"Spacefall"

Olag Gan's first appearance is on the London. His first line is below, though he appears earlier in the episode. He is knowledgable enough to avoid the suppressant drugs fed to the prisoners, and independent enough to join Blake's group of mutineers. Later, he uses his physical strength to overpower guards at various points.

JENNA: [To Blake] And Gan and Nova.
BLAKE: Are there any others?
JENNA: The rest are doped to the eyeballs.
VILA: Perhaps we should get on with it, do you think, maybe?
GAN: Maybe. Don't be so nervous, Vila.
VILA: Nervous? I'm not nervous. Just...poised for action, that's all.

One of my favorite Gan lines is:
GAN: Look, we only need the hand. If you want to stay attached to it, do as you're told.

"Cygnus Alpha"
In this episode, Gan's leadership abilities are seen. For example, he is protective of Vila (we do not learn if he was protective also of Nova or anyone else).

ARCO: [grabs Vila] Are you going to shut your mouth or have I got to do it for you?
GAN: Only if you're lying down, cause if you touch him again, I'm going to break your arms and legs off.

Gan takes the lead in walking out of the holding area.

GAN: What else is there? I mean we don't have much choice do we? Right.

GAN: We're going to have to see what's out there sooner or later.
VILA: Let's all go. Uh no, on the other hand, let's all stay.
GAN: I'll take a look.

Trivia: Gan is the first member of the regular cast to be kissed on-screen when the priestess Kara kisses him, in fact participates in the only first-series regular cast kiss.

When offered a chance to escape Vargas' theocratic dictatorship, Gan takes the risk of backing Blake.

BLAKE: The choice is very simple. You can either fight or you can die.
Well?
GAN: [moves to stand beside Blake] Well, I'm with you.

"Time Squad"
This is the episode in which we first learn of Gan's limiter.

Orac fact: In either the writers' guide or an earlier script, I believe Gan's "woman" was referred to as his wife. I can't remember who I heard that from, it might have been Terry, at a con, or another fan who had researched those sources.

JENNA: What about you? Are you going to stick with [Blake]?
GAN: I have to. I...I want to stay alive. And to do that I need
people I can rely on. I can't be on my own.
JENNA: What do you mean? [pause] Gan?
GAN: I killed a security guard. They said it was murder. But he had
a gun. I was unarmed. You see, he killed my woman.

Gan has an interesting relationship with Avon, sometimes insulting him.
AVON: A blow for freedom.
GAN: Yes, our freedom. For a clever man you're not very bright.

In "Time Squad" Gan uses the Liberator's medical technology to heal Jenna's injury, already knowing the tech's capabilities, as if he's been researching it. Jenna obviously has not seen the regenerator before. This makes sense in light of his limiter.

The revelation:
GAN: Jenna, couldn't stop them. Couldn't stop them. Implant.
JENNA: What! Brain implants.
GAN: Limiter. Not possible for me to kill now.

Gan's moral sense is demonstrated at the end of the episode:

JENNA: What are we going to do about the projectile?
BLAKE: Dump it in deep space.
JENNA: Thanks a lot.
GAN: I don't like the sound of that. It's murder.

"Seek-Locate-Destroy"
Gan takes part in the raid on Centero and sets explosives. This episode is the first in which we see him pilot the ship.

BLAKE: Gan, get the ship moving. Full interceptor evasion.
GAN: Check. Zen, battle computers to interceptor evasion. Then take
us out. Speed standard by six.
ZEN: Your instructions are confirmed. Speed is now standard by six.

"Breakdown"

This is Gan's big episode, when his limiter malfunctions; he gets to chew a great deal of scenery, and Avon knees him in the groin.

BLAKE: The limiter is supposed to cut in when stress drives him to the point where he might kill.

AVON: What about Gan?
BLAKE: He's still out. We've run the diagnostic checks, it might show up something.
AVON: Yes. And that something will tell you what you already know. Why don't you face it?
BLAKE: Because I don't know what to do about it! And if it is the limiter, I don't know how we can help him. Unless neurosurgery is one of your particular talents.
AVON: Unfortunately, no.
BLAKE: Suppose Zen gave us the necessary information and detailed instructions.
AVON: Oh, come on, Blake! This is not something you do by numbers, not even highly sophisticated ones. This is an area that has remained the exclusive province of specialists.
BLAKE: Yes, I know, I know.
AVON: There are quicker ways that you could kill him, but there are none more certain.

The medical details:
VOICE: Severe neurological disturbance centered in the zero three zone sub four section of the cerebrum. Condition must be relieved if permanent brain damage is to be avoided.
BLAKE: Prognostication?
VOICE: Rapid deterioration to terminal condition.

