B7 Re-Watch: Redemption

                  Redemption

Where can I watch it?

http://youtu.be/xJYCx5bFUCY

Synopsis:

Season 2 picks up right where season 1 left off. Blake is busy analyzing Orac's prediction trying to find a way to prevent it. He enlists Avon's grudging help. I say grudging because systems are starting to act up on Liberator beginning with the long range sensors. Avon casually points out that the location of the ships destruction can be ascertained from the background of the video. All they have to do is never go there and everything will be A ok. Because it's just that easy. 

Remember those malfunctions? Well it's not going to be that easy. The ship has more malfunctions than a new Windows update including taking off at full speed across the galaxy. At the same time tiny hypodermic needles attack them. 

Resistance is futile. You will be inoculated. 

The alien ships manage to knockout most of the ships systems before boarding. The crew is easily incapacitated and the ship is captured. It turns out their attackers are the Liberators builders The System. At which point they take Deep Space Vehicle 1, their name for Liberator, home. 

Again with the sexual symbolism guys?

Who is the System? I'm still not completely sure honestly. We do learn that they are a highly computerized, technologically advanced race from a tiny little star system. No really. We learn that there are only three planets on their system. Now, with such limited resources we're expected to believe that they're churning out ships like Liberator. Sure. Oh, they also look like angry space pixies. 

I've got your fairy dust right here. 

They take time to interrogate, some would call it torture, members of the Blake. The rest of the crew is locked in seperate cells to contemplate their fate. Luckily Vila has magic powers and picks the lock with no tools whatsoever. 

Blake's O face. 

Blake meets a slave of the System who gives him what little information we learn about the System. He helps them escape back to Liberator and of course gets killed in the process. Hey, that's just what we do in B7. 

The system slave retirement plan is shite but the dental plan is excellent. 

Liberator blasts off but the System's ships are in hot pursuit. DSV2 is launched to pursue them and the rebel crew decides that they just can't win and might as well give up. Blake is in a tizzy trying to facilitate an escape but the crew is feeling particularly nihilistic today. 

Although honestly this chick would scare me silly too. It's the snake eyes. They mesmerize you. 

Luckily Orac saves the day by blowing up DSV2 and therefore keeping his prophecy from being invalidated. He's still a D bag however. 

Who left the oven on?

The crew makes good their escape and never again shall we hear of the system. Next up is Shadow. A story of drugs, betrayal and rebellion. 

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed Redemption quite a lot but would have liked more out of it. I think several questions never get answered that should have been. As I've been asking, how does Zen know so much about the Federation? Who was the System fighting when Liberator was originally abandoned? What took them song to come looking for it? These are things that could have been explored better I think. Still, what we do get is a pretty good story.

Rating: 4 out of 5. 

Memorable Quote:

Vila: When you get Zen working, ask him to prescribe something for a headache, will you? I've got this shocking pain right behind the eyes.

Avon: Have you considered amputation?

Coffee of the Day:

Tully's Hawaiian Blend. Good blend. Medium roast. Not as good as the Community French Roast but a nice change of pace. 

B7 Re-Watch: Season One Roundup

Series Overview:

Originally running from 1978-1981 the show was pitched as a combination Dirty Dozen/Robin Hood in space. It featured the eponymous Blake and his motley crew of criminals as they fought against the despotic Federation. 

The Ship:

Liberator

Liberator is a large, extremely advanced alien warship. The crew lucks into its possession and it becomes their most capable weapon in their war for freedom. 

Zen

Zen is the main computer of the Liberator. He is extremely knowledgable but prone to refusing to aid the rebels when they least expect it. 

The Crew:

Blake

A political dissident who is framed with heinous crimes and deported to Cygnus Alpha. 

Avon

Computer genius and highly functioning sociopath. He clashed constantly with Blake. 

Jenna

Smuggler and expert pilot she often serves as the voice of reason. 

Cally

A telepathic alien she was the final survivor of a resistance cell. Rescued by the crew she becomes a crucial member. 

Vila

Thief. Lock pick. Coward. 

Gan

A gentle giant who is restrained from acting violently by his limiter. 

Orac

Genius computer. Complete tool. 

The Villains:

The Federation

Servelan

Supreme Commander of the space force. 

Travis

Space Commander. Psychopath. 

