Vila's Big Score provides some great insight into Vila's mind, though is a little too technobabble-heavy to work as the classic adventure it wants to be.
WRITTEN BY
No specific credit.
PLOT
Whilst Avon searches for a new bolt hole, Vila finds information regarding "the most valuable item in the galaxy" - the naturally formed diamond called Starcore, worshipped by a cult on the planet Harridin IV - and abandons the Scorpio with a plan to steal it.
ANALYSIS
Giving Vila some initiative is always a good idea, as the character was woefully underused during his TV run. With this story, we get some insight into what Vila's life must've been like before his involvement with Blake and the others, and it's quite entertaining.
Here, we see Vila basically show up on a rip-off of Arrakis from Frank Herbert's Dune series(the landscape description takes more than a little from his Herbert's iconic planet) and attempt to infiltrate the decrepit ancient church of an obscure cult.
It's very cinematic, immediately bringing adventure films like Indiana Jones and the 1999 Mummy to mind with its booby traps and desert setting. However, I feel as if that element lets it down the most. Rather than go all the way and have Vila pull off a complicated heist, it isolates the traps to one room and mentions his defeat of the guards merely in passing without building up the necessary tension. And of course, the insistence on maintaining a futuristic tone means that Vila overcomes the traps through complicated technobabble involving antimatter shields and reflections that really makes no sense when you think about it.
That being said, the final twist regarding the Starcore's nature does ring true to the show's charming black humor and makes it at least worth one read.
CHARACTERS
Avon and Vila are the standouts here. Vila in particular gets to be more competent and independent than usual, and the story focuses more on his love of stealing, rather than making him a lockpicking tool. I absolutely love the final moment, where even though the heist technically fails, Vila is still happy with the reputation he most likely earned by pulling it off.
As for Avon, he gets to display his trademark irritability, and once again manages to undercut Vila's great success in a very similar manner to the ending of Games.
I also liked the unnamed character of the religious con man whom Vila takes advantage of, simply because I find the idea of using religion as business really interesting. They don't do anything with him, but it added some nice flavor to the story.
NOTES
*This story was published in the Blake's 7 Marvel Monthly issue 3.
*Harridin IV is a bright yellow, dead desert, where the only water can be found in polar caps and subterranean lakes. As stated above, this is the exact description of Arrakis's ecology in the Dune books.
*According to Slave's databanks, Harridin IV was once the home planet of "the Lords of the Galaxy", an unknown, but powerful alien race from the time when Man was still scrabbling on the trees of Earth. This description makes them quite similar to the ancient alien race described in The Sevenfold Crown.
*Soolin does not appear in the story, having been left behind to guard Xenon Base.
*I like that Avon threatens to abandon Vila if he doesn't return in the allotted time, but then sends Tarrant and Dayna after him anyway. It's very true to his contradictory nature in the show.
*The fact that Vila risked destroying half the planet(and presumably himself) if he got his heist wrong feels a little too outlandish for his character.
INFORMATION!
*The original purpose of the Scorpio's trip to Harridin IV was to scout out a potential bolt hole. Avon previously employed the tactic of locating emergency bolt holes in Breakdown.
*This story appears to predate Orbit, as Vila is unaware of the density of supercondensed carbon.
*Vila has heard the mechanism of an antimatter generator once before. This could be referring to the antimatter interface on the Liberator(mentioned in Cygnus Alpha) or more likely the antimatter screening built into the walls of Central Control in Pressure Point.
*Tarrant and Dayna teleport Vila back up to the Scorpio by holding onto him, just like Avon and Vila did to Ensor Jr in Deliverance.
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
"Poetic justice, Vila. You risked your neck for a worthless lump of glass."
CONCLUSION
Good for fans of Vila, who want to see him at his best.
*According to Slave's databanks, Harridin IV was once the home planet of "the Lords of the Galaxy", an unknown, but powerful alien race from the time when Man was still scrabbling on the trees of Earth. This description makes them quite similar to the ancient alien race described in The Sevenfold Crown.
*Soolin does not appear in the story, having been left behind to guard Xenon Base.
*I like that Avon threatens to abandon Vila if he doesn't return in the allotted time, but then sends Tarrant and Dayna after him anyway. It's very true to his contradictory nature in the show.
*The fact that Vila risked destroying half the planet(and presumably himself) if he got his heist wrong feels a little too outlandish for his character.
INFORMATION!
*The original purpose of the Scorpio's trip to Harridin IV was to scout out a potential bolt hole. Avon previously employed the tactic of locating emergency bolt holes in Breakdown.
*This story appears to predate Orbit, as Vila is unaware of the density of supercondensed carbon.
*Vila has heard the mechanism of an antimatter generator once before. This could be referring to the antimatter interface on the Liberator(mentioned in Cygnus Alpha) or more likely the antimatter screening built into the walls of Central Control in Pressure Point.
*Tarrant and Dayna teleport Vila back up to the Scorpio by holding onto him, just like Avon and Vila did to Ensor Jr in Deliverance.
"Poetic justice, Vila. You risked your neck for a worthless lump of glass."
CONCLUSION
Good for fans of Vila, who want to see him at his best.
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