From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se
Subject: blakes7-d Digest V99 #318
X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se
X-Mailing-List: <blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se> archive/volume99/318
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 99 : Issue 318
Today's Topics:
[B7L] Re: Why Dystopia?
DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315)
Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Re: DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315)
Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Re: [B7L] Re: Whence Herculanium?
Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Re: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia?
RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
[B7L] Casting the Potter books...
[B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #317
Re: [B7L] Harry Potter
[B7L] last lines
[B7L] Re: Why Dystopia?
[B7L] Cally-related.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 03:49:50 PST
From: "Hellen Paskaleva" <hellen_pas@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia?
Message-ID: <19991112114951.26891.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>Neil, The Happy Chappy, wrote:
> > Trainspotting is grim and bleak and has a downbeat ending,
>
>Una:
>No it doesn't! I find the end of 'Trainspotting' extremely upbeat and
>life-affirming!
Seconded here.
>You're right about the 'Phantom Menace'. Although I think the pod race is
>dull, as well.
Heeyyy, nothing _that_ wrong with Phantom Menace! You even got more space
left for your own imagination. And there was at least one strong character -
Darth Maul's. ;-)
Hellen
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:29:11 -0500
From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315)
Message-ID: <199911121329_MC2-8CCE-AC37@compuserve.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Una wrote in reply to Calle:
> >I like the theory that all the Trek shows are really propaganda
> >broadcasts by the Federation's Ministry of Truth.
>
><mutter mutter> like deep space nine <mutter mutter>
I am getting more and more embroiled in DS9. It took a while to get into
the story arc, but the series currently showing on BBC2 (the penultimate
one?) has an awful lot of oh-my-god stuff and has had me cheering a few
times as they waved the red herring of a happy and constructive solution in
my face and then successfully flung it out of sight.
Though I do like the theory briefly suggested early in the final series
that it's really the fantasy of a dangerous psychiatric patient.
Apparently the final series is so bad I shouldn't be watching, but it's
succeeded to the extent that *I want to know what happens next*. (Yes,
that's a quote, but not remotely SF-related.)
Harriet
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 13:33:24 -0500
From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <199911121333_MC2-8CCE-AC80@compuserve.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Mistral wrote:
>it would appear Herculaneum was another town wiped out with Pompeii?
Oh, Joanne thinks I should answer. So:
Yes. Small town now known as Ercolano. Buried at same time as Pompeii,
but in different way, ie not directly by lava. [Consults OCD] "buried deep
under volcanic ash; the covering solidified to a form of tufa. As a result
the buildings have collapsed more completely than at Pompeii, but having
been more completely sealed, their furnishings are better preserved."
Think they found loaves of bread and stuff. Apparently a wealthy,
residential town, the sort of place whose citizens would think themselves
vastly superior to the Pompeians. A lot of people make out it's more
interesting than Pompeii, because so well preserved and so small it's
easily taken in and comprehended. Not to me - it was so small that ten
people in it felt like a crowd, whereas part of Pompeii's impact was its
size - out of season, a hundred people in it felt like no one at all, and
there was something terribly moving about this enormous ghost city. Or
maybe it's just because I like cities. The stadium was really well
designed, too - someone had put a lot of thought into how to get large
numbers of fans in and out of their seats fairly quickly. Though I've a
vague memory it wasn't in use in the years immediately before the eruption,
the authorities having banned gladiatorial shows after a crowd riot. Bet
Herculaneans wouldn't have been seen dead watching gladiators.
To get back to the point, Herculaneum appears to have been settled by
Greeks at some point, so I presume that the name derives ultimately from
Hercules (Herakles! Herakles! Don't stand for these phony Latinisations!)
And the herculanium of the Liberator is presumably named to indicate
"stronger than other metals in the way that Hercules was stronger than
other men". So the only connection would be that ultimately the names
derive from the same source.
Harriet
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 19:17:40 -0000
From: "Una McCormack" <una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: DS9 (was Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #315)
Message-ID: <04b501bf2d42$b85edf60$0d01a8c0@hedge>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Harriet wrote:
> Una wrote in reply to Calle:
> > >I like the theory that all the Trek shows are really propaganda
> > >broadcasts by the Federation's Ministry of Truth.
