Blake's 7 - Sarcophagus (1980)
Does Cally need an exorcist?
I originally wanted to blag about the previous episode Children Of Auron. Blake's 7 is about the struggle of formally (for the time being) rebel Blake & his struggle against Servalan & her evil Terran Federation empire. However, we got other episodes involving other Human enemies. Space-mobsters, space-pirates, assassins, berserkers, etc, even a murder mystery ala Agatha Christie, aboard a space freighter.
But, we also got alien episodes as well... Sarcophagus is a definite favourite. It wasn't at first. I purchased a VHS, my first. From a charity shop & lost all interest at the long opener. Shamed as I am by this fact & purchasing more since then, I can appreciate it's experimental beginning, method in madness. We're treated to a royal alien chamber, where grey-skinned Humanoid aliens pay a morbid tribute to our nemesis, complete with jester, musician, & warrior. Just one "minor" inconvenience in black.
Our mostly, not so heroic crew of the Liberator encounter a strange, alien craft with no visible means of propulsion. Simply for aesthetic design by Human comprehension. After boarding, it's clear that it's a highly advanced tomb & Cally fires at some shadow presence. After almost being blown to smithereens by a self-destruct mechanism & bringing a strange, Easter Egg-like object aboard, the crew, mostly Cally, sense an evil presence aboard the Liberator.
It seems we've got ourselves a haunted spaceship! The entity possesses Cally & tries to take over the ship, using Vila, Tarrant, & Dayna more as slaves, pets, than servants! But her Achilles Heel is her ring (pretty precious) & Avon is the non-equal to the equation that dooms her to further purgatory of nothingness. Avon gives her the kiss of death whilst using purse-snatching skills to rob her of power.
So, to why this is fab. We've got a ghost story here, albeit alien. The Liberator has detected a UFO. Yet Avon is more interested in gathering minerals from an asteroid, Vila, on the other hand, moans that he's had no luck with aliens followed by Tarrant's very truthful response of his lack of luck with Humans either. Vila performs to a ghost audience before realising he's doing so! Avon & Tarrant go loggerheads to the point that they come close to killing each other. An ongoing theme between the two of them. With Blake gone, Avon could've commanded the Liberator, then came Tarrant....
But mention must be made to our alien enemy. She's creepy at first, with the haunting via her tomb & sarcophagus. Very much like the Goa'uld on Stargate SG-1 complete with a sarcophagus, she wants the crew to serve her as pets more than servants or slaves!
She's Millennia old (after rising from the dead, of course) & she wants the Liberator. She foolishly thinks Humans are easy to deal with because of her 'Immortality', she underestimated Avon. We're uniquely treated to a Synth/Folk-Rock song for poor Cally! This is a great example of the alien episodes of this show. It'd be nice to see the possessed Cally, alien entity against Servalan aboard the Liberator. A ghost story of Extra-Terrestrial proportions.
A Goa'uld for all seasons.
Stewart aka Borgduck,
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