Ariel: Simon's Strength

POSTED BY: GoramMan
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 10:43
VIEWED: 14357
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GORAMMAN

Friday, January 25, 2008 11:37 PM

I tried to post this as a review under the Episodes section but it wasn't taking so I'll post it here. It isn't a comprehensive recap of the entire episode...just a few thoughts.

I hate choosing favorites. Favorite cars, colors, foods, songs, movies, and people; I don't have them. I feel like when somebody chooses a favorite they often exclude the option of trying new things. If someone goes to a new Italian restaurant and their favorite food is lasagna that is usually what they'll choose. When I traveled the world I would pull my hair out every time somebody in our group would only eat at McDonalds.

So with a little apprehension I must tell you that Ariel is my favorite episode. But I shouldn't make a big deal of it since there will be no new Firefly episodes...in the short term.

The thing I love about this episode is Simon's part in it. It is his episode. Throughout the series Simon is getting slapped around by Mal, dissed by Jayne, frequently needed rescue, and tripping over his tongue around Kaylee. So by episode eight the viewer his having a hard time buying that he possessed the courage and ability to break his sister out of the Academy. He can't even break out of his well pressed trousers around a gorgeous woman that totally wants him!

But this episode shows us what Simon can do when motivated by the need to protect River. And after River opened up Jayne's chest a little, her place on the ship was in jeopardy. Joss talks about River's "little strength" and her "reserves of strength." Ariel shows us that both of the Tam siblings have the same quality. Simon, from one shot to the next, turns from a submissive little man to the boss running the show when he tells the crew they'll be working for him now.

He moves through this episode completely cool. He plans the mission, he delegates tasks, he trains Mal, Zoe, and Jayne, he talks down a purple belly, and (as if that is not enough) he saves some guy's life from his shmoe of a doctor while committing a list of serious crimes. In this episode, he's the man. Now that is excellent character development.

I, like everybody else in the Verse, also love the scene where Mal figures out Jayne had turned the Tams in to the Feds. I think that scene said more about Jayne then the entire episode of Jayestown.

ASARIAN

Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:02 AM

Simon ain't weak -- Mal already established that in the Pilot. It's just that he's almost always completely out of his element. He's that proverbial fish on land. In Ariel he shines. Motivated to help River, yes (when is he not?); but primarily so, I think, because they're playing on his turf now. He finally gets to do his thing: he's a trauma-surgeon, not a briggand. So, I'm not so sure that what we see in Ariel is "excellent character development" per se, so much as it's simply the way Simon has always been, but never got a chance to show.

I believe Joss did well to allow us to see what Simon really can do, precisely so we don't think he's just a nerdy geek. Put Simon in his own environment, and he will excel; "gifted" is the term. Remember when Mal told River "This is what I do, darling."? Well, the whole Doctor thing, that's what Simon does. Well.

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

GORAMMAN

Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:10 AM

I agree to a point. Especially about being out in his element. But I think the biggest difference is that he stepped up in this episode rather than reacting to a given situation.

SCHOOLBOYSWINK

Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:25 AM

I never thought about Simon shining because Ariel is "his turf." That's a good insight. I will add that character development in literature (remember, good TV shows are literature) isn't always about the character actually developing, it can also be about growing the audience's perception of the character. In that sense, Ariel is VERY much about developing Simon's character.

I also agree about the scene at the end telling us so much about Jayne. (The following is pretty off-topic. Not trying to hijack the thread, just some things I've had in my head and now the issue has been brought up here.) In the Pilot, when he asks Dobson "Would it mean turning on the captain?" there is this sense that he would almost relish doing so, especially later when he is grinning at him through a sniper scope. With those images in our mind, it's easy to forget later that he didn't turn on the captain, so we have no evidence that he wants to; it is still in the air. Everything (O.K. some of the things) about Jayne comes together at the end of Ariel, when he says "Come on, Mal, it isn't like I sold YOU out to the Feds!" It clicks. Jayne asked about having to turn on the captain because he DOESN'T want to turn on Mal. It is a line he knows he'd cross, but to which he attributes a greater cost. He has his own kind of loyalty, and we see that loyalty extend to the rest of the crew by Mal's example, and the evidence of that comes just a moment later. "Make somethin' up. Don't tell 'em what I did." Jayne, tough guy, mercenary, not only realizes his mistake, but is ashamed of it. Without that line, we could imagine that he was only appearing contrite because he got caught, because he didn't want to die. But the fact that he doesn't want the others to know, even after he is too dead for it to make a difference, shows his shame. He wants his family to think well of him when he is gone. (I also think this statement is the only thing that saved his life. Others may disagree, but before Jayne said that, I think Mal was ready to let him die.) This may not tell us as "much" about Jayne as Jaynestown, but it tells us something more important about him. I love how Jayne, who at first seems to be completely two-dimenesional, turns out to be as subtle and complex a puzzle as any other character.

