Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

Vala

Friday night, I was upstairs in my office trying to get NFS working on my Kurobox when I got an IM from Rachel. "Want to watch Stargate?"

"Yeah! Thanks!" It was 23:00 when she sent that message; I zipped downstairs to the living room where she had already turned it on.

I'm glad she reminded me. It was a great episode.

It centered around Daniel Jackson and a relatively new character, Vala. Vala is a "scheming, unscrupulous con artist", according to the official site. The thing is, as crooked as she might be, Vala is immensely lovable -- just like Han Solo in the original Star Wars. I've been trying to think of another example of a lovable-crook-type character, but I can't come up with one -- even though I know there has to be more examples. Perhaps Charles Bonnet (Audrey Hepburn's character's father) in How to Steal a Million? Anyone know of any others?

Anyway, in a previous episode, Vala slapped a pair of bracelets on Daniel and herself to make sure that she was included in an expedition to recover a lost treasure of which she told the Stargate team. She wanted to make sure she got her fair share. The bracelets were designed to ensure that a Jaffa and a prisoner that he was transporting arrived at their destination together -- or died. If the jaffa and the prisoner where separated by more than a short distance for more than a short while, both would die. The prisoner for obvious reasons; the Jaffa as punishment for allowing the prisoner to escape.

Unfortunately, even after taking the bracelets off, the pair are still bound by the effects of the bracelets. Daniel sets off to seek help from the scientist from whom Vala originally stole the bracelets. This sets the pair off on a series of quests to retrieve various items Vala had liberated from their previous owners. Vala is simply wonderful as a lusty scoundrel that you can't help but love and Daniel Jackson is frustrated by trying to ignore her sexual advances and desire for freedom from Vala.

It was simply wonderful. I certainly hope that Vala continues as a regular part of the show and that the romantic combat continues between Vala and Daniel.