Dunno how old I was when I was first introduced to Blake's 7, all I know is that it was sometime in the 90s when I was in single didgits.
Anyway, good episode. Also, interesting thing I read pointed out lately, the logo of the B7 federation is basically the logo of Starfleet on it's side!
Also, I plan on starting by own review series soon talking about old TV sci-fi and similar stuff, and at some point I will do some videos on Blake's 7.
(also, cool that you mentioned Star One and their B7 song even if you didn't play it :) )
Decent episode, but there's a bit of a plot hole here:
Why didn't you figure out who the last buyer of the Anti-Magic Field was? Even if it's been months, the buyer could just have been saving it untill he had other items needed for his plan.
Thanks for getting me introduced to Blake's 7! I wish I could watch the show, but unfortunately Netflix doesn't have it streaming at the moment. Netflix has some cool British programming streaming right now including Red Dwarf (which I'll get to eventually), but why no Blake's 7 is beyond me.
Fun review even though I was completely lost this time! I never even heard of this show ever! I'm sad to report thee only space travel themed show I ever watched as a kid was that one they made on Nickelodeon with the lost spaceship with a group of aliens from different species on board! I'm guessing they wanted Vincent Price as a guest star at one point but could never get him on. Because that was a perfect Vincent Price looking character. They probably based it off his House of Wax character! I'm shocked that you didn't bring up drunken robot Tony Stark/Iron-Man from the Ultimate universe a long with Bender! XD You gotta love it when a show has a very upbeat ending theme they refuse to deter from even if the episode you just watched was dark and depressing! XD I'd be surprised if you don't got some sort of Doctor Who, Blake's 7 crossover somewhere!
All I could think of when you were threatening to pistol-whip Insano was Brian Cox in Super Toopers, " I swear to God I'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says, " Shenanigans." Mac: Hey Farva what's the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy [crap] on the walls and the mozzarella sticks? Farva: You mean Shenanigans? Guys: OOOOOOOOOOOOOO. [as they hand the Captain their pistols]
If... if it isn't Insano... well the only other person I know of who can nullify magic is the Guardian, and he has opened the black gate in Spoony's Vids- No no, there is no way that's what is going on... is it?
I'm not at all familiar with Blake's 7, but is Xenon an actual planet in the series? A panel in that comic mentioned going back to Xenon and it made me wonder if they knew Roger Wilco...
Nice review. I'm actually interested in finding some episodes of the show now; that Avon guy seems pretty awesome as far as snide jerks go.
And as for the storyline... yeah, letting his enemy know that a majority of his weapons are non-functional is probably not one of Linkara's smartest moments. Maybe a better move would have been to ask the question from the cockpit of a giant robot or a spaceship, just to keep him intimidated.
So that's where that song is from! I'd heard it before (and I don't recall where, unfortunately) and now I know it's from a neat old Space Opera show. Cool. I'll have to look into this.
...Is Linkara turning evil? He's been acting sort of...dark since this arc started.
Very nice, I was looking forwards to seeing this one and it's nice to see you give it a proper introduction without spoiling anything. Well, besides the switch of ships but that was unavoidable. Most of the jokes were fairly funny, but i'm surprised you didn't make fun of the fact this is the second time the crew instantly trusted a rich man living in an underground lair who was planning to backstab them. That and the use of floating heads in the otherwise decent artwork.
Congratulations on getting most of the voices right by the way. They weren't perfect but Orac, Avon and Villa did sound somewhat like their actors and it was a nice touch to have while watching you review this.
The ending storyline segment wasn't as impressive as the last two, but that's to be expected and having Spoony reprise his role as Insano is always something nice to see.
One question though, could I ask when you filmed that last bit with Spoony?
"I'm not at all familiar with Blake's 7, but is Xenon an actual planet in the series? A panel in that comic mentioned going back to Xenon and it made me wonder if they knew Roger Wilco..."
Yep, along with Scorpio they also salvaged a base on the planet Xenon. Blake's 7 was rather amusing with its planet names.
"And as for the storyline... yeah, letting his enemy know that a majority of his weapons are non-functional is probably not one of Linkara's smartest moments. Maybe a better move would have been to ask the question from the cockpit of a giant robot or a spaceship, just to keep him intimidated."
Yeah, that I'm gonna have to agree with. I can only assume that Linkara has a trick up his sleeve since you yourself stated how much you hate it when characters make stupid decisions that are easily avoidable.
"A bit of symbolism you neglected to mention: Yes, the B7 logo IS the Star Trek Federation's symbol... but rotated so that it points to the far right."
While I have noticed it before, it didn't need to pointed out because it's a coincidence.
Blake's 7 first came out in 1978 and the original series of Star Trek, while using the arrowhead design, didn't have the circle around it as the symbol of the Federation until Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which came out in 1979.
The post-credits does beg the question: why tell Doctor Insano anything so important like your magic being down? You know how he gets about that. This is just going to lead to trouble!
I've heard of Blake's 7 only in name, but thanks for telling me about the show itself. Does sound interesting and...well, I read the season 4 spoiler and...well, it still seems like a good show even if it goes out with a bang. The comic was alright and good usage of Futurama and Bowie.
About the After-Credits Plot-bit: Okay, I get Linkara questioning Insano about selling a anti-magic field, but why did Linkara *let Insano clearly know that his magic wasn't working*? Because now, Insano's probably going to try something against Linkara. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except that Linkara has generally been proven to be pretty smart, so I didn't think he'd make such a strategic error.
While I have noticed it before, it didn't need to pointed out because it's a coincidence.
