Line #119 Recap/BlakesSevenS4E7Assassin


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blakes_7_assassin.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The face of someone who's just been told Servalan is his [[{{Dominatrix}} new mistress]].]]
3	[[AC:Written by Rod Beacham.\
4	Directed by David Sullivan Proudfoot, and Vere Lorrimer (uncredited).\
5	Airdate: 9 November 1981.]]
6
7	When our heroes discover that Servalan has hired a professional assassin known only as Cancer to eliminate them, they decide to strike first.
8	----
9	!!This episode has the following tropes:
10
11	* ActionFashionista: In between an EvilCostumeSwitch, planting killer spiders and kidnapping Avon, Piri takes the time to style her hair into a [[BeehiveHairdo towering bun]].
12	* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: A variation - Piri, Cancer's supposed SexSlave, turns out to be the assassin the crew is looking for.
13	* AffectionatePickpocket: Piri has a tendency to SecurityCling to our heroes. It turns out she's actually the VillainOfTheWeek, and uses the opportunity to [[LockedRoomMystery steal and later replace a key]].
14	* AllAccordingToPlan: Avon is CapturedOnPurpose, beaten up and MadeASlave. He'll be all right as long as they left his teleport bracelet on him... [[DidNotThinkThisThrough Oops!]]
15	* AlmostOutOfOxygen: Our heroes seize the spaceship of Cancer, who escapes and shuts off the life support remotely, forcing them to [[NeverSplitTheParty split up and search]] in the limited time they have left.
16	* AnimalAssassin: Piri uses some kind of transforming spider-creature for her assassinations.
17	* AntagonistInMourning: Played with after Servalan [[FakeKillScare thinks she's destroyed the black ship with our heroes still in it]].
18	-->'''Captain:''' You don't seem altogether happy.
19	-->'''Servalan:''' Oh, I'm happy enough. It's just that a universe without Avon and Tarrant [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction will take a certain amount of getting used to]].
20	* AuctionOfEvil: The slave auction. Anyone who's not sold after three auctions is regarded as unusable and killed off.
21	* BBCQuarry: In this case a sandpit in Dorset.
22	* BeehiveHairdo: TheReveal that Piri is actually Cancer is given when she [[TravellingAtTheSpeedOfPlot somehow has time for]] an EvilCostumeSwitch into [[DarkIsEvil black clothes]] and a towering bun of hair. The latter makes her [[NightmareRetardant not as scary as she should be]].
23	* BigBlackout: Servalan remotely shuts off power and life support on the black ship, so our heroes are forced to leave the flight deck and search for Cancer.
24	* BigDamnHeroes: Dayna pulls a TeleportationRescue JustInTime. Tarrant jokingly accuses her of waiting till the last minute on purpose.
25	* TheDogWasTheMastermind: The hysterical sex slave Piri is actually the assassin Cancer.
26	* BondOneLiner: After Cancer is bitten by her own spider-creature and dies screaming, Servalan demands to know what is happening. Avon replies, "I'm afraid your friend is feeling the pinch."
27	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou:
28	** Avon doesn't want to kill the man they think is Cancer, in the hope of getting Servalan too when she makes contact with him.
29	** Piri knocks the gun out of Fake-Cancer's hand rather than let him shoot Tarrant and Avon. She later reveals that her contract was for all five ''Scorpio'' crewmembers, so it was done to earn their trust.
30	* CastingGag: The fake Cancer is revealed to just be an actor who was bought to play the role of an assassin. His real-world actor, John Wyman, had played the KGB assassin Erik Kriegler in ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'' earlier that year.
31	* ConflictBall: Avon and Tarrant fighting over Piri. If Avon HasAType, Piri is definitely not it.
32	* CoverIdentityAnomaly: Despite supposedly being a slave since she was a child, Piri doesn't know what mangon (the local food for slaves) is. Realising she's slipped up, she kills off Nebrox quickly.
33	* CutPhoneLines:
34	** Avon's commlink comes off during the struggle with the slavers, and one of his captors decides to keep it. Fortunately Nebrox gets it back for him.
