MovieChat Forums > Blake's 7 (1978) Discussion > If you're watching all 52 episodes in a ...

If you're watching all 52 episodes in a run , try them in this order:

posted 9 years ago by dustyhonda2000
23 replies | jump to latest

If you're watching all 52 episodes in a run , try them in this order... and also the reasons why...
****If you are avoiding spoilers... no problem... immediately under this text is the rearranged list-only. Scroll no further.****
If you are a B7 aficionado and are interested in the rhyme to my reason, scroll down further.

NO SPOILERS LIST... give it a try... it lends more strength to the characters IMO:

The Way Back
Spacefall
Cygnus Alpha
Time Squad
The Web
Seek-Locate-Destroy
Mission to Destiny
Duel
Breakdown
Bounty
Project Avalon
Deliverance
ORAC
Redemption
Shadow
Horizon
Killer
Weapon
Pressure Point
Trial
Hostage
Voice From the Past
Countdown
Gambit
The Keeper
Star One
Aftermath
Power Play
Volcano
Dawn of the Gods
Harvest of Kairos
UltraWorld
City at the Edge of the World
Moloch
Death-Watch
Children of Auron
Rumors of Death
Sarcophagus
Terminal
Rescue
Power
Traitor
Animals
Stardrive
Headhunter
Assassin
Games
Sand
Gold
Orbit
Warlord
Blake

========================================================================

OK Now for the re-arranged list WITH commentary
(out of original televised order are in *asterisks*)

-=Season 1=-
The Way Back
Spacefall
Cygnus Alpha
Time Squad
The Web
Seek-Locate-Destroy
Mission to Destiny
Duel
*Breakdown*
*Bounty*
*Project Avalon*
Deliverance
ORAC

[[ Project Avalon-Redemption makes a nice linked 4-story arc. Travis is shamed & dethroned in PA, seen languishing in Deliverance & recruited for the mission to Aristo, then of course Ensor's son leaves the power cells w/ Blake, the Liberator proceeds to Aristo for ORAC, who then makes his prediction which is resolved in Redemption. ]]

-=Season 2=-
Redemption
Shadow
*Horizon*
*Weapon*
Pressure Point
Trial
Killer
Hostage
*Voice From the Past*
*Countdown*
Gambit
The Keeper
Star One

[[ For the last half of Shadow, the crew are wearing white or light-colored, flowing hot weather garb, and are notably grumpy and irritated with each other. The logical progression of this idea is played out in the beginning of Horizon, where the crew are exhausted; presumably the beginning stages of this exhaustion are seen in Shadow. Also, Vila's and Jenna's costumes are very similar if not the same costume in these two episodes.
By the beginning of Weapon, they all seem to be refreshed and back to 100%. Cally mentions Blake plans to soon attack "Federation headquarters on Earth itself", hence their needing to raid the weapons development base. This is the logical segway to Pressure Point. ]]

[[ I've flipped Voice and Countdown, just because I like the idea of another linked 4-story arc... the quest for Star One: Provine-> Doccholi-> Lurgen's brain scan-> Star One! ]]

-=Season 3=-
Aftermath
Power Play
Volcano
Dawn of the Gods
Harvest of Kairos
*UltraWorld*
*City at the Edge of the World*
*Moloch*
*Death-Watch*
*Children of Auron*
*Rumors of Death*
*Sarcophagus*
Terminal

[[ Some fairly heavy re-arranging here, but since many of these are one-off's, it shouldn't matter in several cases. Volcano has to stay in place as there is dialogue between Tarrant and Dayna about their adapting to their new group (Tarrant is untrusting), and also between Cally, Avon and Vila regarding their new shipmates.
I like to get Dawn-Harvest-Ultraworld out of the way because in many ways these are some of the weakest episodes of the entire show.
Vila's antics and histrionics in Moloch would be due to having hastily left behind his beautiful babe Kerril in City at the Edge of the World. His exposure to Doran in Moloch makes Vila realize he has a good situation after all in the grand scheme of things, and his renewed enthusiasm for life aboard the Liberator is seen in his actions during the beginning of Death-Watch. ]]

For another VERY under-appreciated linked 4-story arc... enjoy Children of Auron-->Rumors of Death-->Sarcophagus-->Terminal. I feel it more clearly depicts the "descent of Avon" you may have seen written about elsewhere.

