Upon Listening to the B7 Audio Traitor
Oct. 30th, 2007 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fangrrl_squeesWell, the plot is starting to diverge from the original canon - finally.
However, when the ship's computer is the most interesting character on the cast, one can't be entirely optimistic about the future of the series.
The story was... alright. The premise of the Federation wanting to get their hands on Liberator remains, Servalan still wants Blake's guts for garters, etc, but the rest of the story was new. Nothing terribly ground-breaking, but at least it wasn't a re-telling of previously aired material. The whole side-plot about Old Isiah was a yawn-fest, although it also smelled of laying down groundwork for a future plot-point, so we'll see, I guess. Overall, the story didn't really go anywhere - it seemed to be more of a setup, for the ship, for the crew dynamic, and for the ongoing conflicts through the rest of the series. Y'know, most of that could have been done in the first story... *grin/sigh*
Vila was allowed to be competent, yay! He still sounds like something out of a bad Dickens parody though. Boo!
Avon didn't have much to say in this one - most of what he did was off-panel. The character isn't being developed at all. I hope that's going to change, but I suppose that depends on if future stories are going to have an ensemble approach, or focus on 2 - 3 characters at a time. I hope the audio series isn't going to fall prey to the same issues in that regard as the television series did - two characters permanently marginalized. Bleh.
Mezzin got killed out just as she was getting interesting with the is-she-on-Blake's-side-or-not ambiguity. But that's okay in that India Fisher's performance grated badly on my nerves. It didn't help that the character was stuck in a permanent state of righteous outrage. Something about her tone brought out the urge to throw things and shout - and not in a fun way.
As mentioned, Zen was one of the most interesting characters of the entire story - until Avon pulled its teeth. Damn. A ship who's motives you're not entirely sure of - and can't control - would have been interesting.
I love Mark Platt, really I do, but his attempts at ringing revolutionary rhetoric generally fell flat - but that might be my natural cynicism kicking in. Still, I was rolling my eyes an awful lot during those moments.
Overall, I'd recommend this over Rebel, but I still think the series has a long way to go. It's got potential - Blakes' 7 is just as ripe with potential for excellence in the audio medium as Doctor Who - but it's yet to be fully exploited, I think. Maybe the production crew is nervous of pissing off the old-school fans (too late, based on some reviews I've read) or perhaps they're just trying to pace themselves and are, perhaps, erring a little too much on the side of caution. Whatever the reason, it could sink the whole bloody thing before it really gets going. Even the Sci-Fi channel will only back a losing horse so far, y'know...?
I've got the third story cued up on iTunes. More thoughts as events warrant.
However, when the ship's computer is the most interesting character on the cast, one can't be entirely optimistic about the future of the series.
The story was... alright. The premise of the Federation wanting to get their hands on Liberator remains, Servalan still wants Blake's guts for garters, etc, but the rest of the story was new. Nothing terribly ground-breaking, but at least it wasn't a re-telling of previously aired material. The whole side-plot about Old Isiah was a yawn-fest, although it also smelled of laying down groundwork for a future plot-point, so we'll see, I guess. Overall, the story didn't really go anywhere - it seemed to be more of a setup, for the ship, for the crew dynamic, and for the ongoing conflicts through the rest of the series. Y'know, most of that could have been done in the first story... *grin/sigh*
Vila was allowed to be competent, yay! He still sounds like something out of a bad Dickens parody though. Boo!
Avon didn't have much to say in this one - most of what he did was off-panel. The character isn't being developed at all. I hope that's going to change, but I suppose that depends on if future stories are going to have an ensemble approach, or focus on 2 - 3 characters at a time. I hope the audio series isn't going to fall prey to the same issues in that regard as the television series did - two characters permanently marginalized. Bleh.
Mezzin got killed out just as she was getting interesting with the is-she-on-Blake's-side-or-not ambiguity. But that's okay in that India Fisher's performance grated badly on my nerves. It didn't help that the character was stuck in a permanent state of righteous outrage. Something about her tone brought out the urge to throw things and shout - and not in a fun way.
As mentioned, Zen was one of the most interesting characters of the entire story - until Avon pulled its teeth. Damn. A ship who's motives you're not entirely sure of - and can't control - would have been interesting.
I love Mark Platt, really I do, but his attempts at ringing revolutionary rhetoric generally fell flat - but that might be my natural cynicism kicking in. Still, I was rolling my eyes an awful lot during those moments.
Overall, I'd recommend this over Rebel, but I still think the series has a long way to go. It's got potential - Blakes' 7 is just as ripe with potential for excellence in the audio medium as Doctor Who - but it's yet to be fully exploited, I think. Maybe the production crew is nervous of pissing off the old-school fans (too late, based on some reviews I've read) or perhaps they're just trying to pace themselves and are, perhaps, erring a little too much on the side of caution. Whatever the reason, it could sink the whole bloody thing before it really gets going. Even the Sci-Fi channel will only back a losing horse so far, y'know...?
I've got the third story cued up on iTunes. More thoughts as events warrant.
