The Return of Jubal Early
POSTED BY: ecgordon
UPDATED: Saturday, April 10, 2004 04:47
VIEWED: 11707
PAGE 2 of 5
You know, I see a reflection, but I don't see a "ship." Sorry to say I'm more inclined to think it's just the lights from the set and nothing more.
Actually, that's what I hope. It may sound odd, but I don't want Jubal to come back.
First, it kind of detracts from Joss' "realism" of space. One guy floating in the void simply would never be found. If he could have remotely controlled his ship, then we would have seen that as soon as he realized River was in his ship. The only real option for survival is River programming the ship to pick him up. But if you threaten River or her friends, she pretty much kills you, so I don't think that's an option either.
But mostly, Jubal was cool, but I think he served his purpose in the story. He was a mirror to River. And to me at least, the ending showcased their difference. River became a part of the world, and Jubal would forever be apart from it. "A part" and "apart," almost exactly the same but with just one little difference that makes them opposite.
To bring him back, for me at least, would just lessen the story in OiS.
Then again, Joss has surprised me before. 
"Wacky fun..."
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I'm always good for a comment or three, as some Browncoats may have discovered by now.
I think Early was shunted off into space for a reason. That reason, however, exists in the mind of an extremely creative and disgustingly talented man named Joss Whedon.
Very early on in the Buffyverse, I learned a valuable lesson--"Don't bother trying to predict, figure out, second guess, criticize, or suggest anything that comes from the mind of Joss Whedon, for you shall usually be wrong, and shall find out the Truth and Purpose in due time." I call this the Truth of Whedoning.
Personally, Early got on my nerves a bit, which I believe was the intention (maybe... see the above Truth of Whedoning). If he comes back, I have no doubt it'll serve a part of a complex purpose that will leave me glad it happened. If he's gone, I'll be happy about that too.
There have been specific episodes of Whedoverse shows I've not been thrilled with, or more accurately, parts of specific Whedoverse episoded. But overall, I've not been disappointed with anything.
The long winded point is, no matter what, it's gonna kick ass! (I knew I'd get to that point eventually)
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"I like smackin 'em"--Jayne
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Oh, Early would have been back alright, no doubt about it.
I have no doubt that Joss had plans for Early later in the series. The fact that he was floating in space & seemingly left to die is all the more proof that he would reappear. Joss always finds a way to bring characters back, regardless of how sure we are that they are dead.
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
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I think it's highly plausible that Joss could bring Jubal back. Consider all the characters from Buffy/Angel who had died and were brought back in some way:
-Buffy (twice)
-Angel
-Darla
-Lilah
-Fred (As Ilyria)
-Joyce (Dreams, flashbacks, and alternate realities)
-The Master (Flashbacks, alternate realities, and as The First)
-Holland Manners
-Jenny, Warren, Jonathan, Adam, The Mayor, Nikki Wood, and possibly Joyce (All as The First)
There may be more, but these are who I can come up with just off the top of my head. And we didn't actually SEE Jubal die, unlike the rest of these, so anything is possible. Having said that, I wouldn't necessarily advocate Jobal's return unless there was a good story reason for it.
"I like smackin' 'em!" - Jayne Cobb
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I'm with the 'Bug.
I think one of the points of the episode was the irony that after discussing the incredible isolation of space travel, Serenity is in fact not alone.
So, Early's departure was his payoff for the fact that he relied on noone. River became part of a dependant group of people. Early drifted off to die in solitude.
Early was a great character designed to show why River could not go it alone.
Well, that's my opinion anyway.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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I don't know that it is so unlikely that Jubal got picked up, or that he would be in the BDM.
I mean we know that one set of bad guys set to appear in the BDM are also the same set of bad guys cuisin' the rim looking for helpless victims, of which one guy floating alone in a space suit would certainly appear to be.
We can futher assume that those same bad guys would have been close enough to Jubal to pick him up before he ran out of air as they may well ahve been tailing Serenity since their last ignoble defeat, just waiting for a chance to strike.