[[ In Children of Auron, it is announced they are Earthbound for Avon's revenge mission, and Avon himself is clearly evidencing wounded pride & desire via the scorn of sexual tension. They are of course diverted to assist Auron, and Cally is traumatized by the senseless and indulgent massacre of her homeworld.

Rumors of Death was always designed to come next, where Avon feels the need for closure concerning a former true love. By episode's end, Avon has truths of his true love's real identity revealed which deeply shock him, and Servalan's baroque attempt to dramatically synchronize her killing of Avon with the teleport process is thwarted.

This relatively recent events of Children of Auron dovetail into the opening of Sarcophagus, where Cally is expressing a forlorn longing for Auron and lamenting how she will never see it again. By episode's end, Cally's affection for Avon is revealed, but Avon seems to be disapproving. No doubt Avon's brewing megalomania is greatly amplified during this episode via the callousness by which he dispatches the alien aristocrat; since none of the others were able to step up to the plate to defend the ship in the way in which he did, it is likely he now feels a much greater degree of impunity to do with the Liberator as he pleases... hence his attitude seen in the beginning of Terminal.

This sets the stage for Terminal, in which it could be read that Avon's lingering deep shock from learning the truth behind Anna Grant leads him to reach out for his last trusted relationship: Blake. Having had a few weeks (or months) while the events of Sarcophagus were transpiring, Servalan attempts to finish what she started with Avon in the basement during Rumors of Death, and hatches an elaborate scheme, which Avon has now fallen prey to. Perhaps Servalan has accurately assessed his psychological need to reach out for a terra firma relationship; someone whose "simple minded certainties would be refreshing". ]]

-=Season 4=-
Rescue
Power
Traitor
*Animals*
*Stardrive*
Headhunter
Assassin
Games
Sand
Gold
Orbit
Warlord
Blake

[[ The least amount of rearranging here. To my way of thinking... had I been script editor... instead of ruthlessly slaying Dr. Plaxton at the end of Stardrive, I would have kept her on board for my preferred next episode Headhunter. She could have explained (off-screen) to the crew: "Thanks for rescuing me, please also attempt a recovery of my husband Muller who is similarly working against his will." This would make for a much more plausible explanation for the sudden appearance of a random woman at Xenon base in the beginning of Headhunter.
True, the Scorpio does make a fast getaway from Bucol 2 in Animals. This presumably was due to the fruition of Avon's payload booster modifications discussed previously in Traitor. ;) ]]

[[ And to conclude, I've always thought the last 4 episodes stood as a strong linked 4-story arc leading to the end of the show. Gold, Orbit, Warlord, Blake... Avon's misjudgements and ultimately false leadership become more and more pronounced; a bigger screw up each time, leading to... well, we all know what happens. ]]

Thanks for reading.
Again, since many of the linkages are already embedded in the stories, this sequencing lends more strength to the characters' arcs and greater enjoyment of the show IMO.

[–] fiero-49251 9 years ago

Thanks! I'll have to come back and judge if it should make my blog! That's a lot of work done! Good job!

- http://scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/introduction-to-blakes-7.html

- - http://www.childrenofrassilon.com/blakes-7.html - Blake's 7 Homage - -

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

Thanks Fiero! Happy watching...

[–] michaellevenson1 9 years ago

At the end of Voice Blake says "our job is to find star one in case you've forgotten" he first heard of star one from Provine in Countdown which MUST come first.

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

In actual fact I was aware of that, but I think its a line of dialogue that can be overlooked for the greater good. (Avon's brother mentioned in Spacefall is a similar overlooked line of dialogue that could have bore fruit, but was... overlooked.) I find it hard to believe that Blake would learn of the name Star One from Provine only. Servalan's discourse with Durkim in the episode Star One indicate that it is a household name for Federation officer core & aristocracy, even if no one knows where it is. Also Jenna says of Control (the main computer complex) in Pressure Point "most Earth people have heard of it".

