Mirror is a pretty exciting escapade, albeit with a terrible subplot.
WRITTEN BY
Peter Anghelides, who strikes me as a big fan.
PLOT
Hoping to destroy Fedorac, the Liberator crew infiltrate the Federation's psycho-manipulation facility on Stellidar IV, only to find themselves caught in the President's trap. Meanwhile, Cally travels to the planet Vere in order to apprehend the murderer of Jenna's father and finds him with Travis...
ANALYSIS
Everything to do on Vere is completely inconsequential, and exists merely to give Cally, Jenna and Travis something to do. And it's a terrible shame too, because the setup of Jenna getting revenge over her father's death seems like it should lead to something pretty powerful. The fact that she's casually robbed of that would be more true to life, I suppose. But the point or rather, lack thereof remains.
The patient exploration of Stellidar IV was quite thrilling, and the action-adventure sequence as it fell apart was certainly well executed and tense. The actual contents of the facility(Fedorac and the hallucinogenic gas) were a bit convenient, given that it didn't seem to be built for the specific purposes of the President, but it allowed for some really interesting scenes exploring Blake, Avon and Vila's fears.
Points also for an amazing cliffhanger!
CHARACTERS
Michael Keating once again puts in a great showing as Vila(and the alien shopkeeper, cause I guess they didn't have money for more actors). I really like that the writers of these audios put in effort to show the more vulnerable side of the character. His hallucination of himself all alone was terrific. I cannot wait to see the Vila-Travis team-up next time.
Brian Croucher ended up sounding way older than I anticipated, to the point where I could barely recognise him as the same actor(the fact that he's obviously improved his skills didn't help), but the same malicious performance is there. In fact, when he's quiet and gloating, he does sound the same. He just doesn't have that same monotone yelling in him anymore.
Given the nature of the story, Sally Knyvette finally got something new to do. I just wish there was more of that, to be honest. The fact that one of her naturally most important storylines is such a throwaway thing makes me really sad. But she does portray the vengeful and waspish version of Jenna perfectly.
Alistair Lock got the surprising stand-out role of Space Major Kade, which he imbued with a grizzled and threatening Scottish accent, making for a plausible ex-colleague of Travis's. Like the rest of the Vere storyline, I felt Kade was really wasted in spite of Lock's great showing. I would have liked to have seen much more of Travis and Kade together, and hearing about their connection.
As in Drones, Orac also continues to be a notable independent presence. I always find him to be an unnerving enigmatic character when he's in an antagonistic role and so far the audios have done a great job of emphasizing Orac's cold computer logic.
Hugh Fraser, known to me for his performance as the steadfast Captain Hastings in the Poirot TV series, makes his debut as the President of the Federation. Fraser brings the same upper class charm to the part, but twists it around into malevolence. He fits perfectly into the established universe.
NOTES
*I must say, I whole-heartedly agree with Avon in regards to Kade - given Orac's abilities, it should be fairly easy to locate Kade(who appears to still be in the official service of the Federation) after dealing with Fedorac.
*Travis has like zero chill in this story. The way he mows down random villagers just to get them out of his way is hilarious. I remember when Travis had some subtlety and strategic ability.
*Avon's hallucination is somewhat unclear - Blake mentions that he only dreamt up a gun, but if that was the case, wouldn't Blake be aware that Avon would've killed him if the gun was real? You'd think the two would have a little talk about that. And if Blake himself was part of the hallucination, why would he not be more overtly treacherous instead of merely confused?
*I was very confused about what exactly Jenna and Cally were supposed to be doing in that planet-hopper this entire time. Were they trying to head to Stellidar IV or just hanging about over Vere's orbit?
*I bet Anghelides stole the idea of the robots' lasers turning out to be transport beams from Doctor Who.
INFORMATION!
*Orac discovered that Fedorac was located on Stellidar IV at the end of Drones.
*When Avon criticises Jenna's desire to pursue her father's murderer, he's asked how he'd feel if his own father had suffered the same fate. According to Avon: A Terrible Aspect, Avon's father was murdered by a Federation agent and Avon himself was raised to pursue the killer.
