From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se
Subject: blakes7-d Digest V98 #160
X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se
X-Mailing-List: <blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se> archive/volume98/160
Precedence: list
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------"
To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se
Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
------------------------------
Content-Type: text/plain
blakes7-d Digest Volume 98 : Issue 160
Today's Topics:
[B7L] Nicola's big news
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
[B7L] B7 characters as drinks (was Fourth season -why?)
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
[B7L] Mountain Media Con
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Re: [B7L] B7L re Avon
Re: [B7L] Orac and Fourth Season
Re: [B7L] The Rise & Fall of Roj Blake and the Spiders from Gauda Prime
Re: [B7L] Gan
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Fwd: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
[B7L] dissertations
Re: [B7L] B7L re Avon
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season
Re: [B7L] Fourth Season
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 09:46:28 +1200
From: Nicola Collie <nicola.collie@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
To: space-city@world.std.com, B7-list <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>,
spin list <b7spin@metva.com.au>
Subject: [B7L] Nicola's big news
Message-Id: <l03130300b19d19ebe6ca@[139.80.16.149]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
One thing that's true of kiwis (the birds) is that they're flightless.
P'raps because of this, one characteristic of Kiwis (the humans) is an urge
to do the big OE*. Anyway, for this Kiwi the time is coming when I'll say
goodbye to the South Pacific for a couple of years, and explore another
pond on the other side of the world. I'm delighted and excited to announce
that, come November this year, I'll be making my nest in Leeds.
Citizens of the UK - consider yourself warned ;-)
ttfn, Nicola
*overseas experience - a traditional rite of passage for young antipodeans.
---
Nicola Collie
Dunedin, New Zealand
nicola.collie@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
It just occurred to me that, as the description of a highly sophisticated
technological achievement "Avon's gadget works" seems to lack a certain
style.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 07 Jun 1998 19:28:48 -0700
From: Pat Patera <pussnboots@geocities.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-ID: <357B4C60.6AFC@geocities.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Katrina Harkess wrote:
>
> I've just joined the list and I have to say I'm dismayed at some of the
> comments on the fourth season.
I have been in lurk mode for some time, but this thread has roused me
from my slumber.
4th season has an undertone of darkness and danger that all the others
lack. There's no ocean-liner Liberator to speed them from danger. No
benevolent Zen watching over them. In 4th season they face real peril.
The blow to the Federation is in itself a moral lesson: tyranny is bad,
but might not anarchy be worse?
> In particular Assasin - From my point of view it was one of Soolin's best
> episodes
And, featuring the Golden Goddess of Guns, Soolin, that made it all
worthwhile
> Piri/Cancer was a bit bad. It was the acting I think, not the lines,...
I think the actress did a great job. Yes, Piri was annoying, but she was
*supposed* to be. She wanted to put everyone's nerves on edge - and she
sure did mine! I was *so* glad when she turned into Cancer. And what a
mahvelous villan Cancer was. Surely a woman who worked such an "edgy"
profession would be flamboyant during those moments she came out of
hiding. As flamboyant as Servalan: I expect that's why Servie liked her.
And indeed, Servie *did* like Cancer - even called her "a credit to our
sex". (I can't remember Servalan ever honestly complimenting anyone
else). I like to imagine the two of them, chummy at the bar, laughing
over their past atrocities, each trying to top the other, aka guys'
playing at one upmanship. Oh! To be a fly on the wall during that round
of girltalk!
>
Rob wrote:
>... From what I've seen of Soolin, I'm
>beginning to think they may have had the latter right under their noses.
Soolin was a stong personality, but could never take the place of Blake,
for she is cold while Blake was hot. Avon is cold. Vila is lukewarm. It
was the crackling cold of Avon hissing against the heat of Blake that
made the dynamics so sorely missed when Blake was gone. Tarrant and
Dayna are neither hot nor cold - more like fizzy pop - cute and colorful
and sweet, but without the heat to make ice cubes snap and crack.
(Here is where I suggest a new game: if the B7 crew were drinks, what
would each one be?)
