Blake's 7 Online - Horizon, the B7 Appreciation Society

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Blake's 7 Online - Horizon, the B7 Appreciation Society :: General :: Blake's 7 Discussion (Classic B7)

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Jenna
dragonq	#1 Posted on 08-09-2009 10:34
Gamma Grade Posts: 120 Joined: 08.09.09	Hello everybody: such withdrawal symptoms over the past few days! I don't have anything particular to write at the moment, but felt I absolutely had to get the Jenna thread up and going again for all my fellow Jenna fans out there to feel at home in! Please feel free to contribute again.


Website Mutoid	#2 Posted on 08-09-2009 10:38
Administrator Posts: 62 Joined: 06.09.09	(OT: Kudos to dragonq for being the creator of the very first non-staff thread at the new site!) _____________________ I Thought I'd Finally Got A Life - Then I Got An iPhone


Ms Wooster	#3 Posted on 08-09-2009 10:59
Moderator Posts: 1165 Joined: 07.09.09	And kudos from me too, for making Jenna's thread the first new non-staff thread on the new website! It's kind of on topic- does anyone know where I could find any other cool Jenna avatars? I felt like rolling with the change with Horizon, and found this new avatar amongst my stuff, but am clueless where I downloaded it from. And am keen to look at some more. "Everything in life that’s any fun, as somebody wisely observed, is either immoral, illegal or fattening." P.G. Wodehouse


Lurena	#4 Posted on 08-09-2009 11:06
Alpha Grade Posts: 1629 Joined: 08.09.09	Hi dragon, Website Mutoid and Ms Wooster! Ms Wooster shall I take alook for you in my archieve? Edited by Lurena on 08-09-2009 11:06


linzibean	#5 Posted on 08-09-2009 15:08
Gamma Grade Posts: 121 Joined: 08.09.09	there are a couple of users on livejournal who make lovely avatars - try looking in the Blake's 7 icon community http://community....m/b7icons/ http://linzibean.livejournal.com/


saba	#6 Posted on 08-09-2009 19:54
Alpha Grade Posts: 1714 Joined: 08.09.09	I've been trying to think of something that will spark off some discussion about Jenna. There was so much good stuff on the last Forum, and so much has been said already. Anyway, this is about the best I can manage at the moment. Did Blake value Jenna more as a person than as a pilot? For who she was or for what she does?


dragonq	#7 Posted on 09-09-2009 00:32
Gamma Grade Posts: 120 Joined: 08.09.09	saba wrote: Did Blake value Jenna more as a person than as a pilot? For who she was or for what she does? Now that is a really hard question. I am inclined to think that his response would have changed over time. Do you know, I think the old Blake had a tendency to say everyone is of worth because that is a philosophical standpoint he espouses (even though it never stopped him blowing up Federation guards and sundry others who got in his way), but that he also had a tendency to assess every one who crossed his path for their potential usefulness to The Cause. The thing about the crew is that (quite deliberately on the part of Terry Nation) each and every one of them had their own special talent. I think some of them were more essential talents than others--they could, for example, probably have got by without VIla, even though his skills enabled them to do certain things they could not otherwise have tackled. Jenna, however, is really essential. And I think that would certainly have been the thing Blake most valued and cultivated in her at the outset. Later on, I think he probably valued her for her personal qualities as well, maybe to the point where he valued her more for who she was, rather than what she did. I really do think he loved her after his own fashion, but that The Cause always came first. But underneath, I think he always had his eye on her usefulness both as a pilot and a second in command, which is really what she was while she was on the ship. Now over to the rest of you to argue otherwise!


dragonq	#8 Posted on 09-09-2009 01:19
Gamma Grade Posts: 120 Joined: 08.09.09	Here's another conversation starter to get us up and running again: which was your favourite Jenna outfit? There was a long formal dress in royal blue which I quite like, though I can't for the life of me remember which episode she wore it in. And I also liked the red dress she wore in The Keeper, the desert gear in Shadow, and the outfit she wore in the very first episode she appeared in. The ones I most disliked were the top with the patchwork quilt effect around the neckline, and the red vinyl affair with the white y-shaped insert, which I always thought was very like an outfit Bill Oddie used to wear on the Goodies. Generally speaking, though there were some unattractive dresses that she wore, I think Jenna did a lot better out of the costume department than some of the other characters.