The story thus far:

Framed for crimes he didn't commit Blake is deported to the penal colony Cygnus Alpha. En route he and his not so merry band escape aboard the Liberator. Waging a guerrilla war against the vast and Totalitarian Federation they continually match wits against Servelan and Travis. Along the way they find new tools such Orac. The show garnered a reputation for handling relatively dark subject matter. The final scene of the first season showed Orac predicting the destruction of the Liberator. 

Best to Worst:

1. Seek-Locate-Destroy

2. The Way Back

3. Cygnus Alpha

4. Orac

5. Mission to Destiny

6. Space Fall

7. Duel

8. Project Avalon

9. Bounty

10. Deliverance

11. Time Squad

12. Breakdown 

13. The Web 

B7 Re-Watch: Orac

Where can I watch it?

http://youtu.be/JpsnKdNIvmU

Synopsis:

Orac picks up where Deliverance left off. Blake is reviewing the footage of Ensor's ship crashing. He and Avon realize that it was the victim of sabatoge. Deciding that whatever Orac is they should get to it before the federation does they head off to rescue Ensor's daddy Ensor Sr. 

Servelan and Travis are already on their way however and arrive shortly before the Liberator does. Luckily for all involved Ensor has constructed a very large, very powerful force field around his base. This forces the evil duo to take the longest through underwater passages. The passages were seemingly built by long dead natives however an race of amphibians is evolving to take their place. 

Back on the Liberator we have learned that the landing party from Deliverance is suffering from radiation poisoning. No big deal we'll take anti radiation meds. Except that's the ONE THING they don't have on board. Hoping to trade power cells for the necessary drugs they've raced to find Ensor.

When they arrive at Aristo, Ensor's planet, Zen is taken over by an outside force that gives coordinates for teleport. Upon teleporting down Blake and Cally are confronted by a drone. 

Who really got Bin Laden?

The good guys are disarmed and taken to meet Ensor who is the typical mad scientist. He mixes up colors. Or is that spelled colours? Cuts people off. Typical genius stuff. He's upset about his sons death in a ho hum kinda way. But of course he has the drugs they need and agrees to leave with them to have his new power packs installed. 

Mad scientist? Check. Power pack for a heart? Check. Tony Stark eat your heart out. 

Now, has Blake picked up a doctor between episodes? Nope. Not even one in a blue box. They'll just ask Orac to talk them through the procedure. What is Orac? We finally learn about Orac. He is apparently a super computer that can hack any computer built using Tariel cells which are another of Ensor's inventions. Since Ensor is the Steve Jobs of his day every computer has Tariel cells. You can see how this might be beneficial. The question to me is how did Orac take over Zen if he doesn't use Tariel cells?

It also doubles as a Christmas ornament. 

Ok. I digress. The baddies arrive so the trio make a dash for it back through the caves. You know, instead of ambushing and shooting them. Sigh. At one point Blake sends Cally and Ensor ahead while he tries to cause a cave in. With his bare hands. Heaven forbid he grab his gun on the way out the door. Or they deploy the freaking drone. 

Of course Ensor dies before they escape because they have to fill the daily quota and since they won't kill Travis or Servelan he was really the only choice. None of that stops them from taking Orac and heading for the surface. Too bad they are ambushed by the bad guys.  It seems that tactics are only used by bad people. Yeah. 

It's a good thing Avon has stuck around. Realizing that things must have gone wrong he forces Vila to suit up and they teleport down to the rescue. He blows up Travis' laser hand just as he's about to kill Blake. See Blake? Avon can remember his freaking side arm and he's got like all the cancer by this point. Too bad he was actually aiming for Travis' head and just missed. 

They leave Servelan and Travis alive, again, but not before mocking them and head back to the Liberator. This is starting to reach Batman/Joker levels of ridiculousness. Just cap the guy and call it a day. Sheesh. They unbox Orac and learn that he is just as rude as Ensor. But he can apparently make predictions. When they finally goad him into making one he predicts the Liberators destruction. 

Is it too late to get our money back?

Final Thoughts:

And that wraps up season 1. Not a bad ending. I have a few minor quibbles with some characters actions but overall a nice episode. We have a race to get Orac before the Feds do compounded with an illness from last episode. The continuity has been fairly tight throughout this season. Once we finally get Orac we get a nice little cliffhanger for season 2. 

In the next several days I'm going to finish my season 1 roundup. Afterwards I'll most likely do a one off review of something unrelated just to change gears a little bit. Then it will be back for the season 2 premier Redemption where we will finally get a few answers about Liberator. Stay tuned!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Memorable Quote:

Vila: Die? I can't do that!

Avon: I'm afraid you can. It's the one talent we all share, even you.