Blake's line of dialogue in Voice seems to be more of an oversight of the script editing more than anything else. (apologies Chris its not my intention to be harsh)

Name like Fort Knox, Federal Reserve and Deep Underground Bases are common mainstays in current conspiracy theories even though people don't know all the details. I find it hard to believe in that big wide Federation of all those millions and millions of people that only Provine knew it was called Star One. To me, its reasonable that the crew already knew of the name.

[–] michaellevenson1 9 years ago

Jenna says everyone has heard of Control, for the Control Trap to work Star One has to be secret. The Feds went to extraordinary lengths to keep it hidden, wiping the memories of the builders. Also Blake says " Control Provine where have the Federation moved it to"Blake was still using the old vernacular. Episodes like Dawn of the Gods and Ultraworld
could be shuffled around I'm not sure about any others.

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

This is a good nuance of detail, thanks for pointing out. You are correct, in order for 'Control' to work as a decoy snare then yes Star One would have to be an officer core/aristocracy tight-circle secret.

For me personally, I like having each season conclude with a 4-story episode arc.

I'll go with your suggestion that it makes sense to put Countdown before Voice for this revised episode sequence. My 'shufflings' are based on spoken lines of dialogue and/or visual observations, so to avoid confusion surrounding Blake's line spoken at the end of Voice, yes this makes sense.

[–] ant-mac 9 years ago

Some very interesting ideas. What a shame that production teams don't always put as much thought into their creations as the fans do.

I'm about due for another run through of B7 - I try to do at least one every twelve months. I think I might try your suggestion next time through.

Cheers.

ant-mac

[–] doctorcrimedog 8 years ago

Some very interesting ideas. What a shame that production teams don't always put as much thought into their creations as the fans do.

Fans aggrandize their assumptions far too much and too easily. The production teams have to deal with things like shooting schedules and continuity checking of scripts that were written by multiple authors. Fans at this point have over thirty years of hindsight, something no TV show has had as a benefit.

-There is no such word as "alot."

[–] dustyhonda2000 8 years ago

With your comments in mind, its also fair to say that once aware of fan's attention to detail (even nit-picking obsession) even with all of their other challenges, production staffs still upped their game to give continuity, resolving loose ends, story arcs much tighter treatment. All of the 2000's era reboots of these old 70's shows give higher priority to these areas.

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

Two revisions here:

1] To be fair, Avon does not screw up that much in Warlord. In fact, he's at his most admirable and heroic in the whole season I think. Plus he eloquently saves the day with fast thinking in regards to the airflow solution.

2] Another reason Stardrive should come after Animals... Vila learned his lesson the hard way in Animals by being used as a combination of work donkey plus butt of the joke. This explains why he feigns drunkenness in Stardrive to avoid being volunteered again.

And then of course shuffle Headhunter to come after Stardrive as discussed above.

[–] ant-mac 9 years ago

STARDRIVE must come before ANIMALS, because Tarrant uses it to outrun the Federation ships in ANIMALS. That's what alerts Servalan's curiosity and interest.

ant-mac

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

True, the Scorpio does make a fast getaway from Bucol 2 in Animals. For the revised ordering, this is due to the fruition of Avon's payload booster modifications discussed previously in Traitor. ;)

[–] ant-mac 9 years ago

"True, the Scorpio does make a fast getaway from Bucol 2 in Animals. For the revised ordering, this is due to the fruition of Avon's payload booster modifications discussed previously in Traitor. ;)"

I had a feeling you'd say that. However, there is no proof that Orac was able to complete its task and get a response from the computer on Helotrix. Remember, the Scorpio crew were busted before an answer came through.

In any case, Avon's best possible outcome from his plan would be nowhere in the neighbourhood of what Scorpio was able to do in ANIMALS.

ant-mac

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

Interesting ideas. To that I would say that there is nothing special about the Helotrix mainframe, it was merely the 'nearest terminal'. Engineering specs could easily be tapped elsewhere and at another time.

