Sally Manton wrote:
We've done what changes we'd like. Now, would anyone like to give us:
[a] three things about Blake's 7 as a series that make it special for them, and different from other shows?
Hmm. It's kind of hard to express what I find special about the series in a list of this kind (mainly 'cause everything ties in together), but I'll try...
1) The gritty, bleak feel to the whole thing, with particular reference to the fact that the putative Good Guys are a) not all that Good (certainly not with a capital-G), and b) do not always (or even ultimately) win. Let's make this one really inclusive, and mention the ending as well, and the beautifully tragic nature of the whole thing.
2) Chris Boucher dialog!
3) The characters: three-dimensional, believable, interesting, and fun to attempt to psychoanalyze. I *also* absolutely love the fact that the things that happen to these people (most particularly Avon, but also Blake, of course, and the others to a certain extent) have an *effect* on them -- and a believably negative one, given the nature of the lives they're leading. B7 did *not* push the reset button every week, and particularly not when it came to characterization!
[b] if you can think of them, one thing in each of just three episodes that somehow lifted that episode for you?
Actually (rather to my surprise), I find that I can think of more than one thing that I really liked in even a couple of the worst episodes:
1) "Moloch": The apple-and-mouse scene, and also Vila's expression when he finally understands Doran's "problem with women."
2) "Dawn of the Gods": The monopoly game at the beginning. Yeah, I know, it's kinda goofy, and I'm sure some people hate it, but it does several things for me: a) it's extremely amusing, IMHO, especially Orac getting sulky about abandoning the game, b) it's just so *nice* -- and such a rare thing -- to see them all relaxing and having fun together, and c) it provides a tiny glimpse of the Amoral Manipulative Orac I've always suspected lies beneath that calm perspex exterior. I also love Tarrant's "bald dwarf" line, which I think is terribly clever and funny (no matter *what* Neil says! :)). Oh, there's one *more* thing about DotG, of course, but I don't *really* need to mention it, do I? ;)
3) Hmm. I'm trying desperately to think of *something* good to mention about HoK, but, no, *nothing* manages to redeem that episode for me. Not even the Sopron, which *was*, admittedly, kind of a cute idea...