Blake's 7 first came out in 1978 and the original series of Star Trek, while using the arrowhead design, didn't have the circle around it as the symbol of the Federation until Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which came out in 1979.
In fairness, the circle isn't the part that was turned. The old federation symbol, at the center of the logo, is indeed turned towards the right.
I could easily believe that that symbol was chosen for it's similarity to the federation in star-trek's, and thus the turn having a symbolic meaning relating to the themes of the show. Effectively, the turned federation symbol could be there to provoke an audience reaction, even subliminally or to a select few, similar to the way others have used reversals of expected attitudes to illustrate a point in fiction. Mind you, I haven't seen much of the show, and what I have seen was years ago, so I could be grasping at straws.
Christ I remember this show now that you mention it. Use to be screened just before/after old reruns of Doctor Who. Use to watch it with my family.
Really should hunt it out and watch it again. All I remember was a few random episdoes and the ending (which hilariously had the contunity person say over the credits 'that's the end of Blake 7' and my family just burst into laughing over it).
Man it was a good show. Not as good as Doctor Who, but still pretty good.
In response to your comment about Star Trek having the only benevolent "Federation," that is not quite true.
The United Planets from "the Legion of Super-Heroes" was usually benevolent but that depends on the version of Legion. The UP was generally benevolent in the first incarnation of the team. The post-"Zero Hour" UP had a couple corrupt presidents (one of them being Ra's Al Ghul in disguise) but was benevolent for the most part. The Threeboot Legion? Eh, that is probably the exception to the rule.
Damn, DC sure cannot keep track of their Legions. =P
You know, it just occurred to me... the more I think about it, the more the "it's magic turning toys into the real thing" seems like a retcon.
What makes me say this? Lt. Munro and the Vorsoth (can't remember how to spell it) appear in the Elite Force comic review, and the Youngblood #3 review (it was either that or Superman: Distant Fires) has Linkara directly contacting Munro across universes, and Doctor Who Classics #7 actually has him helping fight Vyce. At that point, I had assumed that Linkara had actually acquired his Star Trek stuff directly FROM that universe, and presumably, he got his other tech from their respective universes. When suddenly, NOPE! They're just enchanted toys. Seriously, Linkara, did you forget about those parts of your storyline or something? I mean, this is a cool development and all, but since contact with other fictional universes had been established, you could've easily acquired your stuff from those universes.
I can think of at least one other Federation that's at least semi-good.
In Mobile Suit Gundam the Earth Federation is usually the side the protagonists are on, while the series features some ethical dilemmas on both side their opponents are usually much more transparently evil then they are.
As for Blake's 7? I did see it as a little kid on PBS, but it was more my brothers thing then mine... I was a little too young to follow it at the time (for some reason I found Doctor Who easier to follow). Now that you've reminded me of it, I might hunt down the region 2 DVDs.
On the plotline? I think the leader guy from Blake's 7 would have smacked you upside the head for casually revealing to Insano that you're vulnerable... I mean there are ways you could have got the info without putting yourself on more danger. Oh well Linkara is obviously mad so we can't blame him for making that mistake.
Excellent review, really nice to see a fun comic get an affectionate elbowing.
I've heard of this one, but never seen more than clips, like the ones you used for this episode.
The Comic:
Eh, could have been worse.
Your Arc:
Figured he wasn't directly responsible for this one, but, yeah, telling him you can't use your magic at the moment probably wasn't a smart move on your part.
Great review on a comic within a magazine. It's actually great to see a British sci-fi show like Doctor Who or Blake's 7 featured on Atop the Fourth Wall. Can't wait for next week.
OK, so Dr. Insano hasn't sold an anti-magic field generator. Was it possible that it might have been stolen?
Wow, you knew about Star One? That's awesome, I spend the whole episode waiting to write about it, not many people know about them. It's a kickass band, as are all of Arjen Lucassen's projects, if you don't know them (Ayreon, Ambeon, Guilt Machine and his solo career), check 'em out, it's really good prog music.
"You know, it just occurred to me... the more I think about it, the more the "it's magic turning toys into the real thing" seems like a retcon.
What makes me say this? Lt. Munro and the Vorsoth (can't remember how to spell it) appear in the Elite Force comic review, and the Youngblood #3 review (it was either that or Superman: Distant Fires) has Linkara directly contacting Munro across universes, and Doctor Who Classics #7 actually has him helping fight Vyce. At that point, I had assumed that Linkara had actually acquired his Star Trek stuff directly FROM that universe, and presumably, he got his other tech from their respective universes. When suddenly, NOPE! They're just enchanted toys. Seriously, Linkara, did you forget about those parts of your storyline or something? I mean, this is a cool development and all, but since contact with other fictional universes had been established, you could've easily acquired your stuff from those universes."
It IS technically a retcon since I came up with the idea later (about midway through the Entity arc), but bear in mind that Linkara was using that tech BEFORE coming into contact with Munro, and even then Munro came along thanks to dimensional transportation from his end and off-screen he supplied the info to contact him.
Interesting review, being British I had seen the show on TV but never really watched it, thinking it a star trek rip-off. But as a big fan of Doctor who, and Collin Bakers doctor (in the radio serials, on TV he was not that good, mainly due to poor scripts, though vengeance on varos is one of my favorite classic who episodes.)
Just a mention, you said that the sound in the show was similar to that in Doctor Who, that is most likely due to the fact that a large amount of BBC shows from that time relied on the BBC radiophonic workshop to do music and sound effects, thus that is likely the reason. The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy also had sound effects provided by them and I do notice similarities between the sound in that and in late Tom Baker doctor who.