> >
> ><mutter mutter> like deep space nine <mutter mutter>
>
> I am getting more and more embroiled in DS9. It took a while to get into
> the story arc, but the series currently showing on BBC2 (the penultimate
> one?)
Yeah, season 6 is on BBC 2 at the moment. Season 7 is currently on Sky.
> has an awful lot of oh-my-god stuff and has had me cheering a few
> times as they waved the red herring of a happy and constructive solution
in
> my face and then successfully flung it out of sight.
Zigackly!
> Though I do like the theory briefly suggested early in the final series
> that it's really the fantasy of a dangerous psychiatric patient.
Oh, that whacked me in the face. Really powerful. I'm going to avoid saying
more for fear of spoiling it for those who haven't seen it yet, as it's
worth seeing cold.
> Apparently the final series is so bad I shouldn't be watching,
No, that isn't fair. It's had more rocky episodes (boring, boring Klingons,
bloody holosuites, that sort of stuff), but the quality of the previous two
seasons was such that there really wasn't a truly dodgy episode throughout
seasons 5 and 6. There has been some astonishing stuff towards the end of
season 7 concerning a - whaddya know! - rebellion, and a character who ends
up leading this rebellion. (Phew! Ob B7!) Stick with it.
Una
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 08:07:01 -0000
From: "Neil Faulkner" <N.Faulkner@tesco.net>
To: "b7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <02e901bf2d4a$65cb10e0$344b8cd4@default>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Joanne wrote:
>>From: mistral@ptinet.net
>>Unhappily I've lent that volume out this week; but it would appear
>>Herculaneum was another town wiped out with Pompeii? Perhaps
>>someone else has the volume I'm missing.
>
><smile> Or you ask Harriet, our resident classical expert. But I do
remember
>it was the another town wiped out by the same eruption of Vesuvius.
And now that you and Mistral have reminded me, I remember too. But I never
made the connection with B7, oddly.
>> > I thought this was a neologism coined for the series
>>Well, it's not listed on my periodic table of elements, although
>>admittedly, the copy I have is fifteen years old.
>
>Simplest explanation, reference to strength of the material the Liberator
>was constructed out of, adapted from the name of the town. If any
>explanation was ever considered, of course. Maybe the town was expected to
>endure and be as strong as the being after it was named, but instead it got
>the volcanic version of the nasty little floating space particles.
It was specifically stated at one point (in DotG, I think) that herculanium
was an alloy rather than an element. More likely the name derived from
Hercules (as it did in the case of the city).
Should the metal be spelt -eum, like the city, or -ium (cf aluminium,
osmium, helium etc - admittedly these are all elements)? I would plump for
the latter myself.
Neil
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 08:32:42 +0000 (GMT)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-1112083242-b49Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
On Fri 12 Nov, Joanne MacQueen wrote:
> <smile> Or you ask Harriet, our resident classical expert. But I do remember
> it was the another town wiped out by the same eruption of Vesuvius.
correct.
>
> > > I thought this was a neologism coined for the series
> >Well, it's not listed on my periodic table of elements, although
> >admittedly, the copy I have is fifteen years old.
>
> Simplest explanation, reference to strength of the material the Liberator
> was constructed out of, adapted from the name of the town. If any
> explanation was ever considered, of course. Maybe the town was expected to
> endure and be as strong as the being after it was named, but instead it got
> the volcanic version of the nasty little floating space particles.
Err... I think the more likely derivation is from Hercules. Herculaneum is
supposed to be as strong as Hercules. Many elements have 'um' at the end so to
invent a new strong element you just go for herculaneum.
Just as an aside, I hate the way sloppy writers ivenet new elements at will.
There are no gaps in the periodic table. The only space for new elements is
after the trans-uranics and that means half-life of less than a millisecond.
There is a possibility of an 'island of stability' some way beyond the
trans-uranics, but stable is a rather relative term and besides, any elements in
this area would not occur naturally.