Coffee of the Day:

Gevalia dark roast. Oh. My. Gosh. It's everything you could hope for in a gourmet dark roast. The K-Cups were like $12 a pack, so not cheap, but delicious. 

B7 Re-Watch: Deliverance

                      Deliverance

Where can I watch it?

http://youtu.be/_N_1rbJkvKU

Synopsis:

This episode starts off with a bang. Literally. The opening shot is of a small craft in space. There are two occupants onboard who very soon make a rapid exit when it explodes. 

Something about the rockets firing too soon. I dunno. It's late. 

The Liberator just happens to be in the area and sees them go down. Avon, Gan, Villa and Jenna go down to look for survivors. One died on impact and the other is very badly wounded. They teleport him back aboard only to discover that Jenna is missing. Yeah, they have a horrible record of keeping up with female crew members.

Oops. My bad. 

It's that tramps turn to get caught anyway. Don't bother me while I update my iCloud. 

Back on the planet we see that she has been captured by cavemen. The landing party goes back down only to be attacked themselves. Luckily they are rescued by a young woman in a diaphanous gown. I just wanted to use that word. That there is an SAT word. 

This old thing? I picked it up at the Renn Fair.

For some convoluted reason she thinks Avon is a god. That makes two of them. She is waiting for him to launch a rocket containing essentially embryos to colonize a new world. A reference is made to the similar technology from Time Squad. A nice little throwback there. 

Back on the Liberator the survivor, Ensor, awakens and takes Cally hostage demanding that they take him to his father who is dying. Obviously a wounded man is more than a match for Blake and Cally. They're only hardened criminals after all. 

Hold it or the Auron buys it!

Avon and Co rescue Jenna, always tied up isn't she, and they even manage to fire off a rocket before they go. They then proceed to leave said young woman alone on a dying planet and teleport back up. In the interim Ensor has died saving Blake from having to kill him. 

There is a brief subplot where we see Servelan bring Travis back into the fold and explain her master plan. Ensor was named after his father, Ensor Sr, who needs new power packs for his heart. Kinda like Iron Man. Too bad Ensor is a brilliant scientist who has created something called Orac. What is Orac? We don't have a clue yet. But she wants it and she refuses to pay for it. So she sabotaged Juniors ship to kill him and hopefully let daddy die before she swoops in. 

All of this leads us into the season Finale Orac. The race will soon be on to retrieve the whatever it is. Stay tuned for the finale review and the season one roundup. 

Final Thoughts:

Overall I was a little let down honestly. Avon and his team were armed the whole time but never took a shot at the attacking Neanderthals? That just seems far out of character for Avon at least. And it just seemed to ramble a little bit. Never mind the weak subplot about his holiness Avon the wise or whatever his title is. Let's hope the second part redeems this one a little. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5. 

Memorable Quote:

Nothing. It was so weak it didn't have a memorable quote. 

Coffee of the Day:

Jack Daniels. Two knuckles worth. I'm hoping it helps kill what ever is in my chest and throat. 

B7 Re-Watch: Bounty

                     Bounty

Where can I watch it?

http://youtu.be/9MIb0FqCWao

Synopsis:

Bounty is a little confusing so I'm going to try to keep it concise. The story falls more or less into two parts. The confusion is that the first part has two stories running simultaneously. 

The first story involves Blake and Cally teleporting down to a planet to rescue Sarkhoff the exiled president of Lindor. Once upon a time the Federation rigged an election to have him ousted. They've been biding time to use him to create a civil war and then have "peacekeeping" forces take control. 

Leopard print guerrilla fighting costumes are so last season. 

Luckily Blake learned of the Lindor Strategy when they captured the cypher machine. He has come to rescue Sarkhoff and throw off the plans. But first he must fight through a horde of troopers and convince the president to actually leave his exile. 

Why would I leave? I have the latest technology for everything. 

Meanwhile, on the Liberator Avon and the rest discover a ship in distress. They fear that it's a trap so Gan teleports over to check it out. Because that's the smartest move possible. Of course it's a trap and one by one they're all captured. 

I told you to stop and ask for directions. 

Blake and his team, including the President and his daughter, make a daring escape in a Gatsby era car. They're teleported up at the last second only to be captured by space pirates. 

Nothing racist here at all. 

The crew are locked up with explosives on their necks. The only one left free is Jenna who knew the pirate from before and seemingly switched sides. The real twist is that Sarkhoff hired the pirates to get rid of Blake. Uhm, what? His daughter is pissed that he has given up. Vila, being Vila, manages to get the explosives off just as Jenna makes her move to rescue them. 