Blake: Guinness ale
Avon: rum & coke (with lotsa ice)
Vila: adreneline & soma :-)
Jenna: Mai Tai
Cally: Shirley Temple
Tarrant: strawberry margarita
Dayna: Kaluha & coffee (jumpy)
Soolin: hot buttered rum
Servalan: dry martini
>But let's face it, Blake wasn't the only thing that was missing from
>Series Four. The first series, which I'm watching again now it's out on
>video, is littered with adult themes -- by that I mean moral shades of
>grey and challenging ideas.
Here too, I feel 4th season outranks 1&2. The grey areas of 4th season
threaten to ensnare even our "good guys." When is it ok to steal? To
lie? To betray? Judith scooped me on naming many of the good specific
moral questions that arose.
But starting with Dorian, the grey began: we eat many animals to live:
so Dorian's creature needed to eat people to keep him alive. We are
forced to examine our souls and think whether we would succumb to the
life that Dorian did. Does life become more precious the long one
possesses it? As Ensor said, "One clings."
Finally, I adore the OTT villians of 4th season. Not a dull character
among the bunch. I fervently hope that in the future, all people will
feel free to be individuals, as far a cry as possible from the cookie
cutter "Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" that the World War II vets became
in the 50s.
I can't stop! Plus, the storylines of 4th season are more intricate and
convoluted than at the start, before Servalan began concocting plots
hidden within plots. Both Gold and Games are like the Russian nestling
dolls, one plot tucked away, hidden, inside another.
ok, I'll stop - Pat Patera
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 16:03:15 +1200
From: Nicola Collie <nicola.collie@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
To: B7-list <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] B7 characters as drinks (was Fourth season -why?)
Message-Id: <l03130300b1a1109672c6@[139.80.16.149]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Pat Patera:
>(Here is where I suggest a new game: if the B7 crew were drinks, what
>would each one be?)
>Blake: Guinness ale
>Avon: rum & coke (with lotsa ice)
Dunno about coke - seems a bit sweet to me. How about single malt scotch,
straight? Simple on the surface, but investigate further and you find
subtle, sophisticated, interlacing one flavour after another... but a firey
finish for the careless.
This is the point where my libido refuses to stop suggesting exotic
concoctions with ever-more suggestive names. ;-)
>Vila: adreneline & soma :-)
Of course :-)
>Jenna: Mai Tai
>Cally: Shirley Temple
>Tarrant: strawberry margarita
>Dayna: Kaluha & coffee (jumpy)
>Soolin: hot buttered rum
No opinion really.
>Servalan: dry martini
Definitely.
Actually, I think Gan would be something substantial and sweet - like that
rum and coke we mentioned earlier. Or maybe mulled wine. Warm, spicy and
satisfying.
And Orac would be ethylene glycol ;-)
ttfn, Nicola
---
Nicola Collie
Dunedin, New Zealand
nicola.collie@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
It just occurred to me that, as the description of a highly sophisticated
technological achievement "Avon's gadget works" seems to lack a certain
style.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 15:50:06 +1000
From: "Christine Lacey" <eshva@magna.com.au>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-Id: <199806080548.PAA07781@magna.com.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I was really please to see Pat Patera's defence of 'Assassin', since it's
an episode that I rather like and would regard as one of the better ones of
series 4.
Admittedly it had its crappy aspects, but hell, if you can't cope with some
bad acting, silly costumes and ridiculous monsters, why watch B7?
On the plus side, some of the dialogue is excellent. My favourites are:
T: He's good then, this Cancer?
A: You can imagine how it pains me to use the word 'infallible'
T: Oh come on, Avon, no-one's infallible.
A: Alright then, he's not infallible. It's just that he has never failed.
And the bit on Cancer's ship, when Tarrant is doing his macho posturing
bit:
A: She knows that you are very brave. Now sit down.
Of course, the best aspect of 'Assassin' is that Soolin gets a lot to do
and comes out of it looking very good.