Why can't writers invent new alloys, compounds, minerals, composites, etc?
JUdith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs,
pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth
Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.nas.com/~lknight )
Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 12:48:23 PST
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <19991112204823.23612.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Jacqueline wrote:
<I always thought it was SF-latin for 'really strong stuff that the bad guys
can pound the hell out of without destroying the ship whenever dramatic
tension required the shields to go down a few scenes ago and we didn't get
around to fixing them yet'.>
Yes, that's the high-tech explanation....
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 21:11:16 -0000
From: "Una McCormack" <una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk>
To: "Lysator List" <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <000a01bf2d52$76c392c0$0d01a8c0@hedge>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Judith wrote:
> Just as an aside, I hate the way sloppy writers ivenet new elements at
will.
The best examples being in 'Sapphire and Steel', presumably?
Una
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 18:21:20 +0000
From: Julia Jones <julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Cc: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <OxqzJJAgqFL4EwTq@jajones.demon.co.uk>
In message <19991112112007.81355.qmail@hotmail.com>, Hellen Paskaleva
<hellen_pas@hotmail.com> writes
>I've always assumed, that 'herculanium' is some kind of alloy, not by all
>means metal-based one, though. May be it is even on sub-atomic level, like
>the 'magnetic bottles', used in the cyclotrons and it requires energy source
>to function. This would explain how it protects successfully the ship from
>enemy's blasters (or whatever).
Whereas I've always assumed that herculanium is an allotrope of
plotdevicium, dreamed up by someone with no understanding of the
periodic table...
Yes, I know, write out one hundred times, "I must not be as cynical as
my hero..."
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 09:28:35 +1100
From: Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <19991113092835.B943@welkin.apana.org.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Fri, Nov 12, 1999 at 08:54:14AM +0100, Jacqueline Thijsen wrote:
> I always thought it was SF-latin for 'really strong stuff that the bad guys
> can pound the hell out of without destroying the ship whenever dramatic
> tension required the shields to go down a few scenes ago and we didn't get
> around to fixing them yet'.
Agreed, with the additional note that it's probably named after
*Hercules*, and not the town Herculaneum.
--
_--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
/ \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat
\_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h"
v |
------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere
Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 09:21:41 +1100
From: Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia?
Message-ID: <19991113092141.A943@welkin.apana.org.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Thu, Nov 11, 1999 at 03:05:34PM -0700, Ellynne G. wrote:
>
[stuff about Empire Strikes Back being distopian]
> And the ambiguity that slips in about the 'good guys,' not just Luke. A
> TNG character would say, "Oh, well, the bad guys arrived right before we
> did and had a gun to Lando's head. It's not like there are any hard
> feelings."
Except Worf, he'd be pissed off - <sarcasm> but then he's an alien and
never really properly assimilated Good Human Values. </sarcasm>
> It suddenly hit me that Avon would fit in that universe even if he can't
> levitate a lightsaber. And that there's an idea even more earthshaking
> than Vader's revelation: Avon and Mara Jade.
Um, who is Mara Jade?
> >I think any utopian set-up has to carry with it an implicit conformity
> >to
> >some universal set of values which are accepted and followed without
> >question, whether they reflect real world values or not.
> >
> Good point. And TNG doesn't _have_ core values. Except that they can
> accept practically anything including ritual suicide and vendetta murders
> if they're done with the right attitude.
(Bravo! Well said! Applause.)
Except that the "right attitude" *is* their core values. Political
correctness and tolerance of anything that isn't personally
threatening are their core values. Or maybe I should say, tolerance
of anything done by foriegners and aliens. Pakleds can steal all they
want from other races and they'll just get a puzzled "Why don't they
wait until they evolve into something smarter?". But Pakleds steal
their engineer and they actually have to do something about it.
Eventually.
Remarks like the one above hint that Federation culture is
evolutionist (the belief that all races and cultures naturally evolve
into something "better" - without actually defining what "better" is).
Other remarks hint that atheism is the dominant (if not only) belief
within Starfleet, if not the Federation at large.
