Line #104 Recap/BlakesSevenS3E9Sarcophagus


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blakes_7_sarcophagus.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:There's no money for guest cast this week so [[ActingForTwo you'll have to play the villain as well]].]]
3	[[AC:Written by Creator/TanithLee.\
4	Directed by Fiona Cumming.\
5	Airdate: 3 March 1980.]]
6
7	The spirit of a deceased alien assumes Cally's form and takes over the Liberator.
8	----
9	!!This episode has the following tropes:
10
11
12	* AffectionatePickpocket: Avon kisses Cally who's been possessed by the VillainOfTheWeek, using the opportunity to slip a RingOfPower off her finger.
13	* [[DemonicPossession Alien Possession]]: [[DesignatedVictim Cally again.]]
14	* AmbiguousSituation: The final look between Avon and Cally. While Cally gives a slight smile, Creator/PaulDarrow keeps his expression deliberately blank, so Avon's true feelings remain a mystery.
15	* AmbiguousSyntax: Avon knocks on the door of Cally's room.
16	-->'''Cally:''' What is it?\
17	'''Avon:''' Well it looks like a door, and it's closed.
18	* TheAssimilator: The alien takes over Cally's mind and appearance, and wants the crew of the Liberator to play court to her, using her power to force them into their intended roles: Vila as TheFool, Dayna as the [[HarpOfFemininity Musician]], Tarrant as the Protector. Avon is offered the role of [[HotConsort Consort]], but is actually the alien's equivalent of TheGrimReaper.
19	* BadVibrations: A build-up of telekinetic energy is shown when a tray of drinks starts first to vibrate, then float in the air!
20	* BottleEpisode: The episode has no location filming, and makes no mention of the Federation or Servalan.
21	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Avon is asked what's on the alien vessel. He replies, "Dust, debris, rather an old corpse..."
22	* CallBack:
23	** Cally is still suffering from the events of [[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E7ChildrenOfAuron Children of Auron]].
24	** "If it wasn't for Blake you'd still be rotting on [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha]]."
25	* CatapultNightmare: Cally waking up from her coma.
26	* CobwebsOfDisuse: On the sarcophagus vessel.
27	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The crew of the Liberator are wearing clothes with touches of colour that match the apparitions dancing in the opening sequence.
28	* CommonMeter: Dayna's song:
29	-->''I left my world to wander in\
30	this endless midnight sky.\
31	For space is just a starry night\
32	where no suns ever rise.
33	* CostumePorn: The funeral apparitions in their flowing colourful robes, and Cally herself in full alien regalia.
34	* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: The alien claims she prefers to avoid killing, but this is actually because she knows it will make Cally have ConflictingLoyalty. Avon forces the issue and breaks her control.
35	* DramaticWind: InSpace during Cally's confrontation with Avon.
36	* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: Zen warning they have an intruder on board the Liberator.
37	* EnergyBeing: The alien's physical body died long ago, but it continues to survive as this.
38	* ExactTimeToFailure
39	-->'''Zen:''' Energy increase aboard alien ship computed as reaching critical point in thirty seconds.
40	* TheFaceless: The apparitions dancing in the opening scene. This changes when the crew begin to take on the roles.
41	* FailedASpotCheck: While Tarrant and Avon are engaging in SnarkToSnarkCombat, they fail to notice Cally pushing buttons on the artefact.
42	* FoeRomanceSubtext
43	-->'''Avon:''' [[YoureCuteWhenYoureAngry You look so beautiful...when you're angry.]] ''[KissOfDistraction]''
44	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: The episode written by noted British author Creator/TanithLee has nothing to do with their battle against the Federation and has [[OutOfGenreExperience heavy fantasy elements]].
45	* GetItOverWith: Avon cuts through the crap when the alien offers him submission or death.
46	-->'''Alien:''' Think about human death, Avon, irrevocable...\
47	'''Avon:''' I have thought about it; what's keeping you?\
48	'''Alien:''' What did you say?\
49	'''Avon:''' You claim you can kill me. You'd better get on with it. Make me die. There's nothing else you can make me do.
50	* GhostShip
51	* {{Hallucinations}}: As the crew fall under the alien's sway.
52	* HandBlast
53	* HiddenDepths: Although his own grief from Anna Grant's death is still fresh, Avon takes the time to urge Cally not to make grief too much a part of her life.
