Recap / Blakes Seven S 1 E 12 Deliverance

"So...you want to do something about that, right?"

Written by Terry Nation.
Directed by Michael E. Briant and David Maloney (uncredited).
Airdate: 20 March 1978.

The Liberator witnesses the crash of a small spacecraft on the planet Cephlon, a once-flourishing civilization that was destroyed in a war. During the search for survivors Jenna is kidnapped by the now-barbaric inhabitants, while the sole survivor of the crash hijacks the Liberator to get much needed medical supplies to his dying father, forcing Blake to abandon the rest of his team on Cephlon. Meanwhile at Star Command, Servalan reveals to Travis that she arranged the crash to get her hands on the ultimate computer, known as Orac.

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This episode has the following tropes:

• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Avon to Meegat before they go off to rescue Jenna.
• A God Am I: Averted; Avon certainly has no objection to being thought of as a god, but in the end thinks he's hardly worthy of her adulation.
  Avon: Meegat, I'm sorry you've waited so long.
  Meegat: Our waiting brought you.
  Avon: That seems like a poor reward, somehow.
• Arson, Murder, and Admiration
  Travis: You're almost as ruthless as I am.
  Servalan: You underestimate me, Travis.
  Travis: It begins to look that way.
• Awesome Ego (In-Universe)
  Meegat: All things are known to you. You are truly Lord. [Kneels before Avon, holding his hand.]
  Vila: Counting yourself, that makes two people who think you're wonderful.
• Bad Boss: Maryatt is sacrificed by Servalan to ensure that she gets her hands on Orac. To cover her tracks, she has him posted as a deserter, meaning his family will be Made a Slave as a deterrence to others.
• BBC Quarry: Justified given that the surface has been devastated by nuclear war.
• Break the Haughty: Servalan makes Travis wait while she works on her desk. She then points out that normally Travis would not stand for such an insult even from her, and it's a sign of how desperately he wants his command back.
• Call-Back:
  • The above-mentioned Break the Haughty moment contrasts with Travis' introduction, when he forced his way into Servalan's office after she made him wait.
  • To "Time Squad".
  Gan: Genetic banks and brood units. Like those in the projectile we took on board the Liberator?
• Can Not Tell A Lie: After hijacking the Liberator, Ensor Jr. has Zen verify that Blake has entered the correct coordinates because computers can't lie.
• Cargo Cult: The descendants of an After the End society await a god from the skies with the knowledge to launch the rocket with genetic bank to start their race on another world. Avon is entirely willing to take on the role. Likely an Invoked Trope as the scientist who built the rocket was killed off, and the survivors would know that only aliens capable of interstellar travel would have the knowledge to repair it.
• The Chains of Commanding
  Cally: Did [Meegat] really think you were a god?
  Avon: For a while.
  Blake: How did it feel?
  Avon: Don't you know?
  Blake: Yes. I don't like the responsibility, either.
• The Chosen One: Avon!
• Chrome Champion: Avon is wearing a silver thermal suit, so he immediately draws Meegat's attention as the Lord she's been expecting.
• Continuity Nod: Travis has been suspended following the events of "Project Avalon". This makes him an ideal patsy for Servalan, as he's willing to go along with anything to get his command back.
• Damsel in Distress: Jenna and Cally spend most of the episode tied up in a tent and being held hostage respectively.
• Dead Man Switch: Ensor Jr pulls a gun on Cally. When it looks like he's going to collapse from fatigue and his injuries, he rigs the gun so it will fire automatically if he looses consciousness. This is exactly what happens, but fortunately Blake shouts a warning and Cally rolls away in time.
  Ensor: I've put the energizer onto automatic. If I let it go, it will spring back and the gun will fire. If I pass out, the gun will fire by itself. Now you make certain that I don't go to sleep!
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Young woman waits years for the right man who shoots off his seed rocket and then abandons her.
• Due to the Dead: After discovering Maryatt's body, Avon tells Jenna to seal the life capsule up again.
• Economy Cast: While there's no shortage of rock-throwing Scavengers, Meegat is the only person we see from her community (which has fallen below a hundred anyway). It's handwaved as being ceremonial — one person waits a lonely vigil in the control room, while the rest of the community lives elsewhere.
• Escape Pod: The Spacemaster is Coming in Hot, but manages to eject a pair of unpowered survival modules.
  Gan: Do you know exactly what we're looking for? Because I don't think I've ever seen an impact life capsule.
