Remnants (2015) Review

 

I really don't know how to feel about Remnants. 

WRITTEN BY

Simon Guerrier, whose work ranges from the sublime Logic to the painfully mediocre The Magnificent Four. You never know what you'll get with him.

PLOT

Avon returns to the Liberator after a failed heist, wounded and claiming the crew have been killed. Left alone, he and Jenna travel to the Moon of Disrepute to start new lives... but the Federation is close behind them to finish the job.

ANALYSIS

The reason I'm so conflicted is because there were so many things I felt very positive about, and also so many things I was very negative on. The central concept itself - going back to the Avon/Jenna subplot in Cygnus Alpha and exploring the possibility of them flying off together - is intriguing. But then we barely see them actually work together. There's an ongoing mystery about what happened to the crew and how it now affects the Liberator, and the resolution of that is both incredibly convoluted and yet also weirdly fitting of Avon's character. That is, if we assume we're dealing with Series D Avon and not the more rational Series B version who absolutely would not go through with this plan. I don't know, I keep going back and forth on whether this episode works or it doesn't. I guess it just about hangs together, but only by the most fragile of threads. The daring ideas keep things interesting and the execution keeps letting it down. 

Productionwise, there's lots of recycled music from previous episodes. I guess they're saving money, what with Remnants being a bonus episode only available on the Big Finish website. The writing has the actors double for different roles again, although in this case it's not so egregious as they're only bit parts (and it's very amusing to hear Paul Darrow play a computer and a drunken monk). 

But yeah, overall I have no strong feelings about this one. The good parts are really good, the bad parts are really bad. If I rated stories, then this would get the most perfect 5/10 ever. 

CHARACTERS

We see lots of different sides to Avon in this episode, from the devious Machiavellian mastermind manipulating Jenna to Blake's perhaps most dedicated ally saving him yet again from the Federation. Guerrier was clearly following Chris Boucher's lead and tried to make sure all of his choices had a positive and negative explanation, with the listener being the one to decide which interpretation they prefer. Darrow definitely relished describing the "young, lithe and eager" woman Avon planned to team up with! Some things never change. His early scenes were also rather humorous, as Darrow interprets Avon's injury as an oppurtunity to ramp up his husky brooding voice to a borderline parody. 

The spotlight is put on Jenna this time. Similarly to Afterlife, Avon's motivations are so shrouded in mystery that the other character becomes the protagonist almost by default. And listening to Knyvette's narration, I came to realise that I don't think I like Jenna nearly as much as I thought I did. Or at least not in a leading capacity. There's just not enough grit to her character, not even in the audios. She's supposed to be a tough-as-nails smuggler, but we rarely see her even hold a gun or display any criminal skill. I know piloting is her forte, but the writers coast on that far too often. The only time I felt Jenna truly came alive in this was when she threatened to shoot Avon towards the end, having grown fed up with his attitude. That's the kind of initiative I wish she had all the time. Not that every character needs to be a guntoting badass to be interesting, but it's nice to see her throw a curveball in his direction for a change. 

NOTES

• Does Alistair Lock get paid twice for voicing Zen and Orac? Because that's the only truly reasonable explanation for excluding Zen from this story. 
• I know the narration mentions Jenna shutting off her emotions over the crew's deaths, but Knyvette sounds as if she's chilling on the beach half the time. 
• "The Moon of Disrepute" is such a glorious name for a world. Especially one with a bar.
• Speaking of glorious names, can I please join the Disciples of the Pertinent Spore?? They have to be really cool.
• The scenes of Avon and Orac both trying to convince Jenna to leave the ship gave me strong Lucifer vibes. Those two were just hyped to fly off to the horizon together lol.
• I love the sheer coldness of the line "He didn't look in the hold, so we didn't have to kill him". Really hits home how detached the crew really are. 
• Although the scenario is fake, I like how Avon blames himself for the crew's demise. Sure, Blake may have left the Federation engineers alive to sound an alarm, but then he wouldn't have been Blake if he hadn't. There's something touching about that. 
• I like that Zen is sulking at the end over being silenced. That's the first time he's shown any personality in an audio. 
• And now, the elephant in the room. SPOILERS: what exactly is the point of faking the Liberator's destruction when Blake's entire purpose is making his presence known? And even if Blake somehow agreed, there's no way Avon would go so far as to strand Jenna and the crew on different planets to accomplish it. It's a very ludicrous premise. Honestly, I feel Guerrier would have been better off just making it an alternate universe story, or just have the crew escape from Larish off-screen. 

INFORMATION!

• Gan and Orac are both onboard the Liberator, setting the story in early Series B. 
• For some reason, Jenna is not suspicious of Avon seemingly operating the Liberator without Zen, despite the ship being a mess without the computer in Breakdown.
• Avon brings up an image of Cephlon (visited in Deliverance) on the viewscreen to fool Molly into thinking he'd brought her to the planet she asked for. 
• Avon insists that the Liberator requires a pilot's touch to be fully safe, suggesting the story is set after Horizon. 
• Jenna suggests there may be more ships like the Liberator out there, obliquely referencing Redemption. 

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"Putting others first means finishing last."

CONCLUSION

There's some good stuff in here, but the revelations in the last act really undercut the story for me.