the real shepard book

POSTED BY: tudyksgagreel
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 16:11
VIEWED: 24687
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TUDYKSGAGREEL

Friday, October 3, 2003 8:09 PM

does anyone have any theorys on the true story of books past. Is he really a shepard? Jubal Early says hes not and he seems to have an alliance designation (as seen in SAFE), seeing as he was originally signed for 10 episodes maybe they had a twist planned with his character that they delayed due to his likeability. I believe he has a very dark secret, he couldnt know all the things he does bein a shepard.
Any Theorys?

LUNATIKAT

Friday, October 3, 2003 9:30 PM

Yeah, I think a lot about Book. Since part of what I'd like to see in the series-long story arc would be Mal and Serenity/Crew orbiting ever more closely an active anti-Alliance underground, sucked back into political/military life against their will, my fantasy about Book is that his monastery was secretly active during the war (against the Alliance, of course)and that it still shelters some Very Important People and that Book has skills, connections and secrets we cannot begin to guess at.

It seems to me that the root conflict for this series is that old individual vs. society conflict and from other folks' posts I see I'm not the only one to focus on this. One of the eternal conflicts, since it can never be settled one way or the other, but must, by the very nature of human beings as social individuals, always be settled somewhere between the societies of bees and bears, and always only temporarily.

So, on Serenity this is played out in the small captain vs. crew ways, in the sky in Rebels vs. Alliance ways, and in the stories we have the glorious dramatic freedom to explore this conflict with our choice of background cultures, technologies, styles et cetera. Everyone on Serenity must grapple with this conflict not only in the ways personal to their individual character but also in ways that reflect the major forces in human lives. Zoe and Wash showcase concerns of those who are beginning new families, Simon and River on the simplest level demonstrate the horrors of recovering from abandonment and abuse, Kaylee and Simon experience the travels towards love, Jane the journey to loyalty over self-interest, Inara the career person trying to find a place for a personal life while maintaining a commitment to one's chosen work, and of course in Book we seek to live a religious/spiritual life of love and peace in a secular world of strife and violence.

Lunatikat- you can't win, you can't break even, you can't even get out of the game

LUNATIKAT

Friday, October 3, 2003 9:37 PM

Sorry, forgot Mal, that guy (women too) who wants to be independent and free but always winds up with others to take care of (and be tied down by).

Lunatikat - somewhere over the madness horizon and accelerating

LINDYCAT

Friday, October 3, 2003 10:18 PM

I have several theories on what kind of past Book might have had.

1. May be in witness protection. He could be a criminal in witness protection who had some training at the abby to establish the cover. Though it would seem like he should be watched a bit more.

2. May be an undercover agent. He may be a deep cover agent for some alliance agency who doesnt really care about River and Simon (he has a more improtant mission). Seems to cover all the bases and this is the theory I place most faith in.

3. May be a Blue Sun spy. He could be following River and Simon to observe how River does on exposure to the outside and her transition from the experiments to real life. Seems a bit flawed in the timing of taking passage on Serenity, but he may be a reader too, or knew where Simon would go. This also assumes Blue Sun was the company that experimented on River.

4. He could be retired alliance who got religion, he may honestly be trying to be a shepard.

5. He may be a combo of 2 & 3 watching River for the alliance or Blue Sun when the other was the initiator of the experinment.

Just what I have been thinking.

LC

CHANNAIN

Friday, October 3, 2003 10:36 PM

Safe to say he wasn't always a shephard. Looked to me like he boarded before Simon though, so I don't think he's after the Tam's in particular. I'm not even sure he's working for the Alliance either, although his name is known to them - whatever his name is on his ident card. Just because he's "called Book" doesn't mean that's his real name, now does it?

I'm going with the retired Alliance who found religion option. A man in conflict with his past, trying to find his way and letting his faith guide him. He's a seeker.

