Inara knows about Book the whole time

POSTED BY: Succatash
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 07:15
VIEWED: 15338
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TALONPEST

Friday, June 6, 2003 2:38 AM

I guess this has spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen all the episodes yet. Sorry Brits.

I don't think Inara knows Book at all. Nothing she's said or done indicates that, and even if she didn't recognize him physically, he has dropped more than enough hints to make it clear that he is more than he claims to be- she'd have figured it out if she'd met him before.

And I don't think Book knows who Inara is, either- he thought she was a real ambassador in "Serenity," and Book never has been one to play dumb- he's not shy about his military knowledge. If he'd thought she might recognize him and reveal his past, which he obviously doesn't want anyone to know about just yet, he would have avoided her. Instead he probably has more scenes with her than anyone but Mal.

A short list of what we know about book:

* "The Train Job" - He knows who Niska is.

* "Safe" - He has an identity card that makes Alliance personel rush him to their med center after initially turning him away.

* "War Stories" - he's intimately framiliar with weapons and ships, enough so that he can identify what kind of sniper rifle was used to kill the buyers of the Ariel medical supplies and also recognize the vehical they took Mal and Wash away in from the burn mark it left in the ground.

* "Objects In Space" - River's vision of him saying "I don't give half a hump whether you're innocent or not. So where does that put you?" Jubal Early knows who he is. "That ain't a sheperd." This leads me to speculate that he was a bounty hunter, not Alliance... though the "Safe" incident kind of goes against it.

Am I forgetting anything? As it stands, I have to assume that Book is deffinately a former Alliance military man who left after the war and spent six years in the abby before ending up on Serenity. He's not running from the Alliance, since they had no problem letting him go in "Safe," and he's obviously not still working for them or else they'd have come after River more often. So the real questions are exactly what role did he play in the war (ie, was he at Serenity Valley) and what event made him change his allegiance?

ARCHER

Friday, June 6, 2003 2:46 AM

Hey listen here Succatash, if you've got a problem with my buddy Succatash, you got a problem with me. So cool your damn jets and stop calling people names.

There ain't nothin' I can't overcome or come to know. So lay your heavy load down on me, strip everything I have away. I am not your prisoner, I am not afraid.

SUCCATASH

Friday, June 6, 2003 3:19 AM

Thanks for you support, Archer.

Talonpest, you make some great points. Here's what struck me right away as I was reading your post.

"Nothing she's said or done indicates that, and even if she didn't recognize him physically, he has dropped more than enough hints to make it clear that he is more than he claims to be- she'd have figured it out if she'd met him before."

Perhaps "nothing she's said or done to indicate that she knows" is because she's a trained Companion? I think being a Companion is more important to Inara than being a tattle-tale for Mal.

"And I don't think Book knows who Inara is, either- he thought she was a real ambassador in "Serenity," and Book never has been one to play dumb."

Isn't that like saying the actor didn't act dumb?

I just think it is so Joss-like to create a great character like Book, with such exterior mysteriousness, then reveal the truth from the inside-out.

And it was right in front of our noses the whole time.

CCT

Friday, June 6, 2003 3:32 AM

Well, here's my pet theory:

He was a sniper for the alliance. And came to be deeply troubled by his profession/proficency (as is often the case with these sort of folk) and turned to God for salvation.

This would explain is weapons knowledge, and his marksmanship (that quick from-the-hip shot that precisely knee-shot that soldier comes to mind as an example). Also, while he seems to be knowledgable and experienced with guns, he doesn't seem to be so great at hand-to-hand - he's been quickly dispatched twice so far.

So, because of his proficency in the war he has the undying respect and gratitude of the alliance... which he mostly doesn't want.

Maybe he even had Mal in his sights once long ago? Perhaps shot the man standing next to Mal when the Independants collapsed at Serenity? Or not

cct

SUCCATASH

Friday, June 6, 2003 3:46 AM

Everything you say could be very well true. I like your ideas. Book isn't a total bad ass by accident.

So, what if it turns out that Inara remembers him as a younger, less-refined sniper?

SUCCATASH

Friday, June 6, 2003 4:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Succatash:
When Book cries at Inara's feet at the end of Serenity, it is very touching and real. I'd like to maintain the integrity of that scene and still make this a plausable idea.

So, was Book crying crocodile tears? My original prediction was that Book knew her too, but then how could this scene be real?

Maybe Book had a bad day, and a bad day before that, and it was easy to cry.

In the Serenity episode, what made him walk from ship to ship, before Kaylee picked him up? What the hell is he doing?!!

A really cool TV movie called "Book" would be so very nice right about now. And the movie could end the very minute Book starts walking and smiling towards Serenity.

The more I think about this, I end up thinking about it more. I think Book's story is better than the Ripper idea. Who's with me!?

