Virginia Lake:

It’s no secret that Virginia is my favorite character in the series. What makes this so odd is that she was in only nine of the twenty six episodes.

In the series she was portrayed as a brilliant woman, but with a somewhat cold demeanor at least on the surface. But there were also subtle hints that, at her core, she was much warmer than was being portrayed.

In the episode “The Cat with Ten Lives” she showed great concern for Jim Regen’s well being after his pregnant wife was abducted. When Straker ordered him back to duty she was quite angry with his decision. To me the depth of anger here was in response to her empathy for Regen.

A bit of Ginny’s warmth also shows in the beginning of “The Man who Came Back” when she is talking with Craig on the radio. I’ll come back to this episode later.

In “Psychobombs” while Straker is being tended to by Jackson we she her hovering over him. She cracks a smile when Jackson tells Ed that he will live. She obviously has a sense of humor. To me that scene was the first indication that she was attracted to Ed.

In “Timelash” when Virginia is recovering from the blow to the back of the neck she shows great concern for Ed, saying to Paul, “He couldn’t have done it. Ed’s not a killer.” Later during the flashback the banter between her and Ed, showed both warmth and humor. When Tuner was taunting them and Ed started aiming and shooting his rifle randomly, she ran up next to him. Yes she was afraid, but at the same time she was supporting him. The first hint that Ed is also attracted to her was when he touches her hair while she is unconscious on the roof.

Ginny starts to show more warmth in “Mindbender”. The coffee scene was classic romantic interplay between Ginny and Ed. Ginny was also pleasant to Beaver James as she greeted him warmly on the way to Ed’s office.

“The Long Sleep” opens with Ed walking into the control room. Ginny is waiting on the phone when Ed greets her, and she responds very pleasantly. By this time the writers were getting a handle on her personality. When Catherine died later in the episode, Ginny was in tears at the hospital when Paul arrived. Later when Ed came down from the room he looks at her briefly then looks down in anguish. Virginia watches him walk away alone and when the camera cuts back to her you can see that she has made a decision and she runs after Ed, determined that he isn’t going to face this alone. In my story “Soul Mates” this is the point where their relationship becomes intimate.

I picture Ginny as a very complex person, almost as complex as Ed. In my back story her father was killed during World War Two, six months before she was born. She was married briefly while she worked at Westbrook Electronics, and caught her husband in an affair. I see Ginny as someone who chooses her friends very carefully but is also fiercely loyal to those she becomes close to. I picture her treating others with reserved kindness when she doesn’t know them well. Ginny is a selfless person who will think nothing of risking her life to save others. Her relationship with Ed is extremely romantic and sensual in the “Soul Mates Saga”. They share a very deep love for each other. Ginny plays piano and as a taste for classical music. She finds out later in life that she has artistic talent as well.

“The Man who Came Back” did more damage to her character than all the other episodes combined. Ginny was portrayed as being promiscuous, jumping from an intimate relationship with Craig Collins to one with Paul Foster with in a six week period. I wouldn’t have had a problem with her and Collins as Craig is portrayed as having a very keen mind. He was also a close friend of Ed’s, and we know that he is also selective of his friends. The only reason I don’t think that the relationship had made it to that point was the statement Ginny made to Craig, “We weren’t exactly Romeo and Juliet.” As far as Foster is concerned, she wouldn’t have given him the right time of day, much less anything else. The director even tried to make her look younger in that episode. (Yuck) My story “Silver Star” deals with this mess that the writer created.

Ginny was portrayed very favorably in “By Invitation Only” written by Catherine Stewart. It was a great story about how Ginny came into SHADO. I liked it so much that I base some of my work on it. Denise also showed her in a favorable light both “Kid Stuff” and “Writer’s Block”. Louise has her with Alec in “The Rachel Chronicles” also in a very good light. Dragon has her with Keith in both “Skulls” and “Weapons Test”, I never thought of that pairing.

This is quite long because I feel the same way about Virginia that Denise feels about Ed.

 

Wow, Virginia Lake. I like the actress and I think UFO is where I discovered her. I liked that she was a big fish, that she was the brains behind the technology for tracking the aliens. Oddly, I never thought of her as cold, more as executive/scientist. Many of the professional women I knew through my mom did come across as emotionally cool in the workplace. Outside work, at home and when not saddled with entertaining duties, they were quite warm and wonderful people.

Again, I have to look at the time frame outside the show. The late sixties is the sexual revolution. Multiple liasons did not make one a bad person, just sexually active. This is the time of Playboy, Hustler, and Penthouse; of the hippie movement in the US. It's a time when women were being allowed to acknowledge that their sex drives are just as strong and urgent as that of the male.

Ginny going from Craig to Paul: can you say rebound? I never saw that as a lasting relationship, but more as having lost Craig, Ginny turned to the only other person who might understand. (Heavens, I'm painting Paul as an understanding human being) I think the writers weren't treating Virginia Lake as any more of a three dimensional being than they did anyone else. They picked topical actions that made her a "modern" woman", they weren't really developing her character, just picking up on what they thought women wanted to see in a "liberated" woman.