I also think the episode says some rather nice things about gender
stereotypes. Piri/Cancer manages to incorporate two female stereotypes -
the pathetically wimpy and dependent twit, and the nasty, heartless,
man-destroying bitch. This would be quite offensive to the female viewer,
if it wasn't for the presence of Soolin, showing that women can actually be
intelligent, reliable, independent and sensible. And sympathetic as well.
I particularly appreciated how Soolin went out of her way to be nice to
Neebrox. I got the impression she thought that a nice old codger who'd had
a nasty time on a slave planet was more deserving of sympathy than a young,
selfish girlie who ought to have been able to look after herself.
Another relevant bit is when Soolin says angrily to Tarrant "When two men
don't like each other that's a rational judgement. But if two women don't
like each other it must be jealousy!"
The role reversal toward the end is lovely too - the captive hero tied up
and awaiting a horrible fate, rescued at the last moment by our brave,
gun-wielding heroine.
I'll stop rambling now and go back into lurk mode :)
Christine
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 07:06:59 EDT
From: Mac4781@aol.com
To: space-city@world.std.com, blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Mountain Media Con
Message-ID: <8ab1c756.357bc5d4@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
The wonderful women who produce Mountain Media Con (Denver media convention,
July 24-26, 1998) asked me to pass along some information.
Folks who have registered or who register soon will receive a Mountain Media
Con tote bag in one of two colors as part of their membership packet. These
are lovely and roomy totes, perfect for carrying loot at conventions, library
books, etc. So if you plan to attend this year's con but haven't registered,
you might want to send in your membership request now and qualify for a free
tote.
As I told everyone last year, the con is wonderful: beautiful setting, elegant
hotel, interesting panels, three dealers rooms, tiered seating in the video
room, and bountiful food in the con suite.
Carol Mc
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 12:21:46 +0100 (BST)
From: Rob Clother <rob@amsta.leeds.ac.uk>
To: AChevron@aol.com
cc: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.96.980608121048.20242C-100000@amsta>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
> I believe the writers covered this in a line from Volcano. Avon is telling
> the others that rumors of Blake are already flooding the Federation, and that
> even at that point it would take them a lifetime to investigate them all.
They had Orac to investigate them all. "An intelligent listening system
for beginners". If Orac was able to track Blake down 5-10 years after his
disappearance, why wasn't he able to do so immediately afterwards?
> Without fairly hard evidence, it wouldn't make sense to chase each rumor,
> especially when Blake could always contact them if he really wanted finding.
He did want finding. "Avon, I was waiting for you." Also, given Blake's
comment, "Most of what happened to me wasn't on Earth", as well as what we
know did happen to him on Earth, we can assume that he had to endure some
horrific ordeals during his separation from his crew. The fact that they
weren't there for it doesn't reflect well on them -- but then if they were
angels they wouldn't have been anything like as interesting. :-)
> The season may not have had "direction", but I prefer this and the
> opportunities it opened up for the series, and the characters, over 10-13
> episodes of "Drat, we just missed him again."
The search for Star One worked. Terminal was a magnificent end to the
season -- it would have been even more hard-hitting if it had followed
three or four episodes which included at least a token reference to the
search for Blake.
CHeers,
Rob
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 22:24:44 +0930
From: "Ophelia" <ophelia@picknowl.com.au>
To: "B7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] B7L re Avon
Message-ID: <01bd92dc$9c29fde0$LocalHost@waltersmith>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I must admit, fashion criticism is my
favourite B7 thread. It's also my
favourite conversion device - "You
have to watch this old show, honey, the
costumes! Leather, vinyl, lame, studs,
and this super-femme dictator in white
sequins - you'll love it."
Jenni wrote:
<<. I though in Season 4 he looked a
bit too "Dallas" for my taste - Airbrushed, over-made up, fluffy hair.
found the pale faces and badly cut hair in the earlier seasons to be much
more convincing for the situation they were all in. >>
You've hit the nail firmly on its balding
pate again, love. Merkin soap it is.
