Season 4 has such a different feel to what has gone before. They have lost regular characters before (and gained new ones, of course) but the loss of the Liberator (and Zen) is bigger than any of them. Compare this to the loss of Cally (off-screen) - no contest.
Dorian takes ages to die - but it is done quite well.
Mon 13 Oct: 41. Power
Crap. Battle of the sexes is cheap sci-fi rubbish, executed badly and unconvincingly, with poor dialogue. Just a terrible episode.
Mon 20 Oct: 42. Traitor
I guess the return of Servalan was meant to be a surprise, but they could have left it more than three episodes.
Some of the minor characters are good in this.
Some of the minor characters are good in this.
Sun 26 Oct: 43. Stardrive
I quite like this episode. It’s a bit slow, evidenced by various shots of the characters running around outside, but it allows for a simple story to be done well. It’s also quite dark, like a lot of this season, which is why the contrasting end-music jars a lot.
Sun 2 Nov: 44. Animals
Below-average, slightly dull episode focussing on Dayna. Most noticeable bit is Avon slipping on the floor in a scene near the end. As pointed out on the Anorak’s Blakes 7 site. Once you have noticed this bit, you can’t un-see it.
Tue 11 Nov: 45. Headhunter
I like this episode, it’s very atmospheric and has a chilling villain that the heroes really need to work to defeat. It fits the 45 minutes well, too.
Mon 17 Nov: 46. Assassin
It’s a pretty good idea - trapped on a ship with a killer, and the execution is OK, but this episode is seriously let down by the actress playing Cancer - she’s really bad.
Mon 24 Nov: 47. Games
I quite like this episode, though it’s not outstanding. The main reason it’s good is Vila, who is shown to act with intelligence - rather than be the idiot/comic relief - which he rarely does. It’s often hinted at but very seldom shown.
Sun 30 Nov: 48. Sand
I really like Sand. It seems as if the entire episode is there to set up the scenes of the Tarrant/Servalan ‘romance’ but it works so well that it gets away with it.
Mon 8 Dec: 49. Gold
OK ‘heist’ episode, most notable for Roy Kinnear as the guest star who gets killed at the end. Avon goes a bit mad in this one, especially once he realises the outcome.
Tue 9 Dec: 50. Orbit
The entire episode builds up to one scene, where Avon hunts and tries to kill Vila. Unbelievable, even in a series like Blakes 7 where the ‘heroes’ are portrayed as much less than perfect (with Avon the worst of them since the start), that one of the good guys would seriously try to kill another. This episode pulls it off convincingly and is brilliant because of it.
Sun 21 Dec: 51. Warlord
There are a couple of great scenes here, such as the destruction of Xenon base and the trap sprung on Avon and Soolin, though the Federation guards suffer the law of inverse ninjas here more than ever before.
The thing that brings this episode down is the incredible ‘80s hair. That might seem like a very minor quibble, but it has to be seen to be believed - Zeona looks like she is wearing a wig on top of another wig!
Servalan’s last episode - good riddance. She was a great character, but really overstayed her welcome.
Sat 27 Dec: 52. Blake
Masterpiece. As an end-of-season cliffhanger episode it would merely be genius, but as the end of series cliffhanger episode it is perfect.
Though Blake appeared in the last episode of season 3, it was only for one scene which later turned out to be a simulation anyway, so it feels as if he hasn’t been in it for two whole seasons (half the total series length), thus his return is suitably epic for a grand finale.
Avon is once again at the heart of the episode, of course. Insight into his character: he’s not completely psychopathic - he clearly pauses before leaving Tarrant on the crashing Scorpio. But he does shoot Blake. Three times. Blake brings it on himself, in a way, with his mind games and his not answering a straight question even when Avon is pointing a gun at him. But Avon pulls the trigger. And after that it all goes horribly, horribly wrong for the characters. Just last episode the Federation guards were at their least effective, now they wipe out the heroes and surround Avon ready for the ultimate ending.
One last moment worth mentioning: it’s Vila that punches out the Federation Officer.
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