Fiona Moore wrote:
Now, as to the question of showing or not showing sexual interest in one gender or the other: let me, at this point, give a parallel example from "Weapon." Now, I think I'm right in saying that it seems to be more or less accepted that Carnell is bisexual.
Er, I don't regard that as accepted. I mean, I think it's a perfectly reasonable interpretation, but I don't think it's clear enough that I'd regard it as canonical. (Given, of course, my "canon is only what's on the screen" POV.)
What about the way Blake touches Avon's elbow in "Redemption?" That seems to me to be about on par with some of the examples you mentioned for Jenna.
The scene:
Blake is being menaced by one of the Liberator's cables, which has taken on a life of its own.
Er, nope, that's not the scene I meant. Sorry for the confusion. The scene I was thinking of is earlier, on the flight deck. Blake has been giving Avon instructions on all the various repairs, etc. he wants Avon to do. Then he touches Avon on the elbow and turns to leave. (And Avon says "Is that all? What shall I do with the other hand?," a semi-favorite line of mine.) Avon's reaction, admittedly, is very cold and aloof, but he's very snarky with Blake throughout that whole episode (more than usual, I mean). I suspect they'd had a between-episodes tiff and he wasn't remotely ready to make up. ;)
It can easily be speculated (and, indeed, has been by many) that the reason we pretty much only see Avon and Blake touching "suggestively" is when there's been an explosion or something is because Avon uses stuff like that as an excuse. :) (Actually, I could make a semi-reasonable grounded-in-canon case that we see that happening in "Duel." I wouldn't expect you to believe it for a moment, of course, but if you wanna hear it, just ask. I think I'm about posted out for right now...)
If you're talking about the "Do I have a choice?" scene, the contact is slightly longer than usual but no more than is necessary given that there has just been an explosion; Blake's eyes are quite cold and we don't actually see Avon's. Way ahead of you :).
Yes, that's the one, but it seems a *lot* longer than necessary to me. Long enough that, if I were Blake (and wasn't OK with the idea of Avon clinging to me), I would have started to feel *very* uncomfortable. Note that "Oh, he was worried that the ship would take another hit and was clinging to Blake for stability" is not a valid argument, as they had *plenty* of warning before each impact, and he could easily have let go of Blake and braced himself against something more suitable.