I really liked this episode. I love the discovery of new technology, how does it work, what are it's limitations.
I enjoyed watching Avon, Jenna and Blake use the guns. try out the ship and then the teleport.
The gun thing is a bit odd. I am not sure why the ship would only allow them to take one gun at at time, to prevent stocks running out? Avon says something about them being isomorphic (reminds me of the Pyramids of Mars) but then Blake hands a second one to Jenna without any ill effect. They also don't appear to be isomorphic as I understand it (one to one, they work only for the first user) as Vargas fires Blake's gun, so really what is the point of the system.
The effect used for the teleportation is great. An outline appears and then the person appears. It's simple but effective.
The fact that teleportation was under investigation in the Federation and that Avon and Blake were involved, explains why they are quick to infer what the teleporter does.
I would have liked to have seen some suggestion that they had been spending quite a bit of time learning how to run the ship (there's no reason it couldn't have been shown that they took several months to learn about how to fly the ship, find out about Zen, discover and test the weapons, and develop an understanding of the teleport system.
I think it would have been reasonable to see them at least test the teleport with an inanimate object first and then even do a short range trip.
The fact that landing the ships seems more dangerous than just going straight for the teleport does seem unlikely.
It does mean the first teleport is visually more interesting and has some risk associated with it, what if Blake hadn't made it.
It always bothered me in Star Trek how primitive races would very fortunately confiscate the badges thus preventing teleportation. I suppose it's required narratively but why would they bother with what would appear on first glance as just jewelry.
I like how although Vargas doesn't know exactly what the bracelets are for,he is smart enough to realise that they must be for something as Blake is carrying so many. Casually destroying them forces Blake to confirm their importance. He might not yet know what they do but he keeps one on him just in case.
Vila's indecision is amusing, should he stay or should he go. He certainly less creepy that he was in the first episode and battling against cowardice seems to be his initial defining trait. He does kill someone in this episode but seems realistically stunned at what has just happened.
Jenna's hair appears to have gotten more elaborate, maybe the liberator has a salon. She gets a nice new outfit, although I do prefer her previous one. She does seem very tempted by the jewels but is resistant to abandoning Blake. It seems she does have a code of morals, she is willing to bend or even break the established rules but wants to be able to justify her actions to herself.
Avon (interesting that so far Blake and Avon are referred to by their last names, Vila, Gan and Jenna by their first.) behaves very realistically in this episode. He doesn't have any real connection to Blake, he owes him nothing. He is willing to abandon him especially when he discovers the riches of the Liberator.
I have to say, on this issue I agree with Avon. I don't think that, with Blake leading, they will have a safe or quiet life. And I doubt there will be another opportunity to retire rich
I think that's exactly right, his talk to Jenna is realistic. Blake will see those jewels as a weapon, their fight against the Federation will go on, sucking them both into it whether they want to or not.
Gan gets a good episode here. He shows leadership of the group and shows intelligence when he kneels before the members of the cult. I think he knows they are outnumbered and it's probably going to be better to get along to survive on the colony.
The fact that Kara shouts his name to save him from the spear, only to get it herself seems to imply she has grown fond of him.
There isn't really much in the episode to establish this, outside of the initial meeting. I think the death would have carried a little more weight if they had shared another scene together.
Blake appears to show great loyalty for the convicts, risking himself to go back for them. I did question his motivations when he says "I need them for my crew" is that his overriding purpose, rather than just wanting to save them. He is also very forceful with the convicts, he is not willing to give up the Liberator and seems willing to allow everyone to die to keep it. I understand he knows once he gives that up he is finished and probably they all are but it is still morally grey.
I always enjoy Brian Blessed. He's general shtick is "Shouty Shouty Shouty" but it works when he does it. He is not just a stock villain though. He has an understandable motivation, he knows the history of the planet and how without unity the community would devolve into chaos. He does ultimately want more power, but I wonder how he would expect to control future populaces, I guess with the Liberator and an army of convicts he could do it.
The Curse of Sickness is a great controlling tactic. It sets the cult up as benevolent as they provide the cure but makes you completely dependent on them.
The final sequence is a bit confusing. I initially thought as Vargas transports before Blake that he arrived first and was waiting across the room but Avon and Jenna don't seem to suggest this. It appears they all arrived together but then why did Blake appear with Gan and Villa they should have been transported at the same time as Varga and if anything Blake would be separate.
From what I can tell the background suggest that Varga arrives in a second, up to this point unseen transporter pad. It works well dramatically so I'm not that bothered by it.
The death of Vargas was predictable from the moment Avon and Stannis had the conversation about using the teleporter out of range of a planet. Although I'm not sure why he exploded when he appeared in space? It might just be bugging me because I'm also watching Star Cops which always tries to do things as realistically as possible.
Yeah that didn't make much sense and I think could have been done better. The distortion effect they use when someone teleports down maybe, just increases and then faded out to suggests his matter being "scattered to the solar winds"
So as I said I enjoyed this episode. Good start to the series so far.
8 extra transporter pods hidden around the ship for bad guys to appear from, out of 10