Everyone cares about Straker. SHADO is still in its formation period, it's barely online and Straker is the ramrod of the organization. In many ways, Straker is a messiah and the Colonels are his disciples ... (Oh, heavens, does that make Ginny the Magdalene?) So, Ginny cares about her boss. Would she ever cross the line of command to see him as a man and want him that way? Good question. Ginny is a civilian thrust into a military world, mostly male dominated in the time of writing. (The big prohibition is enlisted and officers. Too much abuse of position of power from one side to the other; therefore officers are forbidden to have relationships with enlisted personnel. Relations between officers are at the discretion of the officers. Too wide separation in rank is frowned on as some people have rankly abused their positions to coerce lower rankers. Not a problem between Foster, Freeman, Lake and Straker.)

Did I see Lake and Straker as a romantic item: no. Not during the series. Had things gone farther, had the show developed and time progressed to where Straker knew someone else could step into his shoes successfully, then there might have been. Although on some levels Straker and Lake are too close together psychologically. Virginia has had to fight her way into the position she had in the civilian world and probably understands a lot of what Straker goes through.

Given the chain of command, SHADO really couldn't afford to pair the four primary command personnel with each other. They really had to find outsiders.

Given fandom, the pairings are ... whatever we desire. There's a way to justify anything, including evil influences.

I appreciated seeing a woman in a position of command and power who wasn't super human, who was fallible. As noted above, I didn't see her as cold, but as professional, something a woman has needed to be successful at the time of filming and well into the 1980's.

Of course, I haven't seen any of the shows in a decade of more, which means I'm relying on my very very sieve-like memory. In the US, professional women are still a lot more like Virginia Lake when on duty. Off duty, that's a whole different scene.

Replacement for Alec ... sometimes writers just don't realize that there has to be some kind of continuity, explanations for missing people. Mind you, I think the show wasn't shown in order in the US so I never caught on to people shifting places ... LOL.

My Ed pairings: dubious at best. Kelsy is outside of SHADO completely. Cheri was a ... biological imperative, although I haven't explained that yet. Virginia: Well, Ford is not exactly a normal pairing at this point. I may have to make it work in another universe because the world of skulls and weapon test is not going to end well. The other problem is, I don't necessarily go for romance in my stories.(Oh yeah, I've put Mary back in his life twice ... although I have yet to finish things on either of them) .... hmmm, although I could see a situation in which ... 

laters

I could see relationship issues causing a problem but, Ginny have an affair with Paul while married to Ed? Louise, think about this, would you leave The Man to be with Paul!?!???  (I'm snickering here!)

Somehow I don't even see that as even a remote possiblity. The other way around, well that's a different story!


I do agree totally with Denise on one point, I'm glad the writters didn't finish putting Ed and Ginny together in the series. They would have screwed it up royally! At least this way we are all free to explore the different possible combinations.

When Alec hit on her in "Identified" she shut him down at the water works. "Shouldn't you be getting back to your little seat up front?" I liked Catherine's take on what happened after. I personally don't think they were involved romanticlly although I've considered that as a possible story line. I don't picture Ginny sleeping around, I think she has more class than that.

As far as the chain of command goes, the uniquness of the situation probably allowed them more latitude than the normal service would have permitted. In "Soul Mates" Ed had to get approval to promote Ginny to executive officer after they became intimately involved. I see them giving Straker quite a bit of latitude in that respect, I think it would be handled on a case by case basis.

I did like reading all the different takes on her!

Hi,

Virginia Lake certainly is one of my least liked characters of UFO and I agree with the take that as a second in command she's way too much like Straker, but even harsher than him.

My problem with that character is that she's way too much like a friend of mine for comfort: promiscuous, coldly logical, very business-oriented, extremely career-oriented and ambitious.

I've watched the results of such behaviour on people for a decade and some, and in the case of my friend it is even tamed with an else kindhearted soul. Still the business end of her life is pure shit and that's how I see Col. Lake as well. Can't help it.

Another part of my dislike is based on the actress herself, whose looks, acting and aura does absolutely nothing for me, it even occasionally gives rise to clearcut antipathy.

Virginia Lake - in my book - fits the role of occasional second in command with a lascivious taste in males, but not as a standing feature in that post. I agree that that should stay with Alec Freeman, who - I again agree with Louise - is the far better complement to Straker.

I can't help thinking of how absolutely brilliantly NCIS solved their "we need a female in an important position" problem. Coté de Pablo as Ziva David is a stroke of genius, compared. Not just that the actress is quite phantastic, she brings a real feel of military excellence and hardness to the role, paired with a down to earth and quite seriousminded warmth towards the team.

If there has to be a female second in command, that's the kind fitting the place, not such a nail polish and hairspray model.

I like both Ziva and Kate (Kate's the one who died, right? Favorite line: I'm dead and I'm embarrassed.) A Ziva style character would have played well off Alec and annoyed Ed. LOL.

Aw, shoot ... someone hog tie my muse, please? and cage the fan fic fairies ... too many irons in the fire already. (Pity I can't use any of this in my applications ...  )

laters

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