Synchro-watch : Shadow
kevs
This weekend, we shall be watching the episode, "Shadow",
which is S2 Ep.2 on B7 tape no. 8
No comments please until Sunday, 25th November.
Cheers,
kevs
Igenlode
I simply can't manage two sets of comments at once.]
I've always thought of 'Shadow', along with 'Bounty', as "Jenna's
episode" - one of the rare (particularly in the second season) chances
where the potential of the character is put to good use. In fact,
rewatching it now with an analytical eye, I can see that Jenna doesn't
actually feature in much of the action. It's just that, for once, *all*
the crew - even Zen - are blessed with sharp characterization and a
chance to shine.
This is, in a sense, the real opening episode of the second season of
"Blake's 7" where 'Redemption' harks back in many ways to the previous
season. The initial signs of change start with the opening titles - this
is the first episode explicitly credited to a writer other than Terry
Nation, though with the benefit of hindsight we now know that Chris
Boucher had in fact worked on much of the dialogue and characterisation
of the first season. It introduces the subject matter of political
intrigue, countered only by resorting to morally dubious strategy, which
is to feature in many of the scripts that follow; in fact the only main
'second season' element which is largely absent in this episode - and
which, ironically, features heavily in 'Redemption' - is the increased
antagonism between Avon and Blake. It is also, I think, the first
fantasy-type plot involving god-like aliens. And although Chris Boucher
couldn't possibly have known it, the drug 'shadow' and the 'Terra
Nostra' (referred to in this episode alone out of all fifty-two) were to
become mainstays of fan-fiction.
Details that caught my eye:
The dialogue, as noted above, sparkles from the moment of Jenna's first
quip in response to Gan's comment of 'very pretty' on her orbital
approach: "I know - and the piloting wasn't bad either!"
Gan's role in this episode is to act as the crew's conscience.
But where previously (most recently in 'Bounty'), his idealism has been
set against Avon's cynical approach, now for the first time he finds
himself speaking out against Blake himself. Blake is becoming more
realistic, as Avon would no doubt put it - or else his ideals are
becoming tarnished. Boucher does not force us to judge - yet. Our heroes
end up opposing the manifest evil of the Terra Nostra... but only
because the criminal organisation were not prepared to co-operate.
There is a slightly decadent feel to the costumes and decor of Largo,
his enforcers and the avant-garde-style art in his apartment. Sitting
cross-legged on a dais with Hanna crawling at his feet, he has the air
of some absolute potentate toying with the lives of his slaves. All the
inhabitants of Space City are made up to look very pallid - logically
enough, since they have no 'outdoors' in which to develop a ruddy
complexion - and this is particularly noticeable when they are set
beside members of the Liberator's crew.
Bek's 'futuristic tape recorder' is a nice piece of imaginative prop
design.
It is an ingenious idea in principle to use the bracelet communicators
as a bugging device, with Gan outside as back-up muscle, ready to take
a hand if he receives the coded summons. Unfortunately, as Bek points
out, among the slender and pale-faced inhabitants of Space City Gan's
presence is not exactly unobtrusive.
I noted with amusement how Boucher avoids actually having to construct
sets for the sights of Space City - described by Vila at least as
unsuitable for Cally's (and presumably the audience's) eyes - by only
showing Cally's end of the conversation. A skilful use of a limited
budget; and suggestion is always more effective than a nuts-and-bolts
depiction of the real thing, as all too many would-be erotic scenes on
TV can testify...
Why does Blake really come back for Hanna and Bek? Not for the reason he
gives, presumably - the crew are more than capable of coping with Vila.
I assume that he would have rescued them in the first place if he had
brought any spare bracelets, and thus he simply leaves the two of them
behind temporarily while he goes back to get some more, while amusing
himself at their expense; but that kind of joke seems a little out of
character.
Blake seems remarkably tolerant of Cally's vague misgivings as to why it
may be imperative to trace Orac. "Why?" - "A feeling I have..." she says
lamely, and I expected an impatient explosion. But Blake seems to take
her seriously. He must have a good deal of confidence in her abilities.
On which note, it is interesting that it is Jenna, who usually has a
good deal of sympathy for him, who accuses Blake of not caring about
Cally's welfare, while it is Avon, not normally the most perceptive of
his fellows, who observes that Blake is shouting at everyone else
precisely *because* he is worrying about Cally...
Cally is resourceful and capable in this episode - in effect, she twice
rescues the entire crew single-handed and makes good use of her
telepathic abilities. For some reason, though, I didn't feel that she
came out so well in these events as she does in the role of Blake's
capable back-up in 'Bounty'. Perhaps I'm just allergic to 'Cally gets
taken over by alien telepathic intelligence' storylines.
She is referred to more deliberately as 'an alien' in this story, I
think, than in any other since her introduction in 'Time Squad'.
Presumably therefore Chris Boucher had some specific point in mind when
he had Orac refer to her as 'last of the humankind' and Avon as 'more
human than I am'. I have to say that I am at a loss as to what it can
have been.
Special effects: I thought rather a good job was done of making what
was presumably the standard BBC quarry look like the surface of a desert
planet! I wasn't clear whether the shimmering heat-haze effect on the
surface was clever filming, my imagination, or just the poor quality of
the library videotapes...
Why does Orac teleport Cally down to the surface in the first place? If
it simply wants to destroy her body as well as her mind, it would surely
have been easier simply to teleport her out into open space, as Jenna
does for the high priest Vargas of Cygnus Alpha and the 'crimmo' Travis
sends up from Exbar. If it knows she has telekinetic abilities (even
though she herself is apparently not aware of them), perhaps it is
trying to ensure that she is out of range. This seems a bit far-fetched,
though. Again, why not just kill her?
