The Turing Test is something different. A complex moral dilemma more akin to Star Trek than the pulpy likes of Blake's 7.
WRITTEN BY
Simon Guerrier, a Big Finish regular. I'm not familiar with his work, but The Turing Test displays a keen interest in human nature as well as a willingness to toy with the series formula.
PLOT
Avon and Vila infiltrate a Federation research base set around the construction of artificial life. There, Avon becomes a friend of their first sapient android and becomes set on freeing her from her organic overlords... all for his own benefit, of course.
ANALYSIS
The format of the Chronicles is an interesting one in that it's essentially an adventure experienced from one very specific point of view(in this case Avon's), with opinions and perspective playing a large role. There's still an attempt to spice up the narration with sound effects and dramatic music, but for the most part, it's an audiobook.
Despite my concerns over the lack of authenticity when compared to the full-cast audio dramas, this turned out to be its greatest strength, as the vocal descriptions and additional insight gave me a much better understanding of where our characters are and what they're doing. In that regard, it's a success.
The lack of a villain or any kind of overt threat was a nice change of pace. It didn't need either, as the drama came naturally from the tension surrounding Avon and Vila's deception, the mystery of the research base and Avon's relationship with 14. I also noticed Guerrier frequently holding key pieces of information from us regarding our own heroes' motivation, so as to keep the audience in constant suspense.
There is, of course, the Achilles heel that this format depends entirely on the narrator's characterisation to be pitch-perfect, which I'm not convinced The Turing Test entirely manages.
CHARACTERS
Avon and Vila are a classic pairing, so the story gets off on the right foot by sending them on a mission together, even if I feel like we don't get to see nearly enough comedy between the two(Vila pretending to be Avon's creator is a goldmine that goes unused beyond a few obligatory gags). Avon's journey of connecting and empathising with the imprisoned android is touching and interesting at first glance, but if you know Avon at all, you'd realize how out of character this was for him.
Whilst we know that Avon enjoys working with and talking to computers, he is always adamant that they are not living things, but machines built to respond to stimuli. I suppose Guerrier could be implying that some of that attitude is a direct response to his encounter with 14, but he never even considered the possibility that Zen could be sapient, even though Zen is supposed to be alien and thus more unknowable to him than 14 possibly could be. I just don't see Avon ever making the "aren't we just organic machines?" comment in the TV show.
Not to mention, this creates a massive continuity error with Project Avalon, where Avon describes the eponymous android as "the best robotic engineering" he'd ever seen, even though Avalon's copy was obviously inferior.
That's not to say that Guerrier has entirely misunderstood Avon's character. That one important facet aside, there's a good deal of subtle writing suggesting that Avon is constantly trying to convince himself he doesn't care, which reflects his behaviour on the show. The way Avon is represented and performed by Darrow reflects his relatively easygoing, but restrained Series A persona quite well. Touches like Avon experiencing horror at seeing 14 mistreated and then thinking it over and deciding he was afraid for himself were excellent. I was also impressed to see Avon compare his experiences with 14 to that of Blake's experiences with everybody he rescues.
I know we're seeing Blake through Avon's lenses here, but I was surprised to see he'd be so persistent about saving 14 that he'd ignore her wants and refuse to stand down even at the threat of Vila being shot. Avon makes some good points about the flaws in Blake's personality throughout The Turing Test, but to suggest that he lives entirely in his own world is surely exaggerated.
14 herself was a great character, incredibly endearing in her childlike discovery of the universe around her even if we never got to hear her voice. One could easily imagine a series about her and Avon exploring the galaxy together on their won.
NOTES
*If Blake and Jenna are on the flight deck, why does Vila try to persuade Avon to change the Liberator's course?
*Much of the music in The Turing Test appears to be reused from the B7 Productions' reboot.
*Guerrier loves the word "oblong". Avon held an oblong box. The base was built out of oblong cubes.
*If this is "top-secret" research, why is their cover story 'barely believable'?
*I wonder why Avon thought "falsifying expenses" would suit Vila? Wasn't Avon himself the great embezzler?
*Avon's "visible cue" of being an android is staring impassively. I love that.
