Blake (1981) Review

 

Blake is a whole western film in 45 minutes. 

PLOT

Avon leads the crew to the lawless agricultural world of Gauda Prime to seek out Roj Blake, hoping that his charisma would reunite the rebellion against the Federation. However, the Scorpio is shot down and our heroes quickly find themselves in unknown territory, all of their hope resting on a man that no one has seen for years... 

ANALYSIS

It's interesting to compare Blake with Terminal, because they're basically the same idea - 'let's end the show by bringing back Blake and tying off loose ends'. The main difference is in the creative force behind them. Terminal is Terry Nation's baby. It's a grim, eerie episode that reinforces the hopelessness inherent in the show's roots from the very beginning. Humanity is doomed to become the Links, to wander about on some forgotten planet with no trace of even the Federation's type of civilisation left. Blake is already dead and gone, his heroism burnt out. There's no glamour to be found in Terminal. 

Chris Boucher, on the other hand, was more interested in individual characters than generalisations like that. Which brings us to Blake, a final hurrah for *who* these people are, rather than what they represented. There's no inevitability in it, no funereal tone. Gauda Prime might be a planet full of cutthroats, but if anything, it makes one's adrenaline flow harder than ever. No, the story ends because Blake and Avon had simply, by cause and effect, become the people that they did. It's a tragedy, not a doomsday.

This time, the show goes out guns blazing. The crash-landing of the Scorpio is still mesmerising, a brilliant combination of beautiful modelwork, Mary Ridge's cinematic direction and sheer performance. We have location filming in a gorgeous pine forest full of shadows and beams of light, dead debris and lush plantlife, all of which helps to give Gauda an almost mythical feel. It's undoubtedly the most intriguing planet we've ever visited, a mixture of the Wild West and Mirkwood. An appropriate place for one last great adventure. Like all good quest missions, there's an element of travelogue to Blake. I really enjoyed just seeing the crew wander around, looking for shelter, trying to stay alive. It was very involving, particularly when the cracks were starting to show - Soolin's obvious discomfort at being back on her home planet, Vila's fear of Avon, Avon's thinly veiled idolation of Blake... I could've watched that for much longer. I'd happily lose Traitor or Animals in favor of another episode on Gauda Prime, to see the crew visit other societies(towns?) living their own life on the planet. 

But anyway, our cowboys reach their destination, the legendary climax of the series. I can't really fault anything in that sequence. Actually, I can! The alarm loops just as Avon stares down at Blake's corpse. It always takes me out of the scene ever-so-slightly. But aside from that, it's a phenomenally written and executed confrontation between two exceptionally well-developed characters, both with equal claim to the role of protagonist of the series. But really, you can't have one without the other. Idealists and pragmatists - can't live with them, can't live without them.

Special props to Mary Ridge for the final shot. Somehow, she managed to stuff about a dozen different things into one perfect image to send the series off - Avon defending Blake's lifeless body, the Federation surrounding both, Paul Darrow searing himself into our minds forever as a badass and then the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid freeze-frame...

CHARACTERS

If Terminal was Paul Darrow's magnum opus as Avon, then Blake naturally belongs to Gareth Thomas. Boucher cleverly took advantage of his real-life absence from the series to reboot Blake into a stranger to us, which makes sense. It's always slightly awkward to revisit a close friend after a prolonged period. Time and memory builds up an image of them that is then shattered by the actual, changed person. Still the same, but why is your hair different? Why has your voice pitch altered? Why have you made decisions that I'd never have expected you of all people to make? 

Avon, that poor demented idealist, suffers from this worse than most. As the crew discuss Blake's foreboding reputation as a bounty hunter, Tarrant asks his opinion. It's succint: "Does it matter?" 
Whatever Blake might be up to is irrelevant, because it's Blake. Of course he'll be that same moralising hero whose naivete Avon can mock and bask in. Naturally he'll come back to lead the crew into his wild crusades that only Avon can save them from. The old days on the Liberator, that Avon desperately wanted to be free from, will come back and all will make sense again. The alternative - that the unforgiving reality he's espoused all this time is actually true - is too horrible to consider. Back in those days, no matter what Avon suffered or how cynical he became, he always cherished his love for Anna Grant. Her betrayal was like a punch that distorted the metaphorical mirror. The betrayal of Blake on top of that would shatter it for good. 

