Seek-Locate-Destroy (1978) Review

Seek-Locate-Destroy is the shot in the arm the season needed after the lull we had following the escape from Cygnus Alpha.

WRITTEN BY

Terry Nation, who is far more versatile than I ever suspected.

PLOT

Following Blake's attack on the communications complex on Centero, Supreme Commander Servalan assigns his old enemy Space Commander Travis to hunt the rogues down. Having an understanding of Blake's psychology, Travis creates a trap on Centero to take his revenge...

ANALYSIS

After two false starts, this is what I thought the show would be like. Blake wreaking havoc as the Federation desperately tries to hold itself together and pursue him. Not only do we have exciting sequences where the Liberator crew work in their traditionally dysfunctional way to blow up the base(complete with comical mishap in leaving Cally behind), but we also finally get a glimpse at the Federation's leadership with part of the episode taking place on Space Command HQ.

Seeing that Blake's actions have an effect on the environment where the show takes place makes him as a character feel that much more important, and gives the audience the vital impression that the show isn't episodic, that we're moving towards a goal or at the very least change. It stops things from becoming too static and opens up a whole realm of possibilities for what could happen next on both the Federation's political stage as well as on a character level. In that regard, Seek-Locate-Destroy is rather postmodern.

CHARACTERS

The episode serves as the debut of both Servalan and Travis. Servalan is rather subdued here(especially compared to the directions her character will take in future seasons), since she wasn't designed as a recurring character. The fact that she stands out as much as she does is up to Jacqueline Pearce's sublimely smug and manipulative performance.

But Stephen Greif as Travis is the real stand-out. People could study this episode to see how to make an immediately compelling villain in 45 minutes. He has a fascinating backstory with Blake, giving him an immediately understandable reason for hunting him beyond a mere assignment. He is physically intimidating, with bulbous dead eyes and a classic black leather outfit. And as an enemy, he is calculating, almost detective-like, with obvious skill as a strategist.

Gareth Thomas also has a strong episode, portraying Blake's conviction for leaving no one behind unless absolutely necessary. His brand of down-to-earth loyalty is a solid counterpoint for Greif's professional villainy and their one scene together at the end was electric.

The rest of the crew mostly slip into the background, though Jan Chappell has a wonderful moment where Cally holds Travis at gunpoint with nearly sadistic glee after the torture she was put through. She is very effective at portraying Cally's darker side as a vengeful terrorist, and I wish we'd see more of it.

I'd also like to point out that Keating is surprisingly bold as Vila in this episode. He has his token cowardly moments of course, but he's still brave enough to distract two troopers and, in a momentous occasion, actually barks back at Avon(look out for Paul Darrow's defeated snarl)!

Final mention goes to Peter Miles for delivering his usual perfectly pitched droning irritation. He might play the same character in everything I've ever seen him in, but like Brian Blessed, it's such an awesome character that I'm always happy to just seem him do it. And he fits better into this show than Blessed does, that's for sure.

NOTES

*That Federation robot who shoots at all movement could do with a bit of reprogramming, judging by the way it fired at cable that may as well have been flailing in the wind. That thing could do some damage!

*Why did Vila even bother checking the other door if he was supposed to open the gate? Just to alert us it was closed for the gag later?

*Why does Blake bother asking how the lock works(beyond spicing an ordinary entrance up with technobabble)? I mean, it could just be idle curiosity, but if I was Blake, I'd focus on the task at hand and let Vila get on with it.

*Strange to see Vila so confident that he even downplays his own achievement in opening the door.

*Blake and Cally both have green anoraks(Cally's is a lighter color), Vila's is read, Avon's is grey and Gan's is brown. I have no idea what the actual in-universe point of them is, but I really like the designs.

*For the first and I think only time, Jenna has to get a locator fix on Blake by having the latter continue speaking until the fix is made. Apart from that, teleporting has now come down to pulling the two levers on the console.

*This time, the camera stays fixed on the crew until they're on the surface, making this one of the very few occasions in the first three seasons where the beloved outline effect is not used when teleporting. Nice of Vere Lorrimer to experiment though.

*Why doesn't Vila just shoot the running trooper(to avoid making noise, maybe)? And why does the trooper just collapse after pushing the alarm? We never saw Vila punch him. That wasn't very well edited.

*Tthey(or at least Jenna) really should've noticed Cally missing when they teleported up.

*I like how Servalan says Travis's full name is "Space Commander Travis". Does he have no first or last name?

*After two episodes of talking about Auron, now we come out with the planet "Auros". Seriously?

*I wonder why Travis was late to his meeting with Servalan. An attempt to prove his dominance? Then again, maybe he brushed through the aide just because he didn't like being late, given his military attitude?

*Apparently, Blake thinks Cally is a child even though she's like in her 30s or 40s(the actress was 33). He justifies it by mentioning her not returning to Auron out of shame. That just rubs me the wrong way, but I suppose Blake is kind of a judgmental person by nature.

*Servalan(and Pearce too from what I've heard) is such a hardcore flirt. Just look at her rubbing up that poor trooper! No wonder the dude was so flustered.

*I could swear there was nothing printed on that paper Servalan gives to Travis.

*What's the deal with the communicator that the scientist uses(the box thing he puts against his neck)?

*I love how Travis's information on Blake seems to consist of a few poor black-and-white photographs. "Is this all the information we have on Blake?"

*Travis claims to relate to the Mutoids, for their lack of emotion as well as their cybernetic nature. Interesting...

*Why the hell are Travis and Base Commander Escon being monitored by Escon's research team and why are the research team greenscreened?

*For the first and only time in Blake's 7, the Federation have teleport detectors.

*Why does Travis keep Cally's Liberator gun in the same room as she is? To taunt her?

*How did Blake arrive on Centero before Travis? By just going really fast? Wouldn't Travis expect that, given the danger Cally is in? Or is he just unfamiliar with the Liberator's top speed?

*Surprisingly, Cally exhibits some strong moral fiber by not murdering Travis where he stood(like Avon, she seems to be against killing without being attacked first, although Avon would probably consider Travis's existence attacking first). Travis for his part chooses survival above killing Blake as he doesn't try and attack the two without a gun.

*"Seek! Locate! Destroy" is a frequent line yelled by Terry Nation's famous Daleks on Doctor Who.

INFORMATION!

*The backstory between Travis and Blake, as related by both of them, takes place during Blake's initial rebellion, which was referenced in The Way Back. I still think it would've been stronger if those two rebellions had been melded into one, or if Travis had just been Dev Tarrant(who, after all, was a Federation security agent and thus could conceivably be the one pursuing Blake).

*Blake reminds Jenna that Cally was afraid to return to her people out of shame for being the only one living, which Cally implied in their conversation in Time Squad.

*Cally tells Travis "your words are meaningless to me!", which seems to be her go-to lie as it's also the answer she gave Blake in Time Squad when he asked her about the resistance fighters.

*It's not entirely clear, but Cally seems to have been tortured by the same mind-altering device that was used on Blake in the flashbacks of The Way Back.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"That's the trouble with heroics. They seldom run to schedule."

CONCLUSION

An excellent reboot.