*The 70-year old large woman having a neckline that Avon tries to avoid is a bizarre detail.
*How could the scientists think that Avon's processing speed is faster than a human's?
*Given that the android had cropped hair and a willowy frame, was she intentionally meant to resemble Servalan?
*I'm shocked that the scientists who programmed 14 with emotional responses cannot tell that she's having emotional responses.
*The fact that Vila invents a liberal agenda to disguise discrepancies within his cover is hilarious.
*I looked into "Romberg's fallacy of determinism". Fascinating read, except that I have no idea who Romberg is. The term was coined by Henri Bergson.
*I don't know what's dumber, the fact that Avon and Vila don't guess they could be observed from a hidden camera in 14's bedroom or that there appears to be no hidden camera in 14's bedroom.
*Avon becoming jealous of the attention 14 gave to the rest of the Liberator crew was such a fantastic, human reaction.
*The graphic showing files being put from one folder to the next has convinced me that Simon Guerrier either has Microsoft Windows or is convinced that Windows survived the Federation.
*Given that Zen(voiced by Alistair Lock) spoke earlier in the story, I found it odd that later on, it's just Darrow explaining what he said over Zen's sound effect. Was Lock just busy that day?
INFORMATION!
*The story is set after Mission To Destiny, as the information about the Federation base comes from their government.
*Avon quickly summarises each member of the crew, touching on plot points from Space Fall and Time Squad.
*The beginning of computer technology dates back 700 years, staying consistent with Killer(where the earliest rockets were said to be from that same time period).
*Avon mentions that the Federation are working on superior androids, a possible reference to the aesthetically better constructed Avalon in Project Avalon.
*Vila tests Avon's "programmed" humor with a joke. He was established to know a good deal of bad jokes in Ultraworld.
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
"Don't think, Vila. One of us might get hurt."
CONCLUSION
Gripping and sad.
*Much of the music in The Turing Test appears to be reused from the B7 Productions' reboot.
*Guerrier loves the word "oblong". Avon held an oblong box. The base was built out of oblong cubes.
*If this is "top-secret" research, why is their cover story 'barely believable'?
*I wonder why Avon thought "falsifying expenses" would suit Vila? Wasn't Avon himself the great embezzler?
*Avon's "visible cue" of being an android is staring impassively. I love that.
*The 70-year old large woman having a neckline that Avon tries to avoid is a bizarre detail.
*How could the scientists think that Avon's processing speed is faster than a human's?
*Given that the android had cropped hair and a willowy frame, was she intentionally meant to resemble Servalan?
*I'm shocked that the scientists who programmed 14 with emotional responses cannot tell that she's having emotional responses.
*The fact that Vila invents a liberal agenda to disguise discrepancies within his cover is hilarious.
*I looked into "Romberg's fallacy of determinism". Fascinating read, except that I have no idea who Romberg is. The term was coined by Henri Bergson.
*I don't know what's dumber, the fact that Avon and Vila don't guess they could be observed from a hidden camera in 14's bedroom or that there appears to be no hidden camera in 14's bedroom.
*Avon becoming jealous of the attention 14 gave to the rest of the Liberator crew was such a fantastic, human reaction.
*The graphic showing files being put from one folder to the next has convinced me that Simon Guerrier either has Microsoft Windows or is convinced that Windows survived the Federation.
*Given that Zen(voiced by Alistair Lock) spoke earlier in the story, I found it odd that later on, it's just Darrow explaining what he said over Zen's sound effect. Was Lock just busy that day?
INFORMATION!
*The story is set after Mission To Destiny, as the information about the Federation base comes from their government.
*Avon quickly summarises each member of the crew, touching on plot points from Space Fall and Time Squad.
*The beginning of computer technology dates back 700 years, staying consistent with Killer(where the earliest rockets were said to be from that same time period).
*Avon mentions that the Federation are working on superior androids, a possible reference to the aesthetically better constructed Avalon in Project Avalon.
*Vila tests Avon's "programmed" humor with a joke. He was established to know a good deal of bad jokes in Ultraworld.
"Don't think, Vila. One of us might get hurt."
CONCLUSION
Gripping and sad.
No comments:
Post a Comment