Harriet wrote re Voice: <The story would work better if it was a parallel to Shadow and his attempt to recruit the Terra Nostra, and I'd also move it back a bit. That way, the first part of second season could be loosely grouped around Blake attempting to find allies to help him overthrow the Federation, > etc

I like this <g> an it would sharpen the feeling I get in the latter half of 'old walls' closing in on him, his own choices diminishing. On the other hand, there's the feeling of this being a last-minute (albeit illusory) chance for revolution 'without bloodshed', and I like the fact that a few things irrevocably change after Voice: Blake does seem colder and a bit more tired and withdrawn (and his *icy* cruelty towards Travis in the next episode, Gambit, is both notable and not really like him); after a short period of unprecedented amity :-) the relationship between Blake and Avon is definitely *off*-kilter heading straight for the strain of The Keeper and almighty explosion of Star One; Avon breals out in a quite un-Avonish way, dragging Vila (okay, so it wasn't *hard* to drag Vila) with him in Gambit.

And Natasa: <I also agree with you that Blake has probably encountered many 'dissident governers interested only in local issues'. This is quite a realistic assumption, although there's no canonic evidence for it.>

That's what fanfic is for :-)

<Another naive detail in the series, IMO, is that the rebellion's leaders all get on so well. From the very beginning, the whole anti-Federation movement is so harmonious: Bran Foster and his comrades discuss how to help the rebels in the Outer Worlds, cultural center doesn't despise the periphery. There are no fractions with opposed ideological views, personal ambitions or dislikes, conflicting local or territorial interests, stuff that usually brings a revolution to a collapse.>

Though there is one small hint that the different rebel factions are not exactly friends (or even friend-ish) with Avon's blunt "you are the *only* one they will all follow." Possibly Blake's *lack* of conventional ideological stance, the fact that he and the Liberator are somewhat apart from *all* rebel groups, and his lengendary status ensures that he can stay out of whatever back-stabbing and political skullduggery is going on :-) This, of course, would hardly continue once the Federation was dead and gone, but then Blake doesn't IMO expect to be alive then anyway ...

_________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp