From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se
Subject: blakes7-d Digest V99 #211
X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se
X-Mailing-List: <blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se> archive/volume99/211
Precedence: list
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------"
To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se
Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se

------------------------------

Content-Type: text/plain

blakes7-d Digest				Volume 99 : Issue 211

Today's Topics:
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Jenna (was Servalan)
	 Re: [B7L] Re: Soolin (was Servalan)
	 [B7L] B7 on eBay
	 [B7L]Video #21
	 Re: [B7L] B7 on eBay
	 Re: [B7L]Video #21
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	  [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 [B7L] Query
	 [B7L] Re: Avon the misogynist (was: Ben Steed the misogynist)
	 Re: [B7L] Ben Steed the misogynist (was: Servalan)
	 [B7L] Re: Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] B7 on eBay
	 [B7L] Cally
	 Re: [B7L] Re: Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Ben Steed the misogynist (was: Servalan)
	 Re: [B7L] Query
	 Re: [B7L] Cally
	 Brian Blessed
	 [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Servalan
	 Re: [B7L] Cally
	 Re: [B7L] Query
	 [B7L] The estimable Jarriere
	 Re: [B7L] Cally
	 Re: [B7L] Jenna (was Servalan) 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 03:00:03 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <6a0be936.24b5a673@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 99-07-08 00:12:16 EDT, rilliara@juno.com writes:

<< Cally was naive in some ways, but I don't think it extended to her
 abilities as a freedom fighter. >>

She came from a planet that lived with neutrality and nothing else, she had 
no military training that we know of, that's why I think she had a certain 
naivete as a freedom fighter. She probably showed up on Suarian Major with a 
few skills, and they welcomed her with open arms. With their lack of power, 
any help was a blessing. I'm sure she learned a lot from the guerillas, but 
obviously never enough to anticipate Blake's obvious move for the gun. Her 
mistake in Time Squad was not a solitary occurence. She also displays a 
certain stupidity in Seek-Locate-Destroy (turning her head and letting 
someone overpower her), and Breakdown (letting Gan out of his bonds, I 
honestly don't think the Cally of later seasons would be dumb enough to do 
that). I think of Cally as an ambitious but somewhat green fighter who 
evolved into a quiet, intelligent, and formidable woman. The season where she 
is supposedly wimpy, 3, features several episodes where Cally managed to keep 
a clear head *and* kick ass, which didn't happen very often in season 1. 

<<This said, I'm also one of the few people who thought she was better
developed in the third season.>>

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who liked her in season 3. It could have 
been an even better season for her, if she hadn't been given minimal and\or 
insulting roles in 4 or 5 episodes. The worst being Ultraworld, where she 
spent almost the entire episode comatose. 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 03:15:04 PDT
From: Sally Manton <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Jenna (was Servalan)
Message-ID: <19990708101505.2189.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

TigerM wrote:
<Avon wanted the glamor and power of having the
Liberator, but he didn't want the responsibility that went
with it.  He got what he thought he wanted, only to discover
that it wasn't what he wanted  at all.>

I think he wanted it, but not in the way he *got* it. I looked
at the bit in Pressure Point again (the sacrifices we make...
<g>). Avon may have wanted Blake on Earth and himself
on the Liberator, but IMO intended (whether consciously or
not) to be somewhere nearby and keep an eye on Blake and
any of the others who went *with* Blake. Even after the 'I
want to be free' bit in Star One...he didn't really want to be
*this* free. And I agree that he didn't want responsibility
*for other people* (he hadn't thought about the 'crew' side
of it at all.) A clear case of 'careful what you wish for...'


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 06:40:07 EDT
From: Mac4781@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Soolin (was Servalan)
Message-ID: <951359b3.24b5da07@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Jo Ann wrote:

> So far as I'm concerned, all that speculation people were doing earlier 
>  about the way Avon sees women applies quite well to Soolin - she's useful 
if 
>  she works with him, but dangerous if she doesn't.

Good observation.  It fits in with Avon's line in GAMES: 
"Belkov trusts no one, which is a strength, because that means that no one 
can betray him. But it is also a weakness because it means that he is the 
only one who can defend what is his."

