The Armageddon Storm (2013) Review

The Armageddon Storm is a Star Wars-esque space opera that finally delivers Avon's transition from mercenary to freedom fighter.

WRITTEN BY

Mark Wright and Cavan Scott. I've noticed their good understanding of the show's depth before, but this time, their storytelling matches it. 

PLOT

Del Grant returns to the Liberator to deliver news of a horrible new superweapon under development by the Federation. Leaving Vila and Cally on Shorin to investigate the Armageddon Storm's potential location with Grant's employers, Avon takes the ship to Claustrum Prime, a Federation prison concealed within an asteroid field, in order to find answers regarding its creation... 

ANALYSIS

In a major deviation from the last two box sets, The Armageddon Storm is comprised of three parts, with the usually scattered cast collected together. This immediately allows it greater scope and pathos, combining the best elements from the chronicle and full-cast drama formats. 

But even as a narrative, Armageddon Storm is exciting. The stakes are high, the action is well-written, there's surprises around the corners and the welcome return of Tom Chadbon as Grant throws an emotional wrench into the proceedings. The presence of someone like Grant, who is a mature equal to Avon and can challenge him on an ideological and personal level is exactly what I felt was missing from the original Series C. Whilst I've grown to like Tarrant, he certainly never lived up to the hole left behind by Blake. Grant does, without filling the hole. 

Spreading the story out over three hours does have its drawbacks - Vila and Cally's segment, whilst initially interesting in terms of setting, felt mostly like padding. I got the distinct impression that the writers weren't really interested in why the Federation were attacking Shorin - the characters in Part 2 are drawn in broad strokes and are quickly discarded in Part 3 in favor of returning to the real agenda at hand, which is exploring the effects that Anna's death have had on Avon and Grant, as well as the former's struggle with Blake's absence. I appreciated that Wright and Scott decided to bring these complex elements that were left for viewers to figure out between the lines out into the open and tackled the big question that bothered me so much during my initial viewing of the TV show. 

Why does Avon fight the Federation? 

The answer is stupidly simple, of course, but it wasn't so much an answer that I was looking for, but acknowledgment of the question. I loved hearing Avon ask it, and finally getting that definitive moment where he decides to pick up where Blake left off. It's a fan's dream come true.

CHARACTERS

Paul Darrow was by far the best thing about Armageddon Storm. He's a brilliantly passionate and invested narrator when he wants to be, describing the shootouts and space battles with frenetic intensity, then switching to a contemptous sneer as Avon struggles privately with his conscience.

Avon's emotional anguish was so powerful that I almost couldn't believe it's the same person who will become so cold and detached in Series D. It's as if this was some alternate reality where his better qualities truly took root and buried the famous self-serving instincts. I suppose it makes the events of Terminal even more hard-hitting, knowing that the trauma basically destroyed the just and caring man who was beginning to emerge from his cocoon.

Tom Chadbon doesn't miss a bit and brings the same quiet bravery and conviction that he did in his original appearance. I was impressed by Grant's pragmatic reaction to Anna's death and betrayal. A lesser writer might've included a revenge storyline, but they swiftly moved on, using the fact more subtly to bond him and Avon by their shared grief and disappointment in what Anna became. I applaud the writers' decision to keep Grant on the crew for future stories. He's not the most complicated individual, but he's soberingly straight-forward and reasonable, and adds a lot to the crew dynamics. Unsurprisingly, he renders Tarrant's presence moot, the latter being confined to driving the ship around without any initiative.

Actually, I do slightly have to criticise the way Tarrant and Dayna were handled. I realise that it's difficult to give them much to do when their actors aren't involved, but the way they hang onto Avon's every word in this just isn't true to their personalities. Remember - this isn't the stentorian Avon from Series D yet.
The TV show consistently depicted the Liberator crew of this era to be democratic, to the point of outvoting Avon's quest for revenge in Children Of Auron, yet even before Avon goes through his character arc here, they wait for his permission before going to the Shoronites' help and begrudgingly yield to his decision to abandon Cally and Vila with only minor rumblings of mutiny. Mind you, I actually prefer Avon wielding absolute power, and I don't think much of Tarrant and Dayna, but I have to point out when something's inauthentic to the source material. 

Although Vila and Cally get the weakest chunk of Armageddon Storm, there's still plenty of great moments for them - in particular Vila forgetting his cowardice to defend Cally, and the latter's more militaristic sentiments. I found Vila's slight jealousy of Cally's attention towards Crayle rather amusing. Crayle, although obviously voiced by a muffled Michael Keating, was a cool character in his own right, a sort of Darth Vader-in-the-making with all his telekinetic powers. A shame his descent into barbarism never really goes anywhere. 