Wheras Blake's 7 culture is probably pretty much atheist (deduced from
Blake's remark about the destruction of churches) one can also figure
that it isn't atheist from empty-headed tolerance, but by active
opression. The Blake's 7 Federation isn't tolerant at all. For those
who support the Federation, the order and law of it is probably what
appeals.
Which is an interesting question about the Trek Federation - what sort
of a law system would they have which fairly reflects the excessive
tolerance of their culture?
--
_--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
/ \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat
\_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h"
v |
------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere
Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 01:26:39 +0100
From: Jacqueline Thijsen <jacqueline.thijsen@cmg.nl>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: RE: Re [B7L] Whence Herculanium?
Message-ID: <39DCDDFD014ED21185C300104BB3F99F8A06D4@NL-ARN-MAIL01>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Kathryn wrote:
>
> Agreed, with the additional note that it's probably named after
> *Hercules*, and not the town Herculaneum.
Well, the town was named after Hercules, so even if it was named after the
town, it would still indirectly be named after the guy.
Jacqueline
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 20:30:59 -0700
From: Helen Krummenacker <avona@jps.net>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Casting the Potter books...
Message-ID: <382CDB72.6227@jps.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> >Lean, large-nosed men with dark
> >hair. I would definitely cast Paul to play the Potions master.
>
> Gareth for Dumbledore? I've got some re-reading to do, haven't I? <smile>
I agree with Judith, he'd be very good for it.
Allan (my husband) has suggested Brian Blessed for Hagrid.
Wouldn't Jan make an excellent Sybill Trelawney? (Tripe, Sybill?)
Throw a red wig on Jacqueline for Mrs. Weasley.
And Steven Pacey, well, there's Lockhart. <g>
--Avona
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 20:34:35 -0700
From: Helen Krummenacker <avona@jps.net>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V99 #317
Message-ID: <382CDC4A.79E6@jps.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> One is the Last Lines game -
> think of a suitable line to end a long-running TV show, or in B7's case a
> particular episode.
>
Terminal:
Avon: "I don't care if Vila remembered Orac, what about my teddy?!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:12:28 -0700
From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Harry Potter
Message-ID: <19991112.215736.9958.0.Rilliara@juno.com>
Snape: Avon
Albus: Blake
McGonagal (I'm sure I spelled it wrong, but I loaned my book out) :Cally
Hagrid: Gan
Pettigrew: Vila
Quisel: Also Vila
Sirius Black: Avon
Mr. Dursley: Travis I
Dudley: Travis II
Mrs. Dursley: Problem: Did any unattractive blondes with long, skinny
necks ever appear on B7? If not, go with the blondeness and say Jenna
Ellynne
___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:20:36 -0700
From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] last lines
Message-ID: <19991112.215736.9958.1.Rilliara@juno.com>
The Way Back:
Blake: No, I'm coming back.
Guard: Oh, no, you had a chance to buy a two way ticket before you got
on. No exchanges. You'll just have to pay the full return fare like the
rest of them.
Space Drive:
Avon: Who?
Dayna: Oh, great, I thought you were over the concussion and the memory
problems.
Avon: If you'd been knocked out as many times as I have . . . . what were
we talking about?
Blake:
"Oopsie,"
Ellynne
___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 22:37:24 -0700
From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Why Dystopia?
Message-ID: <19991112.223731.9958.2.Rilliara@juno.com>
On Sat, 13 Nov 1999 09:21:41 +1100 Kathryn Andersen
<kat@welkin.apana.org.au> writes:
>On Thu, Nov 11, 1999 at 03:05:34PM -0700, Ellynne G. wrote:
>>
>[stuff about Empire Strikes Back being distopian]
>
: Avon and Mara Jade.
>
>Um, who is Mara Jade?
>
Mara was a character introduced in the books. Personally, I think only
Timothy Zahn did a good job with her. Her history was a bit complex but,
although you wouldn't call her evil, she had worked for the Emperor on
various missions, including assasinations (she had complex reasons for
supporting the status quo). She was sarcastic and cynical in a way Avon
might have really appreciated.
