"We've been hitting at the fingers, the arms. I want to hit at the heart. And the heart of the Federation is Earth."
REVIEW: Terry Nation's back and it's to kill off one of the main cast and make it even more impossible to justify the show's title. But at least the stakes are high, the mission's goal is worthy, and our key villains Travis and Servalan (in any amazing hat) are in it. Blake has set his eyes on Earth, the heart of the Federation, and on the heart of hearts, a computer room called "Control" through which all things Federation pass. It's protected by an explosive power grid that can repair itself in seconds and we see it blow up some resistance members early on, with extreme prejudice, and from there accept its power even if it mostly works on plot hole physics. And Blake's contact on Earth can't be trusted because she (Kasabi) has been captured and given a truth serum, her daughter (Veron) forced to help the Feds lest her mother be killed (which she of course is once she's served her purpose). Everything is set for either Blake's tightest victory, or his worst defeat, and a key element here is his hubris in trying to accomplish something so many have failed at before. His crew at least make him agree to an abort protocol, but Chekhov be damned, it doesn't come up in the episode.
Travis and Servalan are equal to themselves in Pressure Point, cruel and brutish/manipulative, according to each villain's nature. Interestingly, when Servalan was a cadet, she studied under Kasabi and reported her as a traitor all those years ago. Servalan's own treachery is revealed when Kasabi says she had given her a bad report - unfit to command - but the spoiled Servalan was too well connected. So was Kasabi really teaching seditious material, or did Servalan make it all up to get revenge? Kasabi DID turn to the resistance... In the end, they'll get as close to getting Blake as they ever will, but for Jenna coming to the rescue and holding the Supreme Commander at gunpoint with Veron's help. As usual, the villains are left in a position where they hate each other, but are also on the outs with Federation Command. That's probably overused given they keep returning as a duo.
It's one of Nation's better scripts, but there are still some "Nationisms", like the several traps/obstacles that buy time and have to be solved with technobabble or gymnastics, the weak sense of outer space (the Liberator is in teleport range of Earth for hours without being detected or intercepted), and the magical tech. The character work (Blake's pride, Avon giving a good explanation of why he's keen on helping, the villains' banter) can usually be laid at Boucher's feet. However, the idea that "Control" is a hoax to lure resistance fighters in and kill them, in actuality an empty room, is brilliant. The locations and sets are perfect to put this idea across. Blake's elation almost immediately deflated when he walks into a large, empty, white space.
That one of the Seven should die in this episode is questionable, but I hope Blake in particular will suffer the loss beyond the dour final tag and shot of the empty chair. I initially thought Gan was to die because the actor wanted out. It's not like David Jackson got much to do compared to the rest. But it may have been a cost-saving measure to reduce the cast salary by one. Reading up on it, I find that Nation wanted to kill Vila, because of course he hated what Keating was doing to the character. Boucher and Maloney nixed that, for the opposite reason. So it was down to Cally or Gan, and Gan was finally selected so Jenna wouldn't be the only woman on the ship. Gan spends half the episode ALMOST getting killed and is then out on his third strike, a grenade thrown by Travis while he's holding a door up with his prodigious strength (but for real, who's going to bust heavy church doors open now?!). His death has almost no dialog, which feels like a missed opportunity, but for Blake's 7 is perhaps proper. These things happen in a violent world. Gan was never the most talkative of the bunch. Still. It's too bad Orac and Zen don't go on any away missions, because they wouldn't have been MY choice.
NOT MY FEDERATION: This Federation destroyed all the churches at the start of the new calendar. The OTHER Federation is a secular utopia. Coincidence? And of course, when Jenna said "It's been a long time", I immediately sang "getting from there to here".
BUT MIGHT BE MY EMPIRE: A mission to the heart of an evil facility? Sounds like a few movies I know.
WHO?: Jane Sherwin (Kasabi) was Lady Jennifer in The War Games, while Yolande Palfrey (her daughter Veron) would appear as Janet, the stewardess in Terror of the Vervoids. The Mutoid with lines (Sue Bishop) was a member of the Sisterhood of Karn in The Brain of Morbius.
REWATCHABILITY: High - A focused mission and the death of a cast member are elevated by an Orwellian scheme and a downbeat ending.
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