Shepherd Book

POSTED BY: trekkerj
UPDATED: Saturday, December 13, 2003 03:12
VIEWED: 15321
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DRAKON

Friday, July 11, 2003 2:12 PM

"My guess is that Book was or is affiliated with a government "Black Op" agency, "

That was my first guess too. The reason I discounted it was that Joss Whedon has a way of surpising folks, of misdirection. So if that is what I thought Shepard was, that was probably the last thing he was.

"My kind of stupid"

SHEPHERDOFHERMAS

Friday, July 11, 2003 3:36 PM

I think what sent Book to the Abbey is what sent Inara to the outer worlds. They are connected somehow, and I have a feeling that while Book may have his ident-card and Inara has her status as a Companion, they were involved with something that just got too hot.

I like to think they were part of the underground movement that helped Simon free River from the blue-gloves.

After the Firefly movie is a huge success and series starts again, then we'll know more - but in the Jossverse I doubt we'll ever know all, and what we do know will turn out to signify something entirely different in the long run.

METAK

Friday, July 11, 2003 6:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Drakon:
"My guess is that Book was or is affiliated with a government "Black Op" agency, "

That was my first guess too. The reason I discounted it was that Joss Whedon has a way of surpising folks, of misdirection. So if that is what I thought Shepard was, that was probably the last thing he was.

"My kind of stupid"

Okay, here's a wild idea about Book. I think I read somewhere that the two main worlds are Singon (where Inara was born) and Londinium. In the pilot Mal mentions "the King of all Londinium" Perhaps there's a royal family/nobility and perhaps Book is a scion of that. It would account for the freedom to go off and do what he wants and the magic ID that gets him treatment. Is that too crazy?

KAYTHRYN

Friday, July 11, 2003 7:04 PM

Quote:
Posted by Metak:
Okay, here's a wild idea about Book. I think I read somewhere that the two main worlds are Singon (where Inara was born) and Londinium. In the pilot Mal mentions "the King of all Londinium" Perhaps there's a royal family/nobility and perhaps Book is a scion of that. It would account for the freedom to go off and do what he wants and the magic ID that gets him treatment. Is that too crazy?

I love it! I think it’s Sihnon by the way, but I love your idea. That would be so great! I know everything points towards Books being some ex cop or some such but I don’t see FF going the way we would all expect. Your idea makes me think of that movie "Coming to America" I think, with Eddie Murphy. He was royalty but he could still kick butt like Book

-------------------------------------
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

SAPIENT

Friday, July 11, 2003 9:23 PM

I will have to check on this but I think Book had been at the abbey about as long as the war had been over.

Here is my thought on Book: What if he was a high ranking official (general or such) in the Alliance Army. Maybe he was even at the Battle of Serenity (this would add to why he was attracted to the ship).

Once the war was done, since he was older, he retires honorably. Since the independence war was a civil war, brother against brother so to speak, the destruction, loss of life, especially at the Battle of Serenity Valley, got him wondering about the meaning of life. Where the war drove Mal away from God, it drove Book closer. Seeking answers book joins the Abbey.

If book was a highly decorated retired commander of the Alliance Army would answer a lot of questions about Book. This would explain his knowledge of weapons, hand to hand combat, (spoiler warning)

Select to view spoiler:

and alliance police movements

. This would explain his quick admittance to the alliance ship for medical assistance when he was shot. A retired commander would probably have a high security clearance or at least his credentials would be highly respected. This would also explain his secrecy of his past an his knowledge of things that Sheppard would not necessarily know.

Maybe someone can help me. I cannot remember if Book spoke of his stance on the war.

OR

Maybe he was a very good thief/counterfeiter/mafia type that had a sudden conscience attack and joined the Abbey to try and for get his past. The id card he had could have been a forgery that he used in a pinch because of the seriousness of his injuries. This also would explain his knowledge of weapons, hand to hand combat, (same spoiler warning)

Select to view spoiler:

and alliance police movements

. And if he wanted to forget his past is reason enough to keep it secret as to not have to answer too many questions. Also this would explain how Early knows book.

