What are your *least* favorite Firefly moments?
POSTED BY: Okkay
UPDATED: Saturday, February 14, 2004 16:39
VIEWED: 28282
PAGE 4 of 13
Ok, you guys, did any of you watch those epidodes with the commentary on? With the pilot episode, Inara bathing was artistic. That's just Joss doing his directing thing, to not let the camera work be boring, steady shots like almost every generic cookie cutter tv show. He wanted to stand out. Like in another Joss directed episode, OiS, when River is describing Early to Early, we see the fragements of his maddness, where he is fine one minute, then laughing insane, then back to noraml. He also did that kind of work with Inara in the pilot, when she had "finished up" with that young Alliance guy on Persephone, and they were talking about Shinon. I think he was trying to express their inner feelings about what was being said.
And with the OMR and Trash line. Yes, Saffron did try to kill them, and Malcom let her go. It is a lot like Patience on Whitefall. He went back to her after she shot him, because he needed the money. Just like he teamed up with Saffron again, this time with a plan if and when she betrayed him, so he wouldn't have to pull any more "wabbley-headed doll capers". He does it for the money, but he always has a backup plan waiting.
And with The Message, Book and Mal were talking with their eyes. They were telling each other without words what the plan was going to be, but Tracey didn't get it. Heck, I think even Jayne got a little of the plan, so that doesn't say much of Tracey. He even called them saps. Now the first bullet that they shot him with, that could have mabey been fixed, but after the name callin' and taking Kallie hostage, I think Mal had had enough.
With the OiS Kallie rape thing, it was Early's intimidation of Kallie, so that she wouldn't get in his way. He dealed with people differently on the ship. With Simon, he used logic, with Mal and Book, he just beat the crap out of them, and with Kallie, he just scared the crap out of her.
On the Heart of Gold front, I got nothin. I would think that a hovering car would be faster than a horse, but hey.
Thank you for letting me rant.
To Jayne! The box dropping man ape gone wrong thing!
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The bit where we dont get all the answers is my least favourite moment!!!! I want to know who Book really is! I want to know what they had planned for River! Was she going to be a spy or what???? I need answers people!
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Amanda4U, I understand where you are coming from. I understand that Early was trying to intimidate Kaylee and keep her quiet. It just seems like a completely over the top and unnecessary way to do it. He had a gun, it would have been enough to scare the go se out of Kaylee(especially since we've seen how "adept" she is at gunplay).
And, it's Kaylee...not Kallie.
***Never judge a book by its movie***
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Quote:
Originally posted by slayer730:
Amanda4U, I understand where you are coming from. I understand that Early was trying to intimidate Kaylee and keep her quiet. It just seems like a completely over the top and unnecessary way to do it. He had a gun, it would have been enough to scare the go se out of Kaylee(especially since we've seen how "adept" she is at gunplay).
It was completely over the top and unnessecary. That's Early for ya.
-Steve
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Well, I have had a few discussions with people regarding Jubal's method of intimidating Kaylee, and I maintain that moment was one of the most powerful in the series. Jewel Staite brought a level of emotional vulnerability and honesty to that moment rarely seen in television or cinema.
As for an explanation, Jubal handled each person on the ship differently (as was mentioned above and in the commentary). Kaylee's character was based in her sensuality, her innocence, and her passion. Jubal, being the dark, horrid man he is, cut right to the heart of Kaylee, and threatened to attack the center of her being. The fact that people become upset about that moment in the show indicates to me that it did its job.
Ariya
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That definitely bothered me a little bit. However, what i really didn't like about the episode is how they bring Tracy home and all have a sad moment after he dies. Considering how Tracy shot the pilot, took the mechanic hostage, and tried to hijack serenity, which put the whole crew in danger, I definitely would have turned him over to the cops.
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Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
As to Mal explaining why he does things or letting everyone in on his plans, that is the problem w/ command. The second you start informing everyone what you are doing, then everyone will put in their two cents, questions, and suggestions. You have a debate on your hands then and at times like in "The Message", they simply did not have time to talk things over. I guess it boils down to he is the captain and he always does what is best for everyone concerned.
