spoilers, thoughts, x-post
I have to say that the tenor of the Zev vs Xev debates is more than a little off putting. As a heterosexual female the issue of their looks is irrelevant to me, but I think they are both attractive, though in completely different ways. Zev is what I would call conventionally pretty with her highly regular features, Xev is what I would call exotic with her exaggerated ones. It’s all a question of individual taste and I don’t think any of you are going to change each other’s minds. Now when it comes to the issue of character the real change in the way she is portrayed occurs between the first series and the second, rather than when the actress changed! Zev in Mantrid and Terminal behaves just like Xev. Personally, I prefer the Xev behaviour to frst season Zev’s. This is probably in large part due to the fact that I saw her first, and I admit that when all else is equal in a comparison I will tend to go with the one I was exposed to first. But I do attempt to rationalize my preference beyond that, and come to the conclusion that Xev brought more warmth and humor to the part. Because this has, I feel, as much to do with the writing as the performance I choose to refer to the character’s names rather than the actresses. Maybe men don’t notice this, but I find it refreshing to find a female character on a science fiction comedy who is actually FUNNY! Kochanski was no substitute for Rimmer on Red Dwarf. The late, great Douglas Adams admitted that all Trillian had going for her was a lame joke of a name. Xev reminds me of a female Lister, and I like that. Zev as portrayed in the first season is more of a cross between the Doctor Who companion Leela and Barbarella which seems less interesting to me. But I have no complaints about Eva’s performance: I think she adequately played the role as it was written, and I really do like the first series. But I think that people just are not acknowledging the fact that there was a serious rethink between the first series and the second on the character of Zev (and Kai too for that matter, but that’s another issue [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] ).