Shadow (1979) Review

Shadow is more memorable for its imagery than its eclectic storytelling.

WRITTEN BY

Chris Boucher, the script editor of Blake's 7 and renowned originator of Avon's witticisms. He's clearly a bit more... colorful than Nation, shall we say?

PLOT

Blake takes the Liberator to Space City, hoping to use the resources of the drug cartel Terra Nostra to combat the Federation. Meanwhile, Orac traps Cally's consciousness within himself.

ANALYSIS

This one's a bit all over the place. My first primary problem is that the storylines of the Terra Nostra and Orac's possession have absolutely no connection. They're just two totally different things that happen at the same time and both are weaker for it.

Much like Cally in The Web, Orac is still new to the Liberator crew, so turning him into a threatening villain works since we're not entirely sure what his deal is just yet. However, the way this is executed can be very hard to follow for a first time viewer as it's a great deal more fantastical and enigmatic than what the show usually has offered up to this point.

Having the crew depend upon people as loathsome and dangerous as drug dealers ensures that we do not start mistaking them for Robin Hood and his Merry Men-type heroes. I was fascinated by Blake's justification, winning takes precedence over doing the right thing.

The direction was so-so. As I already said, the execution of Orac's possession was very obtuse. I noticed a very bizarre cut between the scenes on Zandor and on the Liberator at the end, something must've gone wrong in the editing room. The ending was also quite muddled. The Space City sequences detailing the Terra Nostra's tracking of the Liberator seem to go nowhere. Nor was there an adequate explanation for why Cally was even on Zandor to begin with.

That being said, the filter and the crew's Star Wars-esque white pyjamas do a great job of conveying the heat of Zandor, making the planet distinctive from all the other wet quarries. I liked the background shot of the Liberator approaching from the window of Space City. And of course, involving drugs to begin with makes the episode stand apart.

CHARACTERS

Derek Smith was terrific as Largo. Calculated, sly and cunning. It's a shame his performance was wasted on a character as overall irrelevant as he was. At least he makes an impression, I suppose.

Bek and Hanna are both pretty cheesy and come across like acting greenhorns. Given that Bek isn't supposed to be addicted(I think), it's bizarre that he has the same gaunt, pale makeup on as his sister.

The dynamics of the Liberator crew when dealing with the Terra Nostra are interesting. Blake's got tunnel vision. He only sees them as a tool to attack the Federation, everything else is collateral damage. Interestingly enough, Gan is his strongest opponent in that regard. It's a shame his background is so vague, as I'm not quite sure what built up these principles. I suppose aiding drug addicts is just a crime too dirty for him. Still, the standoff between him and Blake is one of David Jackson's strongest scenes so far in the show, and probably the first time Gan has really been a serious dramatic character since Cygnus Alpha.

I haven't talked much about Peter Tuddenham before, since his roles have been pretty thankless thus far, but his vocal performances have always been a good reliable aspect of the show. Seeing Tuddenham actually get to play the part of a villain is terrific, especially the expert way he shifts Orac's grandfatherly irascibility over into genuine, sadistic threats.

NOTES

*Bek finding Hanna in a... room(?) with Peety's body in a tinfoil wrap is a bit random to say the least. Who wrapped Peety? Who even was Peety, their brother?

*This episode establishes that Orac can operate the teleport remotely, but Zen cannot.

*Terra Nostra is Italian for "this Earth of ours", and is an obvious parody of the mafia's term for their own organisation: Cosa Nostra(aka "this thing of ours"). Terra Nostra also serves to foreshadow the fact that they are the Federation. In otherwords, the owners of Earth.

*Unlike Bounty, where Zen had no information on where the crew were unless they're on the flight deck, here he can easily tell Blake that Vila is not on the ship and hid Orac. Possibly because Vila and Orac spoke on the flight deck, but still, it's a far cry from his original avoidance in getting involved with crew affairs. Seems like Zen's had a friendlier update.

*Zen is also somehow able to deduce that Orac is not concerned for the safety of the Liberator, a rather personal assessment that he's never made about anyone else.

*In a rather touching moment, Avon faces Cally's comatose state by saying she's more human than he is.

*The Zandor sequences keep reminding me of Turkish Star Wars.

*You can quite easily see the strings of the Moon Discs.

*I'm very unclear on why Orac sent Cally to the planet in the first place. He seemed to force her to do it, but they also mention she was terrified, suggesting she may have had some control over herself and merely panicked? Given that the climax depends on her being there, this vagueness is not appreciated.

*Avon builds a bomb inside Orac to detonate whenever his communication channels are interfered with again. Presumably, he grows to value the computer enough to eventually remove it.

*The twist of the President leading Terra Nostra is fantastic.

*Another example of Blake's shadiness is how he convinces Bek to return to the incredibly dangerous Terra Nostra-controlled Space City, with the task of building up a new resistance force there for Blake.

INFORMATION!

*Jenna reminds the crew that Orac is not a computer, which Avon dismisses as his creator's vanity. Ensor previously stated that Orac was not a computer in Orac.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"Law makers, law breakers, let us fight them all. Why not?"

CONCLUSION

It's not unpleasant or boring by any means, but it's a mess.