Marian wrote:

Ellynne G. wrote re Blake's refusal to let Vila treleport to safety in Countdown:

...

And, what would have happened if Blake let Vila go and he was clogging up

the teleport just when Avon needed an emergency out?<

That seems unlikely as the countdown was still at fifty and didn't go that fast. But it would be an argument for letting Vila teleport up immediately, so he couldn't clog the system later. It seems to be a good argument for having Blake teleport up also, to leave the system free for Avon and Grant when they would need it :-)

from 'Why Blake Stayed on Albian', an essay by Sondra Sweigman:

'It's often said that Blake wasn't doing Avon any good by staying and making Vila stay. I disagree. By staying Blake ensured that the teleport would not be in use (transporting Vila and/or himself back to the ship) when Avon needed it. Since that "need" could have become very urgent indeed and it takes time to reconfigure the teleport coordinates, Blake's decision was actually a highly pragmatic one. An argument has been made that the teleport coordinates don't need to be reconfigured for pick-up, only for put-down. While there are episodes which seem to support that contention, it was never explicitly stated on the show, and inconsistences of that sort are abundant in B7. Within the context of the episode COUNTDOWN itself, it seems clear that Blake stayed in order to give Avon and Grant first call on the teleport -- whether that involved time for resetting coordinates or simply the delay involved in making two sequential pick-ups.'

This essay may be found on Judith's site. It's probably the best explanation I could think of.

N.