Recap / Blakes Seven S 4 E 5 Animals

Dayna's great lost love. Don't do the maths.

Written by Allan Prior.
Directed by Mary Ridge.
Airdate: 26 October 1981.

Dayna tries to recruit Justin, an expert in genetics who was a former tutor of hers, to their cause. Justin is working alone on an abandoned war project to create radiation-resistant Half-Human Hybrid creatures. Unfortunately Tarrant is ambushed by a Federation patrol and has to use Scorpio's new stardrive to escape, attracting the attention of Servalan.

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This episode has the following tropes:

• Aborted Arc: The plan to recruit scientists so their knowledge could be used for an attack on the Federation was the original concept for the season.
• All for Nothing: Justin destroys his research, Servalan accidentally kills Justin as he's escaping, and Ogg catches a bullet during the shootout.
• Amazon Brigade: Servalan has a squad of mutoids.
• Anti-Hero: Avon orders Tarrant to abandon Dayna and take Scorpio back to Xenon Base for repairs. Rather than have a test flight, Avon then insists they proceed immediately to rescue her, but only because if she's captured she might reveal the location of their base.
• Apologizes a Lot
  Slave: Course for base, one three four. I repeat, one three four.
  Tarrant: I have it.
  Slave: Sorry, sir.
  Tarrant: And don't keep saying you're sorry.
  Slave: Sorry, sir.
• Brainwashed: Dayna is programmed to hate Justin through aversion therapy. The scene is somewhat underwhelming due to No Budget for Ludwig Van—involving just Dayan being strapped to a chair-like device and told "You hate him" while being shown Justin's photograph.
• Butt-Monkey: Vila has to enter the glycolene tanks and do repairs. Twice.
  Vila: Why do I get all the dirty jobs?
  Soolin: Type-casting?
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Servalan pushes a button and Dayna screams in agony in her chair.
• Call-Back: Our heroes hope to recruit Justin to manufacture the antidote for Pylene-50.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Servalan has her minions dump Justin's body on the planet after he's killed. The episode ends on Dayna holding his body and weeping. Then we cut to the upbeat credits music!
• Expansion Pack Past: Despite living in isolation with only an adopted sibling and her fugitive father, it's now revealed that Dayna had private tutors, one of whom she had a fling with. As often with this trope, it doesn't work once you do the math.
• Eye Scream: Ardus lost his eyes from a radiation flare during the war.
• Faceless Goons: Servalan's Amazon Brigade wear masks when going down to the planet. Servalan doesn't need any, of course.
• Failure Is the Only Option: As always in this season, a scientist the rebels were planning to recruit gets killed, and the only consolation is that Servalan doesn't get his research either.
• Fantastic Drug: Justin offers Dayna adrenaline and soma.
• Friend or Foe?: Dayna runs for the exit during the confusion of the attack. Servalan fires at her and hits Justin who's right behind her. Then one of Servalan's soldiers kills Ogg as she's firing at Dayna.
• Gone Mad From The Isolation: Well a bit lonely, drunk, and Mad Scientist anyway.
• Horned Humanoid: The Animals. Not sure what use yak horns would be for a Super-Soldier though...
• Hyperspeed Escape: Tarrant has to Run or Die after he encounters a Federation patrol. Unfortunately this only draws Servalan's attention, as she wants to know why a planethopper with a drive faster than anything the Federation has is hanging around an abandoned planet.
• Idiot Ball: Ogg doesn't trust Justin, so Dayna goes to talk to him instead because he would have no reason to distrust her. This ignores the fact that Dayna killed two of the Animals, and was ushered into the bunker by Justin within their sight.
• I Have Your Love Interest: Servalan offers to reverse the aversion therapy on Dayna if Justin works for her.
• Incoming Ham = Slippery Skid: Avon shoots out the lock and charges into Justin's lab, kicks over a chair for no reason then nearly slips on some paper scattered on the floor before recovering his balance to pose dramatically.
• I Need a Freaking Drink:
  • Justin has been coping with his isolation with drink, and downs a bottle when he thinks Dayna has been killed.