Avon knows the value of trusted associates, as long as they are trustworthy. 
:)

Soolin is the same.  And it's that quality in her that makes Avon/Soolin seem 
very unlikely to me.  I think Soolin knows better than to get emotionally 
involved with an untrustworthy employer.  After what happened with Dorian 
she'd be especially on guard.  And she doesn't trust Avon, as her comment in 
BLAKE indicates:

"I really could be quite annoyed if I thought we'd been the bait in a trap 
you'd laid       for them, Avon." 

Before I could believe a romantic A/Soolin I'd need to see that she came to 
trust him.   Or had a personality transplant that sent her pragmatic side 
packing. 

>  To digress a little, can I say that Avon's not mad in the fourth season, 
>  just indifferent to the majority of things that might deflect him from 
>  getting the Federation off his back?

I see signs of stress in all of them, but no madness.

More from Jo Ann (on the possibility that Soolin might not want to hang 
around with Avon):

> I'm wondering if it's just mental jaundice today, or am I becoming 
>  disillusioned with Avon? (Yes, I know, heresy! <grin>)

I think you're realistically observing that the females on Blake's 7 weren't 
as inclined to froth over their various shipmates as much as we fans do. <g>  
Avon was just a dangerous employer with a large nose to Soolin. ;)

Good luck with the vacation countdown.  Do you have any exciting plans?  Such 
as sitting on a beach and working on your Tarrant Nostra skills? ;)

Carol Mc

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 08:18:38 EDT
From: Bizarro7@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] B7 on eBay
Message-ID: <922177d5.24b5f11e@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Oddly enough, you can often judge the popularity of something by the numer of 
items relating to it, being offered on eBay. There are about 16 different 
auctions for B7-related material currently going on. Here's a link to check 
them out, in case there's anything of interest you'd like to view. 

http://search.ebay.com/cgi-bin/texis/ebay/results.html?dest=&cobrandpartner=x&
maxRecordsPerPage=50&tc=&ht=&textonly=n&query=Blakes+7&SortProperty=MetaEndSor
t

Leah

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:04:17 +0100
From: "Julie Horner" <julie.horner@lincolnsoftware.com>
To: "Lysator" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L]Video #21
Message-ID: <004901bec942$636db030$170201c0@pc23.Fishnet>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Has anyone come across Video No 21 yet? Only the
release dates on Horizon say 5th July but our nearest
HMV, which is usually pretty prompt, has not got them
in yet.

Julie

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 09:29:56 -0400
From: Susan Beth <sbs@world.std.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] B7 on eBay
Message-Id: <3.0.4.32.19990708092956.006e58dc@world.std.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>Bizarro7@aol.com wrote:
>Oddly enough, you can often judge the popularity of something by the numer
of 
>items relating to it, being offered on eBay. There are about 16 different 
>auctions for B7-related material currently going on. Here's a link to check 
>them out, in case there's anything of interest you'd like to view. 
>

(link clipped, because the search has already expired.)

No matter.  Just go to eBay home (www.ebay.com) and you can do a fresh
search from there.  

One tip:  if you search for "blake's 7", you will get ONLY the items where
the poster put in an apostrophe.  If you search for "blakes 7" you will get
BOTH those with and without the apostrophe.  And then, for completist,
you'll have to do a second search for "blakes seven" since some people
spell it out.


As to the popularity, though -- you also have to take note of how many of
the items haven't received even a single bid.   The conclusion seems to be,
there are more "exiting" fans clearing out stuff than those currently in or
just starting. :-(
Susan Beth


(sbs@world.std.com)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:32:43 +0100
From: "Una McCormack" <una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk>
To: "Lysator" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L]Video #21
Message-ID: <005d01bec946$5ffb48f0$0d01a8c0@hedge>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Julie asked:

> Has anyone come across Video No 21 yet? Only the
> release dates on Horizon say 5th July but our nearest
> HMV, which is usually pretty prompt, has not got them
> in yet.

Hmm, not done my trawl yet. I'm assuming this is Power/Traitor?


Una

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 14:02:50 -0700
From: Pat Patera <patpatera@netzero.net>
To: B7 Lysator <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <3783C07A.4C103410@netzero.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Neil Faulkner wrote:

> By saying that 'her power is rooted in her sexual allure', I meant not so
> much Servalan herself as the way she tended to be written.