John Newton, author of the first four stanzas of "Amazing Grace" was the captain of a slave trade vessel once upon a time. It's said he had an epiphany in the midst of his chosen profession and found his faith during a violent storm aboard ship when it looked like he might be lost at sea. Could be something of the like happened to Book, turning him to that different path. Could be part of his walking the world awhile was to find out whether his own epiphany was the real deal or just a moment in time.

Can't say I have a solid theory on that moment in OiS when River heard Book's thoughts "I don't give a damn whether you're innocent or not. How does that make you feel?" I'm one of them that believes River's presence in the room with Book and Jayne at the time was her astral projection. In light of that, there's no telling who Book really had in mind. He may even know something about Jayne that nobody else does.

Book's true motivation is only one of many things I would have liked to learn with this series.

EMBASSY

Saturday, October 4, 2003 2:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:

Can't say I have a solid theory on that moment in OiS when River heard Book's thoughts "I don't give a damn whether you're innocent or not. How does that make you feel?" I'm one of them that believes River's presence in the room with Book and Jayne at the time was her astral projection. In light of that, there's no telling who Book really had in mind. He may even know something about Jayne that nobody else does.

Book's true motivation is only one of many things I would have liked to learn with this series.

This is the problematic line that I don't have a good answer for either. I'm in general firmly of the belief that Book was formerly a senior law enforcement guy, not alliance military, but a cop. But this line isn't consistent with that so I'm still puzzled. Which, of course, makes it interesting to think about.

JAHZARA

Saturday, October 4, 2003 5:00 AM

I have this uncanny ability to guess story arcs. Well, I guess its not that unusual, considering how simple TV usually is...

But anyway, one of the reasons I love Firefly is because I have absolutely no idea what his deal is. None.

Oh, this show rules!

I think everything focusing Book is pretty much archived in this one music video.

I don't how to link, but its Succatash's page.
strangefinger.com. Go to TV/Movies, click on firefly fans.

It rocks.

VETERAN

Saturday, October 4, 2003 5:06 AM

Quote:
But this line isn't consistent with that so I'm still puzzled. Which, of course, makes it interesting to think about.

Why not? It sounds like "Good Cop/Bad Cop" interrogation.

11THHOUR

Saturday, October 4, 2003 5:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Embassy:
This is the problematic line that I don't have a good answer for either. I'm in general firmly of the belief that Book was formerly a senior law enforcement guy, not alliance military, but a cop. ...

Of COURSE he was a cop.

Just checkout the TV Land network and see "Barney Miller"!

Mystery solved...

not.

11thHour

_________________________________________________________

~ "Every frame of this movie looks like someone's last known photograph." Joel Hodgson - MST3K

~ "Religion is for people who are afraid of Hell. Spirituality is for those who've been there." - American Indian proverb

DRAKON

Saturday, October 4, 2003 9:24 AM

First off, I think Book is now a good guy. Part of that is I would hate to think Zoe, let alone Mal, were that bad a judge of character. Besides, Book has shown himself to not be a weak man, and handy in a fight, and knowledgable about some things he probably shouldn't be.

Whether he always was a good guy, that is another question. Also, it probably should be pointed out that "good guy" is kind of a loose term here.

I get the sense that he is worried about having a "hot house" faith. One that makes him very comfortable in the abbey, but may not work well in the outside world. It does not comfort him when they are running out of air in "Out of Gas"

If he is presently Alliance, why did he get the snot beat out of him in "Serenity", by the guy whose life he saved. Granted, the idiot was unconscious at the time, and maybe he was pissed at getting decked by a preacher, but still, there was more than just a return punch.

He has had opportunity to turn River in, but don't. He fights side by side with Mal and Zoe. He "kneecaps" some folks in "War Stories" (although I think he needs to study anatomy a bit. Kneecaps are not located in the chest area)

My guess, given the data we have, is that he is former internal security, (like FBI counter terrorism, only more police statish) and has done some very bad things, and is trying to change. Trying to be a shepard. That this is a recent release into the world, after a few years of monastic living.

"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"

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