Lurena	#9 Posted on 09-09-2009 01:38
Alpha Grade Posts: 1629 Joined: 08.09.09	It's just that Jenna is so beautiful, she could wear even unattractive dresses and look stunning! I really can't choose which dress is my favourite..... I need to see her on the catwalk again: Edited by Lurena on 09-09-2009 01:39 .....I want to tell, but I can't..... ...I promised....


BradPaula	#10 Posted on 09-09-2009 02:19
Beta Grade Posts: 1457 Joined: 09.09.09	Anytime I start digging around in Blake's head I get nervous. On London I think he saw Jenna as a pilot, someone indispensable to his plan. Blake certainly valued all his crew as people, as individuals. He cared about them. Otherwise why go back for Cally? The question isn't "Did Blake value Jenna as a person?" but "Did Blake value Jenna as a friend?" or as someone who could be more than a friend? Avon: You could leave, Blake wouldn't try to stop you. Jenna: I know. Watch that scene and tell me Jenna is happy. Okay, I'm rambling. Happens every time I look in Blake's head. There's just too much going on in there. So is Jenna's initial distrust of Cally wholly based on her alien heritage? Cally has quickly forged a bond with Blake based on their shared commitment to the resistance. Something Jenna does not yet share. Is Jenna a tad jealous? Edited by BradPaula on 09-09-2009 02:22 Sum Non Expendere, Sum Non Plumbeus, Sum Non Progressus


Tyce	#11 Posted on 09-09-2009 04:11
Beta Grade Posts: 902 Joined: 09.09.09	dragonq wrote: Hello everybody: such withdrawal symptoms over the past few days! Hello Hello Hello!! Glad to see you all again (metaphorically of course). I've had a serious case of the DT's without you guys and without Horizon!! I have nearly 3 pages of Jenna stuff to help the discussion along. It's kind of a response to Saba's essay. It's at home and I'm currently at work so I can't put it up till tonight - but no prizes for what I'll be doing the second I dive in the door this evening. Hope you are all well....... I used to have a life.......then I found Horizon!


saba	#12 Posted on 09-09-2009 07:46
Alpha Grade Posts: 1714 Joined: 08.09.09	BradPaula wrote: Anytime I start digging around in Blake's head I get nervous. On London I think he saw Jenna as a pilot, someone indispensable to his plan. Blake certainly valued all his crew as people, as individuals. He cared about them. Otherwise why go back for Cally? The question isn't "Did Blake value Jenna as a person?" but "Did Blake value Jenna as a friend?" or as someone who could be more than a friend? Avon: You could leave, Blake wouldn't try to stop you. Jenna: I know. Watch that scene and tell me Jenna is happy. Okay, I'm rambling. Happens every time I look in Blake's head. There's just too much going on in there. So is Jenna's initial distrust of Cally wholly based on her alien heritage? Cally has quickly forged a bond with Blake based on their shared commitment to the resistance. Something Jenna does not yet share. Is Jenna a tad jealous? I think timing is essential in the Time Squad conversation. Blake's down on a planet either about to get himself blown up, or not. Together with Avon and Vila. This is a first for Jenna, and must have been very stressful. She's also dealing with the aliens and being a support for Gan. If there was ever a time to wonder whether she'd like to get out of all this, then this was the time. When Blake first meets Avon, he values him for what he can do, and then comes to value the person later. So there may be a pattern there regarding Jenna. Blake does seem to appreciate attractive women, but we don't see that when he meets Jenna. But as he hadn't a clue what was going on in his head at the time, he was probably distracted. However, it might mean he let her close, before he started to notice her as a female. And that might possibly be significant. Tyce, my sympathies about work. I'm off now. Look forward to reading your reply!


dragonq	#13 Posted on 09-09-2009 08:01
Gamma Grade Posts: 120 Joined: 08.09.09	Getting back to the issue of how important Jenna was, I think it is interesting that when her character got written out, they felt it necessary to replace her with another pilot in the form of Tarrant. I note that they did not feel the urge to replace Gan with another big strong person, or Cally with another telepath. That argues that Jenna's skills were uniquely important in that crew. I doubt the Liberator would have been an easy vessel to fly. Is it any wonder that Blake wanted her in his team? In those early stages, her support was more important than anybody else's. The only other person who was as important in the very early stages was Avon, whose skills were needed on the London to sabotage the computer systems. But Jenna was the only one who could fly the Liberator, and I am sure that this alone would have got Blake's attention right at the outset.