54	* HighCollarOfDoom: The alien has a jewelled collar that would make Servalan proud.
55	* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: Rather than play the trope straight, Avon challenges the alien to kill him then-and-there rather than surrender. [[ThePowerOfLove Cally's love for Avon]] overcomes her desire to bond with the alien.
56	* ImmuneToBullets: Tarrant fires on the alien to no effect. "I'm afraid your rather temperamental weapons aren't stable anymore."
57	* InfoDump: Dayna explains events to Vila at the end of the episode.
58	* ItsTheOnlyWay: As the alien vessel [[SelfDestructMechanism starts to overload]] our heroes teleport back to the Liberator, but for some reason only Cally arrives there. She insists on teleporting back, despite the risk of the automatic repair systems shutting down the teleport to correct the 'fault'. Once there she has Avon and Vila hold onto her so they are teleported with her.
59	* IveNeverSeenAnythingLikeThisBefore
60	-->'''Avon:''' It's like nothing I've ever seen before.
61	* KillItWithFire: Avon throws the RingOfPower into the [[ExplosiveInstrumentation burning consoles]] on the flight deck.
62	* MatchCut: From the ring to Cally's eye.
63	* MinimalistCast: There's some non-speaking aliens at the beginning, then the rest of the episode has just the Liberator crew and the alien that's taken on Cally's appearance.
64	* MoreThanMindControl: The alien takes advantage of Cally's loneliness and desire for communication with another telepathic mind.
65	* MsFanservice: Dayna in her pantsuit with SexyBacklessOutfit and revealing cleavage.
66	* NeverSplitTheParty
67	-->'''Vila:''' ''Stay here? Alone?'' I hope...
68	* NuclearCandle: The priestess uses her powers to extinguish the HollywoodTorches held by the other mourners. It's only when the last torch is extinguished that the room darkens all at once.
69	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Vila, according to the alien. "That one interests me. He has a very high IQ yet he acts like an imbecile. [[HumanPet He will make an ideal pet]]."
70	* PassiveAggressiveCombat: Tarrant uses the crew to override Avon, so Avon then takes charge of the mission by selecting who goes and leaving Tarrant behind.
71	* PitifulWorms
72	-->'''Alien:''' When I was alive before, I was accustomed to being served by intelligent menials. I'm prepared to offer you all a choice. You can live as my--\
73	'''Tarrant:''' Intelligent menials?\
74	'''Alien:''' Don't let a mere two words prevent you from staying alive.\
75	'''Tarrant:''' [[DeadpanSnarker You underestimate your powers of expression.]]
76	* PratFall: Vila teleports across to the alien vessel and falls on his behind.
77	* PullARabbitOutOfMyHat: The conjurer apparition pulls a cloth and then a dove out of an empty cylinder.
78	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The alien gives Avon "[[DontMakeMeDestroyYou One...last...chance!]]"
79	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech
80	-->'''Tarrant:''' Don't try and bluff your way with me, Avon. I know what's been needling you right from the start. With Blake gone, you thought you'd got it made, didn't you? Thought you'd got control of this ship and a crew of three who'd say, "Yes, Avon. Whatever you want, Avon." But you reckoned without me.\
81	'''Avon:''' [[StealthInsult That wouldn't be too difficult.]]\
82	'''Tarrant:''' Oh, really? I don't think so. When you found me on the Liberator, it was quite a blow. And every time you look at me, it hits you harder, doesn't it? I'm faster than you and I'm sharper. As far as it goes, I've made a success of my life. But you? The only big thing you ever tried to do you failed at. The greatest computer swindle of all time! ... but you couldn't quite pull it off, could you? If it hadn't been for Blake, you'd be rotting on Cygnus Alpha right now. No, you failed, Avon. But I win. Not just at games, at life.
83	* ReversePsychology: Avon tells Tarrant they shouldn't just charge onto the flight deck. Tarrant proceeds to do just that, whereupon Avon gives his trademark mysterious smirk.
84	* SchmuckBait: Avon is rightly suspicious of an alien object that moors itself a precise distance away. [[CuriosityKilledTheCast The others override his objections.]]
85	* SealedEvilInACan
86	* ASharedSuffering: Cally has witnessed the genocide of her people. Avon has killed his LostLenore.
