A Thought about 'Safe'.

POSTED BY: SerenitysGirl
UPDATED: Friday, May 27, 2005 05:57
VIEWED: 8863
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THEREALME

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 3:27 AM

Alliance?

The Tams sent their daughter to an academy, a challenging one, so that she could learn.

Was there any reason to connect this academy to an Alliance project? Okay, WE know what went on there, but...

The Real Me, First Officer of the Sereni-Tree

(The Real Me cannot currently receive messages from this site; he is not ignoring you. But he CAN receive e-mail at realme@pcibroadband.net.)

SOLABUSCA

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 3:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hell's Kitten:
But an even bigger question for me was: how the hell did crickets get to that backwater planet?? They certainly didn't bring 'em on purposes, cuz they don't provide much in the way of protein. And, sure, I imagine a few could have stowed away as bitty little bugs tend to do, but that many, enough to make that much cricket noise? Or... were River and I just hearing things?

Actually, I think that falls into the 'terraforming' category. In one of the deleted segments of 'The Message' (as seen in the shooting script) there is mention of wide-scale cloning (DNA Scrip, mutated cattle, etc.)

Tech-wise, it's probably something that gets whipped up during the 'forming process to add an operational eco-system to the planet, allowing the settlers to have things like, oh, say AGRICULTURE and whatnot...;).

.j.

REGINAROADIE

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 6:11 AM

You know, that whole bit about crickets and stuff like that seems to be a big scientific inconsistency to me. I know that FIREFLY has a strict "no aliens" policy. And for the most part, I'm OK with it. But I think it's just stupid to think that we move from one galaxy to the next, find planets and systems that are already developed and have their own ecosystems (I'm sure not all colonized planets were terra-formed), and out of all those planets, they couldn't even find new species of insects or single cell bacteria, let alone quadrapeds or something similar.

I once did a research paper on Darwin and the process of evolution. And it's mindboggling the process in which new species evolve and are shaped and molded through time and nature. Most of the reasons why scientists are so eager to discover new planets and send probes and satellites to distant planets are to get early glimpses into the beginning of new life, be it animal, mineral or vegetable. Hundreds of planets out there are teeming with life in ways we can't even begin to comprehend. So it seems really odd and glaring, from a biologistic point of view that in 500 years of space travel and exploring the galaxy, that if we were to discover planets that already have ecosystems of their own, that we wouldn't have catalogued a couple thousand brand new species of plants, insects, bacteria, amphibians, fish, reptiles, mammals, you name it. I remember that quote Joss made about him believing that we're the only sentient beings in the universe now and 500 years from now. Now, I'll follow Joss wherever. But to me, to not have your mind open to the possibility that there might be another civilization out there of beings similar to us is incredibly closed minded, even from him. There are two quotes by two well respected sci-fi writers that summarize this. Carl Sagan noted in CONTACT that if we were the only people in the universe, then it would seem like an awful waste of space. And of course, there the wisdom of Douglas Adams that states that "Space is big. Really big. You wouldn't believe how fantastically, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you might think that it's like a long way to the chemists, but that's just peanuts in comparison." And so keeping that in mind, don't you think that somewhere out there, in the incomprehensible vastness of space, there's at least one form of life that somewhat similar to ours?

That we still havn't made contact with Klingons or Vulcans or anything similar to that, I can buy. But that we hadn't even discovered new forms of single celled organisms? Yeah fucking right.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like ... ow ... ound ... round ... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?

PURPLEYIN

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 7:24 AM

hi all, just got here- first post and all

just wanted to reply to reginaroadies post-

I understand your point about alternate adaptive strategies, but FireFly can’t be set in another galaxy- without faster than light travel (and as far as I can tell they’re still using fusion drives) it would take thousands of years to span the void of the galaxies.

Personally, I think that it must be a star-cluster (I think Mr. Whedon wants it to be in one system, but really, there are just too many planets) and terraforming ships were sent ahead from earth- equipped with genetically modified bacteria, protozoans, fungi, and a bunch of nanobots, and turned the planets from whatever they were to what a trekkie would call an M-class planet, that is one that can support life. I think the inner planets were made first, so are most like Earth, and the outer ones are still being finished, so they’re all desert-like, there are probably still seas of water being pumped up to the surface of the planets, or trans-located from planets with a surplus of water.

I think the terraforming ships were sent first because they could feasibly be unmanned, allowing them to get there faster, because there’d be a higher tolerance of inertia.
The generation ships carrying colonists and livestock and databanks with literature, science, culture, media then left the earth, accelerating slower then the terraforming ships, but still travelling at relativistic speeds. The generation ships probably held the living crew compliment in stasis, but to the ships chronometers, probably a couple of hundred years past, but to the terraformed systems, thousands of years passed (because of the time-dilation caused by the ship travelling at relativistic speeds). The ships landed, and off-loaded the living compliment, were disassembled and used to build the first cities in the central planets.

Ok ok, what im getting at is- I think all the organisms there came from here- although some may be genetically modified to fare better away from Earth. The crickets would indeed be important to the ecosystem, since they’re a staple for insectivores.

Umm…yeah… sorry about such a long post..heh...

CLJOHNSTON108

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 9:35 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
I remember that quote Joss made about him believing that we're the only sentient beings in the universe now and 500 years from now. Now, I'll follow Joss wherever. But to me, to not have your mind open to the possibility that there might be another civilization out there of beings similar to us is incredibly closed minded, even from him.

Thank you. I was afraid to mention that.

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And has anyone asked you about the meaning & origin of your sig? I can see how someone who hasn't read HHGTTG might be scratching their heads.

SHINY

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 10:07 AM

There was an earlier draft of the script where it was made more obvious that at least the Father knew (at least at the end, not sure about when they initially sent River to the academy) or had been convinced by Simon that bad things were happening to River, but was too scared (of the Alliance/Blue Hands/TPTB) to make a ruckus, since they had so much to lose (i.e. their high social status and wealth, which could easily be taken away from them -- c.f. the Alliance 'crashing' Simon's accounts after River's rescue)

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

PURPLEBELLY

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 11:16 AM

If anyone needed reminding, the wiki is a useful resource for, among much else, the shooting scripts and additonally has a transcript of the broadcast teaser for Safe.
http://www.fireflywiki.org/104.html

As for cicadas ... My take on this is that the Tams live on an exceptionally civilised world where the colonists had brought along mementos of home. In this case, I think the intention is to summon the atmosphere of the more affluent parts of Provence.

REGINAROADIE

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 1:06 PM

No, I havn't had anyone ask me about my sig.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like ... ow ... ound ... round ... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?

WORKEROFEVIL

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 1:40 PM

One quick thing: If you listen to the people talk it appears that most of the terraforming is not on planets alone, but on moons. So it could be one planetary system.
And with the information we have from the show, I don't think the parents are with the Alliance or knew River was being tortured. They seem overly concerned with Simon and making sure he succeeds for the family. My guess is they believe that River was just playing some kind of game and Simon was reacting so extremely because of pressure from his work. Granted, I also think they believe that because they want to since if Simon is right it would require a huge sacrifice they're not willing to make.

CYBERSNARK

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 1:40 PM

Aren't crickets also symbols of good luck in the orient? (I know they are in Japan, but I'm not sure about China.) They could've been brought along in that capacity. Then some of 'em got loose and turned feral, like little cricket Reavers.

*ominous chirping*

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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