Overgrown boy scout (if they had such things in Star Wars) would have
been the nicest thing she might have said about Luke. I don't know what
she would have said about Blake, but it would have pointed enough to make
even Avon stand up and take notice.
>Except that the "right attitude" *is* their core values. Political
>correctness and tolerance of anything that isn't personally
>threatening are their core values.
And it's such a one way street. When did you ever hear Picard say they
couldn't contact an alien race because they were too advanced for the
Federation to deal with?
And they have such silly ways of showing the 'primitives' fall apart
(primitive being anyone who doesn't have toys as nice as theirs--another
Star Trek core value: only those with really good toys get to play). One
alien wandered into Ten Forward, the Enterprise bar, and his worldview
collapsed, leading to suicide. Now, can you honestly see anyone on B7
doing this? Other than Vila, if he found himself trapped in a universe
where they don't serve liquor?
Ellynne
___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 14:39:40 +0200 (EET)
From: Kai V Karmanheimo <karmanhe@cc.helsinki.fi>
To: Blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Cally-related.
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.20.9911131430460.12073-100000@kruuna.Helsinki.FI>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Hello
Prompted by recent posts discussing Cally, I put down a few thoughts
more-or-less relating to her :
1. What's Revenge Got to Do with It?
I don't see any conflict between Cally's comment about "companions to my
death" in "Time Squad" and her morals during the third season. Besides
Blake, Cally was the only one of the original crew who was prepared to
fight for someone else's freedom from the word go. She risked exile from
her own world to fight for another (and "dying for" is usually found in
very small print under "fighting for", even if no one who signs the
contract ever believes it will really come to that). That should count as
some measure of dedication to the cause ("another idealist", I hear
someone groan). By the time of "Time Squad", she is alone (something the
Auronar are not too happy about) with all her comrades dead, she is stuck
in a hostile planet and couldn't go back home even if she had the means to
do so. Her only options are to stay clear of Federation security (if they
believe that all the fighters are dead), hiding until she starves or dies
of old age (a lifetime alone, again not an endearing thought to an
Auronar), or failing that, fight them, in which case they will certainly
hunt her down and kill her. It is not a question of whether she will die,
but rather how and when she will die. If she attacks the complex, she will
certainly cause damage, possibly even take out the reactor before she is
killed. That way her death will have at least served some purpose by
damaging Federation's stronghold on the planet and eliminating some of its
enforcers. A small hindrance perhaps, but at least closer to her original
brief than what dying alone in the hills would accomplish. Revenge doesn't
have to play a major part in her decision (though of course in a situation
like that, noble ideals tend to lose their appeal; just think how numerous
the people who believed in "thou shalt not kill" and still ended up strewn
across the innumerable battlefields with their dead hands clenched around
their equally dead enemies' throats), but if it does, at least it wont be
"a pointless revenge, it doesn't achieve anything", like she would later
accuse Avon of seeking. Death ... but first cheech.
In "Seek-Locate-Destroy", she would have had the chance to avenge her
torture on Travis (I don't think Blake would have gone out of his way to
stop her, just because of someone who "doesn't matter enough to kill"),
but first chose not to shoot a (seemingly) helpless man, and when Travis
did give her a reason, still failed to kill him. I don't think she is that
kill happy here, not wanting to kill anyone in cold blood. That doesn't
prevent her from thinking that if you want to share your life with your
friends, you might as well share your death with your enemies.
2. The Changing Seasons of Cally
Cally's character did undergo change during the three season she was on,
from the warrior of "Time Squad" to the kind of moral conscience of the
group in some of the third season episodes. It's always nice to see some
character development (episodic television is an ideal place to for it,
but rarely manages to do it convincingly), even if it doesn't necessarily
go the way you want it to go, and I think Cally's change is justifiable.