35	** Servalan remotely cuts off all communication from Cancer's spaceship to prevent ''Scorpio'' from coming to rescue them. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain However she later turns them on again]] to engage in some EvilGloating. Avon doesn't miss the opportunity, but by that point ''Scorpio'' is so far away it's unclear if they got the message.
36	* CuttingTheKnot:
37	** Rather than waste time trying to identify Cancer, Avon figures they can just kill Servalan before she has a chance to pay the assassin. Never mind that our heroes haven't been any better at killing Servalan than she has at killing them.
38	** Rather than go searching through the black ship, Avon suggests barricading themselves on the flight deck, flying it back to Xenon Base and keeping it there until Cancer is forced to surrender. Unfortunately the controls are locked because Servalan is controlling the ship remotely.
39	* DarkIsEvil: Cancer's black ship. Even the interior is black! When Piri does her EvilCostumeSwitch she's [[EvilWearsBlack in black too]] (unfortunately it's let down by a silly topknot).
40	* DecoyDamsel: On boarding Cancer's ship, Avon and Tarrant discover a large steely-eyed man with a BeardOfEvil dressed in black leather uttering death threats, and a HystericalWoman he's keeping as his SexSlave. Turns out the tearful DamselInDistress is Cancer and [[ReverseRelationshipReveal the man is the slave]], a male actor that Servalan purchased to play the role in order to lure Cancer's targets into a trap.
41	* DiesWideOpen: Avon wakes up StrappedToAnOperatingTable with Cancer standing over him. Or is he?
42	-->'''Piri:''' You're quite right. He's completely dead.
43	* DistinctionWithoutADifference
44	-->'''Avon:''' All right, he's not infallible. It's just that up to now he has never failed.
45	* DoubleEntendre: When auctioning Avon, Borac says he's strong enough to work all day with strength enough for "any little chores you might have in the evenings".
46	* DoubleStandard: Lampshaded by Soolin when accused of being a GreenEyedMonster by Tarrant.
47	-->'''Soolin:''' Oh, terrific. If two men don't like each other that's a rational judgement. If it's two women what else could it be but jealousy?
48	* DynamicAkimbo: Soolin combines this with a CaptainMorganPose.
49	* EurekaMoment: One which saves Soolin's life, as she rushes off just as the mechanical spider is about to strike.
50	* EvilCostumeSwitch: Piri pretends to be a slave and spends most of the episode in frumpy clothes, blubbing. Naturally, when the truth is revealed, she stops to change into a rather stylish little black number and redo her hair.
51	* EvilGloating: Piri takes Avon alive just so Servalan can call him up and tell him how she planned the whole thing.
52	* FailedASpotCheck: Piri wears a [[SigilSpam crab-shaped brooch]]. "It's been staring you in the face the whole time."
53	* FakeKillScare: When Servalan realizes that Cancer has failed, she locks the controls of the black ship and sets out to destroy it with her own. Avon sends out a distress call but isn't sure if ''Scorpio'' got the message. Then Servalan arrives, blows up the black ship and has a drink with her captain to celebrate. Fortunately her celebrations are premature.
54	* FalseReassurance:
55	** When Avon turns up begging for food and water, the slavers promise to provide that for the rest of his life.
56	** Piri apologises for being a HystericalWoman. "It won't happen again, I promise." Next time we see her, she's Cancer.
57	* FauxActionGirl: Soolin. If she'd teleported down with Dayna, Servalan would be dead. Likewise she'd be a logical choice to go onto Cancer's ship to take on a ProfessionalKiller like herself, but Avon and Tarrant go instead. She makes up for it in the second half of the episode.
58	* FictionalCurrency: Servalan pays 700 vems for Avon. That's ''amore''.
59	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Verlis is shown chortling lewdly about the slave Servalan purchased. This is the burly MrFanservice that plays Fake-Cancer, not Piri.
60	* GirlyRun: Avon running from the slavers, before he's caught under a DogpileOfDoom. It's especially funny as a female slave is seen doing this trope later on.
61	* GrapesOfLuxury: They're not shown eating the grapes, but Servalan and the slavetrader Verlis spend a lot of time sipping drinks and being fanned by enormous feathers held by shirtless slaves.