Little does he know that on Gauda Prime, only the pragmatic survive. Thomas portrays a weary, paranoid and embittered Blake, whose flame for justice has dwindled into little more than spite. He's grown used to treachery, comfortable with murder. Perhaps only living on the hope that Avon, that bastion of logic, will return to his side. Why should he bother to explain the bounty hunter ruse? Avon's far too clever to not work it out. Isn't he? Thomas's sullen, passionate line deliveries are, as always, a great contrast to Darrow's theatricality, especially now that they're playing such exaggerated versions of themselves. Just as in Terminal, they only share one scene together, but put all of their acting prowess into that one scene and make it count. 

I must admit, I was slightly disappointed that Tarrant survived the crash of the Scorpio. His self-sacrifice for Avon's sake was a great way to tie up the rivalry between the two, and it would've enhanced the sense of danger on Gauda. Given that the teleport separated the crew, I feel like they could've easily contrived some way for one of them to end up with Blake. It didn't need to be Tarrant. That being said, it was quite cool to see Pacey interact with his curly-haired predecessor.

Soolin finally gets some more backstory! Her personality makes perfect sense after seeing Gauda and my only regret is that we didn't get a little bit more of her reconnecting with the planet. I know she loathes it and all, but it would've been nice for her to maybe recognise some surroundings. Perhaps they could've established that the rundown hut they spend the night in belonged to her family or someone she knew. 

Vila has one great moment with Avon, where he interrogates the latter over Tarrant's absence. It's an obvious reprise of Orbit, but unlike there, Avon seems strangely reticent. Is he afraid of Vila not believing him, and hating him even more than he does now? Perhaps he thinks that Vila might drive a wedge between him and Blake(getting on Blake's good side and away from Avon's would probably be Vila's first priority)? I also love the bit at the end where Vila's reaction to Dayna's death is to immediately clobber Arlen, briefly forgetting that he's supposed to be a coward. But not briefly enough to save his life... good old Vila. 

As for guest stars, we have David Collings as Blake's stern companion Deva and Sasha Mitchell as the rogue Arlen. Collings is a terrific actor and he plays the straight man to Thomas perfectly. I just love watching his little reactions throughout every scene. Mitchell's a bit unremarkable, but I think she gets the job done fine. 

NOTES

• This episode marks the final performances of Josette Simon as Dayna, and Glynis Barber as Soolin.
• RIP Xenon Base. I wish they'd left it as is. There's a degree of finality to blowing it up of course, but if no one's there, what does it matter if Servalan finds it or not? The Base was definitely one of my favourite things about this season. I loved that the crew had a home to go to.
• Avon's coalition was literally called "the Rebel Alliance". They're not even subtle about the Star Wars references at this point.
• Orac finds Blake by tracing "a pattern through the line of infinity through cause and effect", which is essentially the same process he used in the early days to predict the future. I thought it was a nice, if perhaps unintentional, callback(it is admittedly a somewhat transparent way to legitimise Blake's presence on Gauda). 
• That one bounty hunter chap who announced his presence by roaring right in front of Arlen was never gonna last! Amateurs. 
• The pistol prop used by Sasha Mitchell appears to be the same one used by Roy Kinnear in Gold and by Paul Darrow in Orbit.
• Having Vila commentate "I can't see Blake doing anything like that!" as a stand in for the viewers was cute. 
• Orac and Slave's interactions were hilarious. I wish we had more of Tuddenham acting against Tuddenham. I think Orac and Zen only spoke to each other once as well. 
• It's never really explained what the blockade around the planet is for, though I suppose it might either be the Federation sealing Gauda Prime away from the rest of the galaxy, or the current settlers trying to prevent others from coming in to steal minerals. 
• Love the make-up on Gareth, and the burn marks on his costume. He really looks like he's been put through the wringer.
• Slave was underrated. I'll always love Zen, but Slave has a special place in my heart. He was so loyal!
• Given the way that mrs Darrow instantly collapsed, I can only assume that Tarrant's been taught the Vulcan nerve pinch. 
• If you rewatch the dramatic final scene, you might notice Glynis Barber trying to peek out from behind the others' shoulders! 

INFORMATION!

• Blake is a direct sequel to Warlord, making several references to the events of that episode.
• The crew discuss their previous attempt to find Blake and what it cost, in Terminal and Rescue. 
• Soolin grew up on Gauda Prime. Her family were farmers. 
• At some point, Jenna reunited with Blake and joined his resistance on Gauda, presumably as a gunrunner(as Blake has to deal with some less trustworthy ones at one point during the episode). She got herself killed running the blockade around the planet, taking half a squadron with her.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

VILA: "Sooner or later, we're going to drop into one of these holes in the ground and never come out!"
AVON: "Sooner or later, everyone does that, Vila."

CONCLUSION

It's a marvellous ending, and will stand the test of time as one of the best conclusions to a television series ever made.