Traitor (2007) Review

Traitor tries to explore new territory with its reinvention of the Liberator, but it's ultimately just all filler.

WRITTEN BY

Marc Platt, another 80s Doctor Who scribe. Surprising that he should write this, given his good reputation.

PLOT

Desperate to restore itself to full capacity, the Liberator enters into a stand-off with Blake's crew when it threatens to absorb them into its AI. Whilst Avon negotiates with the computer, Mezin must choose her loyalties once and for all.

ANALYSIS

Expanding on the original show's implications that Zen is more than he appears to be doesn't seem like a bad idea in of itself, and it adds an extra layer of intrigue for the crew because they have to deal not just with the Federation, but also make sure their new alien ship is happy. It would be naive to expect no problems when dealing with tech beyond their immediate understanding.

And, you know, if this was one episode of a long TV show, I might actually not mind that, since it'd be just another stepping stone in establishing a new status quo. But as the second part of a trilogy, it brings the pace to a screeching halt. Not to mention, the story makes a point of going back to the more familiar, friendly version of Zen by the end anyway(making this a bizarre sort of origin story) and as such, the whole thing feels like they were just stalling for time rather than doing something new and interesting with the premise.

The other two crew-oriented storylines regarding their visits to the destroyed colony and the failed theft of supplies feel more like interconnected vignettes and they don't really give us any new information. Federation is evil. They want the Liberator. We know this. The only real development seemed to come from Servalan's scenes, where we find out that Blake's escape has become public and has begun to damage her reputation, as well as that of the Federation. That's the interesting stuff, and honestly the episode should've focused on that rather than fiddling around with Zen.

CHARACTERS

Avon is a serious disappointment. He was already underused in Rebel, but he spends half of this story in a comatose state. When he is around, however, he seems to deviate a great deal from Darrow's portrayal. This version of Avon not only agrees to share ownership of the Liberator with the crew, but also treats computers as if they were personalities rather than with contempt.

That being said, the majority of the crew are not much better - rather than explore their characters, the episode just throws them from one dangerous situation to another, not leaving much room for witty banter or personal initiative.

Giving Zen a less conventionally ethical personality with priority of ship over crew gives the story a nice feeling of constant danger, but Zen's logic isn't made very clear. He seems entirely capable of operating the ship on his own, so why does he need a crew? Just for a general purpose in life? If that's the case, why would he try to rob them of independence? Or is that not what would happen if the crew had joined with Zen?

It's also implied Zen murdered his previous crew when they did not fit the parameters... but why? Wouldn't they just count as passengers then? And what's all this nonsense about the ship being "traumatised"? This whole thing is a bit too vague for my liking.

I'm also not too happy with Mezin's development. She was great in Rebel, when it was made clear that joining with Blake was literally her only option for survival. Having her betray him here makes sense as she thinks she can get back to the Federation. But then when the machines turn on her, she suddenly becomes the biggest freedom fighter? I call BS. She's been with the Federation for years, so she should be perfectly aware of how they think and work, and the value they put on human life.
One could argue that it was the cruel devastation of the colony planet that convinced her, but if that was the case, she wouldn't have called them to begin with.

Rula Lenska's Dr. Ashaya was probably the best part of the whole story. I loved her lack of courtesy and how she amused she was at how much she enjoyed her revenge against the Federation machines.

NOTES

*This audio drama is the second part of the "A Rebellion Reborn" trilogy created by B7 Productions.

*What's the deal with Zen's weird echoey voices? Are they the various "battle computers"?

*The naming of the Liberator was quite cringeworthy. Especially Vila's "liberating" joke early on.

*The Bethesda system? I wanna see the planet Fallout LXXVI.

*Why does Zen respond to Avon about the active shuttle, and not Blake?

*I like Mezin's use of "way back" to describe her possible return to the Federation on Earth.

*I couldn't follow the EM shields thing at all. I've no idea how they beat those machines on the colony planet. At one point, Blake gets blocked in by the shields and then Mezin somehow gets him out of them? And they can move the shields around? I dunno.

*The sudden cut from the colony planet to the one with the refinery was just incompetent. We didn't even get the crew's reaction to Mezin coming back onboard! Wouldn't Avon have wanted to shoot her or something?

*Travis's first name is Stefan, apparently.

INFORMATION!

*According to Jenna, the Liberator travelled at a speed of "9 G's" at Cygnus Alpha.

*Gan voted for Blake whilst living on Earth.

*The official name for the Federation is "the Earth Federation of Planets". Very Star Trek.

*The episode's title Traitor was also used by the original show in Series D.

*Zen also turned against the crew in original series episodes Breakdown and Redemption.

*The plot point of the public becoming aware of Blake's activities and this reflecting poorly on Servalan is an expansion of some scenes from the original series episode Seek-Locate-Destroy.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"Maybe I'm an ant lost in the mind of God."

CONCLUSION

All over the place, and the whole Zen rigmarole went on for way too long. They should've fixed it permanently after he tried to fly them into the sun, and then focus the rest of the story on establishing the Liberator's fame.