  Jenna: They're bullet-shaped, built to be energy absorbing. Theoretically they could free fall from the edge of the atmosphere onto solid rock without even bruising the people inside.
  Cally: Is there a life-support system?
  Jenna: Basic respirator, that's about all.
• Explosive Instrumentation: Justified as there is a bomb on board.
• Fling a Light into the Future: A scientist called Kashell realised that the radiation would eventually kill everyone on Cephlon, so he constructed a rocket to take a genetic bank to another world. Unfortunately he was killed before he could give the order for it to be launched.
• Foreshadowing: Zen warns of the high radiation levels on Cephlon. In the next episode, it's revealed that everyone who went down there has radiation poisoning.
• Ghost Planet: Cephlon is the After the End version, with the inhabitants reverting to a primitive state.
• God Guise: Lord Avon whose knowledge shall finish the work of Kashell the Wise.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: The Ensors have Maryatt as a hostage, but fail to realise that Servalan is acting purely from her own self-interest and is ruthless enough to sacrifice Maryatt.
• Gravity Sucks: The Spacemaster flies too close to Cephlon and is suddenly caught in its 'gravity drag'. The spacecraft is crashed by sabotaging the 'gravity compensators'.
• He's Dead, Jim: Played straight with Maryatt, whose body is found in his capsule. Ensor Jr. nearly dies on the Liberator, but Blake and Cally are able to revive him.
• His Name Is...: Played with; Ensor nearly dies after Blake asks what Orac is. They are able to revive him, but decide not to press for details at this point.
• Kneel Before Zod: Meegat is convinced Avon is a god and keeps prostrating herself at his feet. Avon, Vila and Gan's expressions as she zips up and down are priceless.
  Gan: Well, she seems to be on our side.
  Vila: Yes, but the poor woman's insane.
  Avon: Not necessarily.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!
  • While searching for the life capsules, Avon has everyone split into pairs. At one point Gan leaves Jenna so he can check that the road ahead is safe. It's at that point that Avon calls for a teleport, and he's surprised to find that Jenna hasn't come up with him.
  • While searching for Jenna, Avon has everyone split up to cover more ground in less time (given the risk of radiation poisoning). They meet up an hour later without incident.
• Made of Indestructium: The escape pods.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: Ensor has offered 100 million credits for his Magical Computer and the medical help he needs to survive. Rather than waste time coaxing a fortune out of the Federation bureaucracy, Servalan decides to blow up the ship carrying the surgeon and Ensor's son, wait for Ensor to die, then go with Travis to seize the computer for herself.
• Only the Knowledgable May Pass: Justified; the scientist who originally prepared the rocket was killed, and the survivors knew their only chance was if aliens who had the knowledge to get it launched came.
• Percussive Therapy: Despite his limiter preventing him from killing, Gan admits he quite enjoyed fighting with the Scavengers.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: Well it is cold.
• Ragnarök Proofing: Restoring power and some minor repairs to the consoles is enough to have the rocket launch without a hitch.
• Reclining Reigner: The Supreme Commander sprawls sensuously as she lays out her Evil Plan with relish.
• Retro Rocket: The Spacemaster carrying Ensor Jr and Maryott.
• Revenge Before Reason: Travis is shocked that Servalan would kill Maryatt (the surgeon who saved his life), then have him posted as a deserter to cover her tracks, causing his family to be sold into slavery on the frontier worlds. But such is his desire for revenge on Blake that he goes along with her Evil Plan in exchange for getting his command back.
• Sleeper Starship: The Seed Ship version is what's launched from Cephlon.
• Scavenger World: The primitive tribesmen are referred to as Scavengers.
• Schizo Tech: Our heroes are bemused to find candles lighting a still-functional control room.
• Significant Anagram: Meegat is an anagram of gamete, a sexual reproductive cell.
• Space "X": Space Surgeon Maryatt.
• Stock Footage: As always when you have a rocket taking off.
• Styrofoam Rocks: The Scavengers throw these at our heroes.
• Thwarted Escape: Jenna is able to free her bonds and knock out her captor, only to be captured as she's crawling out of the tent.
• Title Drop: Meegat says, "Behold, deliverance!" on seeing the rocket ready for launch.
• Two-Part Episode: With "Orac".
• Tranquil Fury: When Avon realises that Jenna hasn't returned to the Liberator, he says they'll go down immediately to get her back. Blake just says coldly, "I think you'd better."