Also the real speeds of these vehicles was never made clear. If you can point out a scene with a propulsion chart or a shot with a speedometer that would be different. In this show the viewer always has to form an impression based on what is told to them by the dialogue & performances.

The question has to be posed then, if the payload booster modifications were not going to be capable of outrunning pursuit craft... why was our blessed Avon & Orac spending time with them? "To give us extra in-flight speed" was the only reason given. To me that means outrunning pursuit craft... but of course its down to each viewers interpretation.

Since its down to impressions and preferences, I'll stick with the episode previously stated. Its a suggested list though, and there are many variations possible.

[–] Mad Dog McLagan 9 years ago

I can't help but feel a simpler solution would be to not watch Animals at all since it's absolutely awful :P

I suspect the problem is that you have too many paperclips up your nose

[–] dustyhonda2000 9 years ago

For fun I worked on an edit of Stardrive where there crew-repairing-Scorpio scenes from Animals are inserted into Stardrive. Since Dayna is given first-watch on scanning the captured Space Chopper video, it fits neatly in with why she's not present in the repair scenes. All you have to do is take out the line where Avon shoots down her 'patch it through to the crew room' idea. Yeah, she's in the crew room, that's it! Probably having a margarita. Avon, Soolin and Tarrant bullying Vila into repairing the ballast channel plays nicely as their revenge for his having feigned drunkenness. The only thing that breaks continuity and gives it away is the dirt on Vila's flight suit appears and disappears. Oh well you can't have it all. Overall, a nice way to skip Animals and get a deluxe Stardrive.

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

Sorry I know its a long time since this was posted but how could Stardrive come after Animals!! In Animals the ship has the new engine. If Avon's payload booster mentioned on Traitor was successful why bother with the stardrive?

[–] dustyhonda2000 8 years ago

Sorry for an equally long delay... I truly did not see your comment until making some revisions today.
The payload booster modifications were only ever a project to gain some add-on thrust to the original, elderly Scorpio engine. It was the best they could do at that time early in the season, and enough to provide some skin-of-the-teeth tactical maneuvering velocity in Animals. Keep in mind Tarrant's escape was by no means smooth or polished and was not indicative of a vastly superior engine; it was not a Liberator-style escape... the Scorpio was shot up badly & needed significant repairs. A few weeks later, the events of the asteroid collision in Stardrive necessitate an entirely new, upgraded engine... the existence of which is conveniently brought to their attention by the space-choppers.

[–] michaellevenson1 9 years ago

Has anyone noticed a possible missing scene ?
Travis leaves Goth ahead of the Liberator true ,but Liberator is ten times quicker at least but somehow Travis has made a deal with the aliens to destroy humanity before Blake and co get there. Was there a scene filmed of Travis being intercepted on his way to Star One? There's no other way Travis could get involved with the Andromedans

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dustyhonda2000 8 years ago

To expand on the Vila arc using the revised ordering at the end of Season 3...

City at the Edge of the World-
Vila gets the girl, then looses the girl

Moloch-
there is some serious cabin fever taking place aboard the Liberator as Vila is being outspoken and obnoxious, this can be read as his low point at having lost out on life with Kerril. However, his exposure to Doran in this episode shows Vila he truly does have a good situation in life after all.

Death Watch-
Enthusiasm renewed, Vila is actively suggests the Teal-Vandor Convention, is supportive of his shipmates interest in it, and sets out a spread of booze and snacks.

[–] johnnybear (146) 2 years ago

I'd place Children of Auron to be followed by Dawn of The Gods as Auron is still mentioned as their point of reference. Possibly meaning that before they are drawn towards the black hole they have recently left there, Cally's home world, as stated in Children! If not then why is Auron listed as their point of relevance? Production order is somewhat easier to follow in some cases although Killer as the second episode of season two would have us believe perhaps that Gan is asleep in his quarters during the whole adventure?
Shut the door, Mary!
JB