Unfortunately, the workshop closed in, I think, the late 80's and I do think that the new series of Doctor Who should have attempted to emulate the sound of the old show, as, as much as you can call the old special effects and sets hockey, the sound of the old show, I feel set the tension far better then the bombastic musical score of the new version.
Ah it's awesome to hear Insano's theme back from Season 1 and MY GOD HE HAS A 3DS! I wonder if it's the regular Black Cosmic Model or the Limited Edition Zelda one like mine....ANYWHO before I get too off topic!.
I can kinda tell why the Linkara character is acting the way he is in the storyline itself, either it's a nod to Ben 10(after when Ben Tenyson defeated the Hibread and acted beyond cocky for a short while) or its part of stress from after the victory against The Entity...that or Linkara's Magic being down effected his personality in some way....wait that was three theories.
Since one comment noted some other 'good' federations, I remembered another one that I felt like mentioning.
In this case the Galactic Federation (also known as the Galactic Trig) from The Tomorrow People (another 1970s British sci-fi show, this one from ITV). Two points about the Trig, 1: only planets that have advanced to telepathic lifeforms can become members and 2: they are completely usesless and devote most of their time to talking about problems rather then actually doing anything about them.
If Blake and co had been fighting these guys the show would probably only have lasted about two or three episodes before they won!
(I may already have posted this comment, but the website's being tricky so I can't tell) Actually, according to the "Kandor City" series of audio dramas and the novel "Corpse Maker", Doctor Who and Blake's 7 ARE part of the same universe.
I was a child when I saw the final episode. Maybe seven or eight years old, tops. If you haven't seen Blake's 7, let me just say... the final episode is not for children.
"Decent episode, but there's a bit of a plot hole here:
Why didn't you figure out who the last buyer of the Anti-Magic Field was? Even if it's been months, the buyer could just have been saving it untill he had other items needed for his plan." Yeah I agreed with this until I realize that odds are Insano of all people wouldn't really keep track of such a buy that had been done so long ago. And I hope that Linkra makes a comment about that in the next epsode about that of him guessing the same thing.
" In this case the Galactic Federation (also known as the Galactic Trig) from The Tomorrow People (another 1970s British sci-fi show, this one from ITV). Two points about the Trig, 1: only planets that have advanced to telepathic lifeforms can become members and 2: they are completely usesless and devote most of their time to talking about problems rather then actually doing anything about them."
So, in other words, "We should do something!" "Should we do something?"
"I can kinda tell why the Linkara character is acting the way he is in the storyline itself, either it's a nod to Ben 10(after when Ben Tenyson defeated the Hibread and acted beyond cocky for a short while) or its part of stress from after the victory against The Entity...that or Linkara's Magic being down effected his personality in some way....wait that was three theories."
What made you think it was a nod to Ben 10? When has Linkara ever indicated that he even knows that Ben 10 exists? I'm not trying to start a fight, it's just that I've seen the show mentioned a couple of times in the comments now and I've never seen a hint that Linkara even knows about it.
"It IS technically a retcon since I came up with the idea later (about midway through the Entity arc), but bear in mind that Linkara was using that tech BEFORE coming into contact with Munro, and even then Munro came along thanks to dimensional transportation from his end and off-screen he supplied the info to contact him."
Fair enough, but does this retcon invalidate the fact that in the Star Trek Vs X-men #1 review Linkara held the rank of Captain in Starfleet? Remember an Admiral in Star Fleet ordered you to do the review.
That more then talking to Munroe made me think the tech was real, because well there was a real Star Fleet for you talk with.
So...turns out Insano was just a red herring. Making our prior conversation aboyt him and the fact that he DOES have an origin (and the fact that there's two of them) entirely pointless.
Bummer.
"If... if it isn't Insano... well the only other person I know of who can nullify magic is the Guardian, and he has opened the black gate in Spoony's Vids- No no, there is no way that's what is going on... is it?"
The Guardian has his hands full with Spoony right now AND he eagerly wants to see Spoony finish the review itself. The Guardian won't try to kill Linkara until Spoony is dead, and Spoony is still alive, so...no, it isn't the Guardian.
"Is Linkara turning evil? He's been acting sort of...dark since this arc started."
I chalk it up with spending far too much time with Brad Jones (who is a slimy bastard) and keeping a close contact with the TGWTG forum users (who are so mean, spiteful and arrogant that they can turn anyone evil).
And as for Insano using this opportunity to attack Linkara: Insano has his hands full with the Guardian right now, so he has bigger things to worry about.
Finally...I don't think Linkara uses Star Trek tech all that often. He relies more on his Magic Gun, his Magic Coin, the Tigerzord Power Coin, the White Zeonizer and the Sonic Screwdriver, ALL of which have been rendered useless. So, even if his phaser work, it would the ONLY thing that works.
This is now pretty much the only show where I watch the stinger before I watch the main part of the episode... I'm guessing the storyline parts are after the credits now for the sake of people who only want to watch the review, but it makes it easier to find the story bits, too :)
And, the story is getting interesting! Seems that Linkara's now doing stuff that is kind of darker and... well... just dumb. Darker because he threatened to kill Insano even after he said he didn't know anything (and in the other episode, he looked ready to shoot The Gunslinger a third time, even after he'd overpowered him.) And dumb because he told his enemy he was vulnerable, and it never occured to him that the person responsible could have bought the anti-magic device months ago and waited for some reason.
Going back to The Gunslinger and dumb moves, instead of shooting him again it might have made more sense to try to get some more information out of him - who he was, where he came from... hell, he could have been the first of an army for all Linkara knew, it pays to find out that stuff if you can. But then, Linkara was clearly upset at the time, as he was with Insano. Emotions overriding good sense seems to be a theme here - it's kind of the reason for the dark stuff, too.