Just my thoughts.

CALHOUN

Friday, July 11, 2003 10:50 PM

I think Metak has a sound train of thought going, I also had thought along these lines but i'm just not totally convinced that book is connected to royalty.. its not an observation i'm able to quantify, just a gut feeling. BRING ON THE MOVIE!!

P.S. Sapient, whats with the spoilers?

ARCHER

Friday, July 11, 2003 11:22 PM

"I don't give a hump if you're innocent or not. What do you think of that?"

Roughly quoting from OiS, might not be entirely the proper quote.

Very interesting statement from a man who later has his breakdown in Serenity, at the end of the ep. Was it a general attitude and way of life for him, or a moment of extreme heat?

After watching The Message, I was sure that the line they were taking us down involved him being an ex-secret-police type or somesuch, but then as usual this show takes us down twists and turns.

Interesting, very interesting.

Also, ditto on the Book/Jayne relationship being one of the more intriguing elements of the show. Jayne now has two close associates (in Book and Kaylee) who actually like him. Probably the first time in his life outside of his family. Very rich possibilities from this, indeed. The conversation they had in The Message was probably my favorite part of what I felt was a rather flawed episode.

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.

SHEPHERDOFHERMAS

Friday, July 11, 2003 11:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sapient:
I will have to check on this but I think Book had been at the abbey about as long as the war had been over.

As I recall the war ended 6 years before, and Book had been in the Abbey for three years. But I needs must force myself to watch every episode of Firefly again to be sure. Oh how I suffer.

CALHOUN

Saturday, July 12, 2003 12:12 AM

Books breakdown in Serenity was in the pilot episode long before he made that intriging(spelling..) statement.

I thought "The Message" was a good episode, I enjoyed it anyhows. The worst was "Heart of Gold" 2 scenes just didnt work for me : 1= Book hosing the armed to the teeth badguys with a garden hose(that was pathetic).

2= Mal chasing the hovercraft on a horse just looked really lame to me.

Other than that I liked the episode.

The worst episode of Firefly is still way better than the best episode of anything else..

ARCHER

Saturday, July 12, 2003 12:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Calhoun:
Books breakdown in Serenity was in the pilot episode long before he made that intriging(spelling..) statement.

I thought "The Message" was a good episode, I enjoyed it anyhows. The worst was "Heart of Gold" 2 scenes just didnt work for me : 1= Book hosing the armed to the teeth badguys with a garden hose(that was pathetic).

2= Mal chasing the hovercraft on a horse just looked really lame to me.

Other than that I liked the episode.

The worst episode of Firefly is still way better than the best episode of anything else..

First off, on the sequence of events. I was referring to the fact that the scene River saw in OiS most likely occurred well before the start of the series in Serenity. Apologies for my lack of clarity.

Haven't seen HoG yet, actually, so I can't speak to that episode's particulars. But what disappointed me about The Message was that it had a hell of a lot of potential and flat dropped the ball as far as I'm concerned. Frankly, I think it could have been one HELL of a two-parter, one that goes into Tracy's background and personality in more depth. As it was, I felt fairly unsatisfied when I was done. Yeah, it was Firefly, yeah, FF is king of science fiction now, but I felt it ended up being one of the weaker episodes. I liked Trash a lot better and felt that it showed more of the characteristics we all came to love in FF, the humor and drama intermixed with sharp plot twists.

Furthermore

Select to view spoiler:

Why HELL didn't somebody just tell Tracy "Look dumbass, we're not selling you out." during the confrontation on the bridge? I mean, sitting back and watching it, we all knew that Book was not proposing to Mal that he just give Tracy up to the cop, and the whole sequence just rang damn false to me. There could have been any number of ways to manufacture a standoff and hostage situation with Tracy, given his displayed ruthlessness and self-centered nature, and I think they chose the poorest one.

Sorry, it just didn't work for me as well as my other faves, Ariel and OoG.

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.

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