I didn't much like Cally's sudden manifestation of telekinesis as a
plot-lever, actually, even though it is established as being far from
usual. What would have made more sense (and avoided the need for
rationalisations as to why she is never able to do it again) would have
been if it were the *moondiscs* that removed Orac's key - having enough
primitive telepathy to understand from Cally's mind that this was what
she wanted them to do. After all, they can move, despite possessing no
apparent means of locomotion. Telekinetic abilities would already seem
to follow as a potential explanation.
Finally - what is Cally referring to at the end of the episode when she
says that she is "waiting to come up... *again*"?
--
Igenlode
'The Day the Stories Went Dark' - story now on-line at
http://curry.250x.com/HoedownII/
se...@gaudaprime.com
> [I'll try to get round to watching 'Weapon' some time later this
> week: I simply can't manage two sets of comments at once.]
David C writes
You won't want to read these two comments, then.
Gan: Sorry, Avon, I don't know how they spotted me.
Bek: 'I don't know how they spotted me.'
Igenlode
> I've always thought of 'Shadow', along with 'Bounty', as "Jenna's
> episode" - one of the rare (particularly in the second season)
> chances where the potential of the character is put to good use. In
> fact, rewatching it now with an analytical eye, I can see that Jenna
> doesn't actually feature in much of the action.
David
Ordinarily, Jenna would have been piloting the ship when its orbit began
to decay over Zondar. She may have been on Zondar during the incident
for two reasons:
1. She resents Shadow and by extension the Moon Disks, and wants
personally to do something about them;
2. She is needed on-planet and grounded in practical matters to balance
the dreamy feminineness of Hannah on the Liberator, while Cally
oscillated between Zondar and orbit, between Earth and sky.
Igenlode
> It's just that, for once, *all* the crew - even Zen - are blessed
> with sharp characterization and a chance to shine.
David
The idea of seven comes out well in this episode. It doesn't happen too
often. It should. It is a good idea.
I can't say that Avon shines out from his shining dialogue. He comes off
poorly on three counts:
1. He calls Gan stupid.
Gan: I can't find Orac. I even tried calling his name.
Avon: I am sorry I missed that. It is the kind of natural stupidity no
amount of training could ever hope to match.
2. He with-holds information and opinion.
Blake: Don't tell me you agree with Gan.
Avon: No, no, no, I am just interested. It seems to me that we have
identified the source of that threat rather easily.
Blake: So why haven't they?
Avon: Exactly.
Blake: Maybe we are about to find out.
Avon: Maybe we already know.
3. And he begins to enjoy killing.
Avon: [kills a 2nd guard] Next, please.
Avon: Blasters are cleared for firing, sensors are functioning,
planetary targets are identified and ranged [reaches to press button but
is stopped].
Blake: Wait a minute, Avon. Bek, that button burns the President's
garden. It won't hurt him much, but it will sting a bit. Stand by to
take us out, Jenna, when it is done.
Igenlode
> This is, in a sense, the real opening episode of the second season of
> "Blake's 7" where 'Redemption' harks back in many ways to the
> previous season.
David
In the same sense, the real opening of the first season, is late
SpaceFall, early Cygnus Alpha. Jenna was captured by Zen, then released
after a certain mind-reading procedure had been implemented. The real
opening of the second season is, as you say, this episode, where
brown-eyed Cally is captured by Orac, then released after a certain
mind-reading procedure has taken its full course.
Compare Zen's stammered line: "This is in- in- insane" (Time Squad),
with Orac's line: "Obviously, she is insane" (note the 'she', as well as
the 'insane'). Orac has captured Cally in a similar way that Zen
captured Jenna. The relationship between Jenna and Zen is echoed in the
relationship between Orac and Cally.
Moreover, the third season begins without Jenna, and the fourth begins
without Cally.
Igenlode
(snipped open titles, political, little A-B antagonism, god-like aliens,
fanfic)
> The dialogue, as noted above, sparkles from the moment of Jenna's
> first quip in response to Gan's comment of 'very pretty' on her
> orbital approach: "I know - and the piloting wasn't bad either!"
David
Yep, she is pretty alright, and a good pilot to boot.
Igenlode
> Gan's role in this episode is to act as the crew's conscience.
David
Gan is the only one on the Liberator wearing neither white nor grey
(Hannah and Bek's dreamhead uniform appears more grey than light khaki).
Having Gan in the pilot's seat also was a good idea. It shows he is
uneducated rather than stupid, for one thing, and it places the only one
who spoke out against the Terra Nostra in a helpless position. Perhaps
his upcoming removal from the group has already begun.
Igenlode
(snipped Gan v. Avon, Gan v. Blake, appearance of Space Citizens, props,
wrist-bugging)
> I noted with amusement how Boucher avoids actually having to construct
> sets for the sights of Space City - described by Vila at least as
> unsuitable for Cally's (and presumably the audience's) eyes - by only
> showing Cally's end of the conversation. A skilful use of a limited
> budget; and suggestion is always more effective than a nuts-and-bolts
> depiction of the real thing, as all too many would-be erotic scenes on
> TV can testify...
David
It is difficult to convey the inner recesses of consciousness on TV.
Vila is high, and maybe the best way to show it in the early eighties
television was with psychedelic lighting. Much more effective, as you
say, was it simply to show Cally's side of the conversation.
Igenlode
> Why does Blake really come back for Hanna and Bek? Not for the reason
> he gives, presumably - the crew are more than capable of coping with
> Vila.
David
He needs Bek to help Vila (and Hannah to help Cally), so that the other
crew members are free to search for Orac. In the scene after Blake, Bek
and Hannah teleport, Avon and Gan return to the flight deck. They had
been searching for Orac. Jenna is at the pilot's console with Bek, and
Blake is on the flight deck presumably having just arrived there. Blake
needed the manpower for the search.
