(David argued that since every episode has a winner at its end, so Games too has a winner, and Belkov is the winner at end of Games)

David >> With the exceptions of Terminal and Animals, every episode has a winner at the end. Winner is defined as some improvement in the life or assets of the winner.

Marian > I can agree with most of the list but not with

D >> Breakdown - Gan

M > He's still stuck with his limiter, so it seems stalemate rather than an improvement.

D Gan was suffering on three points: 1. If Avon is right, then the limiter was feeding scrambled impulses into Gan's brain; 2. The Mechanical Doctor said, "Condition must be relieved if permanent brain damage is to be avoided"; 3. Gan was in pain.

None of these applied after Breakdown. So I view Gan as winner.

D >> Shadow - Bek

M > He's lost his sister (as far as we can see his only family member left) and being returned to Terra Nostra territory by Blake makes his chances for survival rather bleak.

D Bek would disagree that he was a winner after Hannah's death ("Oh, yes, just another Dreamhead"). He is now free of having to provide for his family's addiction to Shadow, and he is a loose cannon in Space City.

Also he knows who the Terra Nostra are and can use the knowledge. For example, if the Terra Nostra caught him, he could threaten to release this information in the event of his death. If the Federation caught him, he could say he has lost his family to Shadow, and that he is fighting Shadow. The admixture of both sides of the law can be used in Bek's favour.

D >> Pressure Point - Veron, all Rebels

M > Veron has lost her mother along with her whole rebel group.

D Oops. I was thinking mythically - Veron becomes the new Earth-Goddess, that sort of thing - since I am writing her mother's Back-Story. Kasabi can have no better death than on Earth and during a raid on Federation Central Control that was. When the story is finished (I have nearly done her father's story), I may raise the issue of Veron again, but few people seem to like her.

M > Left behind on Earth, her survival chances seem as slim as Bek's. (Although Kasabi may have arranged for a 'safe house' for her.)

D Thanks for the idea - I may use it. Veron is privy to some important knowledge. She could use the knowledge to gain survival in a desperate situation.

The last time we see Veron, she is in the Building in the Zone, close to the surface, say, three floors down. There are no troops around

Avon: One thing is in our favour: there do not seem to be any security forces within the zone. Blake: None at all? Avon: They don't need them. The defence system is totally automated. It is more efficient than any brigade of troops.

And the defence system is de-activated. Troops will come and would capture her if she tarried, but they are in no hurry (See Servalan's and Travis' "eventually").

D >> Trial - Blake, Zil

M > Zil dies. To quote Vila: "If that's winning, I'll take losing every time."

D Quite right. I was thinking of Zil's children. I should have written Travis. Travis and Blake were the winners at the end of Trial.

D >> Killer - Passing Traffic

M > I'd add Servalan, since Blake's plague warning prevented her from landing on the contaminated planet.

D I missed that completely. Blake saved Servalan against Avons' wishes. That is a worthy addition to the list.

D >> Rumors of Death - Avon

M > Although he probably wished he hadn't bothered.

D He is relieved of a burden. The thoughts and history he was lugging around were a huge burden. He may even have come to feel relieved. Rumours is a gain for Avon (a la Bek and Hannah).

D >> Animals - Og (?)

M > I'd say the viewers - having managed to watch it through to the end gives such a profound feeling of achievement :-) (Sorry, Una.)

D This one disturbs my argument. Terminal can be a valid exception to the rule of winners every episode, but Animals has no special or unusual redeeming or mitigating points that are more important than Terminal. (It is a good programme in itself, by the way.)

They messed about with Og and caused him pain, so it may have been a gain for him to die, like Dorian's partner at the end of Rescue. That was my reasoning but it doesn't quite work. Og doesn't really belong on the list. My argument needs a better winner from Animals before it can say Belkov survived. And in any case, Gambit can take the honour.

Thanks M and HM.

DC