I have *never* understood fen's affection for
that 4ths season atrocity of a 'do. Puffy,
mousy hair just isn't my thing, especially when
looks like it has been subjected to so much
hair lacquer and blow-drying it must feel like
glue-coated wire. Urgh. Even though Avon's
early 'do was hardly sophisticated and dashing,
it at least it looked like some remnants of
vitality were left in the follicles. Jenna's
hair was bad, too - plentiful hair of a pretty
colour, subjected to deadly chemicals and
blasts of hot air.
They should have taken Soolin's advice, of
course. That lady really knew how to wield
a crimping iron. <sideways grin.> Oh, well,
at least it looked vaguely touchable, even
if fake. (Vila's hair always looked nice and
touchable, if thinning.)
Iain also put fingertips to keyboard, or
voice to microphone, to suggest:
<<Ah, but look at Dorian.>>
OK. Mmmmm.... <minutes pass.>
Oh, sorry, were you saying something?
<<It's fairly obvious that Xenon base (or perhaps
Scorpio itself) had a state-of-the-art Autohairdresser and
Robobeautytherapist.>>
Of course! You expect a genuine gunslinging
goddess to sit around in the middle of barbarians
without someone to deep-condition her golden
locks and no-pain tone that pretty posterior?
How on earth could she expect to get respect
from pink-coifed aliens without some help?
After all, she had ZeeZee to compete with.
Not to mention *Tarrant*...
<< After three seasons of dashing around in an alien
spacecraft, being shot, beaten, tortured, blown up and attacked by
mystical cosmic superbeings, I guess the temptation was just too great.>>
I think they learned from Servalan - you can
get away with murder if your eyelashes are
sufficiently thick.
Jenni added:
<<I suppose we can't fault them for that. But did they really have to take
advantage of the AutoTanningbed?>>
<Lindley splutters raspberry leaf tea
all over her dobermann. Whoops,
sorry, Emma. It was that naughty Jenni.
Good dog. Down...>
And don't you think that the thing in the basement should have been given a
chance with the Autobeautytherapist?>>
What, as punishment for Soolin's
eye make-up?
<<Or maybe he was the beautytherapist -
no wonder Dorian put him in the basement!>>
You darling innocent, you don't keep your
beauty therapists in the basement. You
share your closet.
Cylan also took the time to write
(of the techie one):
<<But never, under any
>circumstances has he looked a 'prat'!>>
Oh, but darling, go watch "Assassin"
and "Power" again and reconsider.
<wink>
- XXX Lindley
Ophelia - ophelia@picknowl.com.au
"The girl has beauty, virtue, wit,
Grace, humour, wisdom, charity and pluck."
LONDON CALLING - a list to discuss Britcoms and knockwurst.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2511/knockwurst.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 22:06:41 +0930
From: "Ophelia" <ophelia@picknowl.com.au>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Orac and Fourth Season
Message-ID: <01bd92da$16dc3ce0$LocalHost@waltersmith>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Murray wrote:
> I was very interested in Rob Clother's views on the fourth season
>episodes. My worst episode is 'Power', with its portrayal of relations
>between the sexes. It was obviously based on, and was almost as bad as, the
>awful original Star Trek episode of 'Spock's Brain'.
Yeah, but at least Spock's brain
was piss-funny. "What is brain?"
"Power" didn't even have that
saving grace, although it's always
amusing to see Avon get socked on
the head.
- XXX Lindley
Ophelia - ophelia@picknowl.com.au
"The girl has beauty, virtue, wit,
Grace, humour, wisdom, charity and pluck."
LONDON CALLING - a list to discuss Britcoms and knockwurst.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2511/knockwurst.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 22:35:35 +0930
From: "Ophelia" <ophelia@picknowl.com.au>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] The Rise & Fall of Roj Blake and the Spiders from Gauda Prime
Message-ID: <01bd92de$203cea60$LocalHost@waltersmith>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Helen K wrote:
>> I'm not doing favourite songs as much
>> as matching songs to personalities/life
>> stories, in this post.
>Well, actually, that was basically what I was trying to do, too. :^/
>You're on to me.
Great minds and all that...
>> >Blake: "Heroes" (naturally)
>>
>> Hmm. I'd have " "heroes" " (see, I can
>> punctuate Bowie titles! Who said a liberal
>> arts education was a waste of time?)