So get ready for the major baddie of the BDM: Jubal early- King of the Reavers!!
"Now, does that seem right to you?"
"I'll be in my bunk..."
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Another point to consider. Jubal seemed to be a very crafty and resourceful bounty hunter. I do not doubt he would have some sort of remote control or emergency beacon for his ship. He does space walk to spy on ships his targets are on afterall. Pays to have a backup plan incase things go wrong.
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
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My thoughts exactly.
Remote.
River's smart, but I doubt she knows how to override Early's controls. Remember? She can read minds but can't even figure out how to eat an ice planet!
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TheClaps:
"..But if you threaten River or her friends, she pretty much kills you, so I don't think that's an option either."
That was true in earlier episodes.. but I think you have to consider River's state of mind during this episode.. which is suddenly non-lethal; Her killing of the three combatants at Niska's place by her is what caused the schism between she and the crew at the onset of this story. Her parroting the "no touching guns" comment could be a by-product of this new philosophy.
I suspect that in her mind she would feel that killing Jubal in any fashion would be just as serious as shooting him, which obviously she could have done.
Blazingbug:
"River's smart, but I doubt she knows how to override Early's controls. Remember? She can read minds but can't even figure out how to eat an ice planet!"
I have to disagree with this..
The problem with the ice planet is just so typical of genius.. she instantly grasps the complex and yet struggles with common sense. I have witnessed this first hand in smart people I have known.
River actually manages quite well in Jubal's ship. Think of what River had to do in Jubal's ship during this episode:
She had to find the this ship and get to it without being spotted.
She had to put on the space suit correctly; note Simon failed this task in 'Bushwhacked'.
She had to get into the ship without alerting Jubal, which may have included the operation of complicated air-locking controls for a very small ship. Note that even with a space suit on there is vacuum and ship atmos to worry about.
She had to open multiple isolated and general voice channels into Serenity to speak to various people and everyone at once.
She had to be aware of everyone’s locations at once.
She had to direct Jubal's ship in a time-delayed fashion before she left it.
Remember that she spouted the technical references for Serenity after only really seeing the ship from the cargo and medical bays. I believe that it would be nothing for her to figure flight path controls.. even if she had to get the info from Jubal's mind.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Doran:
"..But if you threaten River or her friends, she pretty much kills you, so I don't think that's an option either."
That was true in earlier episodes.. but I think you have to consider River's state of mind during this show.. which is suddenly non-lethal; Her killing of the three combatants at Niska's place by her is what caused the schism between she and the crew at the onset of this story. Her parroting the "no touching guns" comment could be a by-product of this new philosophy.
I suspect that in her mind she would feel that killing Jubal in any fashion would be just as serious as shooting him, which obviously she could have done.
Actually, the schism was between her and Kaylee, and it was the brandishing of the gun in the cargo bay that brought the rest of the crew in on it--they didn't find out about the shooting incident until later.
I think we also need to keep in mind that, for all her "progress" in healing, SOMETHING was done to River to make her... whatever the hell it si she is. Something made her able to do that no-look triple kill. And that same something could very easily make her more than willing to kill Early to protect her brother and all else on board.
Or... perhaps she sent the ship to pick his bizzarre ass up, and then she locked in a course to the Alliance. Perhaps part of her training was recruiting potential agents, and she was unable to stop herself from sending his there...
... nah, THAT is simply absurd... never mind.
Anyway, River's an enigma, and I think she sent the ship off one way, and Early is off the other, never to meet again, to float around until he drifts into a planetary gravity well and burns up in re-entry. But he's such a whackadoo in his own way, that he's totally unable to truly comprehend it. To him, nothing is "real"--we've learned already that he enjoyed killing, which puts him in the category of psycho- or socio-pathic... and one of the classic characteristics of such is the inability to comprehend actual reality for what it is.
So, "Well, here I am" would be a pretty characteristic statement for someone in that situation, not realizing that he's approaching death...
... I gotta stop reading my old psychology textbooks from college...
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"I like smackin 'em"--Jayne
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