Oh yeah, right there. 

The pirates are all killed and Sarkhoff, with a newfound sense of purpose, is teleported back down to Lindor. What happens from there we'll never know. 

Final Thoughts:

It's an ok episode. It's better than Breakdown but only by a little. A few plot holes. Why wouldn't Blake just teleport directly into Sarkhoffs quarters. We've seen them do that before. And how did Sarkhoff arrange for the trap? 

Even with a few holes it was worth watching. We get a tiny glimpse into Jenna's past. Next up the Deliverance, part one of the two part season finale. Sorry this review was really short. I haven't felt well and it's hard to be witty with a head full of gunk. 

Rating: 3 out of 5

Memorable Quote:

Vila: I don't want data, I want to know what's happening.

Zen: It will be necessary for you to make a personal investigation.

Vila: Oh, you're a big help. Personal investigation... Personal investigation... The next time Avon wants to make a personalinvestigation on how you work I shall make a personal point of handing him the instruments. Personally.

Coffee of the Day:

The darkest roast I could get my hands on. I think it was Star Bucks. I just grabbed the closest thing and stuck it in the Keurig. 

B7 Re-Watch: Breakdown

                 Breakdown

Where can I watch it?

http://youtu.be/NVw3PWD-Haw

Synopsis:

We made it all the way to episode ten before Terry Nation and crew realized that they had invested close to zero percent of their work into Gan. Of course something had to be done. And by something we mean they slapped together a story where Gan goes nuts. 

Everyone went to space and all I got was this lousy episode. 

We open on the flight deck of the Liberator where Gan is standing watch. Alone. Seriously, who leaves Gan alone on the flight deck? Of course just as things go wrong in space things go wrong in Gans head. Ie, with his limiter. Jenna comes in to save the day and winds up being body slammed for her troubles. 

Gan is the strongest there is!

Blake rides to the rescue only to get more pro wrestling moves used on him. Lucky for him the rest of the crew arrives to save him. And by rest of the crew I mean Cally and Avon since Vila gets tossed aside like a used hanky. 

Realizing that his limiter is acting up they take him to the surgery unit. Of course seeing as how none of them are surgeons they settle for strapping him to the table, over Cally's objections, and start working on plan B. 

Redrum! Redrum!

They start querying Zen on the closest neurosurgeons who can fix Gan. Again, has no one thought to ask how Zen, an alien computer, could possibly know so much about the Federation? Nothing is close enough until Avon recommends XK-72 a mobile laboratory. It's the closest as the space crow flies. Except Zen refuses to fly straight there claiming that there is a forbidden area between them and XK-72. Of course the all knowing computer has to be wrong so they chance it. And what should they find?

THE RED SWIRLY THING OF DOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

Except, it's more of a mild inconvenience than a threat. Yeah. Moving along. The only real danger is when Cally let's Gan loose. 

Cally, you ignorant slut. 

They get to XK-72 without further trouble and the kind doctor there is quick to teleport over to the strange spaceship to help. He asks for his assistant to join him who is instantly infatuated with Cally. And then Jenna. And pretty much any woman he sees. It must be a real celibate job at the ole XK. 

Looks like a sausage Fest to me. 

This is when we learn that the surgeon is secretly a douchebag after all. Just when our world view was about to be rocked. He has informed the Federation that Blake is there and holds off on the surgery to keep them in place until patrol ships get there. Vila is the first to realize what's going on and confronts the doctor with a sidearm. 

It's interest that when the ship was in danger he was ready to turn back. Now that his friend is in immediate danger he's willing to go to any lengths to save him. Avon returns from the station where he was considering staying. It's interesting that when the others are in danger he comes running despite his protests that he only looks out for number one. 

Blake is finally appraised of the situation and he gives the surgeon, who's name I honestly cannot remember, an ultimatum. Finish the surgery in time for us to escape or I destroy your hands. Your precious delicate surgeons hands. 

Of course the surgery is a success and the two surgeons teleport back across. Just in time for said surgeon to finally snap and kill the station commander with his bare, beautiful hands of a surgical god. 

Omg! I have ten beautiful fingers! They are glorious. 

Too bad in the ensuing battle a stray plasma bolt blows XK-72 to hell. Which is in Jersey as far as I'm concerned. 

The crew flies off into space smiling and laughing. Except for Avon of course. Ever the pragmatist all he can focus on is the loss of a resource. 