>Not me... I discovered Bowie in college!
Definitely worth while then. I discovered
Bowie cos my Nanna took me to see
"Labyrinth" when I was a kid. <smile>
But I lost my tape with
>"heroes" so I forgot how it was punctuated.
The new cover punctuates it wrong.
WRONG I tell you! And the lead singer
dfeson't even cry in the vid! What has
the world come to?!
"The guns
>fired above our heads-- all around us--" Hmm if Blake had kissed Avon,
>it would be perfect.
<sternly> No, it wouldn't. Vila's
feelings would have been hurt.
re "Let's Dance":
>I guess I'm so terminally depressed I thought of its nihilism as
>mainstreaam.. I _do_ know it's not really a happy song, but rather a
>carpe diem. And why must the romance be empty?
'Cos the writer was a coke-head? <g>
Btw, the film-clip - about the survival
and pride of Australian aborigines
against all odds - interprets the words
*very* differently - against the grain, I
thought, but that's me.
Love is frightening. You
>invest so much of your soul in it, the thought of losing the other
>becomes terrifying, even if not based on anything but the insability of
>life in general.
<respectfully> Ooh, that's beautiful.
>> Gan's difficult - even when Bowie is most
>> mainstream, he's not very mainstream :-P
>> Somehow, I'm thinking of "Starman,"
>That fits. "There's a Starman, wating in the sky, he'd like to come nd
>join us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds"... Gan did try to get the
>others on Cygnus Alpha to accept Blake and back his plans.
*Very* good...
>> >Jenna: "Ashes to Ashes" or "Major Tom"
>Ashes to Ashes is kind of a sequel to Major Tom, plus there's an
>anti-drug message, and you know how she felt about Shadow.
I like that. I found Jenna's resistance
to Shadow very cool - the principled
criminal is always an attractive character.
>Maybe also fitting because her character was kept in the background too
>much,
Like most of the intriguing ones...
or a reflection of her feelings about life before Blake's
>rebellion. "I've never done good things. I've never done bad things. I
>never did anything out of the blue."
Excellent. I've never really thought of her
that way - when I think of Jenna's past, I
tend to obsess over her mother - but, yeah,
fame and all, she was just a crim on a bigger
scale than Vila.
>I haven't listened to my Bowie collection often enough lately.
>>
>> John:
>>
>> <<VILA "All the young dudes" >>
>>
>And I am absolutely enchanted with the idea of "Let's Dance" for him,
>now that I listened to it again.
>"And if you say run, I'll run with you.
>And if you say hide, we'll hide..."
LOL.
>> My idea for Cally is probably
>> "Loving the Alien." Not just because
>> it's an irresistibly bad pun, but because
>> I can see her "praying to an empty sky"
>> while fighting for her cause regardless..
>Mine too. I thought of it after my post, and slapped my head for missing
>it earlier.
Repeat comment aboutr great minds.
- XXX Lindley
Ophelia - ophelia@picknowl.com.au
"The girl has beauty, virtue, wit,
Grace, humour, wisdom, charity and pluck."
LONDON CALLING - a list to discuss Britcoms and knockwurst.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2511/knockwurst.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 22:04:03 +0930
From: "Ophelia" <ophelia@picknowl.com.au>
To: "Lysator List" <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Gan
Message-ID: <01bd92d9$b8586040$LocalHost@waltersmith>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Judith points out, compellingly, what
a damned nice and brave person our
poor neglected Gan is. Hmmph. I might
even graciously forgive her clearly misguided
opinion that Vila is only "kind of cute."
He's blanking adorable, womyn. <g>
She adds, re Gan & Horizon:
>It's an interesting exchange. Gan accepts that they might have to open
fire
>with him still on board and he accepts that risk because he wishes to help
>people whom he believes to be in danger.
>
>Would any of the others have volunteered in such a situation?
Speaking for Soolin, not on your
nelly.
