Line #74 Recap/BlakesSevenS2E13StarOne


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star_one.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Nothing short of an alien invasion will stop us destroying this."]]
3	[[AC:Written by Creator/ChrisBoucher.\
4	Directed by David Maloney (uncredited).\
5	Airdate: 3 April 1979.]]
6
7	The crew of Liberator have finally located Star One, the MasterComputer that controls the Federation, and Blake is prepared to destroy it regardless of the cost to innocent lives. But it turns out someone else has got there first, with far more terrible intentions.
8	----
9	!!This episode has the following tropes:
10
11	* AlienBlood: Averted; there's a big splash of red when Avon shoots an alien, before it reverts to its true form.
12	* AlienInvasion: The All-Out Attack version, but preceded by an Infiltration takeover of Star One.
13	* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike: Averted; the planet is only (barely) habitable along the equatorial region, though as usual it still has a breathable atmosphere and looks like a BBCQuarry.
14	* ApologeticAttacker: Lurena starts to say, "I'm sorry..." after apparently shooting dead one of her colleagues...until we see her horrified ReactionShot over [[ThisWasHisTrueForm what her colleague is turning into]].
15	* BaitAndSwitch: Lurena appears to have gone insane from the Federation's brainwashing, seeing traitors and conspiracy everywhere. That alien shapeshifters are involved is only revealed gradually.
16	* BigRedButton: Averted; both Travis and Avon hit an ordinary button above a Big Red Light. Played straight with the red button (that contrasts well with Servalan's all-white office) which she uses to mobilise her fleet. Unlike most examples of this trope, there's a transparent panel protecting it from being pressed accidentally.
17	* BavarianFireDrill: After the aliens mistake him for Travis, Blake tells Cally to put the rest of the bombs in place.
18	-->'''Blake:''' You work your way through the other control rooms. If anyone questions you be arrogant: you're with Travis, and he's about to become Emperor of the Galaxy.
19	* BlackSite: One whose excessive secrecy has now backfired.
20	* BBCQuarry: Old Lightmoor Colliery, in Cinderford.
21	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: InUniverse; the aliens are carrying out a GuiltFreeExterminationWar, but are curious as to why Travis would help them wipe out his own race.
22	* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: The second season ends with the crew launching a seemingly suicidal DelayingAction against an alien fleet. Avon yells "Fire!" just as the credits roll.
23	* BondVillainStupidity: Travis fails to give Blake the CoupDeGrace. Averted with Blake, who insists that Avon check that Travis is truly dead... Avon whirls and fires just as Travis is about to shoot them InTheBack.
24	* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: Everyone who knows where Star One is has been brainwashed not to reveal it, despite the best efforts of Servalan's torturers. Lurena can't even give details on the base to our heroes, just saying [[MadnessMantra "You don't have security clearance!"]] when Avon tries to bully her, until Cally points out that she is literally unable to tell him.
25	* BrickJoke: Blake tells Cally to scan the planet for signs of an ElaborateUndergroundBase such as a door, preferably marked ENTRANCE. When they do find the door, Avon snipes that the ENTRANCE sign is missing.
26	* {{Cliffhanger}}: Avon's "Fire!" would [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds predate Commander Riker's by over ten years]].
27	* ConflictKiller
28	** The moral question of [[DebateAndSwitch whether Blake should destroy Star One is averted]] when a far worse enemy than the Federation turns up.
29	** Avon demands the Liberator in payment for helping Blake carry out his revolution. The others aren't exactly happy about Avon being TheCaptain, but are forced to accept the situation when Blake is wounded. Even so Avon's position as their leader will be tenuous, [[spoiler:especially after Tarrant turns up as a rival in Season 3.]]
30	* CrazyPrepared: The Federation has spent years building up the minefield in case of an intergalactic invasion. Such a vast outlay of time and resources would only be allocated if a previous FirstContact by SubspaceAnsible or scout ship had alerted the Federation to a threat in the first place.
31	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Lurena looks like she's gone insane when she draws a gun on her colleagues and accuses everyone of plotting against her. Turns out she's right, as they've all been replaced by aliens.
