Crystal Gazing (1979) Review

Crystal Gazing is a pretty mediocre adventure, though it did give me some Quatermain vibes, oddly enough.

WRITTEN BY

No specific credit.

PLOT

After shattering a vital component of their navigation system, the Liberator crew are forced to infiltrate and steal crystals from a superstitious society on the planet Gamma IX.

ANALYSIS

The primitives of Gamma IX are... troublesome, to say the least. They're brown, and the art clearly indicates they're based on African culture. One could easily draw conclusions of racism. This aspect is also what really reminded me of King Solomon's Mines, with a bunch of enlightened white people exploring an undiscovered society.

Unfortunately, Blake and his crew are not Quatermain and his fellows, and they don't end up befriending the Gamma IX folks. This story was written in 1978, so I'm not entirely sure whether its writer had even seen the series. Despite this, the cynicism of the characters is very much in place and the tone fits the show.

CHARACTERS

Blake is probably the best-defined character. You get some sense that there's tension between him and the other characters regarding his decision to battle the Federation, and that he refuses to bend on the matter. I found it interesting how it almost came across like Jenna was afraid of pushing him too far with her suggestions on giving up on the matter, as if Blake could snap at her over it. The show never implied Blake's command over the Liberator was iron-fisted.

Jenna is essentially like she was in the show - we get a brief suggestions that she has a spine, but really, she mostly just hangs around Blake and does what she's told. Cally actually gets to be meat of the action, being the one to get the crew out of trouble on the planet, as well as demonstrate some skills she picked up during her days as a freedom fighter.

Vila is also shown in a positive light, being the one to ultimately save the day and get the crystal. It's a nice change from how poorly he was treated later in the show's run.

Avon is useless. He's worse than useless. Not only does he advocate for abandoning the Liberator without so much as trying to get the crystal, but he also refuses to go down to try and get it even when the ship is left adrift by the lack of one.

NOTES

*This story was published in the 1979 Blake's 7 annual.

*Travis is referred to as "Colonel Travis", suggesting that the story was based on early scripts of the show.

*It's a bit strange that only one mine on the entire planet appears to contain the mauxite crystal. And who established the mine anyway? Zen has quite a bit of data on the planet, so I wonder if the System used it to originally collect the mauxite they needed to built ships like the Liberator.

*Cally's annoyed over initially being left out of the action, which very nicely echoes the sentiments of half the cast.

*Interestingly, the Gamma IX primitives' interest in the Liberator bracelets is never explained. They remove them after Blake tries to contact the ship and display them during the ceremony to burn the crew.

INFORMATION!

*The story takes place some time between Seek-Locate-Destroy and Orac.

*Blake dreams about his past life on Earth, and still has gaps in his memory from the brainwashing he endured in The Way Back.

*The Liberator goes on maximum speed again(it is mentioned to be close to the light barrier), which requires the crew to strap in due to the g-force, as we saw in Cygnus Alpha.

*Cally's freedom fighter background was established in Time Squad.

*Gan's inability to kill is briefly referenced.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"What chance have you got on your own, if the four of them can't look after themselves?"

CONCLUSION

Just... don't do Space Africans.