Terminal (313)
I like this one too and think it should have been the last episode, as it was meant to be.
Vila cannot possibly play up to galactic master level as he doesn't appear to be very good at this game. That or he wants Dayna to lose, which is possible after her nasty cracks in 'Sarcophagus'. Apart from this, he's very good in this episode. Yes, Nation is writing, so we get clever, witty Vila back again.
He was right. They should have gone around the cloud. They didn't know what it was, and the Liberator is a fast ship.
He's also very sensible and non-panicky when dealing with the enzymes' affect on the ship and Zen. I'd also say he was also very clever in getting Orac off the ship if the plastic rat had actually proved to be useful. And I just love his crack about second-hand spaceships.
This is one of Vila's best eps.
Avon is behaving irrationally here, not telling them why he's changed course and refusing to avoid the big cloud of ship-eating enzymes. I get that he wants to take the risk himself without involving the others, but in doing so, he drags them along with him, and if it all goes wrong, they're on a ship they can't control till it gets to Calipheron, straight through any other obstacles on that route while presumably being a sitting duck for any pursuit ships.
In fact I think the messages being sent gave him as much choice in his actions as Blake had in 'Voice from the Past'; he was conditioned. It's one way I can believe that Avon would behave so illogically. I certainly don't think the promise of Blake or riches would do it.
Tarrant is right too in his arguments with Avon, but Avon wasn't in a condition (ha!) to listen. I'm rather surprised that he knows about Terminal though, with several pertinent facts at his fingertips. He must be a closet geek. He and Cally make a good team down on Terminal, and he was clever shutting off the display of the Liberator before Servalan noticed the damage.
I note he gets the last line. He almost seems to have the authority of the Tarrant we first met at the beginning of this season.
Zen: oh, Zen. You made me cry. And when Vila says, "He never referred to himself before. He never once used the word 'I'", wah! You will be greatly missed.
The costumes seem to be all black, grey, beige, or red. I like Tarrant's best--I think this is the one called Prince Charming--and Vila's Russian one least. It seems to be far too big for him and tied like a sack at the waist, but I suppose it could explain how he's wearing a previous outfit next season: he took the opportunity to put on a spare set of clothes and doubtless several of underwear underneath it before abandoning ship. :-) The people on Terminal are also wearing that season's colours.
Unanswered questions
How did Terminal get all the way out there? Your average planets doesn't have a means of propulsion.
How did Tarrant know about it?
Who are the people on Terminal? They don't appear to be Federation, so are they a group living there, or some VR experts Servalan hired? Are they even human?
Why did Avon smile at the end?
Why did they suddenly decide to make another season after destroying all the sets?
The series was intended to end there, and I think it should have. It's open-ended, yes, but though they've lost the Liberator, Servalan also appears to be gone, and there would have been lots of opportunity for fanfic to take the crew in all sorts of directions. I very much liked Lillian Sheperd's The Machiavelli Factor.
And since I think it should have ended here, these reviews will.