As for the review, I've been looking forward to this. I watched Blakes 7 a looonnnggg time ago, and liked it, but had actually forgotten it until I saw this review was coming up. Good memories! I don't remember the plot of a single episode, but I do remember the finale, which was just... wow! I'm going to try to track down some DVDs now or something.
So, anyway, you've been talking about on Twitter how Paramount is doing that "Two random TNG Season 1 episodes shown in theaters with Blu-ray quality for TNG's anniversary" thing. You kind of make it sound like Season 1 of that show is bad. I mean, I kind understand why you would rather see any of the other examples you listed on the big screen or on Blu-ray, but was Season 1 really that bad?
All this talk about rotated logos reminds me of a theory I read on the Internet way back, so far back it was probably on a Usenet group. According to this theory the federation in Blakes 7 is identical to the federation in Star Trek. The discrepancies are due to the fack that the two shows are propaganda broadcasts for opposing sides.
I no longer recall any details but I found it fairly convincing back then.
The latest Spider-Man issue has a disturbingly dark death scene in it. Not to spoil who is involved, but it's pretty damn grizzly. Just wanted to pass it on because they're two pretty big Spider-Man players.
Shell companies are actually pretty difficult for someone to pull off, especially a teenager without much money and little education on the vagaries of business law.
If there's anyone who claims to be a geek and genuinely hasn't ever heard of Blake's 7 before, I want their combadge and Han-Shot-First blaster on my desk by morning!
Ben Ronning: "In response to your comment about Star Trek having the only benevolent "Federation," that is not quite true. The United Planets from "the Legion of Super-Heroes" was usually benevolent..." But was it named Federation? Because that's what the comment is really about.
Weeelllll, there IS the Minbari Federation. I mean, they're not evil at all! Evil Federations do evil things like attempt genocide against all humanity! Yup, totally an example of a not-evil Federation.
So with this ending, and your "wonderful toys", as Nicholson put it, being actual toys, does this mean that your reality really IS atop the fourth wall? Shit be meta up in this. o_O
I'd never heard of Blake's 7 but after this episode I've started watching it; thank you SO much for bringing it to my attention, this show is amazing :) I don't know why it isn't more popular or well known. Also when I was watching it Blake kind of reminded me of Linkara. I feel like Lewis would've been at home acting in some retro sci fi show like that.
Is there some reason you though a proramme only broadcast in America (Saturday Night Live) would be more well known than this, a Programme that was broadcast world wide?
Given the recent stuff going on with Spoony, what's going to be the situation between you two and any current and future storylines? I'm curious, because as the one with the closest professional and interpersonal relationship with Spoony, and the one with the most IRL contact with him among the rest of the TGWTG crew, I'm a little concerned for your safety, should things flare up again.
Blake's 7 Internet review recast Roj Blake= Linkara Kerr Avon= Spoony Villa Restal= Film Brain. Jenna Stannis= Iron Liz. Cally= MarzGurl or Maven. Olag Gan= The Last Angry Geek. Del Tarrant= ? Dayna Mellanby= That Chick with the Goggles. Servalan= Nostalgia Chick. Travis= Angry Joe. Zen & Orac= ?
You mentioned how close Blakes 7 was to Doctor Who despite their not being in the same universe. Terry Nation mentioned that he felt the Blakes 7 universe was the same one as the Doctor Who episode "Robots of Death." And he wanted the "aliens" attacking at the end of the 2nd season to be the Daleks, but was voted down.
Dunno how old I was when I was first introduced to Blake's 7, all I know is that it was sometime in the 90s when I was in single didgits.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, good episode. Also, interesting thing I read pointed out lately, the logo of the B7 federation is basically the logo of Starfleet on it's side!
Also, I plan on starting by own review series soon talking about old TV sci-fi and similar stuff, and at some point I will do some videos on Blake's 7.
(also, cool that you mentioned Star One and their B7 song even if you didn't play it :) )
Decent episode, but there's a bit of a plot hole here:
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't you figure out who the last buyer of the Anti-Magic Field was? Even if it's been months, the buyer could just have been saving it untill he had other items needed for his plan.
Thanks for getting me introduced to Blake's 7! I wish I could watch the show, but unfortunately Netflix doesn't have it streaming at the moment. Netflix has some cool British programming streaming right now including Red Dwarf (which I'll get to eventually), but why no Blake's 7 is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteFun review even though I was completely lost this time! I never even heard of this show ever! I'm sad to report thee only space travel themed show I ever watched as a kid was that one they made on Nickelodeon with the lost spaceship with a group of aliens from different species on board!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing they wanted Vincent Price as a guest star at one point but could never get him on. Because that was a perfect Vincent Price looking character. They probably based it off his House of Wax character!
I'm shocked that you didn't bring up drunken robot Tony Stark/Iron-Man from the Ultimate universe a long with Bender! XD
You gotta love it when a show has a very upbeat ending theme they refuse to deter from even if the episode you just watched was dark and depressing! XD
I'd be surprised if you don't got some sort of Doctor Who, Blake's 7 crossover somewhere!
All I could think of when you were threatening to pistol-whip Insano was Brian Cox in Super Toopers, " I swear to God I'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says, " Shenanigans."
Mac: Hey Farva what's the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy [crap] on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?
Farva: You mean Shenanigans?
Guys: OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
[as they hand the Captain their pistols]
If... if it isn't Insano... well the only other person I know of who can nullify magic is the Guardian, and he has opened the black gate in Spoony's Vids-
ReplyDeleteNo no, there is no way that's what is going on... is it?
