Blakes7 June 2001

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Twenty moments when you know you're watching the best TV show ever made
by Una McCormack 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

OK, the idea for this came as I was reading an article on 'Dr Who' in 'Intensities', on how fans construct a consensus of value judgements (that's here http://www.cult-media.com/issue1/Amckee.htm if anyone's interested). Anyway, I skipped the author's problematization of such lists and thought, 'Hey, that would be fun to do for B7!' Here follows some shameless gushing fannishness of the sort I didn't think I did any more. No doubt I've forgotten loads. No particular order. 1. "The rumours of my death have been - " "*Greatly* exaggerated." "Well, slightly exaggerated, anyway..." <sob!> I cannot deny the shameless angster within! I remember watching 'Rumours' back when I first got a copy of it again in, must be 1990, and I just couldn't get over this exchange. Avon gives away so much of himself, and yet says virtually nothing. 2. "He's an animal, Cally." "Yes, and it's contagious, isn't it?" I promise these won't all be from 'Rumours'. I loved this exchange in 1980 and I still love it now. B7 punctures the hypocrisy of the good guys. Cally demands that people are the best they can be. Great stuff. 3. The dome city. I know some people think this effect is rubbish, but I think it looks great and it's so evocative. All those lights, all those lives. 4. "Thieves, killers, mercenaries, psychopaths..." <gulp> Is he or isn't he? 5. "For what it's worth, I have always trusted you from the very beginning". I don't believe Blake for a moment, but I don't doubt that Blake believes it. 6. "Vila, I need your help..." To be honest, I don't mind that they cut some of MK crying. I know that he is. 7. "The Federation is run by hypocrites and supported by fools. I'm glad to be rid of you all." OK, Penny, you can gloat now. I'm picking this bit because I think Croucher's great here (in fact, I think he's great throughout 'Trial'). What I like about this is the defeat laced with defiance - and then the speed with which he snaps back into action the second he hears those alarms and knows he might still be in with a chance. 8. TRAVIS: Do you remember the medic that saved my life? SERVALAN: You're wasting time. TRAVIS: It was Maryatt. SERVALAN: Does it matter? TRAVIS: No... No. Only Blake matters now. I have to have a Greify moment too. This is my favourite - the feeble death throes of Travis's conscience. It's a great exchange, speaks volumes about both Servalan and Travis, their relationship, and what really matters to them. Servie is avaricious and aggressive, Travis is weary and can no longer care enough to make a stand. 9. "Are we fanatics?" Actually, that whole group hug session in 'Star One' when, after two years of fighting side by side, it all comes down to how much they really can't stand each other. It's like Christmas. 10. "Deathwatch". The whole of it. A complete jewel. 11. "The Way Back". The whole of that too. 12. The Vilaworld set. There's something about that set that sums up my watching SF telly as a kid. That planet set should, by all that's godly, be crap - yet somehow I completely believe I'm looking at an alien world. It reminds me of the time when I could suspend belief completely and be utterly entranced. I get the same thing from 'Sarcophagus', and from memories of 'The Adventure Game'. 13. "Maximum power!" Yes she's bonkers, but you kind of want the blow struck for feminism. 14. "Cheers, Orac." Vila's finest moment. My most quoted line from B7, mainly because I can't be bothered to memorize anything longer. 15. Darrow trips in 'Animals'. And thus was born a new obsession and a reason to get up in the mornings. You can fill the days incredibly easily when you adopt a hopeless cause. 16. The opening credits of the first two seasons. I didn't watch B7 when it first started and it took me till 1989 to see the opening credits from seasons 1 and 2, when the crappy old edited videos came out. It was thrilling. 17. Docholli's coat. And yet they battle on with the take... How did 'Blake's 7' *ever* get transmitted...? 18. Dudley Simpson's little teleport tune. Da-da-da-dar, da-da-da-dar, da-da-da-da-dar. Da-DAH! 19. "Regret is part of being alive. But keep it a small part." "As you do?" "Demonstrably." Of all the bits of 'Sarcophagus' I could pick, I've got to have this one. First of all - it's angsty as hell. Second, I'm still an old romantic when it comes to Avon and Cally (you don't see this so much any more in fanfic, do you?). Third, you get to peek inside one of the cabins. Plus it carries on some wonderful character development from CoA and 'Rumours' - yes! it's B7 as soap! 20. Surely you can guess? Awooga! Awooga! "Security personnel to main tracking gallery! Security personnel to main tracking -- yargh!"

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Re: finality "Blake" and "Last Battle"
by Helen Krummenacker 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

> It does make me very sad. I couldn't read it for years. In fact, there are still > bits I have to skip, big softie that I am. It does make me laugh that Susan > basically goes to hell for discovering lipstick. Hussy. > > > Una > I thought what tehy were seeing was her on Earth's Heaven-cloud, while the others went to the Narnian afterlife. Not damned, just; Susan accepted 'reality' while the others still kept Narnia in their hearts.

