Sally wrote:
Mistral wrote: <Actually, you're making an assumption that Vila was trying to distract Avon, and so your question is inherently biased.I don't agree with that assumption; I simply think he was breaking off a tangential discussion
that
was going away from what he really wanted to talk about,>
and Jenny: <How can you possibly say that you know what he "really" wanted to talk about? All you can go by is what's on the screen.>
Sally wrote:
But with all due respect - and I'm really not trying to offend - how can *you* insist he wants to distract Avon? That's not on the screen either.
Yes it was--he visibly (well, audibly) changes the subject. Either he wants to get Avon off this topic, or else he feels a total compulsion to warn Avon about the dangers of Tarrant, right that very minute.
And distract Avon from *what*? You have said that a couple of times, and
I
don't see it comes from.
As I said before, Vila is changing the subject, because he knows that all this Space Captain stuff is really nonsense, and that Avon knows is, and he wants to change the subject quickly before Avon starts tearing his feeble story apart.
What actually happens on screen - at least as far as I can see - is that Avon and Cally are having a
who-can-be-more-cryptic
conversation,
Most cryptic conversations can be worked out if you care to.
Vila, not unreasonably, asks what they're talking about and
Avon (who appears not to want to answer that one) comes back with one of his standard put-downs. And Vila - who for two years has let said
put-downs
slide by
No he hasn't. Vila often has a go at Avon. See Space Fall, Duel, Bounty, Deliverance, Redemption etc.
- decides this time to take Avon up on it *Vila* is
the one being distracted, not Avon.
By what?
And the "never mind about me" is also quite reasonable IMO - he's just realised he *has* been distracted from the main thing, the fact that trouble's brewing ("I've been worried all along") and is backtracking to it.
But Vila never says, "I've been worried all along", these are just words you are putting in his mouth. And if he has been worried about Tarrant all along, why does it suddenly come up now and not before?
<Vila tends to acquire an air of faux innocence when he's lying.> <No. Only when cornered.>
Please, a few IMOs wouldn't go astray here
Okay then, in my opinion. But I based that opinion on what I saw in the programme.
<The specific reference to Space Captains was IMO likely an exaggeration, due to having issues with upper grades generally and (as Sally mentioned) Tarrant specifically.>
<I'm with you on that, but if he's lying here, why believe anything else
he
says in the rest of the scene? >
Why not? If he's exaggerating, there may be a kernel of truth. Everyone lies sometimes - that doesn't mean they do with every breath they take.
No, but if they are a proven liar, I will consider everything they say with a certain suspicion, and in this scene I find no evidence to suggest that Vila isn't lying.
<My thought is that he could certainly have tested into a slightly higher grade,> <I think that's right as well,>
Then what are we arguing about? After all, he if *did* test higher, then there needs to be an explanation of why he isn't *in* a higher grade.
Ha. Now this is a case of you quoting from Mistral's email but not having read the whole email properly. So let me state my position again. I'm not disputing that he may have been a higher grade then a Delta, he may have been a grade 5 Beta, we don't know, but I am stating that based on the evidence presented in that particular scene, I do not believe that he ever took an exam to be a Space Captain, whatever his grade, and that his statement that he bribed a friend to mark him down is also a lie. And if we refer to the scene is Horizon, then I also believe that he may have lied about being a Grade 4 as well.
<I don't know, a cushy office job is a damn sight safer than being a
thief.
"A thief isn't what I am, it's WHO I am." (City)
Yes, that is what he has become. But then Avon was a thief as well. Just from a different social sphere. Vila in an office would still be a thief, but one with more creature comforts and less chance of getting caught (and more chance of getting off with a slap on the wrist if he did).
<It's not an assumption. The info is there in the scene. Vila is lying.>
No, that is your assumption, and (as I see it) based on at least one fallacy(that he wants to distract Avon, which makes no sense).
Why doesn't it make sense to you? The only way it could *not* make sense is if you assume that Vila is telling the truth. And I still see no reason to assume that Vila is telling the truth in this scene, and quite a few reasons, here and elsewhere, which suggest that he wasn't.
The straight
statement 'he was lying' may have the advantage of simplicity, but *for
me*
have the rather massive disadvantage of *not* fitting the information
both
in the scene and in other episodes (in particular but not only Weapon).
What information is that, then?
So*it* is not logical, and I need to hunt around for another one.
It is perfectly logical, and there is no need to hunt around for anything.
(Though I'm not saying for one minute that you need to, if it suits you
the way it is.)
It's not a case of whether it "suits me", it's the simplest possible explanation. If a tortuous and long-winded explanation suits *you,* however, then fine.
BTW - has anyone any ideas *on* what Avon and Cally's little conversation meant? Why didn't Avon mention the signal from the ground?
And while we're
at it, why send the crew babies on this one?
As for why, see Mistral's excellent explanation.
Either he or Cally would be a
better choice
- they were part of the legendary rebel team
- surely a plus
for anti-Federation negotiations
- and they would at least recognise Blake
if they fell over him
Right on all points, which makes them less expendable.
(unlike Tarrant, who never got up the curiosity to
look up a picture of the man who ran the ship for two years and whose
name
still influences them, or even to look up some old log files ...)
Now where does this come from? Tarrant recognised Blake in the final episode. Therefore he must have at the very least seen a photo.
Jenny
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Jenny Kaye