new theory on shepherd book

POSTED BY: humble
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 13:03
VIEWED: 9894
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HUMBLE

Friday, December 5, 2003 9:41 AM

had an epiphany this morning. was thinking about the episode with the bounty hunter (played by richard brooks). jubal early knew book was no shepherd. how could early know this? by association with book? my idea is that following with the western premise of the show, book was some kind of territorial judge or prosecutor. (possibly a "hanging judge"). book isn't his real name. maybe it comes from "the good BOOK", or "throw the BOOK" at him. this relates to river getting "i don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not" off book. also, it ties in with how early KNEW book wasn't a shepherd; jubal catches crooks, book tries them. hope brooks is in the movie. is he related to avery brooks?

TEELABROWN

Friday, December 5, 2003 1:42 PM

Nice, well thought out. It sounds very reasonable. Did it just dawn on you? Like out of no where? I had that happen once. It was about shot glasses.

That's all. Keep flyin'!

............................................................................................
"Freedom is the Freedom to say that 2+2 makes 4. If that is granted, all else follws"-Winston, 1984
Keep flyin', and remember, THEY can't take the sky from US!

CHANNAIN

Friday, December 5, 2003 3:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by humble:
had an epiphany this morning. was thinking about the episode with the bounty hunter (played by richard brooks).

that's Objects in Space. and a really good theory. the main thing I have noticed about the series is that we learned at least one snippet of new information on Book in just about every episode. and just because we all know he's more than he says he is, that doesn't mean he was once affiliated with the Alliance, does it?

I had an epiphany of my own recently (happens when I'm at the drawing board a lot) that spawned a few "what ifs"

what if...Book was in the military once upon a time, but resigned because something happened that made him see what the Alliance really was. Swinging from one extreme to the other, he went into ministry.

what if...he was one of the original founders of the Independent movement?

what if...he just happens to be related to an Alliance official who's far enough up in the government that Book was granted diplomatic immunity after the movement fell? That would be one way of explaining why the Feds were so quick to take him on board the station in Safe

and now there's the territorial judge theory to consider.

that's what I love about this character - there's so many facets, so many different ways to explain the "what the heck is Book doing on Serenity anyway?" he may just be a missionary, then again, he may not...

"There's twists and turns and culdesacs - it's wild!"

oh, and no biographical info on Richard Brooks at IMDb or TvTome btw. Avery Brooks' bio on IMDb doesn't say word one about him either. my guess would be no relation.

Firefly Artwork Series
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922

SARAHETC

Friday, December 5, 2003 4:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:
what if...he was one of the original founders of the Independent movement?

What about his treatment in Safe? Would they do that for an enemy?

I'm a dying breed who still believes, haunted by American dreams. ---Neko Case

CHANNAIN

Friday, December 5, 2003 5:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sarahetc:
What about his treatment in Safe? Would they do that for an enemy?

see, that's what brought on the idea that he has diplomatic immunity. whether he was an enemy or not, whether they liked it or not, wouldn't immunity force them to help him, no questions asked?

OH! MAN! something else just hit -

What if...he's not just a lowly shephard, but some high-falutin' church official. somebody who's never been out in the black before? that would explain the line "is this what it's like out here?" in Serenity. that part always confuzzled me, because somebody military or affiliated with the Alliance government would probably know what it was like on the rim.

Firefly Artwork Series
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922

TALONPEST

Friday, December 5, 2003 8:46 PM

Well, that's not exactly a new theory... but it works except for his intimate knowledge of weaponry and ships, which implies he's seen significant field work, which you wouldn't expect from a judge. I'd say he was more along the lines of judge, jurry, and executioner. And he had to have been working for the Alliance, otherwise they wouldn't have treated him when they scanned his ID card.

SUCCATASH

Saturday, December 6, 2003 3:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:
...that would explain the line "is this what it's like out here?" in Serenity. that part always confuzzled me, because somebody military or affiliated with the Alliance government would probably know what it was like on the rim.

Things don't add up with Book. On one hand, he's new to the Black and he cries in front of Inara because he had a bad day.
"Oh God, I punched a man senseless, it's so terrible, waah waah..."

But we know that Book is just a hair away from being called superhero. He knows EVERYTHING. Time after time we see that Book is THE MAN. Special treatment from the Alliance aside, this guy is amazing.

He shoots and fights like a bad ass, he knows the law and tactical strategy and even how to fortify a whore house in case of a seige.

Why would he cry like a virgin old man? He's faking that scene with Inara in Serenity, I bet ya!

I would like to see what happened to Book, 24 hours before he boarded Serenity. That's what he was really crying about. Those tears were real, but he is sad about something else.

NOXIOUS

Saturday, December 6, 2003 5:17 AM

Very interesting, very plausible. I don't have any theories on Book myself, his characters scope seems a little broad to nail down. I was waiting for more hints, and I'm still waiting.

I did have an idea the other day to a question that had bothered me for quite some time about Ariel. Why were the Men with Hands of Blue killing all the Alliance soldiers in that episode? It is the only thing that bothered me about the episode, as it didn’t make sense. Then it dawned on me after watching Trash, they were making it look like River had killed the Alliance soldiers. This is what I’ve convinced myself of, at least.

You are
What you do
When it counts
-The Masao

TALONPEST

Saturday, December 6, 2003 6:37 AM

Noxious, the Blue Hands were killing the Alliance people who had spoken to River- you remember they only reacted after they learned that the Alliance guy in charge had spoken to the prisoners, even if it was only to process them. They were covering up something River knows, even if she doesn't know what she knows.

And I don't think Book was faking the scene where he was crying in Serenity. He was upset that after spending years in a monestary and embarking on a new life of peace after a lifetime of doing some very unpleasant and nasty work for the Alliance he'd fallen back onto a violent path.

DRAKON

Saturday, December 6, 2003 11:11 AM

Quote:
Why would he cry like a virgin old man? He's faking that scene with Inara in Serenity, I bet ya!

Don't think so. I think what happened was that Book is trying to "go straight". He has modified his world view, his philosophy, and put his faith in a set of religious teachings that worked great in the monastery, but out in the black, in less than 24 hours, he beat the snot out of a guy, risked getting killed himself defending the guy he just beat up, then watched as the guy got drilled in the skull with a bullet, and ain't sure it was not a bad thing.

He was having a severe crisis of faith. And while asking absolution from a prostitute is a bit novel, not as bad as letting rot out the insides of your own skull. His religion is supposed to have all the answers, and its all supposed to be clear cut and neat, just like at the monastary. And reality ain't like that at all, so how does he work it all out?

"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"

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