62	* HandOfDeath: Shown planting the killer spider near Soolin.
63	* {{Handwave}}:
64	** The EconomyCast at the auction is explained by them being agents acting for a large number of clients who'd rather not be directly involved in something as illegal as slave trading. All the bids are made via communicator.
65	** To explain what he's doing on the black ship Avon says that Nebrox could come in useful, but we see no follow-up to this.
66	* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: "So the prey has come looking for the hunter. How interesting."
67	* HypocriticalHumour: Tarrant accuses Soolin of "simple female jealousy" toward Piri... and then [[CockFight immediately starts squabbling with Avon.]]
68	* GetAHoldOfYourselfWoman: Soolin responds appropriately to Piri's hysterics:
69	--> '''Tarrant:''' You enjoyed that, didn’t you?
70	--> '''Soolin:''' There are two classic ways of dealing with a HystericalWoman. You didn’t really expect me to [[ShutUpKiss kiss]] [[LesYay her]], did you?
71	* IAteWhat: Avon when told his mangon stew is made from fungus. He lets Nebrox help himself.
72	* IdiotBall: Creator/StevenPacey hated this episode because Tarrant was portrayed so foolishly. One would think that Avon too would be more suspicious of Piri, as she points out InUniverse.
73	* IGotYouCovered: PlayedForLaughs; while Tarrant engages in GoodOldFisticuffs with Fake-Cancer, Avon is shown [[PassThePopcorn sitting in a chair watching them]] until the right moment when he can stick a gun in Cancer's face.
74	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The FoeRomanceSubtext reaches fetish-fuel levels when Servalan buys Avon as a slave and insists that [[{{Dominatrix}} he call her Mistress]]. Unfortunately he's rescued before things get interesting.
75	* IronicEcho: On meeting the legendary Cancer, Avon comments that he's "only a man". When the real Cancer is about to kill Avon, she too expresses disappointment. "A man's just a man when all's said and done."
76	* KarmicDeath: Cancer is HoistByHerOwnPetard.
77	* TheLoad: Our heroes leave Piri locked in a cabin rather than take her with them, despite knowing that Cancer has already gotten through a locked door. Piri however turns out to be Cancer anyway.
78	* LuredIntoATrap: Servalan sent the message to Cancer knowing that Orac would intercept it, and the Seven would come looking for Cancer.
79	* TheManInFrontOfTheMan: Or in this case, the woman.
80	* MoneyIsNotPower: On seeing Avon is up for auction, Servalan offers any price the slavetrader will name if he's sold to her immediately. However Verlis is unwilling to bend the rules in public, so Servalan has to bid with the others.
81	* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: Servalan and Cancer team up to outsmart our heroes.
82	%%* TheNameless: Used for GenderConcealingWriting.
83	* NeverSplitTheParty:
84	-->'''Tarrant:''' What should we do -- split up?
85	-->'''Avon:''' No. Let's cover each other every step of the way.
86	** Averted when they are AlmostOutOfOxygen, as they have to split up to search as they have limited time to find Cancer.
87	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Piri pretends to be a weepy DamselInDistress who keeps talking about how silly she is.
88	* OutOfFocus: Dayna and Vila get sent away on Scorpio while the others remain on Cancer's ship, returning just in time to save the day at the end.
89	* PercussivePickpocket: Nebrox steals back Avon's teleport bracelet while grovelling to Baroc.
90	* PetTheDog: Avon is clearly lying when he says he'll help Nebrox escape as well. But at the last moment he delays his TeleportationRescue, ordering Dayna down with an extra teleport bracelet. After all, IGaveMyWord is the [[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E8RumoursOfDeath one rule Avon sticks to]].
91	* ProfessionalKiller: Cancer
92	-->'''Avon:''' I don't know who he is, how old he is, what he looks like, or where he comes from, but I do know [[PunctuatedForEmphasis what-he-does]].
93	-->'''Tarrant:''' And what's that?
94	-->'''Avon:''' He ''kills'' people, for a ''great deal of money''.
95	* PunchCatch: Fake-Cancer does this while exchanging blows with Tarrant.
