Shepherd Book and The Operative (spoliers)

POSTED BY: MikeThatGuy
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 19:29
VIEWED: 9436
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MIKETHATGUY

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 9:53 PM

Hi all - I'm totally new here. We've enjoyed Firefly/Serenity for about 1-1/2 years now.

Took two movie viewings, and I didn't catch it, but my partner did:

Did anyone else notice that Shepherd Book and The Operative are essentially the same character? Except Book is years after whatever broke his faith in the Alliance, and The Operative just had that happen.

Explains a lot, doesn't it? Book's secrecy; the fact that he could shoot down that ship that destroyed Haven; his knowledge that the Alliance WOULD send an operative, and what kind of person that would be; and of course his medical treatment on that Alliance ship during the series.

Anyway - any thoughts on this?

m i k e

JOEKER1999

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 1:55 AM

I thimk you are exactly right. I never even really thought of it like that.
And, since we'll never get Book's story (unless there was a novel or something - HINT)

"We need to go the crappy town where I'm a hero."

BOOKSWORD

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 2:14 AM

Thats the general feeling of the masses.

Both are driven and defined by faith and actions done for said faith.

Both aim for a better world but the Operative seeks to do so by any action and Book is more by words and guidence.

Sniff.

Missing my main man now.

Twenty years from now a older and sadder Operative will be wondering a far off space port, looking for a ride, bringing the word to those that need told.

BATOU

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 2:25 AM

Completly with you on this one. Have you considered the posibility that Book could have become a Shepard because of some involvement on his part with creation of the Reavers? At which point Book and the Operative would totally mirror one another.

ICCLEDAMES

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 3:20 AM

I wondered the very same thing - it makes sense...

Would have been nice to see that kind of story evolve over the course of the series.

Maybe the novel series will go into it...

Does anyone know if the novels are to be set pre- or post-serenity?

One of the last pages of the Visual Companion is an advert for the novelisation of the film but one of the captions on the page reads:

"And look for all-new original novels about the Serenity crew coming soon from Pocket Books".

No offence to KRAD but I hope these books are a bit thicker and a bit more meaty than the novelisation. Personally I would hate to write a novelisation of a film - can imagine it's very constrictive (though I thought the way the book was written captured the atmosphere of the so-called 'Verse perfectly).

As for the Operative himself, I thought he made an excellent villain but I was expecting the 'Hands of Blue' to make an appearance somewhere. Was expecting the security guards in the facility to be wearing them but I didn't see them...

IAMALEAFONTHEWIND

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 4:49 AM

The Hands of Blue guys are addressed (rather abruptly) in the three issue comic book story by Dark Horse Comics. The trade paperback for that should be coming out in a few weeks. It's basically a story that takes place between the end of the series and the beginning of the movie.

Someone on another thread spoke of the possiblity of Book and the Operative being the same character, via time travel. It was a fun theory but I don't think that would ever be the case. At least not literally. I think you got it right here: they're the same character symbolically. I think Book was indeed an Operative and basically by telling the Operative's story in the movie we're seeing Book's story. Pretty neat.

Mike
www.penickart.com

BATOU

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 5:31 AM

I think that the time travel theory might be a little out there for the Firefly'verse. It would seem more likely to me that the characters are reflections of one another.

I guess what makes this connection between the Operative and Book important is that it's like a piece of Book survived. To borrow a few lines from the show:

Simon: That's not much.
Mal: It's enough.

IAMALEAFONTHEWIND

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 5:59 AM

Right. Exactly.

And I've seen somebody else mention the idea that one day the Operative could en up being just like Book - even become a part of Mal's world. But someone else pointed out that last exchange between Mal and the Operative, where Mal says that if he sees him again he might kill him right then and there, to which the Operative says something like "You won't. There's nothing left to see."

Sounds like they'll never meet again, but I think if you engage in doublespeak and think symbolicly (the way Joss does constantly) the Operative's statements might mean something more akin to the idea that if they cross paths again he will be a different person. Mal wouldn't be looking at the same man. He might very well be looking at a man who is very much the person that Book is when we meet him for the first time in the pilot episode of the series.

Damn I love this stuff. I don't care if it's not going to happen and I know it, it's still so much fun to ponder.

"I don't wanna explode."

KWICKO

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 7:01 AM

That was the feeling I had before the movie came out - Shepherd Book had some kind of dark past that he didn't want to discuss, and his path of redemption and atonement for past actions led him to become a Shepherd. I *soooo* wanted to find out his real story. His medical treatment hinted that he was something special, and he just seemed to know too much about certain things that a Shepherd probably *shouldn't* know about. :) For me, that was what made him one of the most interesting and intriguing characters in the series. I know lots of people viewed his being killed off in the movie as kind of a "throwaway" death, but to me it potentially closed the Book (pardon the pun) on some really great storylines. Where'd he come from? What was he running from? Who was going to come looking for him, and why?

Upon seeing the movie, I was convinced that The Operative was indeed going to find himself on that same path, searching for atonement for his past deeds.
Joss seems pretty big on second chances and the ability of people to get a cosmic do-over to make them right. The Operative seemed to me to be an amalgam of the Hands of Blue guys and Jubal Early (the bounty hunter from the last episode of the series), but he was also BECOMING something more by the end of the film. There was a palpable feeling that he and Mal WILL meet again... and might even be fighting on the same side next time!

Mike

Grrrrr. Arrrgghh.

BOOKSWORD

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 11:46 AM

Twenty years on in a dock far far away.

'My name is Shepherd Alister Pax..people call me Pax. Just looking for a ride to bring the word to those who need it.'

'Just bringing with me a few things, the good book, a box of fruits. Oh and this sword, mainly for decraotive reasons.'

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