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Re: [B7L] Twenty Moments, Etc.
by Guy Kendall 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

> Una wrote: > > > Bit like reading 'The Last Battle'. Oh, oh ! I thought it was only me that liked this book.

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Re: Subject: Re: [B7L] Twenty moments when you know you're watching the best TV show
by Sally Manton 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

Una wrote: <Aha - these are just the sorts of contortions that go on in Blake's head to convince himself that he believes it too! <vbg>> <grin> then give the man credit for sheer speed, since it usually takes him three-and-a-half seconds (in the middle of a crisis) to contort in ways that take me far longer to think up, let alone type ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: Twenty moments (in no particular order)
by Sally Manton 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

Helen wrote: <7. Redemption ... I may be the only one who thinks this, but I feel we see the supreme moment of selfishness from Blake, here. In another show, the hero would have dealt with the electric cable himself. Instead, Blake orders Avon away from a task considered vital to *everyone's* safety to come get him out of a jam.> <grin> one has to point out first that it couldn't have been all that vital, or Avon would have gone back to it afterwards instead of wasting valuable time joining in the round table discussion (he never could resist the chance to explain to lesser mortals, could he?) Methinks he said that because - as usual - he didn't like being interrupted while he was working (he didn't know Blake was in danger :-)). But that is hardly the point, is it? Blake didn't know that (might have suspected - he knows his Snarly - but didn't *know*). I think it's just a moment of sheer panic - he's always relied on talking his way out of trouble, and you can't really reason with a power cable. I love it for the A-B implications; either Jenna or Cally could have done what Avon did, but it didn't occur to Blake to ask for them instead. We have far more evidence on how Avon feels about Blake than the reverse, and this is one small but potent example (Pressure Point and Star One being others) of the way, when Blake is in real, desperate trouble, he *instinctly* turns to Avon. (Not that I'm biased or anything). _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Narnia
by Ellynne G. 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 14:56:16 -0700 Julia Jones <julia.lysator(a)jajones.demon.co.uk> writes: > Follow-up set to spin. > > In message <3B5B43AC.3CFFC226.4BF51BCE(a)netscape.net>, > jacquispeel(a)netscape.net writes > > > >"Guy Kendall" <Guy(a)jmkendall.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: > >> > >> > >> > Una wrote: > >> > > >> > > Bit like reading 'The Last Battle'. Two things are happening: the originals > will be > repositioned in the marketplace so that they are not being sold as > Christian books, and there are plans to write more Narnia stories, > which > will not have the Christian allegory. Nicking bits from other > afpers' > posts: The horror, the horror . . . . That's a literary observation, not a religious one, by the way. Sequels to dead writers' books have been less than impressive, IMHO, especially ones that start out with lists of what they're dumping (never trust a marketer who doesn't seem to mention what's _appreciated_ from the original). Why don't they have laws to protect defenseless books (and certian SF series I could mention) from the marketing strategists out to desecrate them? By which I mean the people who are convinced, so long as it's got the right label, no one will notice whether their new product has any resemblance to the old? The people who, in fact, think most of what the fans _liked_ will negatively impact sales ("We think Avon's fine. He just needs to lighten up, be nicer, more traditionally heroic, dump the sarcasm, get rid of the jacket, and wear pastels. Oh, and we believe you never lose money by underestimating the intelligence of the viewing public. Since audiences don't like heroes they can't relate to, we plan to make him a royal idiot."). I mean, I'm not crazy about All Quiet on the Western Front but I'm not about to rewrite it as a gung ho war movie (with a romantic triangle thrown in to try and draw the female demographic), am I? Let me say it again - The horror, the horror . . . . Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

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Twenty Moments, Etc.
by Dana Shilling 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