Igenlode
> I assume that he would have rescued them in the first place if
> he had brought any spare bracelets, and thus he simply leaves the two
> of them behind temporarily while he goes back to get some more, while
> amusing himself at their expense; but that kind of joke seems a little
> out of character.
David
This was when Blake thought Bek was a user of Shadow. He hadn't yet met
Bek and Hannah. Blake doesn't want dreamheads in his crew. It is only
after he learns of Vila's (and Cally's, I presume) misadventure that he
comes back for Bek and Hannah.
No one on Space City knew about the teleport -- brown-eyed Largo assumes
they were using shuttles, Hannah thinks they went without her and Bek --
so would the joke still be understood by Bek and Hannah? Probably.
Hannah smiles and almost laughs when she asks, "Do we care?"
Then again, perhaps Blake simply forgot to grab a sphere of Shadow for
future analysis.
Igenlode
> Blake seems remarkably tolerant of Cally's vague misgivings as to why
> it may be imperative to trace Orac. "Why?" - "A feeling I have..."
> she says lamely, and I expected an impatient explosion. But Blake
> seems to take her seriously. He must have a good deal of confidence
> in her abilities.
David
I hadn't noticed that. Later, he changes his attitude slightly when he
says, "Maybe it wasn't anything, anything real." Still, at the end of
the episode, Blake is unusually subdued while Cally has the floor. There
is a lot of shouting and frustration in this episode; Only Avon is
immune from it.
Igenlode
> On which note, it is interesting that it is Jenna, who usually has a
> good deal of sympathy for him, who accuses Blake of not caring about
> Cally's welfare, while it is Avon, not normally the most perceptive
> of his fellows, who observes that Blake is shouting at everyone else
> precisely *because* he is worrying about Cally.
David
That settles an issue for me. Recall the following line from Duel: I
have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in
order to prove that you care, or, indeed, why it should be necessary to
prove it at all. It could have been a snipe at Vila (ie. Vila doesn't
really care for Blake, and he hides it with false caring). Or it could
have meant that Avon doesn't waste energy on pointless caring. Now I
think he does care for the others.
Igenlode
> Cally is resourceful and capable in this episode - in effect, she
> twice rescues the entire crew single-handed and makes good use of her
> telepathic abilities. For some reason, though, I didn't feel that she
> came out so well in these events as she does in the role of Blake's
> capable back-up in 'Bounty'.
David
I can think of two reasons why Cally doesn't come out so well:
1. The voice at Space City calls itself Central Control, which has a
subtle meaning to anyone who knows Pressure Point;
2. Cally's voice quavers in the beginning when she threatens Central
Control, she attempts to deliver a line before the voice has said "Duty
Officer, your computer ...", and she blinks a little.
It is all good practice for her when she comes to the battle against the
aliens at the minefield about Star One.
Igenlode
> Perhaps I'm just allergic to 'Cally gets
> taken over by alien telepathic intelligence' storylines.
David
See post <3A347FD6...@gaudaprime.com> . In it the 36 episodes from
Time Squad to Terminal are totted up. Cally was taken over a nett of two
and a quarter times (=6.25 %). It is a phantom allergy.
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm= ...
... 3A347FD6.3F9B854A%40gaudaprime.com
DC
continued in part two
se...@gaudaprime.com
Igenlode wrote
> She is referred to more deliberately as 'an alien' in this story, I
> think, than in any other since her introduction in 'Time Squad'.
David
That is right. There are two references in Time Squad, one in Web, and
two in Shadow, plus two more references to the Dark in Shadow.
from Time Squad
Cally: All the fighters died, except me, perhaps because I am alien to
this planet.
Jenna: It seems to me it should have taught us something, something
about the wisdom involved in bringing aliens aboard.
from The Web
Gan: Avon says that is because she is an alien.
from Shadow
Vila: Miserable alien. I just want to see what it is like.
Blake: She is an alien.
Avon: She is more human than I am.
Bek: So it was an alien life form that killed her?
Cally: Yes.
Vila: So you see, Bek, this thing tapped into Orac's channels, sucked up
all his energy, so that it could come squirting out and swallow us all.
Avon: The plain man's guide to alien invasions.
David
It is also an episode where Orac is referred to as 'he' - Cally, Vila,
Gan and Blake do so. Jenna, Hannah, Bek and the Dark use 'it.' (Note
that Cally calls the Dark 'it' while calling Orac 'he'.) Zen uses a
fuller designation. Zen is called a person by both Blake and Jenna's
acquaintance Largo.
Cally: Well where is Orac then? He is not in the teleport section.
Cally: I was a threat to it. I knew it was there because of my
telepathy. ... Orac has no consciousness in that dimension. He merely
drives a beam though it, which is why he could be controlled by this
force.
Orac: The bridge is complete.
Vila: What? What did he say?
Vila: Orac is all right. He can't run away.
Bek: Hanna. She is dead. That thing killed her.
Vila: Don't do it. It will kill you too.
Gan: I can't find Orac. I even tried calling his name.
Gan: Disconnect him, Vila.
Gan: Avon will fix it when he gets back.
Vila: Orac has told you what happened.
Blake: Nothing according to him.
Jenna: I don't believe it.
Avon: Computers do not lie.
Jenna: Orac is not a computer.
Hannah: This is silly. It is just a machine.
Vila: If it wasn't so expensive, I would kick it to pieces.
Bek: Yes, if it didn't bite.
The Dark: Orac is my bridge. You stand before it, puny telepath.
Zen: He teleported into the city with the assistance of the one called
Orac. ... The one called Orac is not concerned for the safety of the
Liberator. ... In return for the remote activation of the teleport
system, Vila conveyed the one called Orac to another part of the
Liberator.
Blake: Have Zen bring the money across, will you?
