several opportunities to remind him that it's his fault Gan is dead.
After teleporting down Blake is immediately treated to having rocks thrown at him and his stuff stolen. Because even on an uninhabited planet he ain't welcome. We soon meet Zil who tells Blake that to move is to live.
I'd keep moving too if I had forehead like that.
Meanwhile back on the Liberator Avon is busy trying to win the crew over to the idea of leaving ole Blakey poo behind. He gains a little traction with Vila, of course, but Jenna and Cally aren't buying it. Leave it to Blake to be a bit with the ladies.
All of of this becomes a moot point when we realize that the planet is actually a living entity. That's right folks, the planet is one big space beast and Zil and her kind are essentially sentient fleas. The planet wakes up and starts absorbing said parasites to get rid of them and through some techno mumbo jumbo Blake is teleported out at the last second.
The he crew decides to forgive and forget and Blake confesses that until now he had bought into their legend that they were invincible. Now, it should be noted that the storyline so far has been weak, but the characters are as strong as usual. Avon is narcissistic, Vila is a bit craven, Jenna is resolute in her behavior and Cally is as clever as always. The sad thing is, the writers just don't seem to know what to do with them. Jenna and Cally are essentially ignored, Vila gets fairly little air time and Blake gets a poor treatment as tortured leader. It's clear that the loss of Gan has rattled him badly. He even admits that he started to believe that he couldn't fail. We jus acknowledged that massive hubris that has been building for several episodes now. Except we get a really weak story to deal with a massive issue. To be fair I suspect that they were trying to shoehorn in some of the standard sci fi fare of strange alien worlds to help ratings, but it just doesn't work. At all. And of course the hubris isn't gone, just out in the open. What is Blake's idea to get their moxy back? Take a run at Space Command. Luckily for us Avon just so happens to have worked out a device that will make them undetectable to sensors. And here is where the two story's meet up at last.
All of of this becomes a moot point when we realize that the planet is actually a living entity. That's right folks, the planet is one big space beast and Zil and her kind are essentially sentient fleas. The planet wakes up and starts absorbing said parasites to get rid of them and through some techno mumbo jumbo Blake is teleported out at the last second.
The he crew decides to forgive and forget and Blake confesses that until now he had bought into their legend that they were invincible. Now, it should be noted that the storyline so far has been weak, but the characters are as strong as usual. Avon is narcissistic, Vila is a bit craven, Jenna is resolute in her behavior and Cally is as clever as always. The sad thing is, the writers just don't seem to know what to do with them. Jenna and Cally are essentially ignored, Vila gets fairly little air time and Blake gets a poor treatment as tortured leader. It's clear that the loss of Gan has rattled him badly. He even admits that he started to believe that he couldn't fail. We jus acknowledged that massive hubris that has been building for several episodes now. Except we get a really weak story to deal with a massive issue. To be fair I suspect that they were trying to shoehorn in some of the standard sci fi fare of strange alien worlds to help ratings, but it just doesn't work. At all. And of course the hubris isn't gone, just out in the open. What is Blake's idea to get their moxy back? Take a run at Space Command. Luckily for us Avon just so happens to have worked out a device that will make them undetectable to sensors. And here is where the two story's meet up at last.
Trials and Tribulations
Just as Travis' sentence is passed the Liberator shows up and just happens to blast the section of the station that the trial is taking place in. Luckily for Travis he is the only one to escape before the airlocks seal. We have a Point Break moment between Travis and Par before Travis clocks him and he escapes to confront Servelan. Stealing a pursuit ship and a mutoid crew he flies off to chase Blake. Meanwhile the Liberator makes good it's get away without realizing that they've just saved the life of their arch nemesis. Oh the irony.
Final Thoughts:
I'm conflicted on this episode. Overall it was a good episode and advanced the shows overarching story nicely. But man did it have some weak points. Notably the Blake sojourn story. The strengths we're seeing Travis in all of his over acted glory by Brian Croucher. And it is nice to see such an obviously flawed hero in Blake. But it's clear that the writers were treading fairly new ground and didn't know how to deal with a less than perfect captain. Is he supposed to be wise and humble? Is he supposed to be driven and narcissistic? Is he out for his own glory or for the common man? They vacillate between all of these characteristics without settling in on anything. At least at the moment. Maybe further down the road. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into things.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Favorite Quote:
Avon: One of these days they are going to leave you. They were almost ready to do it this time. One more death would do it.
Blake: Then you'd better be very careful. It would be ironic if it were you.
Coffee of the Day:
Nothing fancy here. I went with our workhorse Dark Magic by Green Mountain Coffee. This is our usual daily choice due to the fact that it's dark, smooth and we get a steady supply from my mother in law who likes to buy it in bulk. But I do highly recommend it.