Vila, however, would have
gone over in a buzz and saved the
crew single-handedly, sacrificing
his last fur cloak to cloak her last
attacker's bloodstained wounds
as he forgivingly nursed him back
to health. And he wouldn't have
complained about a thing, neither.
- XXX Lindley
Ophelia - ophelia@picknowl.com.au
"The girl has beauty, virtue, wit,
Grace, humour, wisdom, charity and pluck."
LONDON CALLING - a list to discuss Britcoms and knockwurst.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2511/knockwurst.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 09:20:16 EDT
From: AChevron@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-ID: <86b99684.357be511@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
In a message dated 98-06-08 01:56:45 EDT, you write:
<< I'll stop rambling now and go back into lurk mode :)
>>
Please don't! This was a marvoulous defense of an episode I'm rather fond
of. It's another case of where the women in B7 come off better than the men,
whether for evil or good. Would love to see your take on other episodes......
Deborah Rose
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 09:45:20 EDT
From: AChevron@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Fwd: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-ID: <b177315e.357beaf1@aol.com>
Content-type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="part0_897313520_boundary"
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--part0_897313520_boundary
Content-ID: <0_897313520@inet_out.mail.aol.com.1>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
--part0_897313520_boundary
Content-ID: <0_897313520@inet_out.mail.aol.com.2>
Content-type: message/rfc822
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Content-disposition: inline
From: AChevron@aol.com
Return-path: <AChevron@aol.com>
To: rob@amsta.leeds.ac.uk
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 09:40:19 EDT
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
In a message dated 98-06-08 07:20:56 EDT, you write:
<< Terminal was a magnificent end to the
season -- it would have been even more hard-hitting if it had followed
three or four episodes which included at least a token reference to the
search for Blake.
>>
I'm not sure you meant for this to reach me privately; if you intended to
post it on the list, let me know and I'll forward it. It's a very good
'rebuttal' of some of my statements, but you'll forgive me if I answer back a
few of your points.:)
Orac was able to track down Blake using a method never mentioned before, a
couple of years after Blake's disappearance. I suspect that the method is
similar to the one he uses in predicting the DSV's destruction in 'Orac.' This
involves Orac activively influencing the events, in order to lead to the
predicted outcome. I think Avon (and for that matter Blake when he was around)
recognized the dangers of utilizing Orac this way, and avoided it until
temptation and desperation got the better of Orac. immediatley after the war,
no doubt reports of Blake's presence swamped the communications lines. And if
Blake were actually on a primitive planet, without Tariel technology, Orac's
search would not find anything out until too late. I expect that Avon did
check out a few leads from time to time, but we simply don't see them. It's
not like Avon is ready to admit how badly he wants to find Blake, after all
the verbal jousting he did with the man.
Horrific things did happen to Blake, but I can't see blaming Avon et al for
it. In Aftermath, Avon specifically programs Zen to rescue any of the others
who indicate a higher need, indicating a deep concern for them. Given that,
Blake is responcible for his own fate. And Jenna could always have called(with
Blake threatened, she'd do anything, I think, to rescue him). This is a matter
of Blake knowing Avon was looking for him, and avoiding contact until he'd
arranged matters so that the two would meet on Blake's terms. An
understandable attitude. Avon after all has been giving the Federation heck,
while Blake has all but disappeared. The tragedy is that both Blake and Avon
had their pre-concieved notions of what the reunion would be like, and when it
didn't match their expectations, bad things happened.
I agree, the search for Star One worked, but barely, in my eyes. It was
reaching the point of "all right already" when they wisely concluded it. And I
think the end of Terminal is that much more emotional for not having
constantly thrown Blake's name about; at first we wonder what Avon is up to,
then get this sudden insight as to how much Blake means to Avon. Also, if they
had used the chase thread, we would have had to have seen an unconvincing
concern on the part of Dayna and Tarrant for a man they'd never met. Dayna's
loyalties are firmly with Avon, and Tarrant could always have joined the
Resistance prior to Aftermath if he'd really deen of that bend.
Nice talking,m sorry to be so long-winded. As I said, let me know, and I'll
forward the post(and this responce, if you want) to the Lysator list.