Largo: You think I am a fool. Zen can't leave your ship. Your
shuttlecraft is here in the city.
Igenlode
> Presumably therefore ... had some specific point in mind
> when he had Orac refer to her as 'last of the humankind' and Avon as
> 'more human than I am'. I have to say that I am at a loss as to what
> it can have been.
David
I have one or two ideas in response to your questions. Here is the
first: The Auronar are human. They are human according to Servalan.
from Children of Auron
Servalan: Their bio-replication plant, Auron's most elegant achievement;
Synthesised placenta unit, each capable of gestating a batch of
identical siblings ... of foetuses, Deral, offspring.
Deral: They look quite human.
Servalan: They are. The man who perfected the process, Franton, achieved
spontaneous cell differentiation.
The Auronar race began with the Thaarn and half a dozen others.
from Dawn of the Gods
Cally: The story goes back to the mists of Time, to the Dawn of the
Gods. There were seven gods who discovered the planet Auron, and on it
left the first man and woman. A million years went by. The gods
returned.
If Cally is using the symbols man and woman to mean something other than
Earth Humans, then she is going to be misunderstood. And so it is
plausible that the seven Auron gods took the first man and woman from
Earth a long time ago.
Cally is a human, a specially treated one. Cally is the fruit of our
civilisation, but at a distance. Jenna is also the product of our
civilisation but she has gone right through it. She is totally at home
in planetary matters, mundane matters, but Cally is innocent of that
stuff. She deals with the cosmos and cosmic beings (the Dark, the
Thaarn, the Sarcophagussed Alien). As such, she is precious, and Orac
knows it.
The following conversation where Orac calls her the last of the humans
has three speakers: Orac, Cally, and the Dark. Cally calls to Orac. She
says "Orac, don't." That is when Orac alone responds (ie. without the
Dark's direction).
from Shadow (subjective)
The Dark: Child of Auron. Listen to the voice of Orac. Remember the
touch of hands and laughter and the warmth of open minds. Remember these
things; For they are gone. You are alone.
Cally: No.
The Dark: You are alone. You are the last of the humankind.
Cally: Orac, don't.
The Dark: I am the darkness. Orac brings my darkness.
Orac: You are alone in me. Run, last of the humans. Run ...
The Dark: ... Before my darkness engulfs you.
Orac: Run, run, run.
Igenlode
(snipped special heat effect)
> Why does Orac teleport Cally down to the surface in the first place?
> If it simply wants to destroy her body as well as her mind, it would
> surely have been easier simply to teleport her out into open space,
> as Jenna does for the high priest Vargas of Cygnus Alpha and the
> 'crimmo' Travis sends up from Exbar. If it knows she has telekinetic
> abilities (even though she herself is apparently not aware of them),
> perhaps it is trying to ensure that she is out of range. This seems a
> bit far-fetched, though. Again, why not just kill her?
David
Orac wants her to survive. When the Dark calls her the last of the
humans, Orac realises how precious Cally is, and Orac takes action to
get her out of danger. Orac commands her to run, and she runs.
Compare the place Cally arrived at with the place Jenna (and those other
two what's-a-names) arrived at.
~~~~~
/ | \
/ | \
~~~~ / | \
\~~~/\~~~/ | \
X | | \ XX = Cally (in front of White Sun)
X / | \ --
-----/ ~
_
~~~~ (_)
\
~~~~ __ /\
\/ \__ / \
/ ~~~ / ~~
\/ ~~~~~ _
\--/ ~ (_) = Red Sun
XX \/ ~ XXX = Jenna
--X ~ --- Blake & Avon
- ~
Blake tells us the system has two suns. Cally is in front of a white
sun, Jenna is under a red sun. Since the locations are different (I
realise B7 has a low production budget, and that they shot both scenes
in the same quarry.), Orac changed the teleport co-ordinates. Orac
changed the teleport co-ordinates but did not take the opportunity to
change them to some point in the vacuum of space. It would have been
just as easy to change them to another part of the planet as to
somewhere in space. Orac wants her to survive, whereas the Dark wants
her to die.
The Dark's hold over Orac is not total. The Dark made a concession to
Cally when it allowed Orac to release Zen at Cally's request ("Orac, I
need Zen. I will ask no questions.") This small opening was all that was
needed. The Dark had to grant it because they would not have travelled
to a system with twin suns, otherwise.
Igenlode
> I didn't much like Cally's sudden manifestation of telekinesis as a
> plot-lever, actually, even though it is established as being far from
> usual. What would have made more sense (and avoided the need for
> rationalisations as to why she is never able to do it again) would
> have been if it were the *moondiscs* that removed Orac's key - having
> enough primitive telepathy to understand from Cally's mind that this
> was what she wanted them to do. After all, they can move, despite
> possessing no apparent means of locomotion. Telekinetic abilities
> would already seem to follow as a potential explanation.
David
Recall Largo's gesture before he places a sphere down for Hannah to
grasp at. This is when he says, "Pure shadow. You won't just die without
it." He is holding a sphere close to his eye and the camera sees the two
close together. This is deliberately done, I say.
Whilst imprisoned in Orac, Cally's eye is shown in close-up, and is seen
to be of a similar colour to that of Shadow and Moon Disk. That is when
the connection between Cally, Orac and Moon Disk begins. Between the
three of them they can and do remove Orac's key.
Igenlode
> Finally - what is Cally referring to at the end of the episode when
> she says that she is "waiting to come up... *again*"?
David
When Cally takes the key, the background colour is white. But when the
Liberator is falling towards the atmosphere, immediately prior to the
key's removal, the background colour is purple. She visited the
Liberator in some unusual dimension. This may explain why Cally runs
back up the hill to stand in exactly the same position as when she
arrived. Such an act is not normally necessary but it seems deliberate
here.
