Discussion Post for 3.12 - Deathwatch - General

Aug 03, 2013 09:54

This is the general discussion post for the episode 3.12 "Deathwatch". Spoilers for the whole series are allowed here

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anne_arthur August 4 2013, 22:49:03 UTC
Well, a good Tarrant episode, so I'm happy . . .

I like his (and his brother's) reluctance to share his feelings, and to volunteer information generally - very much in keeping with my idea of him as a 'never complain, never explain' type. And it's one of the more enjoyable features of Blake's 7 (for me) that we get enough information to hint at a strong and complex relationship between the brothers, without ever being told what it is. If this were Star Trek, it would have been over-analysed to death!

I also like the little things - the tongue-in-cheek Star Trek reference, the bickering between the presenter and his producer, the tactless and awkward Max. Very much features of a Chris Boucher episode - along with everybody getting a chance to do something.

I think my Avon canon is that he and Servalan are one of history's great unconsummated love affairs - they both fancy each other, but neither is going to give way to what would be a disastrous passion. So the kiss doesn't bother me, really.

I also wonder how much of the Federation's wanted list is actually public knowledge. Perhaps they would not be keen to publicize desertions from Space Corps?

And I do love the 'family sitting round the TV' thing!

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emmzzi August 5 2013, 20:49:16 UTC
The Tarrant boys: futuristic RAF fighter pilots with no emotions and stiff upper lips

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anne_arthur August 6 2013, 21:45:07 UTC
I think that's a bit unkind! Being brought up not to share your emotions with all the world and his wife (which they clearly have been) is not the same as not having any, IMO.

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emmzzi August 7 2013, 13:21:56 UTC
oh, I'm quite sure it's the same for fighter pilots!

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anne_arthur August 7 2013, 17:37:09 UTC
If you say so!

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awdureslf August 11 2013, 15:30:13 UTC
Must be some Federation equivalent of the flight safety posters...

(which I can't add a proper link to because of the settings but are bit.ly/16DWxZA and bit.ly/19WD5wj)

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corvuscornix August 8 2013, 19:50:53 UTC
one of the more enjoyable features of Blake's 7 (for me) that we get enough information to hint at a strong and complex relationship between the brothers, without ever being told what it is
Yes, hinting at things while leaving lots of room for interpretation really is the great strength of B7. I confess Tarrant is one of the characters that I find it the hardest to get invested in - his characterisation seems to be all over the place in S3, and the way he acts towards Vila certainly doesn't help - but the hints of personal history we get here at least provide some small place to start. (Also part of why I enjoy looking for hints of a conspiracy, i.e. as in Tarrant being an infiltrator, is because it would make him a lot more interesting to me as a character, and perhaps resolve some of those apparent contradictions in his personality.)

Perhaps they would not be keen to publicize desertions from Space Corps
Yes... vilakins has suggested before that their images might have been suppressed to avoid hero-worship; perhaps it's true of their entire identities, only available on a need-to-know basis. Perhaps Blake was the only one who was ever publicly recognised at all.

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