Marian said:
And that's exactly what makes the episode so incomprehensible to me. Avon is acting on the outside chance that the message is real and Blake needs rescueing. Therefor I would expect Avon to want to get Blake out of the mess and not choose a course that will only make Avon end up in captivity too.
Remember Avon too isn't entirely sure the whole thing isn't genuine. I forget the exact dialogue between himself and servalan, but it runs along the lines of him recognising that it could quite possibly be a trap, but after having Zen analyse the recordings of Blakes voice the message could be genuine and therefore worth a look. now he doesn't want to jeapordise the Liberator in the first instance, so he makes it his risk. If he advises the crew to bugger off once he's on planet, the Liberator is safe theoretically. Either way there's a gamble involved.
does he really calculate properly? well given he's thinking on his feet with limited sleep, he's bound to make a mistake...or two. he obviously doesn't count on the others and the human curiosity factor. what are you doing avon? Tarrant tries to bully it out of him and gets a harder shove back and all the mystery and secrecy feeds that curiosity and the desire to "Help".
What's confusing is what motivates him. The short answer can only be he needs Blake. He proves it again in the Blake episode. A figure head, a rabble rouser and a good one. Blakes charisma outweighs Avon's when it comes to pure leadership. Which is ironic in the end, because it shows a turn in Avon's character incongruent with the previous Blake - Avon relationship.
He rids himself of Blake, through circumstances and finally gets what he wants. yet when the oportunity finally arrives he makes a conscious an overtly determined effort to reacquire the very person he was the least fond of. Avon needs Blake - badly.
sorry to all the avon fans out there, I love the character too, but it's interesting don't you think. I like the way this series allows for "characters" to be so pivotal in it's logical/illogical continuence. Their individual selfishness and idiosyncracies amusing us, surprising us, confusing us and annoying us. Brilliant, just plain brilliant. well, with the odd episodal exception!
Nothings so difficult as a beginning/ In poesy, unless perhaps the end. Byron.
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