Her specialty is communications (moving things as well as ideas) and she
is telepathic. In Moloch she changes the teleport to allow transmission
through the medium pulse block. This is normally something Avon would
do. Maybe she has the ability to teleport herself, if not her physical
body, then her inner self.
DC
Stewart Tolhurst
says...
> Igenlode
> > Perhaps I'm just allergic to 'Cally gets
> > taken over by alien telepathic intelligence' storylines.
>
> David
> See post <3A347FD6...@gaudaprime.com> . In it the 36 episodes from
> Time Squad to Terminal are totted up. Cally was taken over a nett of two
> and a quarter times (=6.25 %). It is a phantom allergy.
>
> http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm= ...
> ... 3A347FD6.3F9B854A%40gaudaprime.com
I think that the figures are being bodged a bit there - a bit like
unemployment stats ;-) In terms of episodes where Cally getting taken
over by a malign influence external to the ship is a major plot device
there are 5 such cases - The Web, Shadow, Dawn of the Gods, Sarcophogus
and Ultraworld. This makes a whopping 13.4% of the stories she appeared
in!
Personally I think that this kind of plot device was generally overused.
I think the best stories where a crew member acts out of character are
the ones where plain old fashioned manipulation is used (e.g. Terminal)
rather than some telepathic influence.
Stewart
--
The hangman let us down.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Stewart Tolhurst
http://www.foxbasealpha.co.uk ICQ 22636339
Igenlode
> Ordinarily, Jenna would have been piloting the ship when its orbit began
> to decay over Zondar. She may have been on Zondar during the incident
> for two reasons:
>
> 1. She resents Shadow and by extension the Moon Disks, and wants
> personally to do something about them;
> 2. She is needed on-planet and grounded in practical matters to balance
> the dreamy feminineness of Hannah on the Liberator, while Cally
> oscillated between Zondar and orbit, between Earth and sky.
Hannah didn't seem at all feminine to me... almost totally unsexed by
her addiction...
Another reason, from the writer's point of view, might have been to
increase the sense of helplessness on the flight deck when things
started to go wrong, with the only experienced pilot not on the ship.
> I can't say that Avon shines out from his shining dialogue.
Avon does seem to have relatively little to do in this episode and
few good lines. Not being an Avon-addict<g>, I hadn't actually noticed.
> He comes off
> poorly on three counts:
>
> 1. He calls Gan stupid.
[snip]
> 2. He with-holds information and opinion.
[snip]
> 3. And he begins to enjoy killing.
>
>Avon: [kills a 2nd guard] Next, please.
These are hardly unprecedented... except for the third, and even that
echoes his line in 'Mission to Destiny' after hitting Sara: "I was
starting to enjoy that" (or words to that effect).
To be fair, I wouldn't interpret Avon's satisfaction in this case as
being in killing /per se/ - more in the unexpected efficiency with which
he has disposed of two opponents in quick succession.
> ...the real opening of the first season, is late SpaceFall, early
> Cygnus Alpha. Jenna was captured by Zen, then released after a certain
> mind-reading procedure had been implemented. The real opening of the
> second season is, as you say, this episode, where brown-eyed Cally is
> captured by Orac, then released after a certain mind-reading procedure
> has taken its full course.
>
> Compare Zen's stammered line: "This is in- in- insane" (Time Squad),
> with Orac's line: "Obviously, she is insane" (note the 'she', as well as
> the 'insane'). Orac has captured Cally in a similar way that Zen
> captured Jenna. The relationship between Jenna and Zen is echoed in the
> relationship between Orac and Cally.
>
> Moreover, the third season begins without Jenna, and the fourth begins
> without Cally.
<blinks in confusion> I feel this comparison is tenuous, verging on the
extreme...
> Gan is the only one on the Liberator wearing neither white nor grey
> (Hannah and Bek's dreamhead uniform appears more grey than light khaki).
An interesting observation - do you think this *could be* a uniform,
issued by Largo to those who 'work for' him? The clothing worn by the
Terra Nostra members themselves - high collars, heavy cloth, lace at
cuffs and throat - has an almost 'period' feel to it. I had assumed the
overalls worn by Hannah and her brothers were simply standard 'ration'
issue distributed to those too impoverished to afford fancy outerwear -
indicating a low social and financial status, that is.
[leaving Bek and Hannah behind]
> This was when Blake thought Bek was a user of Shadow. He hadn't yet met
> Bek and Hannah. Blake doesn't want dreamheads in his crew.
Actually, thinking about this - we know that Hannah is a Shadow addict,
but does Blake? All Bek says, as I recall, is that the two of them are
being held 'as an example' to any who might think of defying Largo - not
what they did and why.
But maybe it's obvious in any case from Hannah's physical condition.
[snip]
> Then again, perhaps Blake simply forgot to grab a sphere of Shadow for
> future analysis.
I think he *did* forget. Largo had a whole stand full of ampoules, at
least in the opening scene (although probably not on open display by the
time he entertains his old acquaintance Jenna and friends). But the only
one that gets brought back on board the Liberator is the supply Hannah
carries with her.
After all, I suppose Blake didn't know at that time that he was going to
need a sample.
> Recall the following line from Duel: I have never understood why it
> should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you
> care, or, indeed, why it should be necessary to prove it at all. It
> could have been a snipe at Vila (ie. Vila doesn't really care for Blake,
> and he hides it with false caring). Or it could have meant that Avon
> doesn't waste energy on pointless caring. Now I think he does care for
> the others.
I expect he does - he would have to be pretty much superhuman to have
managed to remain uninvolved on any emotional level after living
cheek-by-jowl with the rest of them for a year or so. I imagine he finds
the fact inconvenient and embarrassing, though.
> Igenlode wrote
> > [Cally] is referred to more deliberately as 'an alien' in this story,
> > I think, than in any other since her introduction in 'Time Squad'.