BLAKE: Is there a fault?
AVON: I'm not sure. That section seems to be burned out. That could cause a conductivity loss.
JENNA: Would that account for what's happening to him?
AVON: It's not my field, but if I am right, then the limiter is feeding scrambled impulses into his brain.

Based on this episode, I speculate that limiters are not common devices. At Eclecticon in 1996, we discussed the possibility that it might have been experimental.

"Shadow"

In this episode, Gan seems to be a sort of conscience for Blake.

GAN: And if you can stomach doing business with the Terra Nostra.
BLAKE: We're going to use them, Gan, not do business with them.
AVON: A subtle distinction that escapes me for the moment.
BLAKE: Now don't tell me you have a moral objection to using their organization to infiltrate Earth?
AVON: Of course not.
GAN: Well, I have.
BLAKE: Think, Gan, think what they've got: men, material, information. Think what we could do with a fraction of the resources they control.
GAN: No, you think, Blake. Think what it is they control. Everything dirty, degrading, and cruel on just about every colonized world.

and

BLAKE: We chose the wrong approach, that's all.
GAN: Is that all? I thought maybe we'd chosen the wrong people to get involved with.

and

GAN: The drug in return for their help? Blake, that would make us pushers.
BLAKE: Well, maybe we won't keep our end of the bargain.
GAN: And that would make us cheats.
BLAKE: That will make us winners, Gan. That's the only excuse for fighting.

One of Gan's main characteristics is his strongly moral belief structure. This is my speculation: Gan may have had some prior experience with the Terra Nostra; he seems to know a lot about them. Or he might have just picked up his knowledge from general sources or on the London.

Another bit of dialogue I like is later in this episode, because it gives us a glimpse of the man who murdered an armed Federation guard with his bare hands:

BEK: ...Largo's on his way up in the organization. One sign of weakness and he'll be on his way down again, probably minus his head.
GAN: Now there's a happy thought.
AVON: It's a pity we won't live to see it. GAN: We're not dead yet.

Later in the episode, he is obviously reluctant and bitter about having to participate in the raid on Zondawl.

"Weapon"

Despite his disagreements with Blake in "Shadow," Gan is still loyal to Blake and the cause of freedom:

CALLY: Sooner or later, Blake is going to attack Federation Central Control on Earth itself.
VILA: Later. Much later.
AVON: And alone, probably.
JENNA: I doubt that.
GAN: He wouldn't be alone if you just left him, Avon.
AVON: You would stay with him? GAN: Yes.

Gan has brains--well, we knew that--but here is an example:

GAN: That doesn't sound very promising. Someone must have made an attack on the base...I mean, they wouldn't have called a maximum alert if someone had just deserted.

"Horizon"

Gan disparages his own abilities in this episode.

CALLY: How is the lesson?
GAN: Difficult.
CALLY: Well, Orac isn't exactly the ideal teacher.
GAN: Well, I'm not exactly the ideal pupil.
ORAC: That is because you are too easily distracted.

Was the lesson on the teleport? That is where Gan is sitting.

Andrew Williams: In the script it says Orac is teaching Gan astronavigation, which does sound hard--Gan is not so stupid as to need extra coaching on the teleport! It just happens that the teleport bay is where they are sitting, because if you had a spaceship as large as the Liberator, you would naturally only occupy two rooms, wouldn't you? Like in "Terminal" where Dayna, Cally, and Tarrant all amuse themselves playing a game there instead of someone's cabin or a recreation room!

"Pressure Point"
Gan again shows his medical skills in this episode, when he deals with Veron's wound.

And his big death scene:

[a door starts to come down in front of Blake and the others.]
GAN: The door! [He rushes forward and braces it open while the others pass through.]
BLAKE: Now, come on, Gan, hurry, come on, come on.
JENNA: Blake!
[At the door in the white corridor. It has closed, catching Gan's leg.]
GAN: My leg! Blake! Go! I'm not worth dying for! [More chunks of masonry crash down. When it stops Blake is lying stunned just in front of Gan.]
BLAKE: [Stirs] Gan! Gan. [Holds Gan's head. Gan dies in his arms, and Blake lowers his body gently to the floor. He shakes his head.] No. [After a few seconds he leaves.]

"Trial"
Gan was not immediately forgotten:

VILA: He was straightforward, wasn't always expecting to be cheated and double-crossed--not like us. He trusted people--he trusted Blake completely.

Gan.

Sponsored LinksYour Ad Here

---