"I'm not really bad. I'm just written that way."
--Jessica, Mrs. Roger Rabbit


________________________________________________________
NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet.  Shouldn't you?
Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at
http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 14:08:40 -0700
From: Pat Patera <patpatera@netzero.net>
To: B7 Lysator <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <3783C1D8.58C45FD4@netzero.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

AdamWho@aol.com wrote:

> Which episode did she trip through quarries in?
Sand. Imagine striking off across the desert in heels. 
On second thought, those spikes might act a lot like golf spikes, giving
her better traction in the sand.
Altho, in that little black dress, I certainly hope she was wearing
sunscreen.

> Volcano? If it is, I agree
> with you, Servalan running around the terrain seemed idiotic, but almost
> everything in Volcano seemed idiotic.

I agree. Volcano is about as bad as Animals.
"By the Rim!" aaaaauuuuggggghhhhhhhh!
But that was Cally being idiotic, not Servie.

Sorry, but I love the idea of Servalan & Sleer tripping about the
terrain in formal wear.
It is her personal power statement: that she fully expects to be waited
upon anytime, anywhere.
Her self confidence in her total control and command is inspiring.
Pat P

________________________________________________________
NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet.  Shouldn't you?
Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at
http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 18:15:13 +0200
From: Angria@t-online.de (Tanja Kinkel)
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject:  [B7L] Servalan
Message-Id: <m112GpN-0003YOC@fwd10.btx.dtag.de>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT

Pat Patera wrote:
> AdamWho@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Which episode did she trip through quarries in?
> Sand. Imagine striking off across the desert in heels. 

This precedent seems to have spawned a number of imitations well into the 
Nineties - in the DS9 episode "Indiscretion", for example, Kira strikes off 
across the desert in high heels as well... but since she doesn't have as much 
practice as our Servalan, she stumbles! 

> Altho, in that little black dress, I certainly hope she was wearing
> sunscreen.

No burning wavelenghts of the sun... another oddity of Virn? 
>
> Sorry, but I love the idea of Servalan & Sleer tripping about the
> terrain in formal wear.
> It is her personal power statement: that she fully expects to be waited
> upon anytime, anywhere.
> Her self confidence in her total control and command is inspiring.
> Pat P
 
I second that. Besides which, she never lets it get in the way of the work - 
there isn't a situation where wearing flat shoes and practical uniforms would 
have saved her/helped her win. Besides, there is one example where she dons 
boots and an ugly sun-shielding cloak for the cause - when meeting Avon in 
"Gold". 

Tanja

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 13:01:19 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <b630c634.24b6335f@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 99-07-08 12:17:10 EDT, Angria@t-online.de writes:

<< I second that. Besides which, she never lets it get in the way of the work 
- 
 there isn't a situation where wearing flat shoes and practical uniforms 
would 
 have saved her/helped her win. >>

Look at how much she got done in that purple outfit from Dayna (which she 
presumably burned as soon as she got back to the Federation, burning seems to 
be the appropriate action for Dayna designs). Killing Hal Mellanby *and* 
stealing Orac, escaping capture from the Sarrons, using Hal's secret home to 
radio a rescue ship, then using her Federation resources to get away from the 
organ-harvesters on the ship. 

Meanwhile, the two Federation soliders in uniform were wiped out within two 
minutes of their arrival on Sarron. 

I think Servalan, in a formal and platform shoes, could probably kill an 
entire army. It isn't her wardrobe or sex appeal that sustain her, it's her 
survivor's instinct and strong will to live. 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 18:34:53 +0100
From: "Una McCormack" <una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk>
To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <001201bec968$34947980$0d01a8c0@hedge>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Adam wrote:

> I think Servalan, in a formal and platform shoes, could probably kill an
> entire army. It isn't her wardrobe or sex appeal that sustain her, it's
her
> survivor's instinct and strong will to live.

Hmm. So the best way for Blake to have conquered the Federation was to
somehow have coaxed Servie into flared jeans, white stilettos and a 'Frankie
Says' t-shirt?

It might have worked...