  • Vila demands a glass of wine if he has to descend into the gunge pits a second time. Avon agrees to half a glass (which Vila is shown drinking later).
• Just Think of the Potential!: Justin started off as a Federation scientist but now he wants nothing to do with them, hoping to use the Animals for peaceful purposes like cleaning up radiation-contaminated areas.
• Lie Detector: Dayna's chair; it also doubles as a torture device.
• Mad Scientist: Lampshaded; though Justin lacks the Large Ham and lunatic ambition usually associated with this trope.
  Tarrant: I only hope your mad scientist is going to be worth the trouble.
  Dayna: Nothing mad about Justin. At least there wasn't, the last time I saw him.
• Meaningful Name: Bucol II is a habitable but undeveloped world, forested and fertile enough for basic agriculture. In a word, bucolic.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Justin destroys his work in a fit of grief when he thinks the Animals have killed Dayna.
• Only One Name: Justin. Even the Federation files don't reveal his last name!
• Over-the-Top Secret: Double-X information can only be passed verbally, with no stored records.
• Radiation-Immune Mutants: Thanks to genetic engineering.
• The Radio Dies First: Dayna's comm link goes dead for no apparent reason.
• Saying Too Much: Ardus is blind, but as he keeps babbling on about Servalan she realises he's recognised her voice. His reassurances on this matter only seal his fate.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Servalan orders a Security bureaucrat not to file a flight plan when sending Ardus to her. When he says it's against procedure, 'Sleer' reminds him who wrote those procedures. She later calls up the bureaucrat and informs him that the ship carrying Ardus had failed to arrive so he'd better cover things up from his end if he doesn't want to be blamed for not filing the flight plan.
• Shame If Something Happened: Servalan threatens to "rearrange their future quite dramatically" of the family of Ardus if he doesn't start talking about what project Justin was working on.
• Shoot Out the Lock: Avon does this for a Dynamic Entry, even though the underground base he's entering had earlier been stated to be impregnable. It doesn't help that Paul Darrow nearly has a pratfall as he charges inside and the main door is shown to be wide open, which makes you wonder why they didn't just enter that way.
• Signature Style: Allan Prior's favourite "Adrenaline and soma".
• Stop, or I Will Shoot!: Servalan's captain says the Federation patrol opened fire after Scorpio refused to obey a stand-and-be-searched order. However they're shown to just open fire without warning, which is how they took Tarrant by surprise.
• Student/Teacher Romance: Justin was one of several private tutors called in to instruct Dayna while she and her father were in hiding on Sarran. It's implied Justin and Dayna had a romance, or at least had unrequited feelings that have now become romantic.
• Unperson: Servalan has been removed from existence, and implying otherwise can be bad for your health.
• Viewer-Friendly Interface: Unlike most examples in this series, the screen Tarrant is reading the damage report from spells out exactly what he's reading out loud. Everything else has the usual weird symbols.
• Was Once a Man: Federation deserters were used for the original test subjects.
• What the Hell Are You?: Dayna gasps, "Who...what are you?" on seeing Ogg.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The Island of Doctor Moreau IN SPACE!
• Why Are You Looking at Me Like That?: Someone has to descend into the gungy pits of Scorpio and do repairs. Here's looking at you, Vila.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: The whole relationship between Justin and Dayna is full of invokedUnfortunate Implications. The script was originally written for Cally, but changing it to Dayna means that Justin must be a ephebophile or worse if they had a romance six years before the war.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Inverted; as the Animals were originally intended to be radiation-proof soldiers, and now their creator is hoping to use them to rebuild areas that were contaminated during the war. Servalan however would prefer them to be used for their original purpose.
• You Know Too Much: Ardus recognises Servalan's voice. He tries to Verbal Backspace, but Servalan decides You Have Outlived Your Usefulness and has her minions blow up his vessel.