At the beginning of season two, Cally is still very much attached to
Blake's freedom-or-bust ideology, as it's with Cally that Blake discusses
his strategies and gets most support from ("Weapon"; "Pressure Point"), as
opposed to Jenna whose dedication is primarily to Blake himself and not
the dream he's fighting for (which is why he discusses more personal
things with Jenna). Though she still believes in Blake in "Trial", some
doubts have begin to emerge. In "Star One", the epic culmination of the
"Blake-era", she is the only one to point out the moral dilemma of risking
what could be labelled as genocide by destroying Star One (with a sudden
simultaneous breakdown of just about every larger computerised function in
over 200 worlds, many which are probably completely dependant of them,
could well mean a death toll of millions, with entire civilisations wiped
out by flooding, famine, loss of life support etc.). I think this scene
nicely represents how not only she, but how the whole series has evolved
from the rather simplified beginning. After all, Blake himself has changed
from his more idealistic, "power back with the honest man" roots to
someone seemingly driven by the raw need to just get the enemy slain, to
prove that it was the whole world that had it wrong, not him.
The third season Cally has gone through the Intergalactic War, and seen
the fight for freedom fail despite all the effort and sacrifices. I think
being hot on revenge and other violent action has understandably
lost its taste for her. With Avon now in command of the Liberator and not
interested in risking his neck to smite any tyrants, there is no room for
much rebel rousing, anyway. Stuck on the Liberator with no cause, no home
to go back to and probably no other safe place in the galaxy, surrounded
by people she might not relate to all that well (excepting possible
attraction to Avon), her feelings must be accurately described by her
comment in "Sarcophagus" : "Why not? It's something else to chase" (a
sentiment that seems to describe the whole confusion of the third
season). Having her shout down the Vila, Tarrant and Dayna when they
are orbiting Shrinker like buzzards is one of my favourite moments in
"Rumours of Death". Again, if you want to enjoy being immoral, someone has
to first point out that you are so. Cally handles this task well.
3. Avon & Cally
Avon's and Cally's relationship is ambiguous, but I think there was some
mutual - but necessarily simultaneous - attraction. There are two
interesting pre-third season moments when Avon seems to be showing
something : his reaction towards Cally's going down and disappearance in
"Horizon" and his sudden "She's more human than I am" in "Shadow",
delivered without obvious sarcasm or his usual gusto, almost like he was
talking to himself. Her demise in "Rescue" certainly makes Avon colder and
contributes the fourth season's increasing sense of hopelessness and
cascading violence.
4. The Trouble with Trust
Finally, the reason why Cally and Gan seem to be the two members of the
original crew that are somewhat apart from the rest has to do with
trust. They're much inclined to trust people without questioning (Vila in
"Trial" : "[Gan] wasn't always expecting to be cheated and double-crossed,
not like us. He trusted people, he trusted Blake completely."; Cally in
"Mission to Destiny" : "My people have a saying : a man who trusts can
never be betrayed, only mistaken."), which makes their thinking more
straight-forward, naive even when compared to Blake's subtle manipulation
and awareness of all the Byzantine machinations around him, Avon's
paranoid distrust of anything outside himself, Vila's highly refined
pessimism and self-delusion and Jenna's betrayal-tempered caution ("I
don't trust unless I'm trusted in return"), and their use of language less
intricate. Instead of elaborate put-downs or Avon's downright destructive
use of language, they seem to focus more on uniting and defusing (though
less skilfully than Blake does when he is in the mood), rather than
dividing and provocation. All this tends to make them less memorable
characters (the lion's share of the most memorable and easily-quotable
one-liners goes to Avon and Vila), but I think their presence is vital to
the charm the original crew had (and was never matched by the later
incarnations). Diversity and contrast make for a much more interesting
group interaction.
As a final note, if the Federation had fallen, I think I would rather see
the task of trying to create something more humane from the ruins of a
dictatorship fall to people like Cally and Gan, rather than Avon and
Vila. However, in wartime trust doesn't seem to be a survival trait, and
it certainly wasn't for either of them. Then again, considering Blake's
and Avon's undoing on Gaudea Prime, neither is distrust...
And now I've rambled long enough.
Kai Karmanheimo
--------------------------------
End of blakes7-d Digest V99 Issue #318
**************************************