OK, deal me in. Sorry, not in correct series order. 1. TWB: Blake spitting out the pond water-- it's not going to be Arcadia all the way, is it? 2. SpaceFall: the computer room showdown really is the whole show in two minutes. And the framing of the next scene--Avon downstage, Blake and Jenna upstage--shows who the series is about, dunnit? 3. Cygnus Alpha: Avon sticking little flags on the teleport. 4. Not sure which episode: Does it support intelligent life? Does the Liberator? 5. The Web: "We have no lives of our own! We are servants of the Web!" I feel like that a lot. They should have nicked some of the wound- regenerating liver though. 6. Deliverance: The model of the rocket doesn't match the stock footage of the rocket launch AT ALL. 7. Voice from the Past: Avon goes from tender concern for Blake to amateurishly chopping at his neck in about long enough to run an Olympic mile. 8. Horizon: Gotta hand it to Blake for managing to push Ro around when Blake is at shall we say a bit of a disadvantage. 9. Orac: BLAKE: I'm fed up wi' takin' orders [after he's taken about 1.25 for the whole series) 10. Trial: the way Travis' lounge shows EXACTLY what he thinks about the legitimacy of the whole kangaroo court 11. Gambit and Volcano, because My Client gets to have some canonical fun. Also, Gambit makes you realize that even though Avon and Vila NEVER disavow being crooks this is the only time they do anything dishonest for personal advantage 12. Avon's (and Vila's) ability to retain a sense of humor under extremely adverse conditions 13. The numerous times when Blake looks really nervous--he can be extremely brave without being quite conventional about it 14. The way Servalan gets about 14 syllables out of "Avon" whereas most people get between 1.2 and 2 syllables depending on how annoyed they are--and realizing after Star One that I was NEVER going to find out if Blake could get it down to one syllable 15. Rumors of Death--I'm convinced that the cave is actually 14 feet deep and half a mile from Brent Cross (come to think of it, it CAN'T be very deep or Avon couldn't teleport out of it). I keep waiting to hear Anna say "consider this a divorce," though 16. Terminal--IMO the best episode, but I can't stand to watch it, it's so sad. The Universe 8,234, My Client 2. But he can manage to laugh at the end. 17. The real B7 touch again: seeing Avon make a complete pig's ear out of rebelling after I spent two seasons waiting for him to get it sorted in a couple of weeks ("...and what do you suggest I do with my other hand?") 18. Rescue--the sock-puppet vagina dentata that threatens Tarrant and Dayna on an equal-opportunity basis. Paging Dr. Freud! 19. Moloch--OK, I know the episode is utterly wretched, but Grose is my favorite one-off character by a million percent. ("There seem to be a great many...accidents... around you" "Well, there's a war on, you know") 20. Blake--well, at least My Client manages to end the series on his feet and laughing at yet another cosmic joke. The real B7 touch is that they all would have died in about two minutes anyway even if Avon had gone all fluffy-bunny. -(Y)

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Re: [B7L] Cross-fandom
by Ellynne G. 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 13:57:39 +-100 Louise Rutter <Louise.Rutter(a)btinternet.com> writes: > That's exactly how B7 would be in the DS universe :-) I have never, NEVER had the urge to write DS fanfic and now . . . . I'm imagining Fraser measuring Travis II's nose and compiling other evidence to convince all the other characters (who seem oblivious) that this _can't_ be the same as Travis I. I'm imagining what Blake would have been like if Fraser had been there. Forget that, what would _S4_ have been like with him? Fraser: As I'm sure you've noticed, Avon, the tracks clearly indicate Blake's base is already surrounded by approximately 1,000 Federation troopers. However, what you may not have seen is that, judging by the inset of the heel, these are the elite troops who are actually taught to aim. Also, they seem to be led by a commanding officer in stilletto heels. While I have no idea who this might be, the track's are in Servalan's shoe size. I know your first impulse is probably to charge in and rescue Blake; and, with the not so small army Tarrant's father-in-law, Zukan, so kindly agreed to loan us after we showed good faith by agreeing not to discuss the little accident that almost happened with the virus bomb, you shouldn't have any trouble. But I don't think that would be the best choice. This is a bounty hunter administration base and it should have screens placed that regularly show the Federation's Most Wanted. Don't you think it would be better to have Orac use them to show the Troopers Servalan's picture along with a posting of the reward on her, dead or alive? Even with minimal math skills, I'm sure any Federation Trooper would be impressed with how much larger that sum is than the total he or she is likely to earn over an entire career, even if they include pension benefits and medical. The problem might then resolve itself without any further effort on our part. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

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Re: great moment-- & dud eps.
by Helen Krummenacker 07 Jun '01

07 Jun '01

> Dud? No, I'm convinced I saw a different DotG than the rest of you, > so it can't be a dud, can it? > > Ellynne > I'm convinced it has too many good points to be a dud. True, the Tharn himself and his set-up was a dud, a bit Alice-in-Wonderland-y. But... good beginning. Orac takes it into his head to go exploring and leads them into danger. For the world's most brilliant computer, it needs a few more self-preservation circuits. Avon trying to get into a pressure suit, and Tarrant trying to stop him. Vila getting set up to explore. Vila finding out he's not going to die. Our Heroes having costumes that didn't make any of them look ridiculous. Tarrant describing ORAC without telling a single lie and without being at all helpful. The incredulity with which they face the prospect of using pencils to do sums. A sense that they should let the families of the people they met know what happened to them. For that matter, I thought Ultraworld was okay. Helen > >

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Re: [B7L] Twenty Moments, Etc.
by Sally Manton 06 Jun '01

06 Jun '01

Dana wrote: <9. Orac: BLAKE: I'm fed up wi' takin' orders [after he's taken about 1.25 for the whole series)> I love this too. Also "Maybe Avon would like it for a pet." That would have been rather interesting ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Blakes7 June 2001