I'm not at all familiar with Blake's 7, but is Xenon an actual planet in the series? A panel in that comic mentioned going back to Xenon and it made me wonder if they knew Roger Wilco...
ReplyDeleteNice review. I'm actually interested in finding some episodes of the show now; that Avon guy seems pretty awesome as far as snide jerks go.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the storyline... yeah, letting his enemy know that a majority of his weapons are non-functional is probably not one of Linkara's smartest moments. Maybe a better move would have been to ask the question from the cockpit of a giant robot or a spaceship, just to keep him intimidated.
There's a bit of a goof at the end. Linkara is shown holding and not holding Insano between the changing shots.
ReplyDeleteHey Lewis, I'm wondering who wrote the Final Fantasy reference at the end of the video. Was it you or was it Spoony?
ReplyDeleteSo that's where that song is from! I'd heard it before (and I don't recall where, unfortunately) and now I know it's from a neat old Space Opera show. Cool. I'll have to look into this.
ReplyDelete...Is Linkara turning evil? He's been acting sort of...dark since this arc started.
For someone who doesn't get to play the heavy often you're not bad at it Linkara.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you gave Insano some variable info though.
Very nice, I was looking forwards to seeing this one and it's nice to see you give it a proper introduction without spoiling anything. Well, besides the switch of ships but that was unavoidable.
ReplyDeleteMost of the jokes were fairly funny, but i'm surprised you didn't make fun of the fact this is the second time the crew instantly trusted a rich man living in an underground lair who was planning to backstab them. That and the use of floating heads in the otherwise decent artwork.
Congratulations on getting most of the voices right by the way. They weren't perfect but Orac, Avon and Villa did sound somewhat like their actors and it was a nice touch to have while watching you review this.
The ending storyline segment wasn't as impressive as the last two, but that's to be expected and having Spoony reprise his role as Insano is always something nice to see.
One question though, could I ask when you filmed that last bit with Spoony?
No Doom's 4 joke?
ReplyDelete"I'm not at all familiar with Blake's 7, but is Xenon an actual planet in the series? A panel in that comic mentioned going back to Xenon and it made me wonder if they knew Roger Wilco..."
ReplyDeleteYep, along with Scorpio they also salvaged a base on the planet Xenon. Blake's 7 was rather amusing with its planet names.
"There's a bit of a goof at the end. Linkara is shown holding and not holding Insano between the changing shots."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that one's my fault. I paid attention to where my head was while I filmed, but not where my other arm was. XD
So, basically Avon was what House would be like as a starship captain.
ReplyDeleteOr is House what Avon would be like as an MD?
Either way, it was a good review, and kind of tempts me to check out the show, if I can.
"One question though, could I ask when you filmed that last bit with Spoony?"
ReplyDeleteBack in Chicago last April. I had originally planned for this storyline to begin earlier than it did, so I've got a lot of it already filmed.
A bit of symbolism you neglected to mention: Yes, the B7 logo IS the Star Trek Federation's symbol... but rotated so that it points to the far right.
ReplyDelete"And as for the storyline... yeah, letting his enemy know that a majority of his weapons are non-functional is probably not one of Linkara's smartest moments. Maybe a better move would have been to ask the question from the cockpit of a giant robot or a spaceship, just to keep him intimidated."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that I'm gonna have to agree with. I can only assume that Linkara has a trick up his sleeve since you yourself stated how much you hate it when characters make stupid decisions that are easily avoidable.
"A bit of symbolism you neglected to mention: Yes, the B7 logo IS the Star Trek Federation's symbol... but rotated so that it points to the far right."
ReplyDeleteWhile I have noticed it before, it didn't need to pointed out because it's a coincidence.
Blake's 7 first came out in 1978 and the original series of Star Trek, while using the arrowhead design, didn't have the circle around it as the symbol of the Federation until Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which came out in 1979.
Bayben the Butcher became Bayben the Botcher.
ReplyDeleteWait, Star One is based on Blake's Seven? I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteThat said, for the most part I prefer Lucassen's other projects.
The post-credits does beg the question: why tell Doctor Insano anything so important like your magic being down? You know how he gets about that. This is just going to lead to trouble!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Blake's 7 only in name, but thanks for telling me about the show itself. Does sound interesting and...well, I read the season 4 spoiler and...well, it still seems like a good show even if it goes out with a bang. The comic was alright and good usage of Futurama and Bowie.
About the After-Credits Plot-bit: Okay, I get Linkara questioning Insano about selling a anti-magic field, but why did Linkara *let Insano clearly know that his magic wasn't working*? Because now, Insano's probably going to try something against Linkara. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except that Linkara has generally been proven to be pretty smart, so I didn't think he'd make such a strategic error.
ReplyDeleteJust my two cents.
Ah, one thing I do love about your show is how you introduce me to such fascinating new shows.
ReplyDeleteWait.
..."Sabrina"? Oh, I get it! It's Pokemon, isn't it? :D
My guess about the little slip to Insano, Linkara (the character) could want to lure people out or he really messed up.
ReplyDelete@ Orion II. More evidence for my 'Linkara messed up' theory. He's a bit frazzled and not at his best for the moment.
While I have noticed it before, it didn't need to pointed out because it's a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteBlake's 7 first came out in 1978 and the original series of Star Trek, while using the arrowhead design, didn't have the circle around it as the symbol of the Federation until Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which came out in 1979.
In fairness, the circle isn't the part that was turned. The old federation symbol, at the center of the logo, is indeed turned towards the right.