Baxter and his breakdown were quite interesting in theory, but he suffered from lack of an actor the most. Gibbering insanity just isn't quite the same without a voice behind it. Jenk on the other hand is probably one of my favourite Federation officers yet. It was refreshing to see an enemy who genuinely did have a change of heart and wasn't lying either. I wouldn't have minded him joining the Liberator either, but with Grant already around, it really was getting crowded I suppose. 

NOTES

*At a length of nearly 3 hours, The Armageddon Storm is the longest recorded Blake's 7 story, not counting audiobooks.

*I wonder, why does a mercenary like Grant have a "taste for revolution" anyway, given that he's not aligned with any specific cause. 

*Somehow, Cally's become aware of the connection between Del and Anna Grant, though she was never privy to any of the discussions concerning them onscreen. I suppose Vila must've filled her in. 

*I love the base hidden inside the asteroid field. Asteroids are cool. 

*Once again, Vila is given no choice about where he's teleported to. The poor man must really be kicking himself for not settling with Kerril.

*I wonder what console on the flight deck Grant ultimately ended up manning. Should've been the force wall button, so Avon doesn't have to run around all the time. 

*They're still using the distinctive Rebellion Reborn(reboot audio dramas) music cues and it's driving me nuts.

*I like the little nod Grant makes to the silver environment suits from Series B. 

*Avon describing prison escapes as simple and usually overthought gave me a chuckle. They do seem more straightforward in movies than one would think.

*Some great fight scenes: Avon smashing his hand through a trooper's visor and doing that classic karate chop to the back! So good. 

*Random fact: I pictured Jenk as being played by Christopher Neame(specifically the way he looked like in Traitor) and Crayle as Woody Harrelson in Solo: A Star Wars Story. 

*Interestingly, Grant is already aware that Bartholomew was supposedly the one to kill Anna, even though it's information that Avon didn't have in Rumours Of Death. Which can only mean two things: one, that Grant hunted for Anna's killer without going to the extremes that Avon did and two, that Avon chose not to ask Grant for information. 

*So apparently there's "hypoguns", which are sort of like the hyposprays in Star Trek, but instead of inserting chemicals into the body(somewhat reasonable), they're capable of placing whole datachips under a man's arm without breaking the skin. That's a lot of hypo. 

*How come Vila can't differentiate between the Federation energy weapons and percussion rifles? I know they're making about a point about how Cally knows her guns, but they really sound nothing alike. 

*I googled "Clutchfather" and the only answer I got was from Final Fantasy XIV. Wright and Scott are gamers, huh?

*The scene where Vila and Cally are sneaking around the Federation fort on Shorin is appallingly directed - Keating is practically bellowing his lines whilst Chappell is speaking in hushed tones. There's no way the two recorded it together. 

*I appreciate that the Federation give their 10 minute warning to our heroes just as 10 minutes of runtime is left.

INFORMATION!

*Tom Chadbon originally played Grant in the TV episode Countdown, which along with Rumours Of Death(which featured Grant's sister Anna) is naturally referenced repeatedly in this.

*Avon briefly mentions that the crew had been hunting Star One during their previous encounter with Grant, which was "several cold, long years ago".

*Servalan instigated the construction of the Armageddon Storm around the time she took the presidency and shortly after the War(presumably around Volcano then). She is described as "desperately clinging to power" following her near-defeat in Rumours Of Death.

*The Liberator wardrobe contains Federation trooper uniforms, most likely left over from their invasion in Powerplay.

*Avon is compared to Blake several times by different people. Avon also compares Tarrant to Jenna.

*Vila dreams of adrenaline and soma in a nice nod to Allan Prior-written episodes.

*In order to survive on Shorin, Cally employs several tricks she'd used during her stay on Saurian Major(seen in Time Squad), including recognising different sounds of gunfire and sending out a telepathic pulse to detect individuals. The latter, she learned on Auron from her Clutchfather and alongside her sister Zelda(whom we saw in Children Of Auron).

*Vila yells "viva la revolucion!", showing that some form of Spanish has survived.

*Vila's mother apparently thought he was nervous baby before she abandoned him. 

*Avon mentions God by name. 

*Gan's death in Pressure Point and Blake's subsequent reaction in Trial are briefly mentioned.

*Avon's quip about gambling against Vila may be a subtle callback to the events of Gambit.

*Avon has experienced earthquakes before at some point.

 BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"I like to gamble as much as the next man, unless the next man was Vila and only when the odds were stacked in my favor."

CONCLUSION

I really have very little to criticise here. It's quite the epic and I thoroughly recommend a listen.