CCT

Friday, June 6, 2003 4:51 AM

I wondered (re: the pilot episode)why, when Book visited her shuttle with dinner, that she said she was expecting him... perhaps there is something to the theory that she knows Book. But little I've seen makes me think that he knows her. If he does, the level of deception he's maintaining is extreme. Hmmm.....

Perhaps that whole scene was the equivalent of "Ok, so you know me... I'm going to act as though I don't know you... what are you going to do?" If that were the case, though, I would have expected more tension between them?

I figure (like most everyone, of course) that Book was/is something special to the alliance, almost certainly from the war. I'm thinking he's a victim of his own success... now with overwhelming regret- and now actually feels obligated to help out this Independant minded crew. Of course they're the last people in the 'verse to whom he could reveal what's troubling him.

But of course sooner or later Mal will find out! Then trauma, drama, anger, frustration, and forgiveness can occur. Or something like that. Quite a monster waiting in the shadows

cct

TALONPEST

Friday, June 6, 2003 5:08 AM

Succatash, the absence of a reaction is hardly an arguement for Inara knowing Book. I agree that she would have an obligation to protect the confidentiality of her clients, but there have been no hints, no clues to support them having known eachother. If that were a plot element I'm sure hints would have been dropped out of Mal's presence. Their interactions have been every bit as "getting to know you" as everyone elses.

The idea that she doesn't recognize him because he is older doesn't really work too well... Inara can't be older than her late twenties. She's not old enough to have known him long enough ago that he would be so unrecognizable after living with him for a year-ish.

Isn't that like saying the actor didn't act dumb?
No, I don't think so. I'm giving Ron Glass the benefit of the doubt here, since I've never seen him in anything else, but I think from what I have seen he's a good enough actor to pull of a nuanced performance. Besides, what I was reffering to is that his character has not held back any knowledge, despite it's allusions to his past. He spoke up about Niska in "Train Job," for example, and about the weapons and vehicals in "War Stories" when he could easily have kept quiet and protected his secret. Both times Jayne asked questions about how a preacher could know those things.

CCT: Not to rain on your parade or anything, but Book was no sniper- he was higher up than that. He wasn't carrying out orders, he was giving them. His line in River's vision puts him in a position to judge people- snipers don't know their victims, they kill from a distance. A sniper victim would never have a chance to beg for mercy or to plead his case.

I did not see the scene in "Serenity" where Book comes to see Inara and she says she was expecting him as an indication that she knew him- her first line after saying she expected him was "So, would you like to lecture me on the wickedness of my ways?" It was simply an inevitable interaction between the preacher and the whore, and a demonstration that he may be a religious man but he is also tollerant.

Book had to have been a career military man. He deffinately participaed in the war, but given his age and the urgency with which the Alliance crewman ordered him to be cared for in "Safe," he must have been a general. His decision to leave had to have been motivated by an incident where he did something so immoral and horrible that even a hardened military veteran had to beg for forgiveness by devoting his life to god. Most likely ordering a massacre of civilians or using a biological weapon- something that killed a whole lotta innocent people.

MANIACNUMBERONE

Friday, June 6, 2003 8:34 AM

I think that when Book went to give Inara her supper tray that night, that Book and Inara had a short conversation generally saying how it had been Mal's idea that Book should bring in the tray, so it probably wasn't a preconceived plan by Book.

Also, Book is good with hand-to-hand as well, he knocked the gun from Dobson's hand, and knocked him out, very quickly and easily. Re-inforcing the - Book is an army man theory.

FREMDFIRMA

Friday, June 6, 2003 9:29 AM

Allow me to point out that before a script change, some very detailed information about the battle of serenity valley is discussed - the actually filmed scene differs, but I do remember the original somewhat.

Thing is, they name an alliance officer who's tactical plan resulted in the crushing defeat of the alliance there - and I honestly suspect Book is that officer.

It would explain a great deal, especially as relates to his relationship with Mal.

I figure they changed that scene for a coupla reasons, but also because it was just too damn obvious (at least to me) who Book was, when the rest of the hints started to drop.

As far as him "knowing" Inara, folks in her line or work have extensive client bases and reputations - look at how easily she waltzed in and out of Paradiso in The Train Job ?
A registered companion, especially one as 'mobile' as Inara, would be a rarity, and have a significant amount of reputation, therefore Book is quite likely to have heard of her previous to his current "employment", even if they'd never met. - that's pretty logical.

I figure Book became jaded with the alliance when he saw all of the promises of the unification were just more political bluster than anything else (such things ALWAYS are.) and his guilt over what happened in serenity valley, especially after the shooting, drove him to the abbey.

That's probably why the situation is so hard on him in the premiere, as he begins to realize he's shipping with THAT "Malcom Reynolds", and he's not so bad a person.

Humanizing "the enemy" makes them impossible to hate - think about it.

-Frem.

"Well, my days of not takin you seriously are certainly comin to a middle.." - Mal

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