>
> That is right. There are two references in Time Squad, one in Web, and
> two in Shadow, plus two more references to the Dark in Shadow.
[snip]
> > Presumably therefore ... had some specific point in mind
> > when he had Orac refer to her as 'last of the humankind' and Avon as
> > 'more human than I am'. I have to say that I am at a loss as to what
> > it can have been.
>
> David
> I have one or two ideas in response to your questions. Here is the
> first: The Auronar are human. They are human according to Servalan.
[snip]
> Cally is a human, a specially treated one. Cally is the fruit of our
> civilisation, but at a distance.
What still puzzles me is - from the writer's point of view (i.e.
resuming disbelief), why deliberately stress the fact first that she is
alien, then call her 'human' without tying the two together in any
useful way?
> The following conversation where Orac calls her the last of the humans
> has three speakers: Orac, Cally, and the Dark. Cally calls to Orac. She
> says "Orac, don't." That is when Orac alone responds (ie. without the
> Dark's direction).
>
[snip]
> Orac wants her to survive. When the Dark calls her the last of the
> humans, Orac realises how precious Cally is, and Orac takes action to
> get her out of danger. Orac commands her to run, and she runs.
That's an persuasive theory. It certainly makes more sense than
teleporting her in an attempt to kill her... and after all, Orac
definitely doesn't want to die, and it knows that it too will be
destroyed if the Liberator re-enters the planet's atmosphere. If that
was what was intended, it should have been made a lot more clear
in the first place, though!
( I suspect it wasn't, unfortunately - or it would have been explained
in the Agatha-Christie style epilogue, where every twist in the plot
gets spelt out in words of one syllable so that the reader can
finally grasp what has been going on...)
>
> Blake tells us the system has two suns. Cally is in front of a white
> sun, Jenna is under a red sun.
Oops. I hadn't noticed that!
> > Finally - what is Cally referring to at the end of the episode when
> > she says that she is "waiting to come up... *again*"?
>
> Liberator is falling towards the atmosphere, immediately prior to the
> key's removal, the background colour is purple. She visited the
> Liberator in some unusual dimension. This may explain why Cally runs
> back up the hill to stand in exactly the same position as when she
> arrived. Such an act is not normally necessary but it seems deliberate
> here.
>
> Her specialty is communications (moving things as well as ideas) and she
> is telepathic. In Moloch she changes the teleport to allow transmission
> through the medium pulse block. This is normally something Avon would
> do. Maybe she has the ability to teleport herself, if not her physical
> body, then her inner self.
>
Hmmm, I see - so she didn't so much 'fetch' the key down to the surface
of the planet without touching it (thus not avoiding getting
electrocuted) as reach out of the prison in that dimension which her
self had already been placed into by the Dark, take the key (which was
not electrified in that dimension) and let herself out...bringing the
key back almost accidentally along with her consciousness...
se...@gaudaprime.com
Igenlode
> Hannah didn't seem at all feminine to me... almost totally unsexed by
> her addiction...
> Another reason, from the writer's point of view, might have been to
> increase the sense of helplessness on the flight deck when things
> started to go wrong, with the only experienced pilot not on the ship.
David
That works. There is a progression from the sexuality of Jenna to the
unsexedness of Hannah. Actually, it works better than my original
suggestion.
(snipped Avon stuff, Jenna and Zen -> Orac and Cally)
Igenlode
> An interesting observation - do you think this *could be* a uniform,
> issued by Largo to those who 'work for' him? The clothing worn by the
> Terra Nostra members themselves - high collars, heavy cloth, lace at
> cuffs and throat - has an almost 'period' feel to it. I had assumed
> the overalls worn by Hannah and her brothers were simply standard
> 'ration' issue distributed to those too impoverished to afford fancy
> outerwear - indicating a low social and financial status, that is.
David
I think they were addicted at an early age ("We owned you from your
first tiny drop of shadow"). If this is true, then they never had any
capital with which to get ahead in life, and so, their clothes would be
standard issue. Largo's organisation would have issued them.
But recall the slave's outfit in Redemption (the one who saved the day
for Blake).
David
>> This was when Blake thought Bek was a user of Shadow. He hadn't yet
>> met Bek and Hannah. Blake doesn't want dreamheads in his crew.
Igenlode
> Actually, thinking about this - we know that Hannah is a Shadow
> addict, but does Blake? All Bek says, as I recall, is that the two of
> them are being held 'as an example' to any who might think of defying
> Largo - not what they did and why.
> But maybe it's obvious in any case from Hannah's physical condition.
David
Blake doesn't know. I assume that Blake assumed that Hannah and Bek were
both addicts. He soon learns Bek is not a user but when Hannah says, "it
is all I have" (B:Don't worry. H:It is all I have. B:You will get it
back. Zen. Analyze. I want the derivation) Blake would know she was an
addict.
David
>> Then again, perhaps Blake simply forgot to grab a sphere of Shadow
>> for future analysis.
Igenlode
> I think he *did* forget. Largo had a whole stand full of ampoules, at
> least in the opening scene (although probably not on open display by
> the time he entertains his old acquaintance Jenna and friends). But
> the only one that gets brought back on board the Liberator is the
> supply Hannah carries with her. After all, I suppose Blake didn't know
> at that time that he was going to need a sample.
David
That sounds right.
'Ampoules.' Now, there is a word worth knowing. It is better than
'spheres.'
(snipped more Avon stuff)
David
>> I have one or two ideas in response to your questions. Here is the
>> first: The Auronar are human. They are human according to Servalan.
>> Cally is a human, a specially treated one. Cally is the fruit of our
>> civilisation, but at a distance.
Igenlode
> What still puzzles me is - from the writer's point of view (i.e.