I could easily believe that that symbol was chosen for it's similarity to the federation in star-trek's, and thus the turn having a symbolic meaning relating to the themes of the show. Effectively, the turned federation symbol could be there to provoke an audience reaction, even subliminally or to a select few, similar to the way others have used reversals of expected attitudes to illustrate a point in fiction. Mind you, I haven't seen much of the show, and what I have seen was years ago, so I could be grasping at straws.
Christ I remember this show now that you mention it. Use to be screened just before/after old reruns of Doctor Who. Use to watch it with my family.
ReplyDeleteReally should hunt it out and watch it again. All I remember was a few random episdoes and the ending (which hilariously had the contunity person say over the credits 'that's the end of Blake 7' and my family just burst into laughing over it).
Man it was a good show. Not as good as Doctor Who, but still pretty good.
In response to your comment about Star Trek having the only benevolent "Federation," that is not quite true.
ReplyDeleteThe United Planets from "the Legion of Super-Heroes" was usually benevolent but that depends on the version of Legion. The UP was generally benevolent in the first incarnation of the team. The post-"Zero Hour" UP had a couple corrupt presidents (one of them being Ra's Al Ghul in disguise) but was benevolent for the most part. The Threeboot Legion? Eh, that is probably the exception to the rule.
Damn, DC sure cannot keep track of their Legions. =P
Wait, why was Bennett the Sage in the credits? I didn't see him in the stinger...
ReplyDeleteBlake 7 sounds awesome! Those clips alone convince me to check out the show. Now I have to find the episodes.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it just occurred to me... the more I think about it, the more the "it's magic turning toys into the real thing" seems like a retcon.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me say this? Lt. Munro and the Vorsoth (can't remember how to spell it) appear in the Elite Force comic review, and the Youngblood #3 review (it was either that or Superman: Distant Fires) has Linkara directly contacting Munro across universes, and Doctor Who Classics #7 actually has him helping fight Vyce. At that point, I had assumed that Linkara had actually acquired his Star Trek stuff directly FROM that universe, and presumably, he got his other tech from their respective universes. When suddenly, NOPE! They're just enchanted toys. Seriously, Linkara, did you forget about those parts of your storyline or something? I mean, this is a cool development and all, but since contact with other fictional universes had been established, you could've easily acquired your stuff from those universes.
I can think of at least one other Federation that's at least semi-good.
ReplyDeleteIn Mobile Suit Gundam the Earth Federation is usually the side the protagonists are on, while the series features some ethical dilemmas on both side their opponents are usually much more transparently evil then they are.
As for Blake's 7? I did see it as a little kid on PBS, but it was more my brothers thing then mine... I was a little too young to follow it at the time (for some reason I found Doctor Who easier to follow). Now that you've reminded me of it, I might hunt down the region 2 DVDs.
On the plotline? I think the leader guy from Blake's 7 would have smacked you upside the head for casually revealing to Insano that you're vulnerable... I mean there are ways you could have got the info without putting yourself on more danger. Oh well Linkara is obviously mad so we can't blame him for making that mistake.
Excellent review, really nice to see a fun comic get an affectionate elbowing.
I've heard of this one, but never seen more than clips, like the ones you used for this episode.
ReplyDeleteThe Comic:
Eh, could have been worse.
Your Arc:
Figured he wasn't directly responsible for this one, but, yeah, telling him you can't use your magic at the moment probably wasn't a smart move on your part.
Fiery Little One.
Great review on a comic within a magazine. It's actually great to see a British sci-fi show like Doctor Who or Blake's 7 featured on Atop the Fourth Wall. Can't wait for next week.
ReplyDeleteOK, so Dr. Insano hasn't sold an anti-magic field generator. Was it possible that it might have been stolen?
Wow, you knew about Star One? That's awesome, I spend the whole episode waiting to write about it, not many people know about them. It's a kickass band, as are all of Arjen Lucassen's projects, if you don't know them (Ayreon, Ambeon, Guilt Machine and his solo career), check 'em out, it's really good prog music.
ReplyDelete"Wait, why was Bennett the Sage in the credits? I didn't see him in the stinger..."
ReplyDeleteHe was operating the camera.
"You know, it just occurred to me... the more I think about it, the more the "it's magic turning toys into the real thing" seems like a retcon.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me say this? Lt. Munro and the Vorsoth (can't remember how to spell it) appear in the Elite Force comic review, and the Youngblood #3 review (it was either that or Superman: Distant Fires) has Linkara directly contacting Munro across universes, and Doctor Who Classics #7 actually has him helping fight Vyce. At that point, I had assumed that Linkara had actually acquired his Star Trek stuff directly FROM that universe, and presumably, he got his other tech from their respective universes. When suddenly, NOPE! They're just enchanted toys. Seriously, Linkara, did you forget about those parts of your storyline or something? I mean, this is a cool development and all, but since contact with other fictional universes had been established, you could've easily acquired your stuff from those universes."
It IS technically a retcon since I came up with the idea later (about midway through the Entity arc), but bear in mind that Linkara was using that tech BEFORE coming into contact with Munro, and even then Munro came along thanks to dimensional transportation from his end and off-screen he supplied the info to contact him.
Interesting review, being British I had seen the show on TV but never really watched it, thinking it a star trek rip-off. But as a big fan of Doctor who, and Collin Bakers doctor (in the radio serials, on TV he was not that good, mainly due to poor scripts, though vengeance on varos is one of my favorite classic who episodes.)