Deborah Rose
--part0_897313520_boundary--
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 14:52:00 +0100
From: "Alison Page" <alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk>
To: "Lysator" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-Id: <E0yj2Mv-0006Bf-00@post.mail.demon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I absolutely love the first couple of episodes of B7, and I think Star One
would have been a brilliant final ep if they hadn't had any more. But
nevertheless I think B7 continued to be smashing in the 3rd and 4th
seasons, because it got more 'knowing' - that is the writers and actors and
all started to realise the effect they were having and played up to it.
Now, I like that, though I can understand why others wouldn't.
In fact as a teenager I couldn't believe how these people were playing it
up so blatantly, and it still gives me a thrill. As if they are involving
the audience. It is kind of camp, but an inclusive rather than a 'keep out'
kind of camp. Like 'check this out kids!'
I was watching 'Warlord' on UK gold last week. My companion on that
occasion was saying:
'They could be getting on with all kinds of useful work on the base, but
look - Dayna and Vila are just messing about, Tarrant is off shagging, and
Soolin keeps complaining and sulking'
And that just sums it up for me, why I like it so much.
Alison
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 14:59:23 +0100 (BST)
From: Iain Coleman <ijc@mail.nerc-bas.ac.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season
Message-Id: <Pine.OSF.3.96.980608144434.5354A-100000@bsauasb>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Fri, 5 Jun 1998, Julia Jones wrote:
> In message <Pine.OSF.3.96.980604144630.21881A-100000@bsauasb>, Iain
> Coleman <ijc@mail.nerc-bas.ac.uk> writes
> <heavy snipping>
> >
> >This line might work on Una, but she's weird. I'm afraid I find the
> >Dayna/Justin bit so irredeemably shit that even Jackie Pearce turning it
> >up to 11 in this one cannot save the episode.
>
> It works a bit better if you try and imagine Dayna as Cally. This is one
> of the episodes where it is horribly, horribly obvious that they had
> started writing scripts with the assumption that Cally would still be
> present, and didn't always have time to rewrite properly.
It's also one of those episodes where it's horribly, horribly obvious that
Jan Chappell was a far better actor than Josette Simon. The scripting in
those scenes is bad enough, but the non-performances from Simon and the
guest star whose name has mercifully erased itself from my mind are so
brain-buggeringly awful that I cannot watch them without attempting severe
self-mutilation in a desperate existential cry for aid from an uncaring
cosmos.
>
> And at least if it had been Cally, Justin wouldn't be so obviously
> guilty of the crime Blake was framed with...
If it had been first season Cally, maybe she would have just shot the
tosser and put him and the audience out of their misery.
> >
> >Oh, I _love_ Egrorian. Outrageously OTT, of course, but then he is a mad
> >genius who's been stuck on some remote base for years with only Pindar for
> >company. Is it any wonder he's a bit gaga? Comedy of the grotesque, mate,
> >ye canny whack it.
>
> Ah, but when they were first stuck on that base, pre the Hoffel's
> readiation accident, Pindar's charms were rather more obvious - it isn't
> *quite* spelt out, but it is made fairly obvious that it was not merely
> Pindar's mind that interested Egrorian :)
Not quite spelt out? I thought it was declared in mile-high neon letters
with an accompanying brass band and firework display.
Iain
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 02:11:58 +0930
From: "Ophelia" <ophelia@picknowl.com.au>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season - why??
Message-ID: <01bd92fc$5a863280$38a226cb@waltersmith>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Nice to see some of us speaking up for
the fourth season. It has its frustrations, but it
remains my favourite season, and contains
some of my most-watched episodes -
"Orbit"," "Gold," "Games," "Assassin,"
"Sand," "Warlord."
None of the other seasons have the same
seductively dark atmosphere - our
"heroes" are now more criminals than
heroes, and any "rebellion" they are
putting up is more of an increasingly
random and futile collection of
powerless gestures against their
slowly descending fate. <sighs happily.>
And instead of organising, they run off
on one ill-fated scheme after another, and
spend most of their time bickering. As
Pat beautifully pointed out, by this point
there is *nothing* but grey. Avon and
Soolin in particular are increasingly willing
to select the darkest alternative, too, in
a way not possible with Blake, Gan or
Cally around.
