Breakdown

A bit of a mixed bag, but ultimately quite a good mixture...

The thing that surprised me about this episode was that it seemed to have two parts. On the one hand, we have the "will they make it in time?" aspect of the dash to the station. Then once they reach the station, the episode seems to switch focus, suddenly changing from action/adventure into more of a psycho-political drama.

I think I read somewhere that David Jackson was told this was going to be an episode about Gan. He must have been most disappointed when he saw it. It's actually an episode about Avon! But more on that later.

As far as Gan's situation is concerned, it's good to know that none of the Liberator team are proficient in brain surgery. There's a limit to what they can do. In fact, this episode brings home a major deficiency in Blake's crew: they have no qualified physician of any type. Bones or Dr Bashir would have had Gan patched up in no time.

The part about the anomaly wasn't bad. Zen's unexpected shut down and the subsequent panic on board was suitably gripping, particularly when Avon flips his top. That rather suggests the extreme gravity of the situation they are in. Considering it was all technobabble, it's amazing they managed to convey a sense of danger at all. But all is well in the end, as they cruise through the anomaly and out the other side. I did like Blake and Jenna's delight at having made it, btw.

Then the Liberator reaches the station and the episode changes. Instead of battling against time, a recalcitrant computer and a big red swirly thing, the Liberator crew are suddenly up against some new characters with agendas of their own. Kayn and Farron become the main antagonists, and confronting them requires a bit more subtlety than the anomaly did. Vila unexpectedly gets to play the heavy, though he gets plenty of help from Avon and Blake, who are perhaps more convincing in the role. Avon's attempt at jumping ship was also an interesting twist.

The ending was very, very nice. By this, I naturally mean the real end of the episode, not the S1999 Y2-type pointless tag scene. Kayn killing Farron and then the whole station being destroyed by a stray bolt was very good IMHO. Nice to see chance still plays a part in the life of future human beings.

All in all, an enjoyable episode which raises a few questions and didn't rush to answer them all. The questions being mostly a couple of character points...

Character stuff:

Meanwhile, Vila suffers what appears to be a personality change in mid-episode. First he's having kittens about the space anomaly, then he sets out on a one-man guerilla mission to confront Kayn. I suppose the apparent inconsistency could be explained by one of the following:

• Vila really likes Gan and wants to make sure Kayn saves him, or:
• Vila really likes Blake and wants to spare him the trouble of confronting Kayn, or:
• Having used up all his fear during the confrontation with the big swirly thing, Vila finds a new reserve of bravery to save the day, or:
• Vila thinks Kayn and Renor won't be much of a challenge, since they're only doctors, or:
• Vila is pretending to be scared when he's scared. Well, I've already voiced my thoughts on that one.

Blake's determination to save Gan shows that he does care about individuals and not just The People in general. I also appreciated the way his patience with Avon seemed to have run out about mid-episode, particularly the remark about him not wanting to ask Avon to stay. One of his qualities as a leader is shown at the end of the episode, where he laughs with the crew at Gan's recovery. Considering that Avon chooses to glower in a corner at that point, I shudder to think how their fortunes will change when Blake is gone and Mr Charisma is in charge.

Of course, it's impossible to comment on this episode without mentioning Avon. The plot about Gan aside, Avon's interest in 'defecting' is one of the key focuses of the episode. He has threatened to leave the Liberator several times in the past, but this is the first time he comes close to putting that threat into action. The stress of rerouting the computer manually evidently went to his head. Interesting how he blames Blake for not turning back, whereas Avon was the one who insisted they go through the anomaly in the first place.

Although events -- Kayn's betrayal in particular -- conspired to scupper Avon's deal with Farron, it would be interesting to speculate whether Avon would have gone through with it if everything went smoothly. That would depend on whether one views the attempt as a sincere desire for a new life, or some posturing to prove a point to Blake. My personal theory is that Avon is a bit of a Prima Donna. Either way, he clearly does care enough about his colleagues to reject Farron's compromise proposal if it means abandoning the Liberator crew to their deaths. So much for his professed determination to be a loner.

On the guest character front, both Kayn and Renor need a good smack in the chops. The latter for his "hello, hello" comments to the Liberator's women, and the former for being an all around bad guy. At least Renor turned out to be human, displaying compassion with Gan's plight. Kayn was just as cold and calculating as a machine. A chillingly effective baddie.

I did quite like Farron, though. Not a nice person by any means, but his politician's view of any situation made him interesting. I particularly appreciated the way he rapidly came up with a contingency plan to keep Avon when he learned that the Feds were on their way. He's evidently one to seize any opportunity on offer; pity for his sake that he didn't realise Avon's true attachment to his Liberator colleagues. He possibly could have got himself a deal if he hadn't been so flippant about the Liberator's destruction.

Aside from that, Cally gets to ask Blake why he's so angry with Avon, and Jenna has an argument with Avon. Also, I'm glad to see no objection to women drivers in B7; in fact, piloting seems to be women's work on the Liberator, as both Cally and Jenna get their turn to pilot the ship. Gan's coma aside, the episode was more of an ensemble piece than previous ones seemed to be. Even Zen gets a character moment by unexpectedly switching off because it believes the Liberator is going to be destroyed.

Subtext: Nothing that sprang out at me this week, unless *any* kind of tif between Blake and Avon counts as subtext!

Nitpicks and Preposterous Props:

As for the spacial anomaly, did anyone else cry out, "Look! It's a big red swirly thing in space". Or are my boyfriend and I the only Red Dwarf fans here? <g>

I thought it a bit strange that they let Kayn and Renor into the sickbay and then left them to it on their own, until Vila decided to wander in with a weapon. For hunted rebels, they're awfully trusting of complete strangers they need desperate help from.

Dialogue Gems:

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