A Valid Medical Question, and the Joy of Blake's 7

[rj_anderson]

It has just occurred to me that I never reacted to the South Pole episode of House -- mostly because I somehow contrived to miss it when it first aired (so you can imagine my surprise at the beginning of the next episode when House confronted Wilson about dating you-know-who!). However, I've seen it now and WHOA.

Please tell me there is good House/Cate fic out there somewhere. Because it is totally my new OTP, and if there isn't any I fear I may have to write some myself.

***

Speaking of fandom, I have just discovered Blake's 7. We're only three episodes into S1 so far, but my husband and I are already hooked big-time.

Unsurprisingly for a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Snape, Jack Bristow and Beltanno MacRannoch, I love Avon best (though I'm sure my interest will wane if he doesn't demonstrate a bit more humanity soon). But I'm also surprised by how much I like Blake. I've heard so little about him, I thought he must be kind of a bland and uninteresting character compared to Vila, Cally, and so on. I even had a vague suspicion that he might be a shadowy or absent figure a la Charlie of Charlie's Angels. But in fact he's not only right in the middle of the action, he's pretty cool. I like Jenna, too, and I don't remember hearing anything about her from the B7 fans on my list at all.

The special effects are as bad as anything in Classic Who, but I'm really impressed by the dialogue, scripts and acting so far (well, except for Brian Blessed in ep. 3 gnawing off enormous chunks of scenery and spitting them all over the screen, but that's Brian Blessed). I especially admire the way that B7 captures the banality of evil -- in the first two episodes at least the villains don't sit around cackling and rubbing their hands or being villainous to each other for dramatic effect, they behave and speak like ordinary people who have sunk into evil so gradually they don't even seem to realize it. It's very well done. MOAR PLS.
--
I fail at the promised reviews, I know, I know. Coming soon.

Comments

[kerravonsen]

YAAAAAAAAY! You have discovered Blake's 7! You like it!

I love Avon best (though I'm sure my interest will wane if he doesn't demonstrate a bit more humanity soon).

In my not-so-humble opinion, Avon is a bit more likeable than Snape is, so I don't think you'll have a problem.

But I'm also surprised by how much I like Blake. I thought he must be kind of a bland and uninteresting character compared to Vila, Cally, and so on.

No, he's not bland and uninteresting, not at all. But he tends to be overshadowed by the overwhelming fannish popularity of Avon; a bit like Highlander fandom tends to drool over Methos and ignore Duncan, or dismiss Duncan as a "boy scout". Similarly, some fans dismiss Blake as a frothing-at-the-mouth manipulative revolutionary, when he isn't like that at all. I think the point at which I really sat up and took notice of Blake was one of my re-watchings of "Cynus Alpha", when Blake was so passionately determined to get a crew, irrelevant of how difficult it was. I have to admire his passionate determination in the face of this dark and gloomy universe: unlike Shiny!Happy universes like Trek, there are no guaranteed happy endings, and Heroes fail, and they know that they are likely to fail and they keep going even when they know they probably won't succeed. In one sense, that's even more encouraging than Shiny!Happy universes where everything comes right at the end. I wonder if it's a British/American split in attitude?

I like Jenna, too, and I don't remember hearing anything about her from the B7 fans on my list at all.

The frustrating thing about Jenna is that, apart from the episode "Bounty", she's strongest in those earlier episodes, and tends to get relegated to teleport duty and doesn't develop a lot as a character.

Blake's 7 is an ensemble show, though, which is one of the good things about it. My favourite characters are, yes, Avon and Cally, but I like them all.

I especially admire the way that B7 captures the banality of evil -- in the first two episodes at least the villains don't sit around cackling and rubbing their hands or being villainous to each other for dramatic effect, they behave and speak like ordinary people who have sunk into evil so gradually they don't even seem to realize it. It's very well done.

I think it was most excellently done in the first two episodes, but even when there's more of a personal Villain they're fighting against, there's no cackling and rubbing hands: the Federation people are simply trying to catch these dangerous criminals, there's no "Bwa-ha-ha" involved. Some episodes even manage to show very sympathetic Federation minions, who're just doing their job.

"What's the difference between terrorism and freedom-fighting?"
"The side you're on."

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I still haven't seen that ep of House!

Speaking of fandom, I have just discovered Blake's 7. We're only three episodes into S1 so far, but my husband and I are already hooked big-time.

*jealous* I've seen the first 2 episodes, but haven't yet gotten my hands on any more. I'm so not shocked you like Avon; I don't, at this point, but that's par for my reaction to such characters as Snape (who had to prove he had morals before I got interested in him). Blake is fairly awesome, even here at the beginning, and I have to say that Vila had me at "Other people's property comes naturally to me." Hee!

[bexm30.livejournal.com]

Oh! I still have not seen that House episode either. Something happened - like a sports event ran late - and the DVR missed most of the delayed ep - so I was VERY confused about Wilson and his new girlfriend!

[serenasnape.livejournal.com]

Same thing happened to me - filius_lupi introduced me in my third year at uni, and all I wanted to know was, "Who's the sarcastic one?" Welcome!

[durayan.livejournal.com]

Please for Housefic..?

[infiniteviking]

*cheers* Blake's 7 is one of my latent fandoms (haven't seen a single episode, but like the fic), and I immediately latched onto Avon too, so thanks for the corroboration. And it's nice to hear that Blake is more sympathetic than he's portrayed in the hype.

[callyperry.livejournal.com]

*pouts* They stole my name, now always taken on new sites by B7 fangirls. *pouts some more* But if you like it, maybe I have a look in after all. :-)