Una

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 10:39:14 -0700
From: "Ann Basart" <abasart@dnai.com>
To: "Blake's7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Query
Message-Id: <199907081738.KAA13585@oberon.dnai.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear List,

(If you don't mind moving away from Servalan for a moment)
Can any of you good people tell me whether there is a Dr. Who discussion
group similar to this B7 list? I'd appreciate any helpful info.

. . . and I've been enjoying the (large amount of) discussion lately. Don't
you guys ever WORK?

Best,
Ann
abasart@dnai.com

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 13:49:11 -0400
From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Re: Avon the misogynist (was: Ben Steed the misogynist)
Message-ID: <199907081349_MC2-7C59-8CCF@compuserve.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	 charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Una wrote, replying to Mistral's points about Avon never thinking of
Cancer's gender:
>I think it's entirely bad writing, to be honest. It's the laziest of
>twists - Aha! The baddy was <ta da!> a WOMAN!!!!

The society depicted in B7 is still sufficiently male-dominated (despite
some splendid counter-examples) for a man to be the default option where
there's no evidence to the contrary.

And to be fair to Avon, I think Cancer tried hard to encourage the notion
that she was a man, in order to keep another surprise up her sleeve.  Why
else buy a male actor?  She probably pulled off the same stunt fairly
often, so that if anyone did try to give a description it would be a
different one every time - but always male.

It was not very professional, really, to tell Servalan, but since she
behaved so idiotically in the final scenes that's hardly a surprise.

Re Sara, she had been with her crew for a long time and evidently
maintained the silly-little-me persona successfully enough to fool them. 
Probably significant that the first person to spot her was Mandrian, who
appeared to be most closely acquainted with her.  And even then he seemed
to assume that their relationship would save him from being bumped off.

Harriet

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 13:49:32 -0400
From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Ben Steed the misogynist (was: Servalan)
Message-ID: <199907081349_MC2-7C59-8CD9@compuserve.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	 charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Una wrote:
>Judith's website has an excellent, thoughtful essay by Harriet about
'Power'

Gosh, thank you.  I always thought of it as an emotional rant, myself!

Harriet

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 13:49:27 -0400
From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:blakes7@lysator.liu.se" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Re: Servalan
Message-ID: <199907081349_MC2-7C59-8CD8@compuserve.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	 charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Adam wrote:
>In theory, I might agree, but on the show, Servalan freeing herself from
that 
>white office was a breath of fresh air for the character. She spent two 
>seasons plotting with Travis, against Travis, against Travis and Blake,
with 
>the plots wearing a little thin by the end of season 2. I liked seeing 
>Servalan interact with crew members (Cally, Vila, Dayna, etc.), the
strange 
>relationship with Avon, and everything she did in Aftermath. 

I'm with Neil on this one.  One of the things I disliked about third and
fourth seasons was the way Servalan seemed to spend all her time chasing a
few outlaws round the galaxy when she should have been concentrating on
consolidating/regaining power.

And the scenes where I love her best is when she's interacting with
Federation politicians like Rontane, Bercol and Joban.  I'd like to have
seen MUCH more Federation politics.  This is probably why I'm the only
person who likes Voice from the Past - an episode which does much to
strengthen the case for Blake's terrorism by showing how easily attempts at
reform can be squashed.

Harriet

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:08:13 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <ea0726a.24b6430d@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 99-07-08 13:38:13 EDT, una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk 
writes:

<< Hmm. So the best way for Blake to have conquered the Federation was to
 somehow have coaxed Servie into flared jeans, white stilettos and a 'Frankie
 Says' t-shirt? >>

I just had a mental image of Servalan (with a mohawk) at a Frankie concert, 
trying to begin her plan to coax all Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Kajagoogoo, 
and Banarama fans into inter-pop war so they will die off and the remaining 
fans will buy albums from her new group. The Travii Twins. Blake, Jenna, and 
Vila teleport into the middle of a Frankie concert to stop Servalan's evil 
plans. Servalan uses a mind control device to make the entire crowd pick the 
three Liberator crew members up over their shoulders and try to throw them 
onto the ground, causing pain. Little does Servalan know this idea eventually 
became known as a mosh pit. 