Tarrant On TV	#14 Posted on 09-09-2009 10:04
Gamma Grade Posts: 372 Joined: 08.09.09	I think Jenna's attraction to Blake is initially someone to cling on to. AVON: Have you ever met an honest man? JENNA: (looking at Blake) Perhaps. Being the only woman in a batch of about 50 prisoners headed for a planet with a similar ratio must have been a terrifying thought, even for a woman as tough and independent as Jenna.


dragonq	#15 Posted on 09-09-2009 10:20
Gamma Grade Posts: 120 Joined: 08.09.09	I agree, I have often thought how hideous that experience must have been for Jenna, even if the other prisoners were largely zonked out of their brains. The crew certainly weren't, viz Raiker. But what a strange person to cling to--the man who has been convicted as a child molester! Hasn't this struck anyone else as really peculiar? OK, so Blake told them he had been framed, but what do you think everyone else was saying about why they were there? And what does this say about Jenna's psychology? Edited by dragonq on 09-09-2009 10:28


Tarrant On TV	#16 Posted on 09-09-2009 11:45
Gamma Grade Posts: 372 Joined: 08.09.09	dragonq wrote: I agree, I have often thought how hideous that experience must have been for Jenna, even if the other prisoners were largely zonked out of their brains. The crew certainly weren't, viz Raiker. But what a strange person to cling to--the man who has been convicted as a child molester! Hasn't this struck anyone else as really peculiar? OK, so Blake told them he had been framed, but what do you think everyone else was saying about why they were there? And what does this say about Jenna's psychology? Hence the reply of "perhaps" I think. I think it's just the strength of Blake's personality. He is very credible. Plus he had five months to convince Jenna and the others he was on the level.


saba	#17 Posted on 09-09-2009 12:51
Alpha Grade Posts: 1714 Joined: 08.09.09	I don't think either Blake or Jenna see each other for who they really are when they met. Jenna's reaction is cynical disbelief, when Blake puts his foot in it by protesting his innocence to her. Completely the wrong thing to say to a woman who's having to be very hard and cope with a very difficult situation. She's amused and scornful, if anything. So she doesn't notice the forceful, charismatic, "honest" man until she has had to re-evaluate her initial reaction. Blake on the other hand is so pre-occupied with trying to get out of the situation he finds himself in, not to mention most of his memory being missing, that he doesn't seem to notice her either. I'm sure this is deliberate. And perhaps why they both manage somehow to get under each others' radars. It doesn't take long, though, for Jenna to re-evaluate and for Blake to notice. "They share a moment of understanding" the script says, when she confides her fears to him. And being able to confide her fears to anybody at that point I see as a huge thing for her to do.


Tyce	#18 Posted on 09-09-2009 14:54
Beta Grade Posts: 902 Joined: 09.09.09	I've put my letter about Jenna up as an article. It's rather long (2 to 3 pages) so I thought an article was better than an posting. It doesn't seem to appear yet - I assume it has to be cleared by the Moderators before it will show up. Anyway keep an eye out - please comment after you've read it. I look forward to a deep and meaningful Jenna discussion. Edited by Tyce on 09-09-2009 14:56 I used to have a life.......then I found Horizon!


Website Mutoid	#19 Posted on 09-09-2009 15:16
Administrator Posts: 62 Joined: 06.09.09	Your letter has been added to the article as a comment, rather than as a seperate article. Interesting stuff! The article & comment(s): http://www.blakes...ticle_id=9 _____________________ I Thought I'd Finally Got A Life - Then I Got An iPhone


Tyce	#20 Posted on 09-09-2009 15:20
Beta Grade Posts: 902 Joined: 09.09.09	Website Mutoid wrote: Your letter has been added to the article as a comment, rather than as a seperate article. Interesting stuff! The article & comment(s): http://www.blakes...ticle_id=9 Cool, thank you. I used to have a life.......then I found Horizon!