From: Igenlode Subject: Re: Synchro -watch : Shadow Newsgroups: alt.fan.blakes-7 Date: 2001-11-26 13:05:16 PST
[I'll try to get round to watching 'Weapon' some time later this week; I simply can't manage two sets of comments at once.]
I've always thought of 'Shadow', along with 'Bounty', as "Jenna's episode" - one of the rare (particularly in the second season) chances where the potential of the character is put to good use. In fact, rewatching it now with an analytical eye, I can see that Jenna doesn't actually feature in much of the action. It's just that, for once, all the crew - even Zen - are blessed with sharp characterization and a chance to shine.
This is, in a sense, the real opening episode of the second season of "Blake's 7" where 'Redemption' harks back in many ways to the previous season. The initial signs of change start with the opening titles - this is the first episode explicitly credited to a writer other than Terry Nation, though with the benefit of hindsight we now know that Chris Boucher had in fact worked on much of the dialogue and characterisation of the first season. It introduces the subject matter of political intrigue, countered only by resorting to morally dubious strategy, which is to feature in many of the scripts that follow; in fact the only main 'second season' element which is largely absent in this episode - and which, ironically, features heavily in 'Redemption' - is the increased antagonism between Avon and Blake. It is also, I think, the first fantasy-type plot involving god-like aliens. And although Chris Boucher couldn't possibly have known it, the drug 'shadow' and the 'Terra Nostra' (referred to in this episode alone out of all fifty-two) were to become mainstays of fan-fiction.
Details that caught my eye:
The dialogue, as noted above, sparkles from the moment of Jenna's first quip in response to Gan's comment of 'very pretty' on her orbital approach: "I know - and the piloting wasn't bad either!"
Gan's role in this episode is to act as the crew's conscience. But where previously (most recently in 'Bounty'), his idealism has been set against Avon's cynical approach, now for the first time he finds himself speaking out against Blake himself. Blake is becoming more realistic, as Avon would no doubt put it - or else his ideals are becoming tarnished. Boucher does not force us to judge - yet. Our heroes end up opposing the manifest evil of the Terra Nostra... but only because the criminal organisation were not prepared to co-operate.
There is a slightly decadent feel to the costumes and decor of Largo, his enforcers and the avant-garde-style art in his apartment. Sitting cross-legged on a dais with Hanna crawling at his feet, he has the air of some absolute potentate toying with the lives of his slaves. All the inhabitants of Space City are made up to look very pallid - logically enough, since they have no 'outdoors' in which to develop a ruddy complexion - and this is particularly noticeable when they are set beside members of the Liberator's crew.
Bek's 'futuristic tape recorder' is a nice piece of imaginative prop design.
It is an ingenious idea in principle to use the bracelet communicators as a bugging device, with Gan outside as back-up muscle, ready to take a hand if he receives the coded summons. Unfortunately, as Bek points out, among the slender and pale-faced inhabitants of Space City Gan's presence is not exactly unobtrusive.
I noted with amusement how Boucher avoids actually having to construct sets for the sights of Space City - described by Vila at least as unsuitable for Cally's (and presumably the audience's) eyes - by only showing Cally's end of the conversation. A skilful use of a limited budget; and suggestion is always more effective than a nuts-and-bolts depiction of the real thing, as all too many would-be erotic scenes on TV can testify...
Why does Blake really come back for Hanna and Bek? Not for the reason he gives, presumably - the crew are more than capable of coping with Vila. I assume that he would have rescued them in the first place if he had brought any spare bracelets, and thus he simply leaves the two of them behind temporarily while he goes back to get some more, while amusing himself at their expense; but that kind of joke seems a little out of character.
Blake seems remarkably tolerant of Cally's vague misgivings as to why it may be imperative to trace Orac. "Why?" - "A feeling I have..." she says lamely, and I expected an impatient explosion. But Blake seems to take her seriously. He must have a good deal of confidence in her abilities.
On which note, it is interesting that it is Jenna, who usually has a good deal of sympathy for him, who accuses Blake of not caring about Cally's welfare, while it is Avon, not normally the most perceptive of his fellows, who observes that Blake is shouting at everyone else precisely because he is worrying about Cally...
Cally is resourceful and capable in this episode - in effect, she twice rescues the entire crew single-handed and makes good use of her telepathic abilities. For some reason, though, I didn't feel that she came out so well in these events as she does in the role of Blake's capable back-up in 'Bounty'. Perhaps I'm just allergic to 'Cally gets taken over by alien telepathic intelligence' storylines.
She is referred to more deliberately as 'an alien' in this story, I think, than in any other since her introduction in 'Time Squad'. Presumably therefore Chris Boucher had some specific point in mind when he had Orac refer to her as 'last of the humankind' and Avon as 'more human than I am'. I have to say that I am at a loss as to what it can have been.
Special effects: I thought rather a good job was done of making what was presumably the standard BBC quarry look like the surface of a desert planet! I wasn't clear whether the shimmering heat-haze effect on the surface was clever filming, my imagination, or just the poor quality of the library videotapes...
Why does Orac teleport Cally down to the surface in the first place? If it simply wants to destroy her body as well as her mind, it would surely have been easier simply to teleport her out into open space, as Jenna does for the high priest Vargas of Cygnus Alpha and the 'crimmo' Travis sends up from Exbar. If it knows she has telekinetic abilities (even though she herself is apparently not aware of them), perhaps it is trying to ensure that she is out of range. This seems a bit far-fetched, though. Again, why not just kill her?
I didn't much like Cally's sudden manifestation of telekinesis as a plot-lever, actually, even though it is established as being far from usual. What would have made more sense (and avoided the need for rationalisations as to why she is never able to do it again) would have been if it were the moondiscs that removed Orac's key - having enough primitive telepathy to understand from Cally's mind that this was what she wanted them to do. After all, they can move, despite possessing no apparent means of locomotion. Telekinetic abilities would already seem to follow as a potential explanation.
Finally - what is Cally referring to at the end of the episode when she says that she is "waiting to come up... again"? -- Igenlode
'The Day the Stories Went Dark' - story now on-line at http://ivory.vlexofree.com/HoedownII/