"Defeat has become a habit."
REVIEW: Another plot that feels like two stories mashed together, Bounty still works rather well even if it plays into the now common trope of having a threat show up to bother the Liberator every time Blake is on a planet and in need of emergency teleport. Bounty hunters are on the way, and interestingly, they're people Jenna knows and has worked with before. The planetside mission allows events to transpire in orbit away from our prying eyes, so as better to surprise us when Blake returns. I don't think we ever really believe she's joined the mercs against the Seven, but she's playing a dangerous game, fights the bad guys alone, and has some strong scenes with former smuggling buddy Tarvin. It's too bad for Vila. You think this is going to be HIS episode when things start to go pear-shaped and he has to do what he really doesn't want to do, but nah. Still some good sparring between him and Avon as they try to get out of explosive collars and their makeshift cell, but he's not central. It's really time he was, in my opinion.
Down on the planet, Blake and Cally have to convince a president-in-exile, prisoner in all but name to the Federation, that he should follow them back to his planet so he can unite his people who are on the brink of civil war. Blake has the goods from when he had the Federation cipher: They rigged the election, made him lose, offered him passage and residence off world, fostered division, and when civil war starts, they'll come in with a "peacekeeping" mission, establish order and never leave. And so a planet that has so far refused to join the Federation will still be absorbed into it. Politically ingenious. But the prez has lost the will to fight and all he does is collect artifacts of the 20th Century and make long, boring, self-pitying speeches. You wonder if it's worth it, but his daughter Tyse is more than game. There's a bunch of stunts around Waterloo Tower, a small castle that actually does have that science-fiction antenna on it (it looks so wrong, you want to blame bad special effects), Cally breaks a guard's neck, and they make the slowest escape ever in Not-Bessie.
Where the plots converge is on the bridge of the Liberator, where Tarvin allows the Sarkoiff and Tyse to stay rather than share a cell with Blake, and where Tyses shows she's read to sacrifice herself for the cause. A Mexican stand-off has her shout at dear old dad to shoot the baddie even at the risk of her explosive collar exploding. He does it, but only once Blake and crew run in as a distraction, but between his verbal sparring with Tarvin and his daughter's determination, he's found his mojo and is ready to unite his people. It was Gan's self-sacrificial nature that started the bounty hunter plot rolling, so that's a bit of a theme here. To think Tyse wasn't originally in the script to bolster it (Terry Nation's script came in short). Perhaps the bit with butterflies (now extinct) was also meant to herald Sarkoff's "transformation"... or did it predict Jenna's? Either way, those are some interesting details. The episode has texture.
NOT MY FEDERATION: We're not sure when Blake's 7 takes place, right? And yet, people in that time still talk about the 20th Century and indeed, might have a particular obsession with it above all other eras. Almost like they know that's when their stories are being related. Trek is very much the same.
BUT MIGHT BE MY EMPIRE: Getting shock troops on the ground to quell unrest and then take over is part of the Imperial playbook, as per the Prequels.
WHO?: Between the vintage car and the black hat and coat, it seems one of President Sarkoff's 20th-Centurt interests is Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who. This is the first time no guest star has also had Doctor Who work, including voice work for Big Finish.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - I find Sarkoff really very boring, but Tyse and Tarvin are strong guest-stars, and Jenna's story is worth the watch.
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