> resuming disbelief), why deliberately stress the fact first that she
> is alien, then call her 'human' without tying the two together in any
> useful way?
David
So that when Star One comes along, Cally will be the only one speaking
out against fighting the aliens? And the aliens are us? I am just
speculating out loud. If I ever meet the writer, I may well ask him
about Shadow.
Igenlode (on David's hypothesis Orac urged Cally to run)
> That's a persuasive theory. It certainly makes more sense than
> teleporting her in an attempt to kill her... and after all, Orac
> definitely doesn't want to die, and it knows that it too will be
> destroyed if the Liberator re-enters the planet's atmosphere. If
> that was what was intended, it should have been made a lot more
> clear in the first place, though.
David
It is only the second episode after Orac's entrance into the series.
Orac's self-preservation "instinct" comes out later in the series.
from Power
Orac: Will you kindly remove me to a place not closer than 742 m. from
the launch chamber door?
from Orbit
Egrorian: Dented possibly, but the lyklenic plaques and tariel cells are
virtually indestructible. Fire is the only danger, and we have assured
that that won't happen.
Igenlode
> (I suspect it wasn't, unfortunately - or it would have been explained
> in the Agatha-Christie style epilogue, where every twist in the plot
> gets spelt out in words of one syllable so that the reader can
> finally grasp what has been going on...)
David
Look at how Cally says 'Yes' to Bek's question: "So, it was an alien
life-form that killed her?" That is about all the tying the writer does
of alienness (Cally's) with humanness (Bek's).
(snipped Orac's key removal)
Igenlode
> Hmmm, I see - so she didn't so much 'fetch' the key down to the
> surface of the planet without touching it (thus not avoiding getting
> electrocuted) as reach out of the prison in that dimension which her
> self had already been placed into by the Dark, take the key (which
> was not electrified in that dimension) and let herself out...bringing
> the key back almost accidentally along with her consciousness...
David
With a little help from Orac, who teleported the key, and with further
help from the Moon Disks, who could move without visible forms of
locomotion. Cally, Orac, Disks, they all reinforced eachother, is what I
am saying.
DC
kevs
Intersesting comments posted , i'm glad the interest is still
there. I'm posting seperately because i want to make a few comments of
my own regarding "Shadow". I'll be posting comments on "Weapon" next
week.
Looking at the title itself, , the word "Shadow" refers to three
story elements.
1) The drug, Shadow, a substance extracted from the Moondiscs....
ZEN: Confirmed. The species is alpha seven oblique five. Known as the
moon disc, it was greatly prized for its partial telepathy and its
ability to move short distances to avoid direct sunlight.
HANNA: It stayed in the shadows.
2) ***The Terra Nostra were a Mafia-like crime syndicate, which
didn't officially exist. Largo denied it's existence to the Liberator
crew...
LARGO: Look, the Terra Nostra doesn't exist. Believe me, it's
a..a..phantom.
JENNA: A shadow?
LARGO: A myth, a legend.
JENNA: It's a legend a lot of people believe in.
AVON: And yet you know it doesn't exist? Why are you so certain?
LARGO: I've got a contact in Federation Security. If the syndicate
existed, then he'd know about it, wouldn't he?
***3) The entity which "possessed" Orac, and used it as a "bridge", to
cross into our dimension from it's own...
ORAC: I am the darkness. Orac brings my darkness. You are alone, in
me. Run, last of the humans. Run, before my darkness engulfs you. Run,
run run, run run.
*** This ep., contains one of my favourite pieces of B7 dialogue:
JENNA: It's enough to fry your eyeballs.
AVON: Daintily put.
and a little later...,
AVON: It could have been frying eyeballs you heard.
JENNA: Daintily put.
*** This episode has distinctly supernatural overtones, which is
something that has always interested me. I think it's the series'
fIrst foray into this area.
Looking at the dialogue, we can see what the "Dark" is trying to
achieve;
ORAC: You are alone. You are the last of the humankind.
CALLY: Orac, don't.
ORAC: I am the darkness. Orac brings my darkness. You are alone, in
me. Run, last of the humans. Run, before my darkness engulfs you. Run,
run run, run run.
***Cally runs, and teleports to the planet. She appears to be running
"blind". I think she was momentarily "released" from her "mental
prison". Later, we see her apparently leave her body, to retrieve
Orac's key.
Looking specifically at the Cally-Orac-Dark narrative, a whole raft
of folk traditions are drawn upon. In many religious traditions,
darkness means evil, chaos, and nothingness. Darkness also
represents a lack of understanding and knowledge. These images are
deep within the human psyche. From the chilling words used by the
"possessed" Orac, and the Dark's ability to "capture" Cally's mind,
the entity trying to cross into our dimesion was indeed evil:
ORAC: Child of Auron. ( *diminishing Cally to the stature of a child)
Listen to the voice of Orac. (*commanding, self-aggrandisment)
Remember the touch of hands at laughter and the warmth of open
minds.(taunting Cally with something she treasures) Remember these
things for they are gone. (*removal of the aforementioned warmth and
friendship) You are alone. (Emphasis on her isolation from the
Auronar)
***Later, we have the dialogue between Gan and Bek:
GAN: They can on Auron. Cally told me her people can share any
experience. And telepathy means they never have to be alone. Makes
them very strong
BEK: Well, when they're together. I mean, what happens when one's
isolated?
GAN: I think that's what we're finding out.
***Also, way back in "Mission to Destiny", Cally's isolation is first
noticed, when she telepaths "alone" to Blake, under influence if the
sleeping gas.
So Cally's strength, her telepathy, is being used against her.
In "Weapon", Servalan remarks to Travis;
"When you know an enemy's strengths, and can use them against them,
they become weaknesses."
***Avon appears to realise that Orac isn't the source of the problem;
AVON: It was not Orac.
