Power (1981) Review

 

I appreciate that Ben Steed finally grapples his fixation on gender issues with Power, and tells a story that he wanted to tell. Shame that the episode still sucks.

WRITTEN BY

Ben Steed, completing his trilogy of Blake's 7 episodes that you're scared to show newcomers.

PLOT

Whilst hunting for dynamon crystals to power Dorian's teleport system, Avon is caught in the middle of the war between Xenon's inhabitants - the Hommiks and the Seska. Meanwhile, Vila, Tarrant and Dayna struggle to disarm the booby-trapped door to the Scorpio silo before the base is destroyed, potentially stranding them forever. 

ANALYSIS

What Power is is essentially a tirade against feminism, represented by the Seska. By presenting the Hommik character of Gunn-Sar as a kind of dumb, harmless oaf whose masculine traits and wife abuse only exist for spectacle, Steed tries to make the case that women should be happy with the roles that nature has given them. That letting the biologically superior men take the lead isn't actually a bad thing, because men also need and care for the women under their wing, so to speak. Steed's key to happy marriage is to stop fussing about, let the man work and the woman cook, and everybody's happy. Men aren't necessarily smarter than women, you see, they just have stronger wills and physique, and have to lead because of it. 

Of course I don't agree with Steed at all in this regard, but I won't count it as a negative. He told a story about something he cares about and I respect that more than something like Volcano, which is just a complete waste of time in every regard.

Now, let's talk about objective problems. The fact that Steed's solution to gender issues is "shut up" means that he clearly wasn't interested in exploring the root cause of them, which is why the origin of the Hommik-Seska conflict is left a complete mystery. We get vague snippets of backstory for both sides, but never find out why the two genders are isolated the way they are, or if they're even the same colony. At the same time, there's also a dystopian storyline about the Hommiks reverting to tribalism as a result of their forefathers' decision, with some of them fighting against it. Both of these concepts demand an entire episode all to themselves, but they're mushed up here together, alongside all the stuff in the base. It comes off as incredibly overconvoluted, and I started to tune out very quickly because I just didn't care enough to invest myself in it at all. 

With Mary Ridge in charge, we get some cool shots here and there, but there's also some uncharacteristically poor directorial choices. The sequence of the Seska trio coming under attack from the Hommiks could be called straight-up incompetent. None of the actors seemed to have been given any indications of where they're supposed to go and when. 

The fight scenes are played without music. I personally hate when they do that, because it gets boring really fast. Fight scenes are the perfect time to play some really cool incidental score. That being said, I did notice that Dudley's approach has changed to match a new teleport effect and ship. The best way I can describe it is that the music is much slower and moodier. 

CHARACTERS

Poor Avon's reduced to being Ben Steed's mouthpiece, essentially. He spends the episode tussling with the Hommiks for no reason(because a manly man wrestles with other manly men), browbeating a lady to her knees and even gets to deliver a final "message of the episode" at the end. Also, as much as I love Paul Darrow's newfound skill at chewing the scenery, his relentless gawping during the fight with Gunn-Sar was pretty bad.

Oh, and that scene where he has some kind of mental battle with Pella and monologues about the merits of being male... has to be seen with one's own eyes to be believed. All things considered, this may be Darrow's worst episode. 

Ironically, I'd say it's one of Steven Pacey's best. I say ironically, because the last time Steed wrote for Tarrant, he was an utter git. Here, however, Tarrant is willing to believe Vila's implausible story, insists on knowing all the facts before making a move and just has a general warmth and maturity about him that was completely lacking in the previous season, even in his better episodes. 

Dayna is Dayna. To Steed's credit, Dayna's daft idea of challenging Gunn-Sar on the spot is probably the most true-to-character moment she's had since Aftermath. 

Ignoring the way the character is written, I thought Dicken Ashworth did a fabulous job as Gunn-Sar. He's got a kind of Obelix charm to him in that he's a gentle giant, who really just wants to spend his days in peace and quiet. As actors, Ashworth and Darrow are well matched and I do wish they had more scenes together. The banter between the two(Avon's dry wit versus Gunn-Sar's boasting) was gold. 

Paul Ridley's part as Gunn-Sar's put-upon and technologically savvy lieutenant was rather interesting. Despite his rough exterior, he's obviously an intellectual(another example of a Hommik, who only pretends to conform to the typical male stereotype), presumably trained by protesters against the Council of Survivors' decision. It's such a shame that these cool facets of the Xenon society are wasted in this.

