Out of Gas or out of mind?

POSTED BY: ManiacNumberOne
UPDATED: Monday, April 14, 2003 14:23
VIEWED: 6864
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MANIACNUMBERONE

Monday, March 17, 2003 6:56 PM

Hi kids, I was enjoyin' OOG again last night, and I was thinking about a part that I thought made Mal look not so smart. Remember when he finally gets the catalyzer after being shot? Well, what does he do first? Does he hit the call-back button for the crew? No. He goes to the infirmiry to wrap a cloth around himself and use some adrenalin...does he call back the crew then? No, he then goes to the engine room to make repairs. After getting the engine going again, Mal does try to call back the crew, but by then, of couse, he has lost too much blood and he passes out. I have to say Mal's intellect did not really impress me here. But regardless, this was one of the very best flashback episodes ever. We get to see how Kaylee, Wash, Inara and Jayne joined the crew. I couldn't be more pleased about that. I would be interested to see a chonological flashback list. I know it would be hard to compile, but wouldn't it be shiny?

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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LOSTANGEL

Monday, March 17, 2003 7:27 PM

The only way that I could figure that one out was the reasoning that Serenity is Mal's entire world. Even Zoe comes after that ship. Just like mothers that will put their lives in danger to ensure the safety of their children, Mal thought only of Serenity and didn't think about anyone else until she was OK. He looked to himself because he had to be somewhat functional to repair the ship.

______________________
Lost Angel

WASH: Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.
ZOE: We live in a space ship, dear.
WASH: So?

JERRY

Monday, March 17, 2003 7:29 PM

Well, I think he needed to restore the ship in order to make sure he'd have air to breathe. Calling the crew back so they could find his body wouldn't have been the best plan.

MORLAC

Monday, March 17, 2003 8:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jerry:
Well, I think he needed to restore the ship in order to make sure he'd have air to breathe. Calling the crew back so they could find his body wouldn't have been the best plan.

If that were the case, the extra few seconds required to call the crew back might not have made any difference, so why not do it first?

However, you could also justify it by suggesting that Mal wanted to make sure the replacement part actually worked before calling everyone back and possibly ruining whatever miniscule chance they had for a safe escape.

HJERMSTED

Monday, March 17, 2003 8:52 PM

Quote:
However, you could also justify it by suggesting that Mal wanted to make sure the replacement part actually worked before calling everyone back and possibly ruining whatever miniscule chance they had for a safe escape.

This sounds the most likely explanation.

Or maybe he just wanted to impress Kaylee (which he ended up doing) by fixing it before she returned.

In any case, oxygen deprivation and blood loss often lead to some pretty strange decisions. At least Mal didn't curl up in a corner with a book he desperately wanted to finish before he died...

Great episode! You've got to love a show where the apparent surface level "plot holes" are actually revealed to be cleverly disguised insights into the characters' psyches.

mattro

MANIACNUMBERONE

Monday, March 17, 2003 9:41 PM

I appreciate getting such well-thought-out responses to this post. You are all very insightful. I hadn't thought that Mal might not want to ruin the chances of the other crew finding help, on account of the catalyzer part not working. Mal calling them back would indeed be pointless. I remember Kaylee showing Mal where the catalyzer went on the engine, but I didn't think Mal would try to fix it himself. He is very resourceful.

----------------------------------
Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
----------------------------------

LOSTANGEL

Monday, March 17, 2003 10:54 PM

Quote:
You've got to love a show where the apparent surface level "plot holes" are actually revealed to be cleverly disguised insights into the characters' psyches.

Of course it could just be a bunch of people with overactive imaginations going through withdrawl over their favorite show mixing their own spackle for these holes!

Don't get me wrong, I am never one to give Joss too much credit, because I don't think this is possible. At the very least he is capable of creating a show that holds the interest of these intelligent, thoughtful insightful people months after the show is put on hiatus.

I'm all blushing because I am one of this group of course! Modesty is part of our make-up too!

Yes, it's on hiatus! Yes, it's not cancelled! No, I refuse to believe otherwise!

______________________
Lost Angel

WASH: Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.
ZOE: We live in a space ship, dear.
WASH: So?

MORLAC

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 2:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by lostangel:
Of course it could just be a bunch of people with overactive imaginations going through withdrawl over their favorite show mixing their own spackle for these holes!

I'm glad some folks liked my proposed explanation. I certainly do agree that it could still be a plot hole and our own overactive imaginations filling it.

But on the other hand, as a (very) amateur writer and a slightly less amateur game master for a variety of RPGs, I'll also say that one of the marks of a well written universe is that it's amenable to spackle. That is, a good universe hangs together in such a way that viewers can fill in the blanks if they choose. No book or tv show can possibly answer every possible question or fill in every detail of its world during its limited "on screen" time. But if it's well planned and scripted, then it comes off to the viewer as if it all makes sense and there are coherent reasons why things are the way they are.

I think the two extremes of this could be illustrated by Babylon 5 and The West Wing. At the well-planned end you have B5. JMS not only personally wrote many of the scripts but he had a story outline for all five seasons before starting the show. At the other extreme you have West Wing, where Aaron Sorkin has said on many occasions that he has no overall plan, and is often writing just barely ahead of production. That's how on B5 you can get subtle foreshadowing of something that slowly develops and comes to fruition three seasons later, while on West Wing you can actually *lose* characters without a trace. (Moira Kelly started the show as a regular first season and disappeared after awhile without comment or explanation. Sorkin eventually admitted that he'd gone so long without addressing it that it would be ridiculous to even try.)

Don't get me wrong, I like both shows -- but B5 is more like great classical orchestral music and West Wing is more like improvisational jazz.

We can argue about whether or not certain aspects of the show makes sense (as has happened in numerous other threads here). But so far as characterization goes, I think that Firefly was spot on most of the time. I never felt like saying "oh he wouldn't do that!" or "why did she say that?"

Just my 2 cents...

SABI

Wednesday, March 19, 2003 8:46 PM

I think the only thing running through Mal's mind was, "I have to fix Serenity or I am going to die." That was the top priority in his foggy brain. But that being said, I don't think he ever accepted the possibility that he was going to die.

Notice he didn't want anyone saying goodbye? He cut Inara off as much as he could, he cut off Wash before he could apologize and say goodbye, and then he cut Jayne off about the suit when he said, "I won't be needin' it."

I don't think his dying was an option. If he took care of Serenity, Serenity would take care of him, and I don't think he was thinking much further than that.

ARCHER

Thursday, March 20, 2003 1:13 AM

A man who's been shot in the stomach is not likely to be in the best frame of mind when it comes to making decisions. One thing a writer has to account for continually is the fact that the characters aren't omniscient.

Stop and consider this- if you heard a similar story to this, recounted as a true event, you probably wouldn't find it surprising. Shock does strange things to people, right?

Orson Scott Card talked about this in a nonfiction book, the concept that fiction must be more accurate than fact. When we hear about implausible things that really happen, we say "Truth is stranger than fiction." When we read something a bit off, we declare "That would never happen!"

Think I drifted slightly off-topic there, but I'm a well-known rambler.

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