87	* ShipTease: The episode with the most Cally/Avon shipping in canon.
88	* AStormIsComing: Vila says this trope, which is unlikely InSpace as Tarrant points out. But then Dayna gets a shock when she touches a console and realises it's due to a build-up of static electricity, explaining Vila's feeling.
89	* StrangeSalute: During the funeral.
90	* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: Dayna's musical ability is not shown before or after this episode. Possibly the alien can amplify a latent talent so its chosen servants will confirm to their allocated roles.
91	* SympathyForTheDevil: After Avon steals her ring, the alien makes a [[AintTooProudToBeg heartrending plea]] [[IDontWantToDie not to be sent back]] to TheNothingAfterDeath where she will be [[AndIMustScream aware yet without physical existence]].
92	* TalkingToThemself: Vila starts {{Motor Mouth}}ing away while alone and afraid on the darkened flight deck. We suddenly realise he's NotHimself when he starts performing conjuring tricks for an imaginary audience.
93	* TestosteronePoisoning: Tarrant and Avon openly quarrel over who should be top dog.
94	* ThisWasHerTrueForm: The alien takes Cally's form but is not controlling her body -- Cally herself is still comatose in her quarters. When the alien's control is broken her image appears to whither to a corpse, while at the same time Cally regains consciousness.
95	* WeAreStrugglingTogether
96	-->'''Avon:''' We've been outmaneuvered. Teleport failures, mysterious alien artefacts. While you and I were pawing the ground, that thing managed to get Cally to reactivate the device in the correct sequence.
97	* WeCanRuleTogether: Avon is offered something more than service to the alien as a HumanPet. He tells her to stick it.
98	* WhatTheHellHero: Cally accuses Avon of being a ManipulativeBastard.
99	-->'''Cally:''' I'd like a straight answer.\
100	'''Avon:''' [[TheSnarkKnight Try a straight question.]]\
101	'''Cally:''' You didn't trust me. You thought I had some [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling obscure reaction to something on that ship]], didn't you? You and I teleported so that you could watch me and see what I'd do. You cut Tarrant out because he had the same idea, but he'd made no secret of it.\
102	'''Avon:''' You're over-reacting.\
103	'''Cally:''' Probably. But you wouldn't expect a normal human response, would you? I'm not quite human. ''[storms off]''
104	* WheresTheKaboom: The alien artefact starts to glow, Orac is demanding to be disconnected from it, telekinetic energy sends a drink tray flying around the room, everyone dives for cover...only for the artefact to collapse in on itself and disintegrate.
105	* WorldOfSnark
106	-->'''Vila:''' My head's killing me!\
107	'''Tarrant:''' You should learn self-defence.
108	** Vila discovers the artefact.
109	-->'''Vila:''' What's this?\
110	'''Avon:''' I take it that's a rhetorical question, or did you really think we knew?
111	**
112	-->'''Tarrant:''' There's something else you don't realize. I don't take any orders from you.\
113	'''Avon:''' Well, now that's a great pity, considering that your own ideas are so limited.
114	** Afterwards...
115	-->'''Tarrant:''' Avon. Do you want to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech forget I said all that?]]\
116	'''Avon:''' It wasn't particularly memorable.
117	** Dayna suggests they sleep on it.
118	-->'''Tarrant:''' [[SarcasmMode And tomorrow, everything will look different?]]\
119	'''Avon:''' If it does, you can assume you're on the wrong ship.
120	* YouCantFightFate so ResistanceIsFutile
121	-->'''Alien:''' Come now. [[HappinessInSlavery Would it be so very horrible to serve me]], to be my protector? Would it be so soul-destroying, Tarrant? It was predicted that I would find you. That I would live again because of each of you. And your roles in my new life, they were predicted too.
122	* YourMimeMakesItReal: The apparitions in the opening sequence act out their roles through silent dance, and the crew of Liberator find themselves taking on those roles.
123	* YouTalkTooMuch: Tarrant is giving TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Avon. Being TheSnarkKnight, he doesn't take it lying down.
124	-->'''Tarrant:''' You failed, Avon. But I win. Not just at games -- at life.\
125	'''Avon:''' You also talk too much.\
126	'''Tarrant:''' [[ImpliedDeathThreat Be thankful I'm restricting myself to talk.]]\

Context Recap / BlakesSevenS3E9Sarcophagus