*Blake reassures Jenna that Cally has long experience in covert operations, referencing her stint on Saurian Major.
*Travis has one Mutoid(who previously appeared in Fractures), possibly the remaining one from the group that Servalan gave him in Trial. He also claims that his pursuit ship was confiscated at some point, perhaps by the Federation after his capture in Voice From The Past.
*Zen refers to Orac as "the one called Orac" and is silenced by the latter, just like in Shadow.
*Travis arrives on Vere on an old planet hopper - a type of ship first mentioned in the original series episode Gambit and then featured throughout the final season as the replacement for the Liberator.
*Kade is disgusted by Travis's Mutoid, which leads to a brief discussion about their vampirism and need for blood serum very similar to the one in Duel.
*Travis obscures evidence of his massacre with a strontium grenade, the same type of powerful explosive he used to attack Blake in Pressure Point.
*Avon refrains from taking Orac to Stellidar IV on account of him being too bulky. He then mentions he'll have to do something about that one day, obviously foreshadowing the miniaturisation of Orac in Gambit.
*Jenna swore to kill Kade to avenge her family in Epitaph.
*Avon's delusion of being betrayed by Blake and subsequently shooting him is foreshadowing Blake.
*Amongst other things, Locklan's father managed to create a successful teleportation system. The Federation's failure to produce one was estahlished in Cygnus Alpha.
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
"You're not leading us, Blake. You're driving us."
CONCLUSION
Not perfect, but it held my attention throughout, which is actually quite a good sign with audio dramas.
*Avon's hallucination is somewhat unclear - Blake mentions that he only dreamt up a gun, but if that was the case, wouldn't Blake be aware that Avon would've killed him if the gun was real? You'd think the two would have a little talk about that. And if Blake himself was part of the hallucination, why would he not be more overtly treacherous instead of merely confused?
*I was very confused about what exactly Jenna and Cally were supposed to be doing in that planet-hopper this entire time. Were they trying to head to Stellidar IV or just hanging about over Vere's orbit?
*I bet Anghelides stole the idea of the robots' lasers turning out to be transport beams from Doctor Who.
INFORMATION!
*Orac discovered that Fedorac was located on Stellidar IV at the end of Drones.
*When Avon criticises Jenna's desire to pursue her father's murderer, he's asked how he'd feel if his own father had suffered the same fate. According to Avon: A Terrible Aspect, Avon's father was murdered by a Federation agent and Avon himself was raised to pursue the killer.
*Blake reassures Jenna that Cally has long experience in covert operations, referencing her stint on Saurian Major.
*Travis has one Mutoid(who previously appeared in Fractures), possibly the remaining one from the group that Servalan gave him in Trial. He also claims that his pursuit ship was confiscated at some point, perhaps by the Federation after his capture in Voice From The Past.
*Zen refers to Orac as "the one called Orac" and is silenced by the latter, just like in Shadow.
*Travis arrives on Vere on an old planet hopper - a type of ship first mentioned in the original series episode Gambit and then featured throughout the final season as the replacement for the Liberator.
*Kade is disgusted by Travis's Mutoid, which leads to a brief discussion about their vampirism and need for blood serum very similar to the one in Duel.
*Travis obscures evidence of his massacre with a strontium grenade, the same type of powerful explosive he used to attack Blake in Pressure Point.
*Avon refrains from taking Orac to Stellidar IV on account of him being too bulky. He then mentions he'll have to do something about that one day, obviously foreshadowing the miniaturisation of Orac in Gambit.
*Jenna swore to kill Kade to avenge her family in Epitaph.
*Avon's delusion of being betrayed by Blake and subsequently shooting him is foreshadowing Blake.
*Amongst other things, Locklan's father managed to create a successful teleportation system. The Federation's failure to produce one was estahlished in Cygnus Alpha.
"You're not leading us, Blake. You're driving us."
CONCLUSION
Not perfect, but it held my attention throughout, which is actually quite a good sign with audio dramas.
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