Blakes 7: Seek – Locate – Destroy
May 18, 2016 2:00 AM - Season 1, Episode 6 - Subscribe

In which our intrepid seven heroes encounter the ruthless Queen of All Space, and her peeved henchman with a gun arm, Travis. Travis hates Blake, Servalan wants power, Avon wants money, Vila wants to steal something, and Blake just wants to be left alone long enough to steal to bring down the tyrannous Federation … except he leaves something important behind.

Best quote: “There isn't a lock I can't open - if I'm scared enough.” - Vila

We meet the Federation's Rubbish Kroton security bot.
We also meet the mutoids for the first time, and Senators Rontane and Bercol (who will return).
posted by Mezentian (8 comments total)
 
I really like this episode, in large part because I really love Servalan. As a middle-school aged girl watching this I think I probably wanted to be her just a bit. I mean yeah, she's kinda evil, but she is smart, beautiful, and powerful. Servalan was a way more interesting female character than most of what was on TV at the time I first saw B7 (and really now, too). In later seasons her interactions with Avon get *really* interesting.

I also like how this episode sets up the cliffhanger. It seems pretty daring for 1978 to potentially kill off a character that the show had only just introduced.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 9:13 AM on May 21, 2016


Maybe it's the make-up and haircut, but Servelan made me think of Tubeway Army era Gary Numan! (I love Tubeway Army/Gary Numan & Servelan, btw, so this is not meant as a slur on either of them!)
posted by marienbad at 4:06 AM on May 22, 2016


Servalan is an excellent baddie, its difficult to see them getting it right if there is a re-do (/imagining). Travis less so. A bit crap but at least he does have something of an arc due to his failures over the series, its not just a reset from episode to episode.

I swore I wasn't going to watch B7 through again, but that's not the reason I haven't been posting much - its because I am now too far ahead. Curse you Mezentian for your productivity impacts.
posted by biffa at 4:10 AM on May 22, 2016


Servelan made me think of Tubeway Army era Gary Numan!

She's way more expressive than Gary, particularly of that era. I've not no idea how radical her haircut was in that era, but I have a vague sense it had been popular in the '60s and was probably unfashionable by '78?

By the way, if you are a B7 fan *and* and Dr Who fan *and* a John Hurt fan.... (and... she also has a bio out I recall too).

Curse you Mezentian for your productivity impacts.

They, I had to *slow down* so I could remember to post these.
posted by Mezentian at 4:15 AM on May 22, 2016


This was a decent episode, although there were times when it seemed to run a little slowly. I liked the interplay between Servelan and Senators Rontane and Bercol, especially Servelan's exhortation at the end to "have a safe journey home."

At the start, when they get the decoder, it looked like it is going to be a chase episode, but it becomes more than that as it introduces Servelan, Travis, (and his viciousness and how well known this is, and his relationship with Blake), the Mutoids, and more tension between Blake and Avon.

Yet another industrial plant serves as the Federation base, and the robot is so lame it makes 70s Dr Who look like it was made by ILM. I like how they all have abilities which Blake can call on - Villa to open the gate (which looks like a normal gate and is a normal gate!) Interesting that Gan can now fly the ship, after Jenna's comment in the earlier episode about how she could "just about make it move forwards" (or something like that.) Maybe Zen had trained them all with some sort of mind-meld via the pad that Jenna's hand got locked to in the earlier episiode.

Although it is clearly a model. Servelan's space station is pretty cool looking, one of the better models in the program.

Travis and Servelan's relationship is another interesting point, he seems to be the only one who isn't scared of her. I think this is overplayed, personally, but would be interested to hear others opinions on this.

And at the end, the rescue of Cally is a bit easy, especially after the guard tells Travis they can detect them teleporting in, but then they seem to signally fail to do so!

And Travis' little weapon is hilarious. I wonder what Freudians would make of it!
posted by marienbad at 2:14 PM on May 22, 2016


Sooooo...when is the next post?
posted by DiscourseMarker at 12:43 PM on June 1, 2016


Indeed, I await news...
posted by biffa at 1:34 PM on June 4, 2016


As do I.
posted by marienbad at 10:39 AM on June 5, 2016


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