TRIAL

(Chris Boucher) reviewed by Marian de Haan

Story:

Very good, if a bit unbalanced in giving more attention and depth to the trial of Travis than to Blake's soul searching. I get the feeling that the writer was a bit at a loss as to how exactly Blake would react to Gan's death. The trend of Blake doing not-very-clever things is continued here, but I find his behaviour still not entirely convincing. (What would he have done if they *had* left him?) In his own words he takes a hell of risk, but in the end the gamble pays off, with the others unwilling to leave him and going to great lengths to get him out of the mess he brought himself into.

Travis delivers a good defence-speech. [IMO the writer gives him more sympathy than he deserves.] Fleet warden Samor shows that there are some upright Officers in the Federation, but he must indeed have spent his time burrowed deeply in his command ship to remain unaware of its evil and corruption. Zil steals the show [in my rating that philosophical flea comes right after the Sopron and Moondisks in the category of Most Original Life Forms in the Series]. Blake's action causing Travis's escape is the ultimate irony.

Personal appreciation: ****

I always love a bit of Federation politics, especially when my favourite Federation worthies Rontane and Bercol turn up again. Avon tempting the others to abandon Blake while knowing full well that ultimately they won't (providing him with the chance for some jibes at their expense) is also enjoyable. [It would have been still more fun if they had taken up his proposal to run, forcing Avon to come up with a very good reason to prevent them. <veg>]

Avon's "I don't get them killed!" feels out of character. I know he enjoys rubbing things in but this seems too callous even for him. [Must be the shock of being confronted with his own mortality, since I can't see him mourning much about Gan. The notion that another malfunction of his limiter might turn that giant into an undiscriminating murder machine must have been on his mind all the time. :-) If anything, you'd expect Avon to feel relief about this danger being eliminated.] (Judith: But Avon was very willing to take risks for Gan in 'Breakdown'.)

In the teleport room, it looks like Avon is blocking Cally's view. Actually, he's standing well to her left, but it looks that way because of the camera angle. At the end, is Avon's open hand gesture towards Blake, which is uncharacteristic, meant as a peace gesture? I wish they'd left out that laughter. The joke itself isn't bad [and a good example of Blake making as much fun of Vila as the others - not a very leaderlike thing to do :-)] but Avon's grin is so forced it makes me cringe.

By now all of the crew have discovered the leather section of Liberator's wardrobe. A pity, as Jenna has dug up her one really awful costume. This is one of the few occasions when I actually notice what Blake is wearing, mostly he just leaves a vague impression of something brown over green or vice versa. Glad to see he's got rid of those wide sleeves. His green wellies are just the thing for trudging through woods. Cally looks good in green, and as always incredibly thin. Vila seems to be dressed much too warmly with that sweater under his thick jacket. Avon has chosen a nice outfit for a change, and his high-heeled boots make him stand as tall as Blake. :-) His heels are even higher than those of Jenna and Cally, and Thania's are topping his. Apparently the Federation's female Officers can wear whatever they like as long as they keep their hair shorter than that of their male colleagues. :-)

Observations:

Is Thania an Auron clone? She's as thin as Cally. :-)

Lovely pieces that Jenna and Avon are playing with. Judging by Jenna's triumphant smile, it looks like she's winning the game.

"No chance of getting wealthy round here." But they have the wealth in Liberator's strongroom. A substantial part of that is still present in Powerplay, so Blake can't have all of it donated to the Fund for Needy Freedom Fighters. :-)

"Shouldn't we be moving away?" Vila is fully prepared to abandon Blake. Something that is often overlooked, with the attention on Avon's threats to do the same.

"So you've decided to be led like the rest of us?" How I love to see Vila hitting back. :-) Hearing Avon openly declare that he's prepared to follow Blake is a first.

In the teleport room, when they've retrieved Blake, it looks like Cally is telepathing to him before she exits. Was this something in the script for which they forgot to dub the sound on later?

"It would be ironic if it was yours." Here I expected Avon to draw a gun and shoot Blake. :-) Another step towards events on Gauda Prime.

"There will be a better time..." To stop fighting???

"Will it work? Can we rely on it?" Yes, you can, blockhead! Why does Blake persist in trusting the man but not his inventions? :-)

"Avon's gadget works!" One of the few lines I remembered from the original broadcast.

Why just fire one shot at Space Command headquarters? Looks like they could have destroyed the whole station and still got away. :-) (Judith: Because they were hidden by the detector shield until they fired. Thinking of the Battle of Britain, I'll bet Space Command can scramble pursuit ships awfully fast as soon as they know the enemy is present.)

What Could Have Been Done To Improve It:

- More emphasis on Blake dealing with his feelings of guilt.

- Leave out the laughter at the end.


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