96	* ReadingTheEnemysMail: The Seven intercept a message from Servalan. Subsequent events make it clear they're being LuredIntoATrap.
97	-->'''Servalan:''' Utilizer to Cancer, Utilizer to Cancer. Domo the ninth, five subjects.
98	* RedHerring: Avon captures a man on Cancer's ship who plays the role to the hilt, but he's actually a professional entertainer hired by the real Cancer, who's posing as his SexSlave. Nebrox is also available as an alternate suspect.
99	* SalvagePirates: An InvokedTrope by Avon, who pretends to be a crashed survivor so he will be MadeASlave.
100	* SecurityCling: Piri does this a lot, which is a ChekhovsGun as she's an AffectionatePickpocket.
101	* SeriesContinuityError: Slavery is said to be illegal, yet in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E12Deliverance Deliverance]]" it's the standard punishment for the family of a deserter from Star Command. Given Domo wasn't part of the Federation, it's possible slavery was only legal in the Federation. Alternatively, criminals capturing people and auctioning them off as slaves may be illegal, whereas [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem government-sanctioned slavery is not]].
102	* SchmuckBait:
103	** Our heroes discover the black ship with [[SigilSpam prominent cancer sigil]] dead in space of a power failure. Avon admits that it seems an ObviousTrap, but if it isn't he's not going to miss his opportunity.
104	** Averted when 'Cancer' escapes; Avon isn't silly enough to go [[DarknessEqualsDeath searching a dark ship]] which [[HomeFieldAdvantage Cancer knows and they don't]]. However when life support is shut down they have to do so anyway.
105	* ScreamingWoman
106	-->'''Soolin:''' Avon, what is that ''terrible'' noise?
107	* SlaveMarket: Avon is captured and paraded at one.
108	* SleepingDummy: Fake-Cancer sets up a dummy in a wig in the pilot's seat, and waits behind the door to the flight deck. Instead of shooting the dummy InTheBack [[CombatPragmatist from the safety of the doorway]], our anti-heroes [[IdiotBall have to run to the front of the flight deck]] so Fake-Cancer is able to ambush them from behind.
109	* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: Unusually for this show, falls into the "Women Are Better Than Men" category. The men in the episode are primarily victims or holding the IdiotBall, meanwhile Soolin figures out the EvilPlan, the primary villains are both women, Servalan calls Cancer "[[YouAreACreditToYourRace a credit to our sex]]", Cancer mocks Avon for being "just a man", and Dayna saves them all with a last minute TeleportationRescue (although Vila also participates in that last one, making [[ButtMonkey him]] this episode's most competent male).
110	* TestosteronePoisoning: When things get tense, Avon and Tarrant end up arguing over which one of them Piri would fancy more.
111	* TortureAlwaysWorks: Averted; Tarrant wants to beat the rendezvous information out of Cancer, but Avon points out that he knows [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he'll have outlived his usefulness]] the moment he gives up that information, so is unlikely to talk.
112	* TrueArtIsAngsty: InUniverse when Soolin quips re Piri, "I expect a little suffering will have helped to make her a better artist."
113	* VisualPun: Cancer puts her crab broach on Avon's crotch. [[DontExplainTheJoke She's giving him]] [[TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed crabs.]]
114	* WalkingShirtlessScene: Benos the slavetrader wears a short-sleeved jacket with no shirt underneath that [[{{Fanservice}} shows off his six-pack abs]].
115	* WomenAreWiser: It's Soolin who works out that Piri is a fake, while all the men are holding the IdiotBall.
116	* WorthyOpponent: Avon to Servalan after the trap is sprung. Piri, however, is disappointed: "It's a pity, Avon. I was looking forward to a real duel between us."
117	* WretchedHive: Domo, a haven for slavers and SpacePirates. [[BBCQuarry The scenery is nothing to boast of either.]]
118	* YouExclamation: Dayna on [[YouKilledMyFather seeing Servalan]]. And if she'd fired instead of wasting time, she would have had her.
119	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The fake Cancer gets killed off the moment Piri decides he's a nuisance. She was planning to kill him anyway, as [[YouKnowTooMuch he knows her identity.]]

Context Recap / BlakesSevenS4E7Assassin