Sally wrote:
Ian W wrote: <In this episode Blake is taking command. After telling Avon all about discussing plans, he just decides where they are going on his own.
Blake's
idea that "If you don't like what he wants to do you can leave" is not particularly democratic!>
<gurgle> Blake wanted freedom and power in the hands on the *honest man*, remember? Unfortunately, precious few of them ever set foot on Zen's
flight
deck ...
LOL! How true! Do you think this theme - of Blake surrounding himself with dishonest people - is carried all the way into the final episode?
He's autocratic by nature (and probably nurture ... where would *any* of
Our
Heroes learn what the word democratic actually means?) and a democrat by belief and principle. Once he's *got* control - here - *then* he then
seems
to encourage discussion and input.
OK - I agree that I was being sloppy. He isn't a democrat and neither are any of the rest of the crew (as ar as we know), BUT not only does Blake not discuss what the "team" will do next, it is so far from what they were expecting that they appear surprised. This is the odd thing for me - I can see that some one needs to take charge but this doesn't mean that every decision has to be a surprise for the rest of them. Couldn't these potential rebels at least have discussed what bases to attack and why? I don't recall Blake telling them that they were just going to get a ship and hang out in space for a while. Blake was pretty clear about the fact that they were going to be taking part in a rebellion.
As for waht democracy actually means, I think the crew do know based on their knowledge of non-federation worlds where politicians need to get elected (e.g., that bloke in Bounty - er... Sarkoff).
Tying this into your other comments about not being able to plan a war (see SLD).... its true that not all actions in wartime are easy to forsee, but surely this doesn't prevent war leaders from having a basic plan. Specifically, in SLD Blake and the gang could have deciede beforehand who would be on watch, who would guard the prisoners, and particularly, who would set the charges. In addition, all this ad hoc running around almost gets Gan killed by Blake (of course we have to wait a little longer for this really to happen - foreshadowing anyone ;-)) On the other hand, it seems realistic that in SLD they don't know where the cipher room is, and that the cipher equipment is difficult to disconnect.
Lets see if the discussions of what actions to take and Blakes planning efforts improve in future episodes :-^. After all, this was their first reall effort.
-Iain