Vila is seperated from the group, but rescued by two brothers and a wannabe 
record producer. They all get very drunk, and Vila writes a dozen songs. The 
next day when Blake and Jenna rescue him, he leaves the songs behind. The two 
brothers and the producer realize every song is written in a way that hides a 
lack of singing talent. The brothers, each named Fairbass, change the lyrics 
to a song named "I'm Too Sexy", then record it. The original lyrics were "I'm 
too sexy for my soma....too sexy for my soma....so sexy I put Jenna in a 
co-ma...."  

The record producer grabs a half-dozen songs, spends 6 or 7 years finding 
five females to sing the tunes, and finally does. They go on to be known as 
The Spice Girls. 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:19:20 EDT
From: Tigerm1019@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <737fd59.24b645a8@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 7/8/99 9:17:10 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
Angria@t-online.de writes:

Pat P. wrote:

>  > Altho, in that little black dress, I certainly hope she was wearing
>  > sunscreen.
>  
>  No burning wavelenghts of the sun... another oddity of Virn? 

I think Virn was entirely covered by thick clouds.
 
>  I second that. Besides which, she never lets it get in the way of the work 
- 
> 
>  there isn't a situation where wearing flat shoes and practical uniforms 
> would 
>  have saved her/helped her win. Besides, there is one example where she 
dons 
>  boots and an ugly sun-shielding cloak for the cause - when meeting Avon in 
>  "Gold". 

She could be very practical when she had to.:-)   This thread has led to my 
having a new appreciation for a character that I used to not think too much 
of.  She did suffer from overexposure in the fourth season though.

Tiger M

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:19:24 EDT
From: Tigerm1019@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] B7 on eBay
Message-ID: <e34d86d2.24b645ac@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 7/8/99 6:34:54 AM Pacific Daylight Time, sbs@world.std.com 
writes:

> As to the popularity, though -- you also have to take note of how many of
>  the items haven't received even a single bid.   The conclusion seems to be,
>  there are more "exiting" fans clearing out stuff than those currently in or
>  just starting. :-(

Sadly, I suspect this may be why B7 zines were so plentiful and so cheap at 
MediaWestCon.  It was great for me;  I practically tripled my collection in a 
single weekend.  However, I don't think it is good for the fandom as a whole. 
 I have been trying to lure new people into the fold, but getting them hooked 
can take a little while.  

Tiger M

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:19:31 EDT
From: Tigerm1019@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Cally
Message-ID: <13f542ac.24b645b3@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 7/8/99 12:04:19 AM Pacific Daylight Time, AdamWho@aol.com 
writes:

> She came from a planet that lived with neutrality and nothing else, she had 
>  no military training that we know of, that's why I think she had a certain 
>  naivete as a freedom fighter. She probably showed up on Suarian Major with 
a 
> 
>  few skills, and they welcomed her with open arms. With their lack of 
power, 
>  any help was a blessing. I'm sure she learned a lot from the guerillas, 
but 
>  obviously never enough to anticipate Blake's obvious move for the gun. Her 
>  mistake in Time Squad was not a solitary occurence. She also displays a 
>  certain stupidity in Seek-Locate-Destroy (turning her head and letting 
>  someone overpower her), and Breakdown (letting Gan out of his bonds, I 
>  honestly don't think the Cally of later seasons would be dumb enough to do 
>  that).

I agree.  What got to me in Seek-Locate-Destroy was that Cally wasn't with 
them when they teleported up from Centero and no one noticed for several 
hours.  I'd have thought someone would at least check to see that everyone 
had made it back OK.

> I think of Cally as an ambitious but somewhat green fighter who 
>  evolved into a quiet, intelligent, and formidable woman. The season where 
> she 
>  is supposedly wimpy, 3, features several episodes where Cally managed to 
> keep 
>  a clear head *and* kick ass, which didn't happen very often in season 1. 

This is an excellent analysis.  In the first season episodes, she may be a 
decent fighter, but she doesn't always use her head.

>  I'm just glad I'm not the only one who liked her in season 3. It could 
have 
>  been an even better season for her, if she hadn't been given minimal 
and\or 
>  insulting roles in 4 or 5 episodes. The worst being Ultraworld, where she 
>  spent almost the entire episode comatose. 

