Review BLAKE'S 7: "SHADOW" - Episode 15

[Doctor Omega]

Your thoughts on this episode.....

Blake tries to buy the services of the Terra Nostra organized crime syndicate in his struggle against the Federation. When his first effort fails, he decides to go after their biggest source of profit to gain leverage. That source is an illicit narcotic called shadow.

On to the next episode...

WEAPON

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/weapon-episode-16.3405/

(Coming soon)

Back to the previous episode.....

REDEMPTION

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/redemption-episode-14.3393/

 

[Doctor Omega]

Not one of my favourite episodes. The plot seems a bit of a mish mash. The Cally subplot of being tortured by Orac seems totally pointless to me, to the point where maybe they did not need a second subplot and should have just focused on the drug plot.

What I do like about the story is that, already, Blake's crusade at threat of corruption due to his willingness to seek help from the Terra Nostra, with Gan's disapproval completely brushed off.

Funnily enough, one moment stuck in my head from this for years after I first saw it is

Spoiler

when Orac sends a fatal charge into someone. The, ahem, shocking abruptness of that scene clearly made an impression on me.

An okay episode, but I do get the feeling that it needed a bit of a brutal rewrite.

 

[michaellevenson]

A real minimalist production, saving money, deliberately written as such by Chris Boucher. The Cally/Darkness /Orac plotline was intriguing. Brush Strokes star Karl Howman was very good. The federation guards costumes on Zondawl were a bit naff, but Sally Knyvette looked good in her white gear. As I said elsewhere,the terra nostra idea was good. Was Gan right? , Blake was prepared to be a pusher in order to be a winner. The whole idea of telepathic plants that move and look like giant wine gums is bizarre, but original and memorable.
9/10

 

[Doctor Omega]

Gan gets a nice moment, standing up to Blake and pointing out how terrible the Terra Nostra is...

"No, you think, Blake!"

Blake is turning out to be a bit of a fanatical idiot, with a moral blind spot.

Gan's sincere burst of well reasoned moral objection seems very at odds with this "he is a cunning, lying serial sex-killer" theory.

Either the theory is bogus, or Gan is a criminal genius!

Orac's slyly cryptic comment, when Vila says about throwing away the key: "Soon, that will be no longer a problem" is an intriguing and mysterious thing to say.

I wonder what all that can be about?

 

[The Seeker]

I’d have liked to see Vila’s exploits with the Terra Nostra. All he did, afaik, is get drunk off screen.

So! Somebody besides Terry Nation can write an episode, and a damned good one too! 10/10

 

[Doctor Omega]

I’d have liked to see Vila’s exploits with the Terra Nostra. All he did, afaik, is get drunk off screen.

So! Somebody besides Terry Nation can write an episode, and a damned good one too! 10/10

I think Boucher deserves 50% of the credit for making B7 the unique series it was.

Boucher, imo, gave it the shades of grey that transformed it from being simply Robin Hood in space.