ReplyDeleteJust a mention, you said that the sound in the show was similar to that in Doctor Who, that is most likely due to the fact that a large amount of BBC shows from that time relied on the BBC radiophonic workshop to do music and sound effects, thus that is likely the reason. The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy also had sound effects provided by them and I do notice similarities between the sound in that and in late Tom Baker doctor who.
Unfortunately, the workshop closed in, I think, the late 80's and I do think that the new series of Doctor Who should have attempted to emulate the sound of the old show, as, as much as you can call the old special effects and sets hockey, the sound of the old show, I feel set the tension far better then the bombastic musical score of the new version.
Ah it's awesome to hear Insano's theme back from Season 1 and MY GOD HE HAS A 3DS! I wonder if it's the regular Black Cosmic Model or the Limited Edition Zelda one like mine....ANYWHO before I get too off topic!.
ReplyDeleteI can kinda tell why the Linkara character is acting the way he is in the storyline itself, either it's a nod to Ben 10(after when Ben Tenyson defeated the Hibread and acted beyond cocky for a short while) or its part of stress from after the victory against The Entity...that or Linkara's Magic being down effected his personality in some way....wait that was three theories.
Since one comment noted some other 'good' federations, I remembered another one that I felt like mentioning.
ReplyDeleteIn this case the Galactic Federation (also known as the Galactic Trig) from The Tomorrow People (another 1970s British sci-fi show, this one from ITV). Two points about the Trig, 1: only planets that have advanced to telepathic lifeforms can become members and 2: they are completely usesless and devote most of their time to talking about problems rather then actually doing anything about them.
If Blake and co had been fighting these guys the show would probably only have lasted about two or three episodes before they won!
(I may already have posted this comment, but the website's being tricky so I can't tell)
ReplyDeleteActually, according to the "Kandor City" series of audio dramas and the novel "Corpse Maker", Doctor Who and Blake's 7 ARE part of the same universe.
I was a child when I saw the final episode. Maybe seven or eight years old, tops. If you haven't seen Blake's 7, let me just say... the final episode is not for children.
ReplyDelete"Decent episode, but there's a bit of a plot hole here:
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't you figure out who the last buyer of the Anti-Magic Field was? Even if it's been months, the buyer could just have been saving it untill he had other items needed for his plan."
Yeah I agreed with this until I realize that odds are Insano of all people wouldn't really keep track of such a buy that had been done so long ago. And I hope that Linkra makes a comment about that in the next epsode about that of him guessing the same thing.
wait, they got this much plot onto 8 pages?
ReplyDeleterespect!
also, for someone who says they hate 90s anti-heroes, you sure behave like one here
Linkara...
ReplyDeleteHow can you call yourself a hero when that evil smile of yours is about NINE TIMES scarier than the Entity.
._.
"
ReplyDeleteIn this case the Galactic Federation (also known as the Galactic Trig) from The Tomorrow People (another 1970s British sci-fi show, this one from ITV). Two points about the Trig, 1: only planets that have advanced to telepathic lifeforms can become members and 2: they are completely usesless and devote most of their time to talking about problems rather then actually doing anything about them."
So, in other words, "We should do something!" "Should we do something?"
"I can kinda tell why the Linkara character is acting the way he is in the storyline itself, either it's a nod to Ben 10(after when Ben Tenyson defeated the Hibread and acted beyond cocky for a short while) or its part of stress from after the victory against The Entity...that or Linkara's Magic being down effected his personality in some way....wait that was three theories."
ReplyDeleteWhat made you think it was a nod to Ben 10? When has Linkara ever indicated that he even knows that Ben 10 exists? I'm not trying to start a fight, it's just that I've seen the show mentioned a couple of times in the comments now and I've never seen a hint that Linkara even knows about it.
"It IS technically a retcon since I came up with the idea later (about midway through the Entity arc), but bear in mind that Linkara was using that tech BEFORE coming into contact with Munro, and even then Munro came along thanks to dimensional transportation from his end and off-screen he supplied the info to contact him."
ReplyDeleteFair enough, but does this retcon invalidate the fact that in the Star Trek Vs X-men #1 review Linkara held the rank of Captain in Starfleet? Remember an Admiral in Star Fleet ordered you to do the review.
That more then talking to Munroe made me think the tech was real, because well there was a real Star Fleet for you talk with.
So...turns out Insano was just a red herring. Making our prior conversation aboyt him and the fact that he DOES have an origin (and the fact that there's two of them) entirely pointless.
ReplyDeleteBummer.
"If... if it isn't Insano... well the only other person I know of who can nullify magic is the Guardian, and he has opened the black gate in Spoony's Vids-
No no, there is no way that's what is going on... is it?"
The Guardian has his hands full with Spoony right now AND he eagerly wants to see Spoony finish the review itself. The Guardian won't try to kill Linkara until Spoony is dead, and Spoony is still alive, so...no, it isn't the Guardian.
"Is Linkara turning evil? He's been acting sort of...dark since this arc started."
I chalk it up with spending far too much time with Brad Jones (who is a slimy bastard) and keeping a close contact with the TGWTG forum users (who are so mean, spiteful and arrogant that they can turn anyone evil).
And as for Insano using this opportunity to attack Linkara: Insano has his hands full with the Guardian right now, so he has bigger things to worry about.
Finally...I don't think Linkara uses Star Trek tech all that often. He relies more on his Magic Gun, his Magic Coin, the Tigerzord Power Coin, the White Zeonizer and the Sonic Screwdriver, ALL of which have been rendered useless. So, even if his phaser work, it would the ONLY thing that works.
This is a minor bout of curiosity, but what's the game Insano was playing at the end of the video?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorta curious why the gun wouldn't work once you leave the antimagic field to visit Dr. Insano...