I like Cally far more in the second and third seasons myself.  My favorite 
Cally episodes include "Shadow," where she is able to extricate herself from 
a very dangerous situation and save everyone else's bacon in the process.  
She was on her own in dealing with the alien.  I also liked that scene 
in"Hostage" where Cally and Jenna deal very efficiently with the crimo who 
has been teleported aboard.  I also liked the way she verbally held her own 
against Servalan in "Powerplay" and the background that we got for her in 
Children of Auron.  I liked the way she was portrayed as a strong, capable in 
"Rumours of Death" and "Terminal" and the way she interacted with the rest of 
the crew in "Death-Watch."  I think the third season Cally was a much 
stronger, more rounded character.

Tiger M

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:19:57 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: Servalan
Message-ID: <427b0f94.24b645cd@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 99-07-08 13:53:01 EDT, 101637.2064@compuserve.com writes:

<< And the scenes where I love her best is when she's interacting with
 Federation politicians like Rontane, Bercol and Joban.  I'd like to have
 seen MUCH more Federation politics.  This is probably why I'm the only
 person who likes Voice from the Past - an episode which does much to
 strengthen the case for Blake's terrorism by showing how easily attempts at
 reform can be squashed. >>

I hate Voice from the Past, Travis with that hideous French accent, the 
annoying Federation rebels, Blake wearing his astronaut gear and going down 
onto the cheesiest set B7 ever created. I practically cheered for Servalan 
when her face appeared on the screen (my favorite scene in VftP btw), because 
the man and woman were so stupid. The female practically had "I'm a rebel" 
written on her forehead during her vidscreen conversation with Servalan. 

I think I enjoyed the search for Star One and season 2 Blake\Federation 
conflicts a lot less than most viewers do. That's why I welcomed Servalan 
being Travis-free and white office-free during season 3. There are a plethora 
of wonderful Servalan scenes with Avon, Vila, etc. that never would have been 
possible in the first two seasons. A few of the scripts are hokey, but no 
more hokey than Servalan's roles in Weapon, The Keeper, Hostage, or Orac. 

That said, I also like her season 2 episoes. Especially Trial and Pressure 
Point. I just liked her season 3 episodes more. 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 19:32:56 +0100
From: "Una McCormack" <una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk>
To: "Harriet Monkhouse" <101637.2064@compuserve.com>, <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Ben Steed the misogynist (was: Servalan)
Message-ID: <002b01bec970$61da7720$0d01a8c0@hedge>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Harriet wrote:

> Una wrote:
> >Judith's website has an excellent, thoughtful essay by Harriet about
> 'Power'
> 
> I always thought of it as an emotional rant, myself!

It's passionate, certainly, and that's what makes it work.


Una

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 19:31:36 +0100
From: "Una McCormack" <una@q-research.connectfree.co.uk>
To: "Blake's7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Query
Message-ID: <002a01bec970$612f6a10$0d01a8c0@hedge>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Ann asked:

> . . . and I've been enjoying the (large amount of) discussion lately.
Don't
> you guys ever WORK?

Nope!


Una

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 14:42:16 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Cally
Message-ID: <c62af3fc.24b64b08@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 99-07-08 14:22:30 EDT, Tigerm1019@aol.com writes:

<< I like Cally far more in the second and third seasons myself.  My favorite 
 Cally episodes include "Shadow," where she is able to extricate herself from 
 a very dangerous situation and save everyone else's bacon in the process.  
 She was on her own in dealing with the alien.  I also liked that scene 
 in"Hostage" where Cally and Jenna deal very efficiently with the crimo who 
 has been teleported aboard.  I also liked the way she verbally held her own 
 against Servalan in "Powerplay" and the background that we got for her in 
 Children of Auron.  I liked the way she was portrayed as a strong, capable 
in 
 "Rumours of Death" and "Terminal" and the way she interacted with the rest 
of 
 the crew in "Death-Watch."  I think the third season Cally was a much 
 stronger, more rounded character. >>

Those are some of my favorite Cally episodes. For lighter moments, Deathwatch 
is one of Cally's best. I loved Vila playfully chasing her out of the room, 
and her Vila-ish scene drinking while on teleport duty. Telling Vila to have 
patience, she'd bring him up in a minute. 

I'd add Dawn of the Gods, it may not be a superb episode, but the 
intelligence she used to trick Tharrn into cutting the force wall off so she 
and the others could fire theirs weapons was admirable. 