Actually, I don't see that that's the case:
1) Part of good leadership/management is understanding those under you, their strengths AND limitations, and addressing same. From the war, and from Tracey's own account of his less-than-wise business decisions, Mal knows Tracey tends to be inept and short-sighted. A short sentence or two would have gone a long way towards forestalling Tracey's ape-shit session. In the war scene in the pilot, during an ACTUAL firefight, Mal was not averse to "taking a breath" in order to buck up his troops with a little explanation.
2) During the final scene(s) in "The Message", Tracey actually has a gun trained on them, actually SHOOTS Wash. At this point, unless he is stubborn to the point of unredeemable stupidity - NOT a solid leadership trait - he should realize that whether Tracey will become insubordinate due to a little info is moot. He's way past insubordinate and working on mutiny. At numerous points, he could see Tracey's slide into desperate lunacy, and seen that "what's best for the crew" is to defuse the situation.
Yeah, as y'all might be able to tell, this plot point bothered me plenty, too. I just sort of coast by it and tie into the emotional content of the episode, though.
WHOA, only just realized how far this thread had gone past this point! Sorry, everybody...
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Quote:
he should realize that whether Tracey will become insubordinate due to a little info is moot. He's way past insubordinate and working on mutiny. At numerous points, he could see Tracey's slide into desperate lunacy, and seen that "what's best for the crew" is to defuse the situation.
I always thought you shot mutineers.
My least favorite scene is when Nandi gets shot in HoG. Inara had a knife at his throat, why didn't she tell him to drop the gun and then give up the baby?
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Quote:
Originally posted by Veteran:
I always thought you shot mutineers.
You shoot DESERTERS. Usually HANG mutineers :)
Anyways, something else that really bothers me. It's more of a technical/stylistic thing than a plot point. It happens periodically throughout the series, but one example stands out in my mind:
In War Stories, when the crew is mounting a rescue of the Captain, Gina/Zoe breaks cover, does a grade-school gym-class somersault, then leisurely double-draws and guns down a henchman WHO'S HAD A BEAD ON HER THE WHOLE TIME. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!
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Another thing about "The Message":
What the @&!%# was Dr. Tam doing during the death scene? He's a TRAUMA surgeon, for Pete's sake, and he's just sitting there, doing nothing. Mal even tells Tracey his chest wound "can be seen to." I realize they have to usher the crooked cops off the boat first, but I expected him - and everyone else - to spring into action afterwards.
But they don't.
For those who believe his wounds were irretrievably mortal, why did he take so LONG to die? Simon or anyone else could've made nearly half a dozen trips to the infirmary in the time it took him to bleed out. From two left anterior chest wounds. Between the 2nd and 6th ribs. This is perilously close to the middle mediastinum, folks. As in heart/aorta/etc.
Granted, his innards ain't his innards: maybe the replacements have a different configuration. But in an earlier scene, Dr. Tam auscultates his chest in roughly the right place to double check the funny beat he gets from the pulse ox on Tracey's finger. So the configuration is basically the same.
Okay, let just assume the bullet(s) MISSED his heart, or just grazed it, or hit it and somehow plugged its own hole (hmmmm....). Maybe he's got a combination pneumo-/hemo-thorax. No matter how you slice it (pun intended), there's clearly enough time to TRY something. Chest tube, needle decompression...hell, like I mentioned above Dr. Tam is a trauma surgeon. He would've had the big guys haulin' Tracey's ass down to the infirmary, started IV fluids, even cracked his chest and started diggin'...not squat down and hold pressure on the wound for 5 seconds AND THEN STOP.
I anticipate the argument that running time constraints may have precluded an "ER-type" scene. I don't buy it, though. There's plenty of corners left to cut in this episode, to justify adding a heroic, futile life-saving scene that satisfies both dramatic and realistic demands. Joss even mentions several times (in other commentaries and interviews) that he wanted to give the series a bit of a gritty, documentary feel.
Oh, well.
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