And then they die, stupidly and uselessly,
because they were dumb enough and bad
tempered enough to ignore their own
computer. Beautiful.
And, of course, Cally, who I liked very much
up to S-L-D but who got on my nerves
once she stopped being a suicidal terrorist
and became a caring mystic, was replaced
by the holy one herself. Soolin endlessly
fascinates me - I can watch any episode
in which she gets a moment of sun, simply
concentrating on her complex reactions
and interactions with the crew. And Cally's
death itself sets the tone for the final
series - no noble death like Gan's, urging
Blake on, but a silly misjudgement, a
terrified scream and a meaningless death.
This ain't Star Trek...
One last defence - Assassin is, in my
opinion, a brilliant episode on many
levels. Camp, more of the slavery
system to ponder over, many of Soolin's
best moments, Tarrant and Avon making
prats of themselves because they're
way too gullible about feminine
stereotypes, a high femme bad lady and
a very silly monster. Marvellous.
- XXX Lindley
Ophelia - ophelia@picknowl.com.au
"The girl has beauty, virtue, wit,
Grace, humour, wisdom, charity and pluck."
LONDON CALLING - a list to discuss Britcoms and knockwurst.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2511/knockwurst.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 13:09:30 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] dissertations
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.42-0608120930-ab5Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
In the light of the discussions provoked a few months back by the guy
researching Blake's 7 at university and wanting to contact people who'd worked
on the series etc., I though you might find the reverse situation amusing.
I had a request for help yesterday from someone doing a dissertation on
fanzines. Not that unusual, except that his dad was script editor on the
series.
It's a small world.
Judith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7
Redemption 99 - The Blakes 7/Babylon 5 convention
26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Kent
http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 19:21:24 +0100
From: Julia Jones <Julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] B7L re Avon
Message-ID: <NPcjiLAkuCf1Ew1$@jajones.demon.co.uk>
In message <01bd92dc$9c29fde0$LocalHost@waltersmith>, Ophelia
<ophelia@picknowl.com.au> writes
>Cylan also took the time to write
>(of the techie one):
>
><<But never, under any
>>circumstances has he looked a 'prat'!>>
>
>Oh, but darling, go watch "Assassin"
>and "Power" again and reconsider.
><wink>
Power? What do you mean Power? That's a *wonderful* episode for those of
us who enjoy seeing Avon knocked unconscious, dragged around, slung over
some hulking great brute's shoulder... Is a prat, yes, looks a prat, no.
The plot may be crap, but the visuals are stunning.
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 19:28:25 +0100
From: Julia Jones <Julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season
Message-ID: <Xf3lWNAJ1Cf1EwWn@jajones.demon.co.uk>
In message <Pine.OSF.3.96.980608144434.5354A-100000@bsauasb>, Iain
Coleman <ijc@mail.nerc-bas.ac.uk> writes
>
>
>Not quite spelt out? I thought it was declared in mile-high neon letters
>with an accompanying brass band and firework display.
>
They didn't quite script it as "What a pity Pinder had that little
accident, I don't feel like shagging him any more, but I quite fancy
that bit of stuff you've brought with you." Even if it was blatently
obvious that that was the general idea. It was technically possible for
the BBC to deny that that was what they had intended, it's just the
National Viewers and Listeners Association collective dirty mind.
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 23:26:58 +0100
From: "Alison Page" <alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fourth Season
Message-Id: <E0yjHzj-0006hm-00@post.mail.demon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Julia says -
> They didn't quite script it as "What a pity Pinder had that little
> accident, I don't feel like shagging him any more, but I quite fancy
> that bit of stuff you've brought with you."
Can anybody think of another show where this would be an acceptable plot
line? Particularly the way Vila doesn't mind a bit (until he realises
Egrorian is not only mad and bad but dangerous to know).
Alison
--------------------------------
End of blakes7-d Digest V98 Issue #160
**************************************