Poison is a fun romantic adventure.
WRITTEN BY
Iain McLaughlin, who also wrote the vastly different but equally good Ghost Ship. A writer of many talents, it would seem.
PLOT
Vila goes undercover on the cargo ship Antares to work out why the Federation delivers supplies to a minor world on a regular basis. There he meets the mysterious and flirty Jance, who has her own agenda. Together, the two of them investigate the Federation's latest murky scheme...
ANALYSIS
There's some solid intrigue here, but the success of Poison is down almost entirely to the fantastic chemistry between Michael Keating and Samantha Beart, and the incredibly naturalistic way they bounce off of one another. The dialogue just sings, and listening to the two of them have such a great time working out each's motivations is infectious. It's one of those rare stories where I can find faults (Vila's random bits of narration seem unnecessary and the exposition is very heavy), but I choose to ignore them because the journey is worth it. There's never a dull moment with these two!
I like how varied the tone is - at times it's pure comedy, then it's a tense thriller, then an ethical dilemma - but it never feels cluttered or out of place. The characters drive the story and they're so multifaceted that it can afford to go through all these different styles and still feel coherent.
The plot device of a farming world that's secretly being used for mining was a nice thematic callback to Gauda Prime. It's never directly addressed, which I appreciated, and they mix things up a bit in regards to what's actually happening there (it seems unlikely for this specific planet to be granted the same unusual legal status as Gauda). But it shows a nice consistency in how the Federation treat their subjects. There's a good deal of body horror, which might upset a few stomachs. Although I've listened to far darker audio dramas, I was taken slightly aback by how ballsy some of the writing was. McLaughlin could've taken the easy way out: kill off Jance, send Vila down to the planet, sabotage the Federation's work there, go home. Neat and tidy. But he didn't. I won't spoil what does happen, but it's infinitely more satisfying.
CHARACTERS
Jance is basically what Chris Boucher wanted Kerril from City at the Edge of the World to be (if I'm honest, the entire story is what Boucher wanted City to be) - someone who would appreciate Vila, match him in wit and charm, and be interested enough to pursue him. She is, in truth, a character who is just as exciting to follow as Vila is, and I could have spent the whole runtime listening to her comment and opinionate on his various activities undercover (there's some hilarious scenes of her observing him on a video feed). She lacks his cowardice, but does have her own flaw of naivete. Samantha Beart's performance is fantastic.
It's funny to think of the massive age difference between her and Keating (she was born after the original run of Blake's 7 ended), because the latter still sounds the same, and performs with almost as much energy as he used to. The two of them feel very equal both in terms of the writing and how they're portrayed. And that's actually rather impressive. Vila's status as an OG and an experienced freedom fighter could have easily led him to dominate the relationship (as he did in City at the Edge of the World), and Jance's lack of fear and assertiveness could have caused her to do the same. But instead, they always come off as being on the same level, both surprising the other from time to time.
NOTES
- The sound effect of the ship's exhaust seems to be reused from Brother.
- Kenner appears to be the same exact character as Raiker from Space Fall (a rapey first officer, who serves as a nuisance to the leads). Wish they'd been a little more creative there.
- How come Voss never notices Vila talking to Blake via communicator if she's supposed to be observing him all the time?
- It's all-powerful crystals again! It's always the crystals lol.
- One of the things I really enjoyed about Jance's character is her strong sense of morality, and how she pushed Vila into acting against the Federation more so than he already was. I'm not saying it's foreshadowing Series D, but it does feel like a very pointed jab at the crew's cynical attitudes. A wake-up call, if you will.
- Advising Vila to let the miners die seems ruthless even by Avon's standards. Though I suppose he might have written them off after figuring out what the Federation is doing.
- Jance describes Vila as being part of "Blake's merry men", the second time the audios have referenced Robin Hood (the first was in Solitary, by Vila's doppleganger).
- Vila manipulating the power of the entire ship from a minor environmental console is a massive stretch, even for him.
- Vila prays that Jance never meets his father, marking the first chronological reference to the David Warner version of the character we eventually meet in Planetfall.
- Avon claims to have met Kenner years ago, although this is never verified.
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