"While there's life, there's threat."
REVIEW: Real wheels within wheels in this one, as all of the following affirmations are true. 1) Prior to his trial, he was brainwashed (we see it in the opening credits every week) to respond to an artificial telepathic beam that kind of sounds like tinnitus. 2) The judge at his trial has defected and is working with a rebel leader thought dead and a sympathizing governor, all trying to get evidence of Servalan and the Federation government's most treacherous tricks at a governor conference. 3) The rebel leader is Travis in disguise, working for Servalan, but officially disavowed. 4) Though the judge and governor are sincere - and actually want to remake Blake into a messianic leader - they are being duped by Servalan and the conference is a trap for the traitors. In other words, even if they all seem sinister, and Blake has forgotten everything that's happened by the end, the rebel plot was real to them, but they were manipulated into it by Travis. Okay whoa.
But if they had the power to control Blake's mind, why didn't they use it before this? You might say, well, the traitors from Cally's planet hadn't finished their work yet, but then what exactly was implanted into Blake's mind back in the first episode? It's not the only hiccup. They had to recast the judge, and I understand that happens, only couldn't they have cast someone with similar hair? This one has a very striking look, so I spent half the episode wondering if they were talking about the trial that must have happened BEFORE the first episode (prior to Blake becoming a perfect citizen). The episode is already rather confusing because of its conspiratorial plot, these problems only distract. There's a version of this where Blake actually trusts the rebels' mission and is duped. Why all the telepathic weirdness, except to extend the episode's length, have Blake lock up his friends, etc. The episode also seems confused about whether the effect is transmitted by a black box or a necklace they try to put on him. I also have to mention the elephant in the room - Travis as a bandaged rebel who speaks with a broad French accent right out of a Monty Python sketch. It hides who he is, but it's really hard to understand, as it also incorporates "maimed" groans, and it a real drain on the production. The actor reportedly hated it too.
The first half of the episode does feel like a bottle episode. When people beam away, we don't see it. No other actors. Even the spaceship shots look odd (the Liberator looking quite unpainted). But they're only saving money to spend it in the back half. We get a weird CSO asteroid environment, a number of guest stars, a pretty good shuttle landing, and wow, Wembley Conference Centre used in a magnificent way. It's a huge space, eerily empty, and when the lights start to flicker out, a giant screen lights up and Servalan gives her final speech, orders troopers with her giant eyes... Amazing stuff, and NOT a CSO overlay. It was done for real. Everyone ends up kind of play-wrestling in an antechamber after that, but still a great climax. Servalan is so damn slick in this, and in the previous scene where she and Governor Le Grand are just making smiles at each other, all veiled threats and twirling flowers. It shows that she doesn't need to be in an episode a whole lot for her to improve it substantially.
NOT MY FEDERATION: Be careful of hidden transmissions. The Romulans developed such technology to create sleeper agents, as per The Mind's Eye.
BUT MIGHT BE MY EMPIRE: The politician turncoat will remind some of Mon Mothma.
WHO?: Wherever the governor speaks from, it has roundels.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Saved by Servalan, but as much credit goes to the intricate plot Servelan is apparently behind. This would probably get a much better score if the script were more airtight, the casting less confusing, and the French accent completely gone.
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