Some time ago (I'm trying to catch up, as always) Alison posted some interesting observations on the existance or lack of moral centre in B7.

It occured to me that 'decentring' is one of the crucial motifs in B7. To begin with, the centre of evil is not where Blake expects it to be, but somewhere else - Central Control has been removed to an unknown location. Almost observing the little Derridian paradox, 'the totality has its centre elsewhere; the centre is not the centre.' By implication, the evil is not *just* where we expect it to be: we have to abandon the original simplified dichotomy (Blake & rebellion = good, the Federation = bad) and replace it by something much more complex and disturbing. The evil is also the 'unseen other' of Our Heroes, present even in the more virtuous of the lot: in Jenna's wavering about the treasure room, in Gan's destructive madness, in Blake's fatal obsession.

Blake, on the other hand, remains the moral centre of the story, although this notion is also challenged and subverted throughout S2. When he's gone in S3, 'decentring' morality becomes even more obvious. Paul Darrow mentions in an interview that he was told by the writers, 'We think now that Blake's gone you ought to be a little more moral', which he obviously refused. In the Programme Guide, Tony Attwood observes about Cally, 'she often took a strong moral line with the crew, particularly after the disappearance of Blake.' Cally is, however, very often removed from the centre of action. Her exchange with Tarrant re Shrinker is a graphic example. Think what Blake would do in a similar situation - probably rush in like a bulldozer and physically prevent the others from mistreating a prisoner. Blake symbolized the powerful presence of morality in one's consciousness; Cally is that same morality reduced to a little voice at the back of one's mind - which, it turns out, is quite easy to ignore. This episode is disturbing on a larger scale, too, as we learn that the rebellion also used Shrinker's services to interrogate prisoners.

Cally's death cry for Blake is perhaps her last attempt to invoke this absent principle of humanity and goodness. By finding Blake eventually, Avon finds his lost moral centre only to destroy it for good. Blake's own morality is made questionable by this final episode, too - by his inability to tell friend from foe, to tell who's Federation and who isn't, which, in a way, implies that he has lost his clear insight into the nature of good and evil. B7 obviously toys with the 'uncertainty principle', probably not because of any conscoius interaction with deconstructionism, but simply because they both reflect our age.

N.