Natasha wrote:
On GP, Blake still relies on his ability to intuit others, probably more than he relies on any computer.
That's not what we're told in the episode. We're told that he's lost that ability and he knows he's lost it.
BLAKE: Where did you get that gun? ARLEN: I won it in a lottery. What do you care? BLAKE: I don't, so long as it wasn't issued to you. ARLEN: It's Federation. BLAKE: That's what I mean. ARLEN: Do I look like one of theirs? BLAKE: I can't really tell anymore.
As if Boucher wanted to make sure the audience understood that point, he repeats it later:
ARLEN: Your friend Blake said he couldn't tell anymore who was Federation and who wasn't. He was right. He couldn't.
Another indication of Blake's singularly focused mindset is his belief that Tarrant's passing the test makes everything all right. Passing his test is the be all and end all for Blake: someone passes the test and he can relax his guard. It's Arlen who has to point out that it's not a good idea to let Tarrant run loose.
I've never said Blake didn't have reason to become the man we saw on Gauda Prime. They were all stressed beyond human endurance. This isn't an attack on Blake. It's an attempt to understand what Chris Boucher intended when he wrote the script. And specifically, why he mentioned an eyepatch just like Travis' in the script notes.
Carol