32	* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Lurena discovers the [[ReplicantSnatching dead bodies of her colleagues]] [[UnwillingSuspension hung up in a room]].
33	* DescriptionCut
34	-->'''Servalan:''' No one knows where Star One is! No-one at all!
35	-->''[cut to Liberator flight deck]''
36	-->'''Blake:''' So, if Lurgan's coordinates are correct Star One is somewhere in there.
37	* DisneyVillainDeath: Made rather nasty by Travis screaming as he falls down a reactor well.
38	* TheEasyWayOrTheHardWay
39	-->'''Avon:''' Now talk or scream, Travis. The choice is yours.
40	* EldritchAbomination: We know nothing about the aliens' motives for launching a genocidal assault on humanity, and only get a glimpse of their true form.
41	-->'''Lurena:''' What ''are'' they?
42	-->'''Avon:''' Unfriendly. Which is fortunate really; they'd be difficult to love.
43	* EnemyMine: Jenna sends a message to Star Command warning them about the impending invasion.
44	* FaceRevealingTurn: Travis arrives hidden in a BlackCloak, and performs this trope when Avon challenges him.
45	* FakeoutEscape: Lurena opens the door of the base, so the aliens waste time searching for her on the planet's surface.
46	* {{Fanservice}}: We get a [[MaleGaze nice view of Jenna's cleavage]] as she bends over a console in her [[HellBentForLeather leather jumpsuit]].
47	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Stott asks Blake about his artificial hand, and why doesn't he have an eyepatch? Blake and Cally exchange a MeaningfulLook. Enter stage Travis.
48	* FriendshipMoment: When Blake staggers onto the flight deck from sickbay, Avon accuses Blake of having come to check on him, because he doesn't trust he's keeping his word to stay and fight the aliens.
49	-->'''Blake:''' Avon. For what it is worth, I have ''always'' trusted you. From the very beginning.
50	* GodzillaThreshold: Jenna and Blake both independently come to the conclusion that the alien invasion threat is a far greater one for all mankind than the Federation. Consequently Jennna uses Orac to directly warn Space Command and Servalan who in turns sends the entire Federation fleet racing for Star One as the Liberator tries to hold off the aliens long enough for them to arrive.
51	* AGoodNameForARockBand: Dutch metal band ''Star One'' -- their song "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" is pretty much a progressive metal FilkSong with the two singers playing the parts of Blake and Avon.
52	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Lurena is the FinalGirl heroine of a ''Film/{{Invasion Of The Body Snatchers\|1956}}'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Film/{{The Thing\|1982}}'' plot.
53	* HeroicSacrifice: Laurena.
54	* HumanDisguise
55	* HydePlaysJekyll: Blake pretends to be Travis, but he underestimates the insanity of his ArchEnemy, assuming Travis is in a WeCanRuleTogether plot with the aliens.
56	* {{Hypocrite}}: Servalan's actions in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS2E11Gambit Gambit]]" have a lot to do with why the security of Star One has been compromised, yet that [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans doesn't stop her from seizing power]] and accusing anyone who opposes her of being involved in the sabotage.
57	* IGaveMyWord: Avon says this to explain why he's making a noble stand at the end, because he promised Blake he'd do so.
58	* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: When Orac is asked to send a warning to Star Command the computer responds with irritation, "I am not a communicator!"
59	* IncrediblyObviousBomb: Averted; the bombs are innocuous enough for Blake to place one in plain sight on an instrument panel.
60	* InscrutableAliens: What motivates the Andromedons in their genocidal invasion of the Milky Way galaxy? A pre-emptive strike against the [[TheWarOfEarthlyAggression aggressive intergalactic colonisation]] foreshadowed in "Horizon"? [[TheSocialDarwinist A belief in survival of the fittest?]] [[FantasticRacism Fear and contempt of a species so different in appearance and motivation from their own?]] [[RiddleForTheAges We never find out.]]
61	* ItsAllAboutMe: At least Servalan has the pretext that she's protecting billions of lives.
62	-->'''Cally:''' Are you sure that what we're going to do is justified?