And Sarcophagus, maybe not for Cally, but for Jan Chappell. I consider her 
work as the alien to be her best performance on Blake's 7. Villianous, 
strong, but you still feel for her as she dies. 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 12:15:19 -0700
From: "pennyk" <pennyk@bigger.net>
To: "b7" <blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Brian Blessed
Message-ID: <001301bec976$3b85c920$c5a5f5d1@behemoth>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000E_01BEC93B.8BAEE160"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_000E_01BEC93B.8BAEE160
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Brian Blessed is really making the rounds.  Star Wars Episode I and =
Disney's Tarzan.
=20
Peace,
Penny
Anthology@onelist.com
orphankittens@onelist.com
Horseheads1979@onelist.com
youngchildrensbooks@onelist.com
=20
"Feelings are like a table full of pies, if you eat them all you'll =
eventually puke."
=20
=20

------=_NextPart_000_000E_01BEC93B.8BAEE160
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 =
HTML//EN">
<META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=3DGENERATOR>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Bell MT">Brian Blessed is =
really making=20
the rounds.&nbsp; Star Wars Episode I and Disney's =
Tarzan.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Bell =
MT"></FONT></STRONG>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Bell =
MT">Peace,<BR>Penny<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:Anthology@onelist.com">Anthology@onelist.com</A><BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:orphankittens@onelist.com">orphankittens@onelist.com</A><B=
R><A=20
href=3D"mailto:Horseheads1979@onelist.com">Horseheads1979@onelist.com</A>=
<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:youngchildrensbooks@onelist.com">youngchildrensbooks@oneli=
st.com</A></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Bell =
MT"></FONT></STRONG>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Bell MT">&quot;Feelings are =
like a table=20
full of pies, if you eat them all you'll eventually=20
puke.&quot;</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Bell =
MT"></FONT></STRONG>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#000000=20
face=3D"Bell MT"></FONT></STRONG>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_000E_01BEC93B.8BAEE160--

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 23:12:15 +0100
From: S Riaz <t.riaz@virgin.net>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <3785223E.D7FFB660@virgin.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I'm amazed so many fans hated Servalan!   I always thought she was a great
character, although I agree that her dress sense was a little odd!   I read
somewhere that in Series 4, when she became Sleer, they wanted her to dress in
combat fatigues, but Jacqueline Pearce refused.   So, her great disguise was to
wear black instead of white - that'll fool them!!!  Actually, I never really
understood that.   Surely Servalan's image was EVERYWHERE.   How she thought nobody
would recognise her was absurd.

Actually, I read a similar story about Cally.   Jan Chappell was supposed to wear
coloured contact lenses - to look more 'alien', but found them too uncomfortable.
I guess her alien disguise was to look spaced out sometimes!

As for Blake actually winning the rebellion - well, it was impossible, wasn't it?
For something as vast as the Federation was, you could only replace one
administration with another.   Besides, they weren't stupid - they had their forces
linked but widespread.   You would have had to taken over Earth and Space Command
for starters - without even considering all the other planets the Federation run.
Not that I think Blake was a fool - he wasn't.   He just believed that he was right
and I honestly think he thought he could win.  If he had succeeded in a successful
rebellion, he probably would have found himself fighting against Federation rebels
instead!   As Servalan said in the beginning, Blake was just one man, with one ship
and a crew of criminals.  They were doomed to failure - success was impossible.

I agree that Jenna had little to return to the Liberator for.  If you think about
it, she had a lot more sense to stay away!   Seeing her and Tarrant together would
have been fun though - she would have put him in his place!

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 09:33:02 EST
From: "Joanne MacQueen" <j_macqueen@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan
Message-ID: <19990708233303.20010.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

> >  Besides, there is one example where she dons  boots and an ugly > 
> >sun-shielding cloak for the cause - when meeting Avon in  "Gold".

Yes, but the heels on those boots! No more practical, really, than the 
sandals she usually wore to go tripping daintily around quarries!

