Deliverance (1978) Review

Deliverance is perfectly adequate setup, but lacks any truly exciting elements of its own.

WRITTEN BY

Terry Nation, who throws another dystopia our way.

PLOT

The Liberator crew travel to the planet Cephlon to aid the survivors of a spacecraft crash. Whilst there, Jenna goes missing, and Avon, Vila and Gan remain on the planet to look for her. Meanwhile, the Liberator is hijacked by the son of computer genius Ensor, who forces Blake and Cally to take the ship to Aristo to save his father and complete a deal with Supreme Commander Servalan.

ANALYSIS

Deliverance moves at a fairly leisurely pace, mainly because it's pre-occupied with setting up the events of the next episode. As such, I feel like the decision to separate the crew into two was a mistake.
Not only does it rob us of the chance to get deeper into Ensor Jr's genuinely compelling dilemma, but
the potentially very touching story of Avon walking into another civilization's prophecy is also left to be nothing more than filler due to the limited runtime, which is a shame, because it's actually a really terrific idea. Good enough that I could see a whole other show based on it. But here, it genuinely accomplishes nothing beyond giving Avon and the gang a hideout whilst looking for Jenna.

I was quite desperate to know details about Meegat's people and the history of Cephlon, so I will say that Nation at least succeeded in writing an interesting episode, but it's just a shame to have two good, well-acted storylines simultaneously be made lesser by the need to make it part one of two.

CHARACTERS

Tony Caunter gives a terrific performance of not just a man in extreme pain, but one who is forced into doing terrible things out of fear for his father's death. I felt terribly bad for the way the crew had to treat Ensor Jr and I genuinely wanted to see him do more than just sit there, as tense as the sequence with Cally was.

Suzan Farmer's heartfelt Meegat borders on being a parody, but she had good chemistry with Darrow, and they just about sold her character's genuine sweetness and loyalty. I was really happy for Meegat once Avon and co got the rocket operational and only wish we'd gotten to spend more time with her and maybe seen her people.

It's an interesting episode for Avon. As Blake himself points out, he's thrust into a position of true responsibility and finds himself somewhat out of his element despite having supposedly sought the position all along, foreshadowing future events.

We only see Space Command for one scene, but it's a great one. Jacqueline Pearce is a joy - Servalan displays an almost childlike giddiness over breaking Federation law. Meanwhile, Travis is subdued, willing to show humility in order to regain his command and obtain the revenge that plagues his mind.

NOTES

*In the original draft, Blake went down to the planet instead of Avon. This would explain some character discrepancies, such as Avon's willingness to go into a radioactive territory with no obvious rewards, and Blake's implication that he doesn't have to go, as well as Blake's later coldness towards Ensor's pleas.

*Like Cally with her leopard skin jacket, Avon has replaced his color-coded anorak with a silver one of a different design.

*Strangely, the capsules don't appear to be piping hot after falling from the atmosphere, as Gan and Jenna handle one just fine.

*Vila reveals that teleportation causes some kind of stress, that an injured person might not necessarily survive.

*We see Cally listening to music on some kind of radio device(with goggles), showcasing a rare example of future entertainment.

*Vila and Ensor Jr apparently share a bracelet as they teleport up.

*Why doesn't Gan immediately start the search from the sealed door that he found with Jenna earlier?

*I find it strange that Servalan would employ Travis again in spite of his repeated failures. I guess his ferocity and loyalty are attractive to her?

*Given that Ensor Jr provided the plans for Orac, what's to stop Servalan from duplicating the computer? Or were the plans incomplete somehow, or dependent on materials she had no access to?

*I wonder where exactly Meegat's people are supposed to be anyway. She is clearly alone in the rocket command center as its guardian. I suppose now she can go back to her community as a hero, so that's nice.

*Those scavengers must be really deaf and blind to not have noticed Avon and Vila trundling down the cliff right behind their camp.

INFORMATION!

*In a deliberate reversal of their first meeting, Servalan pointedly ignores Travis(and comments on the change).

*Since the events of Project Avalon, Travis has been suspended from his position, and there has been an inquiry into his mishandling of the "Blake affair".

*Gan compares Meegat's genetic banks and brood units to the ones the Liberator brought onboard in Time Squad.

*Gan reminds the crew that he isn't capable of killing due to his limiter implant.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

BLAKE: "You're sure you want to go down?"
AVON: "Are you afraid that I'll cope with it better than you?"
BLAKE: "No."
AVON: "Well, perhaps you ought to be."

CONCLUSION

Well, it's worth it just to see Avon worshipped.