Revenge Of The Mutoes is a mess that just seems to revel in pulpy action and horror.
WRITTEN BY
No specific credit.
PLOT
The Liberator crew travel to the mild Federation trade planet Beshil to unpacify the populace and rob the overlords blind, only to run into a takeover of the planet already in progress.
ANALYSIS
Revenge of the Mutoes has no real objective beyond shock value - the plot is vague at best and just feels like an excuse to get from one miserable action setpiece to the next until at the very end, where the crew escape with no resolution to anything.
It's like a parody of Terry Nation's writing, his obsession with dystopian atmosphere and viruses, and his stock characters. Even the title fits.
Expect gratuitous descriptions of characters suffering from a wide range of disgusting injuries, plenty of gunplay(there's a long sequence of Blake and Cally just mowing down Federation troops) and sickening nihilism.
CHARACTERS
The crew are mostly true to themselves, save for the Schwarzenegger antics. Blake and Avon have separate reasons for visiting Beshil, but benefit from each other's help. Jenna's loyalty, Cally's passion for freedom and Vila's love of stealing are all evident.
Really, what I want to talk about are the Mutoes themselves, who are just happy to cause mayhem and destruction in revenge for their life of torment. It's not even clear who they are exactly(there's a throwaway mention at the start that they're natives) and how they ended up being forced into dangerous swamps by the Federation or why. So for all intents and purposes, they're just insane suicide bombers who run into the city with viral agents. Not unreasonable though, as despite their original intention to murder Blake and Cally, they end up cooperating with the crew halfway through the story with no explanation.
NOTES
*This story was published in the 1979 Blake's 7 annual.
*I didn't mention the Federation characters of Eng and Shani, and that's because Eng's only purpose in the story beyond narrating the beginning of the invasion is to throw Shani at the Mutoes and then himself at the Federation troops, both getting shot down mercilessly. More death and destruction without pity.
*In another example of the story's vagueness, it's never explained what Avon and Vila wanted to steal from Beshil.
*At one point in the story, the writer forgets Cally was with Blake, and calls her Jenna.
*The Federation troops use jetpacks in this story.
*As mentioned above, the Mutoes and the bomb containing hundreds of spores that can ravage the human body are both directly taken from 1975's "Genesis Of The Daleks", written by the show's creator Terry Nation.
INFORMATION!
*The Federation employ chemicals to pacify the civilian populace, as tactic first seen in The Way Back.
*Zen apparently has the ability to operate the teleporter remotely, not seen in the TV series.
*Cally's freedom fighting past is hinted at.
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
"Big deal..."
CONCLUSION
What a load of rubbish that was. I'd love to know who the Nation fanboy in the writing team was, though.
*In another example of the story's vagueness, it's never explained what Avon and Vila wanted to steal from Beshil.
*At one point in the story, the writer forgets Cally was with Blake, and calls her Jenna.
*The Federation troops use jetpacks in this story.
*As mentioned above, the Mutoes and the bomb containing hundreds of spores that can ravage the human body are both directly taken from 1975's "Genesis Of The Daleks", written by the show's creator Terry Nation.
INFORMATION!
*The Federation employ chemicals to pacify the civilian populace, as tactic first seen in The Way Back.
*Zen apparently has the ability to operate the teleporter remotely, not seen in the TV series.
*Cally's freedom fighting past is hinted at.
"Big deal..."
CONCLUSION
What a load of rubbish that was. I'd love to know who the Nation fanboy in the writing team was, though.
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