63	-->'''Blake:''' It has to be. Don't you see, Cally? If we stop now then all we have done is senseless killing and destruction. Without purpose, without reason. We have to win. It's the only way I can be sure that I was right.
64	-->'''Cally:''' That ''you'' were right?
65	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique
66	-->'''Travis:''' Be polite, and I may let you live.
67	-->'''Avon:''' [[SnarkToSnarkCombat Be informative, and I may let you die.]] You'll want that, after I've shot off [[AnArmAndALeg an arm or a leg]] or two.
68	* JustAFleshWound: Zigzagged; Travis assumes his shot to Blake was fatal. It's not, but it's serious enough to prevent him from physically helping for the rest of the episode. Avon has to take over as TheCaptain in his place.
69	* KillAllHumans: Thought unlike other examples of this trope, there appears to be no rancour attached to the genocide of humanity.
70	* KilledOffForReal:
71	-->'''Blake:''' Is Travis dead?
72	-->''[Avon whirls round and shoots Travis, who falls screaming down a BottomlessPit]''
73	-->'''Avon:''' He is now.
74	* TheMadHatter
75	-->'''[[OnlySaneMan Vila]]:''' Avon, this is stupid!
76	-->'''Avon:''' When did that ever stop us?
77	* MasterComputer: Star One -- apparently [[OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture We Will Use Dumb Terminals In The Future]].
78	* MeaningfulName: Star One is located on the only planet orbiting a white dwarf star.
79	* MistakenForSpecialGuest: Blake turns up to sabotage Star One, only to find it's already been taken over by alien invaders planning to conquer humanity. Blake is assumed to be a human traitor who's helping the aliens; as Blake himself points out, the location of Star One is OverTheTopSecret (those manning it have literally been marooned there) so who else would be turning up? Unfortunately the real traitor, Travis, does show up, and being an old enemy of Blake instantly attacks him.
80	* NaturalDisasterCascade: The MasterComputer which controls the {{Weather Control Machine}}s going haywire begins inflicting this on ''multiple planets''.
81	* NoEndorHolocaust:
82	** Averted; the collateral damage from the destruction of Star One will be millions of innocent lives.
83	** Also averted with the opening space accident. The ship's reactor fell onto the planet below and wiped out a city.
84	* OmnicidalManiac: Travis. [[RuleOfSymbolism Blake is initially mistaken for him]].
85	* OverTheTopSecret: Star Command realises that someone has sabotaged Star One, but due to their own excessive security precautions, [[BlackSite no-one knows where it's located]].
86	* PicturePerfectPresentation: Servalan is studying file photographs of the staff of Star One, including Lurena. Cut to Lurena on Star One, standing in the same position. [[RefugeeFromTime Unfortunately she's the same age as well.]]
87	* ThePlotReaper: With Blake about to be PutOnABus there was no dramatic purpose for the ArchEnemy who was obsessed with killing him, so Travis loses his PlotArmour and gets shot dead [[KillHimAlready like he should have been long ago]].
88	* RedAlert: Servalan calls for a Red One Mobilisation of Star Command to fight the invasion which has ships and fleets from all over the Galaxy racing at maximum speed for Star One.
89	* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized
90	-->'''Blake''': I meant what I said on Goth, Avon. We are not going to use Star One to rule the Federation. We are going to destroy it.\
91	'''Avon''': I never doubted that. I never doubted your fanaticism. As far as I am concerned, you can destroy whatever you like. You can stir up a thousand revolutions. You can wade in blood up to your armpits. Oh, and you can lead the rabble to victory, whatever that might mean. Just so long as there is an end to it.
92	* SanitySlippage: Travis is so far gone he's willing to help destroy his own race.
93	* ScienceFictionWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale
94	** Thousands of anti-matter mines block the direct route from Andromeda to the Milky Way. However a miniscule deviation would simply [[TwoDSpace take the invasion fleet around the minefield]]. It's not like the aliens don't know they are there (even the Liberator's scanners pick them up).
95	** Averted with the Nova Queen disaster -- by the time the oncoming spacecraft is close enough to see, it's too late to avoid it. The alien invasion fleet however is clustered right on top of the mine they're waiting to be deactivated.