We've still seen very little of her, but let's talk about Glynis Barber as Soolin. She suffered quite a bit from the hurried production and doesn't really shine until later on in the season, but there are a few things to note. I love the fact that her motive for joining the crew is purely monetary - as she says herself, she sells her skill, not allegiance.
This pragmatic approach, coupled with her ironic wit reminds me of Avon's original character. As we'll see going forward, Soolin's the only person on the crew that Avon doesn't ever snap at, probably because he respects that her investment is entirely selfish and he doesn't have to worry about any emotional entanglements.

It's also why I prefer her to Tarrant and Dayna from the get-go. Tarrant's motivation for joining the crew was never even outlined, and he began to stick his nose where it didn't belong almost immediately. Dayna is a hothead, who is after revenge and seems to loathe anyone who isn't Tarrant. Soolin's straightforward coolness is refreshing after those two.

NOTES

*Why do the crew fret over nuts and berries? Surely, they could hunt for animals. 

*It's a bit odd for Avon to be out of ammo after a single shot. Poor planning on his part, or maybe he was already shooting Hommiks as the episode began?

*I thought the new silver teleport bracelets would be a bit more durable, but nope, they crumple like paper too.

*Another thing Steed loves to chew on are computers. This time, he has both Vila and Gunn-Sar essentially denounce the things as being too infantile. "Not your books, or your mates or your woman or your assistant, but your computer!" I love that Gunn-Sar reads, by the way. Sure, Dr Doolittle is the height of wisdom, but to hell with those machines!

*Cato mentions "thousands of years of development" that got scrapped by the wars, which would kinda throw a wrench in the idea that all human life originated from Earth. Though I suppose it's possible that the Hommiks counted their life on Earth as part of their development. Or maybe Cato just didn't know they were from Earth. 

*Tarrant, I know Vila isn't the brightest bulb in the set, but I would've thought the first reaction to being told there's a nuke ready to blow is to RUN!

*Gunn-Sar's sword bends so much that I'm surprised it didn't whip him back in the face. I don't know if Darrow's mouth drops so much because he's terrified of it or if he's shocked that such a poor prop is onscreen with him. 

*How convenient that the fight arena happens to be right next to machines that can be converted into energy blasters simply by being pulled out.

*Michael Keating should win some kind of award for nervous acting. He'll never be topped in that regard. He looks like he's having a nervous breakdown by the end of the episode.

*Why does Orac assume that telekinesis is within the bounds of human reasoning? How would they be able to guess that dynamon can make it happen and that the Seska have, in fact, made it happen?

*Given that Seska had a "procreation room" which the Hommiks ruined, I can only assume that they either cloned themselves or created children from each other's DNA somehow. Whichever one it is, the Seska are undoubtedly a lesbian army.

*I know there's Hommik computers that Orac can hack in order to find out what their codewords mean, but there's no way Tarrant should be able to guess that.

*Ben, if you want anyone to take your message seriously, making the women enlightened by literally lobotomising them is probably not a good place to start. 

*One of the things I did genuinely like about Power is that it established Xenon as a world where the base happens to be, not merely the planet where the base is. Not that we'll ever hear of any of this nonsense again, but it's a good concept to start off with.

*Why would Nina think the Hommiks would abandon their base without Gunn-Sar? Surely they could just appoint some other dunderhead. 

INFORMATION!

*Power is a direct sequel to Rescue. 

*The door to the Scorpio silo is made out of herculaneum, the same metal as the Liberator. 

*Tarrant reminds Vila that unless he gets the door open, they are as much prisoners as they were on Terminal. 

*Vila claims to have once been in an "academy" called CF-1. He was the technical advisor chosen to aid in the "students'" escape. 

*The Seska settled on Xenon, as it reminded them of Earth. 

*Until his death, Dorian brought the Seska nutrients from the planet Onus II, in exchange for their help in developing the teleport system. They've supposedly worked on it for hundreds of years.

*Tarrant claims that telekinesis is impossible. Vila technically should know that it's not, as Cally(who is as much an alien as the Seska) performed it in Shadow. 

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"If you didn't want the answer, you shouldn't have asked the question."

CONCLUSION

You get a participation medal, Ben. Now, onto... Helotrix?

HELOTRIX?!?

(What did he have there, the last Nutella in the universe?)