In a message dated 2/27/01 10:22:03 AM Eastern Standard Time, tavia@btinternet.com writes:
<< The only way I personally could absolve Avon would be if he were clinically insane at that point, and (not much wishing to get into this debate) I tend to the view that he is highly stressed, emotionally exhausted, but not insane. >>
That's probably why so many fans over the years have speculated that Avon was suffering from traumatic stress or just plain crazy. And it also probably goes along with Neil's thoughts about fans wanting to somehow "excuse" Avon for shooting Blake.
Myself, I always thought one of the most logical explanations of Avon doing what he did at Gauda Prime was that he had been programmed to do it when Servalan had him on Terminal. Not only does it explain Avon's itchy trigger finger, it also explains the look of total surprise he seems to have on his face as he fires over and over.
I remember many American fans being quite surprised to hear from Paul Darrow at conventions that he himself never regarded Avon as crazy or stressed out in the 4th season. He gave the impression that he was given much more latitude to play the character the way *he* wanted to in the last season and what we saw was more his conception of the character. Some folks like that portrayal and some of the rest of us think he just seemed crazy (when compared to the Avon of earlier seasons). I can go with either interpretation, frankly, though. I love seeing the various different "takes" on it in fan fiction.
Annie
From: Ashton7@aol.com
Myself, I always thought one of the most logical explanations of Avon
doing
what he did at Gauda Prime was that he had been programmed to do it when Servalan had him on Terminal. Not only does it explain Avon's itchy
trigger
finger, it also explains the look of total surprise he seems to have on
his
face as he fires over and over.
I don't go along with this at all. It seems too convenient, a way of letting Avon off the hook, and more importantly a convenient way of relieving Avon groupies of the problematic reconciliation of their groupiedom with the cold, hard fact that Avon shot the shit out of Blake. It wasn't his fault, it was all Servalan's doing, Blake is dead and Avon is innocent, hurrah!
Also, I am less than impressed by the perennial fannish obsession with 'conditioning' as a cop out explanation for anything in the series that they're less than happy with. There are examples of such conditioning in the series, of course, most notably in VftP and Terminal, but they are made explicit and are plot-specific.
There is also the problem of how thoroughly conditioned someone can be. Avon might be induced to come to Terminal, since that's not particularly contingent on anything, but Avon shooting Blake depends on him having a weapon with which to shoot. There are too many variables, too much that can go wrong, and that throws the meticulous planning implied by conditioning conspiracies right out of the airlock.
Neil
Neil said:
Also, I am less than impressed by the perennial fannish obsession with 'conditioning' as a cop out explanation for anything in the series that they're less than happy with.
But it's not their fault that they were conditioned to deliver rubber spiders and scripts full of plot holes!
There is also the problem of how thoroughly conditioned someone can be. Avon might be induced to come to Terminal, since that's not particularly contingent on anything,
Whereas I'd say that the extent to which the series makes any sense at all derives from "Avon being induced to come to Terminal is contingent on his feelings for Blake"
but Avon shooting Blake depends on him having a weapon with which to shoot.
Naah, if he were really upset he could throttle Blake, garotte him, grab someone else's gun, hit him over the head with a swivel chair...
There are too many variables, too much that can go wrong, and that throws the meticulous planning implied by conditioning conspiracies right out of the airlock.
In light of much of what occurs in canon, this is straining at gnat (Strained Gnat = Federation baby food flavor?) and swallowing camel.
-(Y)
From: Dana Shilling dshilling@worldnet.att.net
Avon might be induced to come to Terminal, since that's not particularly contingent on anything,
Whereas I'd say that the extent to which the series makes any sense at all derives from "Avon being induced to come to Terminal is contingent on his feelings for Blake"
Well, yeah, there is that:) But I meant nothing external to Avon himself. He has a ship that can take him there, with no pressing longterm agenda to distract him. Yeah, maybe the crew could have talked him out of it (if he'd filled them in from the start). Maybe he'd have got himself killed along the way, or Liberator got blown up. Maybe a gang of pirates might start using Terminal as a base. There are always maybes that can throw a plan awry. But like Largo said, a pro keeps it simple.
Neil
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Ashton7＠aol.com -
Dana Shilling -
Neil Faulkner