ReplyDeleteThis is now pretty much the only show where I watch the stinger before I watch the main part of the episode... I'm guessing the storyline parts are after the credits now for the sake of people who only want to watch the review, but it makes it easier to find the story bits, too :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, the story is getting interesting! Seems that Linkara's now doing stuff that is kind of darker and... well... just dumb. Darker because he threatened to kill Insano even after he said he didn't know anything (and in the other episode, he looked ready to shoot The Gunslinger a third time, even after he'd overpowered him.) And dumb because he told his enemy he was vulnerable, and it never occured to him that the person responsible could have bought the anti-magic device months ago and waited for some reason.
Going back to The Gunslinger and dumb moves, instead of shooting him again it might have made more sense to try to get some more information out of him - who he was, where he came from... hell, he could have been the first of an army for all Linkara knew, it pays to find out that stuff if you can. But then, Linkara was clearly upset at the time, as he was with Insano. Emotions overriding good sense seems to be a theme here - it's kind of the reason for the dark stuff, too.
As for the review, I've been looking forward to this. I watched Blakes 7 a looonnnggg time ago, and liked it, but had actually forgotten it until I saw this review was coming up. Good memories! I don't remember the plot of a single episode, but I do remember the finale, which was just... wow! I'm going to try to track down some DVDs now or something.
Regarding length, eight pages is actually on the long side as far as British comics generally go.
ReplyDeleteSo, anyway, you've been talking about on Twitter how Paramount is doing that "Two random TNG Season 1 episodes shown in theaters with Blu-ray quality for TNG's anniversary" thing. You kind of make it sound like Season 1 of that show is bad. I mean, I kind understand why you would rather see any of the other examples you listed on the big screen or on Blu-ray, but was Season 1 really that bad?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I expected Dr Insano to say something like "Good thing I invented these edible goggles ..."
ReplyDeleteAs to the Doctor Who/ Blake's 7 share universe the final episode of season 2 was meant to feature our favourite pepper pot space Nazis
ReplyDeleteAll this talk about rotated logos reminds me of a theory I read on the Internet way back, so far back it was probably on a Usenet group. According to this theory the federation in Blakes 7 is identical to the federation in Star Trek. The discrepancies are due to the fack that the two shows are propaganda broadcasts for opposing sides.
ReplyDeleteI no longer recall any details but I found it fairly convincing back then.
I thought you would get a kick out of this.
ReplyDeletehttp://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5bd5c1smp1qbgb8eo4_250.jpg
"I thought you would get a kick out of this."
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I can't since the image is too small to read. ^^;
"Unfortunately, I can't since the image is too small to read. ^^;"
ReplyDeleteWell that's odd. Let me try that again.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5bd5c1smp1qbgb8eo4_1280.jpg
That better?
Much better, hilarious, though it should be noted that not everybody is business savvy and Peter was a teenager at the time. XD
ReplyDeleteStill great, though.
The latest Spider-Man issue has a disturbingly dark death scene in it. Not to spoil who is involved, but it's pretty damn grizzly. Just wanted to pass it on because they're two pretty big Spider-Man players.
ReplyDeleteShell companies are actually pretty difficult for someone to pull off, especially a teenager without much money and little education on the vagaries of business law.
ReplyDeleteIf there's anyone who claims to be a geek and genuinely hasn't ever heard of Blake's 7 before, I want their combadge and Han-Shot-First blaster on my desk by morning!
ReplyDeleteBen Ronning:
"In response to your comment about Star Trek having the only benevolent "Federation," that is not quite true.
The United Planets from "the Legion of Super-Heroes" was usually benevolent..."
But was it named Federation? Because that's what the comment is really about.
Weeelllll, there IS the Minbari Federation. I mean, they're not evil at all! Evil Federations do evil things like attempt genocide against all humanity! Yup, totally an example of a not-evil Federation.
ReplyDeleteSo with this ending, and your "wonderful toys", as Nicholson put it, being actual toys, does this mean that your reality really IS atop the fourth wall? Shit be meta up in this. o_O
I'd never heard of Blake's 7 but after this episode I've started watching it; thank you SO much for bringing it to my attention, this show is amazing :) I don't know why it isn't more popular or well known.
ReplyDeleteAlso when I was watching it Blake kind of reminded me of Linkara. I feel like Lewis would've been at home acting in some retro sci fi show like that.
Is there some reason you though a proramme only broadcast in America (Saturday Night Live) would be more well known than this, a Programme that was broadcast world wide?
ReplyDeleteGiven the recent stuff going on with Spoony, what's going to be the situation between you two and any current and future storylines? I'm curious, because as the one with the closest professional and interpersonal relationship with Spoony, and the one with the most IRL contact with him among the rest of the TGWTG crew, I'm a little concerned for your safety, should things flare up again.
ReplyDeleteBlake's 7 Internet review recast
ReplyDeleteRoj Blake= Linkara
Kerr Avon= Spoony
Villa Restal= Film Brain.
Jenna Stannis= Iron Liz.
Cally= MarzGurl or Maven.
Olag Gan= The Last Angry Geek.
Del Tarrant= ?
Dayna Mellanby= That Chick with the Goggles.
Servalan= Nostalgia Chick.
Travis= Angry Joe.
Zen & Orac= ?
You mentioned how close Blakes 7 was to Doctor Who despite their not being in the same universe. Terry Nation mentioned that he felt the Blakes 7 universe was the same one as the Doctor Who episode "Robots of Death." And he wanted the "aliens" attacking at the end of the 2nd season to be the Daleks, but was voted down.
ReplyDelete