Hahahaha! Those poor dead bastards!

Final Thoughts:

There are worse episodes. Let me start with that. This isn't as bad as the Web, but it's still a let down. The halfhearted attempt to throw in a Gan episode just doesn't really work. It's disjointed and sloppy. There are some good scenes and the dialogue, as always, carries the show but it still could have been better. There are a few dark moments buried in there though that do ring kinda true. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Memorable Quote:

Avon to Vila: Why do you stay with Blake?

Vila: I like him. 

Avon: That's not a reason. 

Vila: It is for me. Especially since I have no where else to go. 

Coffee of the Day:

More Starbucks French Roast. I've been really digging a good French roast lately it seems. Especially when I'm as tired as I was this morning. 

B7 Re-Watch: Project Avalon

Where can I watch it?

http://youtu.be/ZQ2t6Uyt-jA

Synopsis:

The episode starts on an ice planet. No, not Hoth. Another one. Travis and a Mutoid are meeting a resistance fighter looking to make a deal. The Mutoid is played by Glynnis Barber who, in true BBC fashion, goes on to play a series regular later. 

Just biding my time till these other tramps buy it. 

Travis is planning to capture a resistance leader named Avalon. In and of herself she'd be a prize target but in this case she's a stepping stone to get to Blake. Blake who is on his way to meet with her. Federation forces capture Avalon and butcher her resistance cell. 

Travis takes her back to their base and prepares to torture her for information. Amidst their conversation we get an idea both of the size of the Feferation and the scope of the rebellion. Avalon claims that thirty planets have broken off from the Federation. 

"Interrogation". Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Servelan arrives in all of her grandeur bragging about the assassination attempts in her life. It's revealed that not only is this an elaborate ruse to take out Blake but also capture the Liberator. A special disease has been cooked up that kills everything, including itself, in less than a minute. 

Meanwhile Blake and Jenna teleport down to the meeting site to find the recent massacre. One lone little resistance fighter survived and almost shoots them by mistake. Imagine the bitter irony if Blake had been killed by someone on his side. They realize that Abalon has been captured and decide to rescue her. Unfortunately they have to do it without help from above. 

The Liberator is driven out of orbit by approaching pursuit ships leaving them stranded. All still part of Travis' plan. While the Liberator bravely runs away Blake, Jenna and the surviving fighter break into the base. During the rescue we get to see Jenna play bad ass very convincingly. 

Barbarella can eat her heart out!

Yes, that's really what their guns look like. I won't lie though, I love em. They're at least unique. Our little rebel oddly enough has a Vietnam Era M1. No wonder they want to ban them. They're so effective people will be using them to rebel with on distant planets. Or they just needed a cheap prop that wouldn't be readily recognizable to a 1970s British public. 

They make good their escape just as the Liberator returns to scoop them up. Unfortunately this is still all to plan. On board Blake realizes that a captured blaster has been rigged to be non lethal. The surviving rebel is found dead and Avalon is discovered to be an android double. 

An android or what British men thought women's brains looked like. 

The crew stops her before she can release the disease and return to save Avalon. The real one this time. Travis is left in disgrace and the rebels escape. Again. And Avalon, the most effective rebel leader we've met, is never seen again. That's what she gets for making Blake look bad!

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this episode. We get to see several things that I feel are important. One, Avalon states that at least thirty worlds have rebelled against the Federation. That's a large chunk of planets which implies that rebellion is fairly widespread. The fact that the Federation still has overwhelming force means they still have a vast number of planets still under their control. 

We learn that Avalon has personally started resistance movements on a dozen worlds. Honestly I vote that we ditch Blake and give her the Liberator. Her track record is far and away better. 

So, a few rough patches here and there but as a whole pretty good. I hadn't actually seen this one and I enjoyed it. They're playing up the whole Robin Hood in space fairly well. If Blake is Robin then that makes Servelan the sherrif and Travis Guy of Gisbourne and they play those roles well. I like seeing Travis as a cunning, remorseless enemy. Only four more episodes left in this season. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Memorable Quote:

Blake: Does it support any intelligent life?

Avon: Does The Liberator? [pause] There are creatures called "Subterrons". they live in caves, quite what that says for their intelligence I really wouldn't know.

Coffee of the Day:

Green Mountain Half Caf. I wrote this one at night and needed to be able to sleep. Normally I like my coffee extra strong with lots o caffeine. But this was pretty good stuff. Definitely worth having in the cabinet.