These next few are going to be brief. It's my wedding anniversary this week, and I am distracted. But this was a great workout day. I was back under 270 again, which was awesome. As for Blake's 7, well... it was a weird one.

Sarcophagus

(Blake's 7 Wiki Recap)

I have an author friend, Rik Hoskin, whose signature style is science fiction with cosmic dimensions where most of the action takes place not so much on the physical plane but more in higher dimensions with an emphasis of psychological. This one, within the first few minutes, very much reminded me of his work. Turns out it is one of two episodes written by British science fiction legend Tanith Lee. Sure enough, when I asked Rik he said that he counts her as one of his major influences. Big surprise.

The story is the only one in the series to not mention the Federation at any point, and to have no credited guest actors. The whole thing is arguably a "bottle episode", aside from the opening setup. It begins with a very strange funeral sequence, A group of mysterious figures in robes conjure up a series of images around the titular sarcophagus, ultimately interring the body in a space capsule and launching it into space. Millennia later, the crew of the Liberator stumbles across it.

The interred alien turns out to be not entirely dead, and possessed of some kind of psychic ability that allows it to feed of Cally. This marks the second story this season in which Jen Chappell plays two characters -- the last time playing both Cally and her clone sister, this time playing Cally and the physical manifestation of the alien. Lots of surreal stuff happens as the alien slowly dominates the crew, up until Avon gets clever enough to figure out its weak point (a gaudy ring) and destroy it ("it" being both the ring, and subsequently the alien). 

That description does not even come close to doing the episode justice. It is beautifully shot, and plays like a fever-dream. It is unlike any other Blake's 7 story to date, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then again, I dig weird surreal stuff. That's probably why Rik Hoskin is my friend....

STATS:

Episode(s): Blake's 7: Sarcophagus
Steps Walked: 7,055 today, 4,890,924 total
Distance Walked: 3.11 miles today, 2,533.74 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 12,140 total
Sit-ups Completed: 100 today, 7,465 total
Weight: 271.58 lbs (five day moving average), net change -35.72 lbs