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From: "Jenny Kaye" jennycat55@hotmail.com

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So what you're saying is that Gan is using the guardians to terrorise Jenna?

Yes.

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But she didn't seem very terrorised, does she?

No, but then she couldn't very well at 7 at night twenty years ago :). Frequently programmes of the era do pull their punches, owing to television conventions-- Doctor Who, around the same time, had gotten into trouble for ignoring these and being "too dark." Directed with fewer restrictions by somebody like Douglas Camfield, "Time Squad" could conceivably have had the air of a stalker flick, but the conventions of the time prevented this.

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Jenna is on the surface of the planet, and Gan is with her-- so you're saying he wants to kill her and that's why he sees the women?

Makes sense, doesn't it?

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when he

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does, he says "I hope my limiter hasn't malfunctioned." In "Project Avalon," we see Gan washing down a pill with water, after Avalon's appeared on the ship, and fairly shortly before he attacks her.

That's right-- he goes for her throat with both hands, doesn't he? But the android looks like a woman, so how is it he can do that?

Following my scenario, because of the way it acts. When he attacks the android, it doesn't act scared, or react like a real person would. Hence no emotional response from Gan, and no limiter kick-in.

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People on their own, OK, but in Breakdown he attacks Avon. Doesn't fit.

He attacks Avon because Avon has up until this point been very insulting and dismissive of him. Notice that when attacking Avon, Gan goes for the computers-- this is a bit like Blake going for Sarkoff's records, attacking something which he knows is important to him. He doesn't consider the danger to the ship, because Gan is not the brightest of sparks at the best of times, and can think from A to B, but not from B to C.

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In "Time Squad," Jenna gives Gan a gun and tells him to deal with the guardians, and he takes it, but doesn't do it. Isn't that a bit against the grain?

No-- she tells him to do it, but there's nothing in the rules that says he *has* to follow orders, just that he can't unless he's been told to or the group approves. Instead of doing what she says, a more likely scenario is that he waited until the Guardians had gone and hid in the ship, having opened the door and let them out. It's unlikely that they would fight him there, as they wouldn't risk damage to the brood units. Notice that she calls into the ship, and we see his hand move-- he's conscious, but he doesn't groan or cry out (interestingly, too, it's his *left* hand, here and when we see it twitching in Breakdown-- the left hand, of course, literally meaning "sinister") His intention, presumably, is to draw her out where she will be attacked and listen to the resulting fight. This does happen-- but his limiter kicks in. Interestingly, after this he starts becoming protective of her-- possibly because her terror sparks his limiter and puts him in pain, so he wants to avoid that.

The next scene though might seem to contradict that. Jenna enters the teleport bay and is attacked by the Guardian; they fight. Gan enters a minute later and tries to shoot the Guardian and can't. However, there's two things going on. First of all, Jenna never calls out to him or asks for his help, so he hasn't been ordered to kill. Second of all, he doesn't enter straight away but apparently hangs back a bit, and presumably (intentionally?) hears Jenna in trouble. As I said above, this undoubtedly puts him in a lot of pain, and he knows the only way this can go away is if he shoots the Guardian. However, the limiter is active, and is preventing him from killing-- so, ironically, he can't kill the Guardian, even though if he did so it would save Jenna.

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I don't know about that, though, Fiona. I remember "Survivors," and IIRc, the tramp acted pretty lascivious before that, and then it built to a climax with the murder, and then it built up again when he was found out and then he dies a couple of episodes later. So there's hints along the way, a climax and a resolution. You don't get that with Gan in B7-- what you're saying is you get the flagging, but no resolution.

Ah, but you might have. As I think I've demonstrated, all of Nation's stories for B7 are tightly plotted and are internally consistent, all, that is except Pressure Point. Strange, that...

This is going to be my last post to Lysator for a few weeks, I'm afraid. I've got a heavy term ahead of me and I've taken on a few too many outside things as well. I'll resubscribe when things aren't so hairy-- but for now, please keep in touch and send any exciting gossip to the above address :).

See you later,

Fiona

The Posthumous Memoirs of Secretary Rontane Dark deeds in the crypt at http://nyder.r67.net

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