After Sally wrote: <Can't say I recall how many times Vila got hit on the head. Anyone done an actual head-count?>
Nico answered: <Up to the end of season 3, 11 times.>
Hell, I *really* wasn't watching :-) I knew he got injured a fair few times (they all did, of course) but I can't even *place* many times he was actually hit on the head :-)
Admittedly I was counting concussions, and included being knocked out accidentally. You could also include the self-inflicted head injury in his Space City binge! And I did the count as a joke in something I'm writing, so I'm not that sad. I hope!
Vila is IMO the most selfish of the lot, there is *no one* he would put ahead of himself if push came to crunch and genuinely cowardly: he does, several times and quite sincerely, argue for deserting one or more of the others in a crisis. He was genuinely ready to ditch Blake
- whom he likes - in Trial, and then there's "Jenna ... let's
run for it,"
Firstly, if I was treated like he was, I'd be pretty selfish too - if no-one cares about me, then I'll have to look after myself. And in 'Trial' he's just lost his only friend, Gan, due to Blake's fanaticism. In 'Volcano', he's quite worried about Tarrant and Dayna, but is ignored as usual. Vila does a fair amount of rescuing, but I guess you could see most as selfish - because he was ordered to as in 'Sand', or needed the person(s) for his survival. Not all though. He follows Kerril after she disappears when he needn't have, he rescues Tarrant on Terminal and tries to go back for Cally, and when Dayna calls for help later on Terminal, he immediately runs to help her (though typically ends up in as much trouble in the pit) when he could have cowered and whimpered in fear.
And I often think while watching SF (and other) series, that most of the characters are unbelievably courageous, to me anyway. I'd be very frightened in most of the situations myself, and I think I'd want to run too (at least I do in nightmares!) I don't think 'd make a good soldier! Vila is one of my favourite SF characters, but he's the only real human in the list - the others are Spock, Data, Garak, Seven, the holographic doctor, G'Kar, Londo, Vir, Aeryn Sun and the other Farscape aliens (except Rigel). There's a pattern, maybe because the humans aren't as realistic as they could be. Most of us aren't heroes. Though I think I'd behave better than poor Vila, at least I hope I would!
Vila is one of life's losers - even machinery like the teleport seems to be against him (Sarcophagus, Power). Maybe his real tragedy is that, like Blake, he doesn't really belong or fit in this time and place at all ...
That he is such a loser is a tragedy. A miserable life that ends miserably.
In a way, I think he was almost an adolescent personality in the first 3 seasons, and grew up a bit in season 4, losing unfortunately the better child-like things about him - his bounce, resilience, and cheerfulness, and keeping the worst (fear, selfishness).
Nico
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