Regards
Joanne


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 20:18:31 EDT
From: Tigerm1019@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Cally
Message-ID: <8a29c0a2.24b699d7@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 7/8/99 11:45:41 AM Pacific Daylight Time, AdamWho@aol.com 
writes:
 
>  I'd add Dawn of the Gods, it may not be a superb episode, but the 
>  intelligence she used to trick Tharrn into cutting the force wall off so 
she 
>  and the others could fire theirs weapons was admirable. 

DotG may have stunk in many ways, but it did have its moments.  This is one 
of them, as is Tarrant's accurate but misleading description of Orac.:-)

>  And Sarcophagus, maybe not for Cally, but for Jan Chappell. I consider her 
>  work as the alien to be her best performance on Blake's 7. Villianous, 
>  strong, but you still feel for her as she dies. 

Jan Chappell's performance is one of the reasons I like Sarcophagus.  I 
didn't feel too sympathetic towards the alien though.  She had been torturing 
and trying to kill people moments before, then began trying to play for 
sympathy when the situation was not to her advantage.  She just seemed 
pathetic.  There's a very interesting AU in Zen and the Art of Rebellion 3 
concerning what might have happened if the alien had succeeded in killing 
Avon.  It's "Insects in Amber" by Lorna Breshears.  I highly recommend it.

Tiger M

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 17:22:48 -0700
From: mistral@ptinet.net
To: B7 List <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Query
Message-ID: <378540D7.87D9FCD3@ptinet.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Ann Basart wrote:

> Dear List,
>
> (If you don't mind moving away from Servalan for a moment)
> Can any of you good people tell me whether there is a Dr. Who discussion
> group similar to this B7 list? I'd appreciate any helpful info.

I don't know of a mailing list, but there's a newsgroup:

uk.media.tv.sf.drwho

> . . . and I've been enjoying the (large amount of) discussion lately. Don't
> you guys ever WORK?

Heh, heh. When I'm sitting here at the computer working is when
I do the most chatting on-list. Actually, a good discussion on the list
stimulates my work. Thanks to chatting with Joanne yesterday
about A/Soo, I got triple my usual output! (Thanks, Joanne.)

Input! Input!

Grins,
Mistral
--
"We all have something to hide, and we all have something to tell;
we all have a secret name; we all have a secret question--
one question that unlocks our heart."--Galen, 'Crusade'

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 17:58:20 -0700
From: mistral@ptinet.net
To: B7 List <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] The estimable Jarriere
Message-ID: <3785492C.9B01D669@ptinet.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

With regard to the Buffy/B7 crossover I'm working on:
I'm coming up on a scene requiring some Jarriere-Servalan
interaction; is there a Jarriere fan out there who has some
thoughts they'd like to share about Jarriere himself and his
relationship with the Supreme Commander? Otherwise, I'm
afraid it may be quite tepid and have to be thrown out.

???
Mistral
--
"We all have something to hide, and we all have something to tell;
we all have a secret name; we all have a secret question--
one question that unlocks our heart."--Galen, 'Crusade'

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 02:16:00 EDT
From: AdamWho@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Cally
Message-ID: <b1c6671a.24b6eda0@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 99-07-08 20:21:09 EDT, Tigerm1019@aol.com writes:

<< Jan Chappell's performance is one of the reasons I like Sarcophagus.  I 
 didn't feel too sympathetic towards the alien though.  She had been 
torturing 
 and trying to kill people moments before, then began trying to play for 
 sympathy when the situation was not to her advantage.  She just seemed 
 pathetic.  There's a very interesting AU in Zen and the Art of Rebellion 3 
 concerning what might have happened if the alien had succeeded in killing 
 Avon.  It's "Insects in Amber" by Lorna Breshears.  I highly recommend it. >>

I did feel sorry for her as she faded away, saying, "I want to live" over and 
over. And I felt sorry for Cally as well, because her feelings for Avon were 
what the alien tapped into, feelings that Avon used to kill the alien. 

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 00:05:18 +0200
From: Steve Kilbane <steve@whitecrow.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Jenna (was Servalan) 
Message-Id: <199907082305.AAA20032@whitecrow.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Sally Manton wrote:
> ([Avon] hadn't thought about the 'crew' side
> of it at all.) 

Well, he had. In Horizon, he established that technically, he
didn't need one. Maybe he just didn't expect it to be a package deal...

steve

--------------------------------
End of blakes7-d Digest V99 Issue #211
**************************************