I was pleasantly surprised by True Believers. Its fantasy quest storyline and religious themes are a breath of fresh air.
WRITTEN BY
Simon Clark, a British horror novelist best known for his sequel to the famous "Day of the Triffids". This is his only contribution to Blake's 7. A big shame, because he's clearly willing to experiment and go beyond the typical tropes and character beats associated with the franchise.
PLOT
A mysterious entity compels Cally to travel to the Federation colony world Nerfe, which has been cut off for years. Possessed barbarians siege the last remaining city on the planet, and a cult has taken hold of its citizens. Cally, being able to hear the words of their goddess, is declared a prophet and tasked with travelling to an ancient gravestone that holds the secrets of Nerfe...
ANALYSIS
The script is excellent. There's an immediately intriguing setup with Cally being forced down by an alien entity (okay, there is ONE typical trope), finding the city under siege, learning the dynamics of its citizens and the colony's background. I found all this really engaging and imaginative, and the series of mysteries surrounding everything that's going were a great way to hold my attention. In that sense, it's very similar to the TV series 'Lost', which also oscillated between the supernatural and the sci-fi, keeping you guessing as to what was really going on.
I wish there wasn't a love triangle subplot. It doesn't seem very relevant to anything else that's going, but they spend an inordinate amount of time going on about a (ludicrous) scene in which Cally was overcome by neuronic radiation and started making out with Gwen's would-be boyfriend, all the while implying that Gwen is gay for Cally. I don't see the point. Also, I just don't like to see Cally being overtly sexualised in a story. It feels wrong for her character.
From there, we go on a quest. I love a good quest. It's the oldest story there is, quite literally so. Did you know the oldest existing work of fiction is the Epic of Gilgamesh, recovered from the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia? And indeed, Gilgamesh undertook a journey of grand importance (to the underworld, no less). It's clear evidence that people have always been able to relate to getting something done. Having to go somewhere, engage with people or things to accomplish a goal. I've talked a lot about how the show's third season was always my least favourite, because it lacked that push to get something done. But of course, in this case, we're not talking about space missions, but a quest of the purest sort - a fantastical trek across the land to uncover some hidden MacGuffin of unknown power. I just wanted to convey how appealing this is as a storytelling device.
The execution of this is mixed. I think some of the ideas introduced here - such as having the Federation create their own god, having that god control the barbarians, the race to try and destroy it and finally the fact that we never find out how the entity that controlled Cally ties into it - are fantastic. But I found it rather difficult to follow the actual logistics of the trip. We're meant to understand that the landscape is a desert and there are thousands of barbarians around, yet the characters are spotted and hidden very conveniently whenever the plot demands it, without giving us a clue as to how they're doing it. It becomes especially egregious at the end when they all get on a platform at the ancient gravesite, but it's never explained why the barbarians can't climb up (especially given thta they're meant to be taller).
Still, I prefer having a lot of good ideas and spotty execution over no ideas executed competently. Perhaps my favourite thing about True Believers is that it takes an impartial view towards religion, showcasing both its benefits and downfalls, and leaving the idea of whether or not it could be true open. It's a nice contrast to the franchise's previous attempts at depicting faith (Cygnus Alpha and Brother), which were strictly negative. Of course, there is also the official novella Trigger Point, which is extremely kind towards the Orthodox religion, but I'm speaking strictly in terms of performed stories.
CHARACTERS
Cally is basically the only crewmember featured (save for a brief cameo from Dayna) and that's fine. I think Jan Chappell is totally capable of carrying the entire thing. My appreciation of her acting ability has significantly risen since I started listening to the audios. I also like that this story is more of an adventure for her, rather than any exploration of her personality. Cally stories tend to be very internal and more focused on who she is as a person rather than just giving her the oppurtunity to frolic, so this is a nice change of pace.
The ending does imply that Cally has regained some sort of faith, but it's left very vague. We can assume she lost faith after Auron was destroyed, but does she worship Electra now? And what did she worship earlier? That part might have benefitted from some clarification.
Roger Parrott gives an amusingly plummy performance as the spiteful Storekeeper Mavlek (very reminiscent of Iain Cuthbertson in the Doctor Who serial "The Ribos Operation"). He's a lot of fun to have around, even though it's a bit of a stretch that Mavlek never went back to the gravesite to destroy the false god until now. Why hide the truth anyway?
Rebecca Grant is worryingly fanatical and sweet at the same time in her role as Gwen Parker (Simon Clark's a Spider-Man fan, is he?). A lot of her arc is tied up in the inexplicable love triangle, but I really like how the events challenge her absolute dedication to Electra, and how jealous she becomes of Cally in that sense.
Walles Hammonde's performance as the inexplicably American Gunner Kalvert only brings to mind Chris Boucher's frustration with Donald Douglas' fake accent in Rumours of Death. I dread to think what Boucher would have made of this...
NOTES
- I like little worldbuilding touches, like having Kalvert absent-mindedly say "by the breath of Electra, that was close". It's just the neat freak in me. That extra attention to detail is nice.
- If they ever explained why the weapon was constantly switching itself to a lethal setting, I missed it. I know they said it was leaking radiation, but how does that give it a mind of its own?
- The worshippers refusing to use lethal force is a refreshing change from your typical murderous cultists.
- How has Storekeeper Mavlek managed to retain his authority if most of the city believes in Electra?
- Muting the noises of the recorded massacre for Cally's benefit is a nice way to save money on sound effects.
- Going back to my early remarks about sexualisation, did we really need that scene of a young woman throwing herself at Mavlek for food?
- The innuendos reached their peak when Cally got caught by a tentacle creature and remarked on how wet and slimy it was.
- Cally elaborating on the creature's appearance in detail during her telepathic mayday to Gwen brought back PTSD from all those awfully written Liberator Chronicles where the characters would constantly narrate in-universe about minor details. Drove me up a wall.
- Why did Mavlek keep his police force a mile away from him? They made a point of how weird it was, but I don't think it was ever really explained. Would it matter if they saw him dispelling the fake god?
- Maybe I shouldn't question it, but how did all the psychokinetic people just think an entity into existence?
- Why does Cally order the innocent barbarians to attack one another instead of just running away from the gravesite? They haven't done anything wrong, they're mind-controlled. Surely she'd want them to be unharmed if possible.
- How the hell is Mavlek able to do anything when he's melting? Shouldn't he be in screaming agony?
- Kalvert and Gwen have to fight through the barbarians to get to the platform, but when Cally gets there with Malvek, she says "the brutes are nearly there!". So which is it??
- Leaving Electra's existence and whether or not she was responsible for bringing Cally and Gwen to the gravesite (as there seems no obvious reason for the fake god to do it) is pretty clever, and opens the story up for a revisit and discussion. Especially that scene of Mavlek waking up in some sort of unexplained limbo after his death and meeting her. Is it his dying hallucination? Is it the fake god? Or is he actually in heaven?
- It's mentioned that the Old President is preparing to make a move, as set up by the previous story Paradise Lost.
- The Federation's suppression of all religion was established in Pressure Point.
- Cally claims that the Auronar unburden their hearts in private to the living trees around them, and Gwen suggests that it too might have been the spirit of Electra.
GWEN: "Just bloody shoot!"
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