96	* SpaceMines: Makes the TwoDSpace error, though the resource issue is acknowledged. An obvious solution would be to have the minefield surround Star One, but then the plot wouldn't work.
97	* StuffBlowingUp: Cally hurls away the container of bombs moments before they detonate. The explosion was so loud that emergency services rushed to the site during filming, and assistant cameraman Paul Godfrey found himself in a real-life OutrunTheFireball because the wind was blowing in his direction, engulfing his camera in a ball of flame.
98	* {{Telepath}}: After they're captured the moment they enter the base, Cally sends a telepathic warning to Avon so he won't follow them in.
99	* TemptingFate
100	** Avon wants to be free of Blake and finished with his cause. He wants to be captain of the Liberator. He gets the Liberator free of Blake...and spends the next two seasons tied his cause.
101	** The bland assurances of MissionControl that the oncoming computer-controlled vessel is no danger is contrasted with the increasing OhCrap reactions of the Nova Queen's captain.
102	** Vila scoffs at the idea of an alien invasion force. Which then appears on the detector screen.
103	* ThisWasHisTrueForm: The shapeshifters are actually StarfishAliens, and revert to that form when killed.
104	* ThisCannotBe: Even Servalan is rattled when told that the fault must be at Star One, not least because she has absolutely no means of resolving the situation. Doesn't stop her from promptly using the situation as a pretext to launch a coup and seize control of the Federation of course.
105	* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Travis has insisted on deactivating the minefield personally, and his only regret is that the Federation will never know that ''he'' was responsible.
106	* UnusualEuphemism
107	-->'''Servalan:''' The head of the psycho-manipulation team has just finished... [[ColdBloodedTorture reassuring my interrogators]].
108	* VillainBall:
109	** The aliens assume Blake is Travis, despite not having an artificial hand or eyepatch as they've been told he has. Still as Blake points out, it should be impossible for anyone else to show up there, and he's able to bluff them into thinking he has exceptional prosthetics.
110	** Servalan's self-centred scheming in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS2E11Gambit Gambit]]" has lead to an enemy of the Federation seizing control of Star One.
111	* VillainousValour: We see that some people are just as willing to sacrifice themselves for the Federation as the rebels are dedicated to destroying it.
112	** The technicians maintaining Star One volunteered to be marooned for life on a distant and desolate world.
113	** Lurena removes the final bomb but is caught by the aliens, so [[TakingYouWithMe she holds it concealed until it ticks down to zero]].
114	* WeatherControlMachine: Drought, torrential rains and snowstorms are devastating Federation planets as the climate control systems controlled by Star One go haywire, creating chaos and famine as a precursor to the alien invasion.
115	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Blake. Destroying the MasterComputer for the whole Federation would severely weaken the Federation's hold over its territory, but at the cost of a ''massive'' humanitarian crisis and a complete breakdown of law and order.
116	* WhamEpisode
117	** Servalan [[MilitaryCoup seizes control of the Federation]] and becomes President. With the death of [[TheDragon Travis]], she is now the [[BigBad unquestioned]] ArchEnemy [[BigBad of our heroes]].
118	** Instead of destroying the Federation, the crew of the Liberator find themselves being obliged to defend it against a greater threat. Fighting to hold the line and buy time for the Federation fleet to arrive and save the day.
119	* WhamLine: After Vila and Jenna discover that an alien invasion fleet is approaching the galaxy:
120	--> '''Vila''': Do you think Blake knows what's happening? Why hasn't he come back yet? What are we supposed to do, Jenna?
121	--> '''Jenna''': Give the alarm.
122	--> '''Vila''': Terrific idea, who do you suggest we tell?
123	--> '''Jenna''': Servalan.
124	* WithUsOrAgainstUs: With computer sabotage on a massive scale taking place, Servalan seizes control of the Federation from its political leaders, and states that anyone who opposes her is part of the sabotage conspiracy.
125	* WrongGenreSavvy: Blake assumes Travis is helping the aliens so he can become leader of the Federation. His motives are actually [[OmnicidalManiac a bit more extreme than that.]]

Context Recap / BlakesSevenS2E13StarOne