Stranded on a planet by Servalan, Avon (Paul Darrow) and Dayna discover that the ship which was so kindly left for them has been booby-trapped. It explodes when one of the natives of the planet climbs aboard. Avon quickly surmises that the same will be true of the base. They rush back to warn the others but are too late; Cally is buried under the rubble. Fortunately, Dorian arrives and takes them back to his base. Dorian has a ship called Scorpio with a computer named Slave. He also has an extensive base on Xenon. He takes the survivors of the Liberator with him and introduces them to Soolin (Glynis Barber), a fearless quick-drawing gunfighter. Unsurprisingly, Dorian has a distorted image of himself stored in the basement.
The adventures resume with a new ship, a secret base, a new recruit, and a growing desire to fight the Federation. Servalan - who had been presumed killed when the Liberator exploded - has survived, but is no longer president of the Federation. She is seeking to claw her way back to power, often using Avon and his band to advance her goals. Some of the episodes are too convenient. Right out the gate, the crew manage to equip Scorpio with a teleporter. Wow, something that was unique in the galaxy to the Liberator is already integrated into Scorpio. Handy. Soon after, they get their hands on an advanced engine so that, once again, they can outrun Federation ships.
One of the saddest things about the show is how no one, except the crew of Scorpio, ever realizes how Servalan never keeps her deals. Again and again, some idiot agrees to a deal with her only to get betrayed. How is it that these fools keep believing her? These supposedly brilliant or cunning people all think they will be the one to survive a bargain with Servalan. Nope. It starts to grate that this storyline repeats.
Some of the costumes were truly outlandish. The Space Rats - who were like punk rockers with mohawk hair and ridiculously painted faces - were beyond silly. They were like drooling idiots who just happened to fly vehicles with the most powerful engines in the Federation. Sigh. Possibly the worst episode of the entire show.
The show concludes with the return of Blake (Gareth Thomas), who is now a bounty hunter on an isolated world. During a conversation with Tarrant (Steven Pacey), he tells the story of Jenna's (Sally Knyvette) death. Avon hopes to recruit him as a figurehead for the rebellion. Instead, he kills Blake for betraying the cause. Or so he thought. No sooner has Blake breathed his last than Federation troops storm the facility and gun down everyone.
Wow, brave cliffhanger. And then the series was canceled. Gareth Thomas agreed to appear only if Blake was unambiguously killed. Paul Darrow spent his later years trying to revive the show. He had envisioned an older Avon mentoring a new band of rebels to fight the Federation.
Overall, a good show. This series was weak. Avon is the best part of the show. His willingness to toss Vila into space in the episode Orbit was one of the highlights of this final series. In the final few episodes, Soolin developed into an interesting character. Tarrant became less obnoxious this series. Slave was more annoying than funny. Why would anyone program a computer to be constantly apologetic? I preferred Zen. Or even Orac. Interestingly, both of those and Slave were voiced by the same actor.
Recommended.
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