BLAKE: Maybe it wasn't anything -- anything real
***Cally makes telepathic contact with the Moondiscs. this part of the
story could have been explained better visually, rather than mixing
the visuals of Moondiscs and Orac, IMO.
ORAC: You cannot stop me, child of Auron.
CALLY: Then why do you threaten me?
ORAC: Orac is my bridge. You stand before it, puny telepath.
(*demeaning)
CALLY: Yes, I know you now. My powers are in your dimension, and
Orac's carrier waves are your bridge. (*knowledge-light-reason)
ORAC: The energy is building. I am ready to cross. Hungry dark to
absorb the blazing suns.(*destruction-darkness-chaos)
CALLY: I will deny you. (*strength)
ORAC: You are alone. (*reminder of Cally's weakness)
CALLY: No. The warmth you mock me with is here. [holds out moon disk]
I am not alone. You will stay in your universe of darkness. (*defeat)
ORAC: You will not disconnect. You will not dis...
*** Finally, we discover the truth: Orac is being used as a "bridge",
for the Dark entity to cross into our universe. This follows up the
idea of spiritual "possession", which would not be suspected by the
Liberator crew, who have grown up in a world without religion.
(It's interesting that Avon in particular uses the word, "hell" a lot.
Of course, the words would still retain their meaning long after the
source has been lost.)
Visually, i think this part of the episode would be puzzling to
anyone not familliar with the concept of the "mind" being seperate
from the body.The problems of illustrating the abstract concept of the
"mind", without a huge effects budget must have been difficult to
overcome. The image of Cally within Orac suggests that she is indeed
"within" Orac, but doesn't really seperate body from "mind", until she
leaves her body on Zondar.
I'd like to have seen more imaginative visuals. Overall though, a most
excellent "standalone" episode, in which we learn about the corrupt
nature of the Federation govenment, and the vulnerability of Cally as
an Auron telepath
kevs
Simon Slavin
kevs...@yahoo.com.au.invalid (kevs) wrote:
> (It's interesting that Avon in particular uses the word, "hell" a lot.
> Of course, the words would still retain their meaning long after the
> source has been lost.)
"Hell" is Petrion Gamma IV. Petrion Gamma is a class M sun
and it's fourth planet is in the first Bode orbit. It is a
desert-planet: it has zero percent of its surface covered
in water, no noticable polar weather-variations, and its
only life-form is a crystalline entity with low mentality.
There is no Federation outpost on Hell: the expression
'sent to Hell' is merely an expression referring to the
worst possibly punishment a superior could think of.
Simon.
--
http://www.hearsay.demon.co.uk | I have a hunch that [] the unknown sequences
No junk email please. | of DNA [will decode into] copyright notices
| and patent protections. -- Donald E. Knuth
The French Was There.
Igenlode Wordsmith
> Igenlode wrote
> > [I'll try to get round to watching 'Weapon' some time later this
> > week: I simply can't manage two sets of comments at once.]
>
Two weeks later... :-(
All right. Even if nobody else has, I have now finally watched 'Weapon',
and I've written down some notes, and I'll try to get round to writing
them up tonight (which means they probably won't show up until
tomorrow).
Sorry kevs - but I have to say that I think my point has been amply
demonstrated; there simply isn't enough momentum in the group to sustain
a double Synchro-watch of two episodes at a time. I suggest we go back
to single episodes. To be honest, I think the next Synchro-Watch had
better wait until after Christmas as well.
--
Igenlode
'The Day the Stories Went Dark' - story now on-line at
kevs
<Use-Author-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote:
>On 28 Nov 2001 se...@gaudaprime.com wrote:
>Sorry kevs - but I have to say that I think my point has been amply
>demonstrated; there simply isn't enough momentum in the group to sustain
>a double Synchro-watch of two episodes at a time. I suggest we go back
>to single episodes.
Still, we gave it a try, and it has had a negative reaction, so it's
back to single eps from now on..
To be honest, I think the next Synchro-Watch had
>better wait until after Christmas as well.
Yes, i think so... i'm away for a week or so, so the next
Synchro-Watch will be after the hols, unless someone else wants to
take up the baton.
Typically, your post only just showed up today, which shows how
crappy BTi's news servers are...!
Cheers, and a merry Yuletide,
kevs
Igenlode
> On Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:54:33 GMT, Igenlode Wordsmith wrote:
>
> >Sorry kevs - but I have to say that I think my point has been amply
> >demonstrated; there simply isn't enough momentum in the group to sustain
> >a double Synchro-watch of two episodes at a time. I suggest we go back
> >to single episodes.
> Still, we gave it a try, and it has had a negative reaction, so it's
> back to single eps from now on..
>
I do find the Synchro-watch worthwhile, though. It provides an active
motivation to watch the episodes (I find that having them all on video
means I'm actually *less* likely to watch one than in the days when it
meant going down to the library and requesting them from the store
stacks as a special treat!).
It causes me to watch them in a more analytical way, as well - and
(certainly in the case of the two most recent episodes) gets me to
notice niceties of structure and deliberate echoing of themes in
episodes which I had never considered to be very interesting when simply
watching 'to find out what happens next'. I've always experienced the
stories from 'the inside' - from the point of view of the characters.
Now I'm learning to look at them from the outside as well, and study how
they are actually constructed.
> Typically, your post only just showed up today, which shows how
> crappy BTi's news servers are...!
Well, things aren't that healthy at this end either, to be honest.
Practically nothing I've posted to any newsgroup has showed up over the
last week - and it took four tries to force the 'Weapon' review through,
starting on the Tuesday *before* you issued the Synchro-watch re-post,
and only finally succeeding on the following Monday! I've just given up
and deleted six postings that never made it at all last week and are now
hopelessly behind the thread, so to speak. :-(