To bring this back on-topic a bit (and sorry to ramble), I think Simon's reaction to Jayne's betrayal in Trash also helps to show his strength. He displays that he has the power to kill Jayne almost any time he wants to, but refuses to because he is a doctor above all else, a healer and protector. Sometimes it takes the stronger man to walk away, the more fearless man to turn his back and trust that the betrayer will not put a knife in it because "that's the only way I see this working."

"When you can't do somethin' smart, do somethin' right!" -Jayne Cobb quotes Shepherd Book

ASARIAN

Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GoramMan:

I agree to a point. Especially about being out in his element. But I think the biggest difference is that he stepped up in this episode rather than reacting to a given situation.

He certainly steps up to the plate, rather than waiting what Mal will do. But I honestly don't think he grew confidence for the occassion, though: he simply saw an opportunity, and took it.

Speaking of Simon's confidence, a very telling scene, IMHO, is when Simon is fiddling with that neural imaging scanner and grabs Jayne's wrist when he wants to mess with it, too. Jayne, though annoyed, still concedes: he simply knows this is Simon's moment. And Simon knows it, too. I can't imagine any other circumstance when Simon would get physical with Jayne and... win. :)

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

ASARIAN

Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:39 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SchoolboysWink:

I will add that character development in literature (remember, good TV shows are literature) isn't always about the character actually developing, it can also be about growing the audience's perception of the character. In that sense, Ariel is VERY much about developing Simon's character.

Seen in that light, I wholeheartedly agree: Ariel is really the first episode where the audience gets to SEE, in full, what Simon is capable of.

N.B. And indeed, not to get off-topic for too long, but I also completely agree with your assessment of Jayne: His "Make somethin' up. Don't tell em what I did." line really is the only thing that saves his life.

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

SCHOOLBOYSWINK

Sunday, January 27, 2008 4:00 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by asarian:
Speaking of Simon's confidence, a very telling scene, IMHO, is when Simon is fiddling with that neural imaging scanner and grabs Jayne's wrist when he wants to mess with it, too. Jayne, though annoyed, still concedes: he simply knows this is Simon's moment. And Simon knows it, too. I can't imagine any other circumstance when Simon would get physical with Jayne and... win. :)

Yeah, I'd managed to forget about the wrist grabbing scene. In fact, I think I manage to forget about it every time I watch the episode, so it surprises me afresh every time. If jogged-memory serves, Simon doesn't even turn to look at Jayne before he grabs him, just sort of sees him move out of the corner of his eye and snatches him, like Daniel catching a fly with chopsticks. (Child of the '80s test reference.) Simon doesn't get to be like Mal or Jayne or Zoe, nor would he want to be. But in his own way, he is a bada-- ("You ain't weak.") This is indeed one of his moments.

"When you can't do somethin' smart, do somethin' right!" -Jayne Cobb quotes Shepherd Book

REGINAROADIE

Sunday, January 27, 2008 6:21 AM

Yeah. That scene with the holographic image of River's brain is my all time favorite scene in the entire series bar none for two reasons. One, it's the one moment that makes you forget that you're seeing fiction and you honestly believe in the moment, and it all has to do with the way Simon's reacting to what he's seeing. I imagine that scene was particularily hard for Sean to do that day since he's basically reacting to nothing. Any actor will tell you that acting against nothing with your imagination filling in the blanks is hard enough. Even moreso when the nothing your reacting against is something big and massive. But he is so in the moment that you honestly believe he's holding a real hologram and seeing something truly barbaric.

Two, it's the first time you actually see what's been done to River. Up to that point, it just characters telling you that "something awful's happened to River" and that she was this genius who now just stands in a corner babbling to herself. It's more tell, not show. But in this case, we finally see what had actually been done to her, which makes us more sympathetic to her.

**************************************************
"And it starts with a sentence that might last a lifetime, or it all might just go down in flames. If I let you know me, then why would you want me? Each day I don't is a shame. Each day I don't is a great shame."

Loudon Wainwright III - "Strange Weirdos" off the "Knocked Up" soundtrack

SHINYSEVEN2

Monday, January 28, 2008 4:57 AM

asarian said:

Speaking of Simon's confidence, a very telling scene, IMHO, is when Simon is fiddling with that neural imaging scanner [...] I can't imagine any other circumstance when Simon would get physical with Jayne and... win. :)

In Serenity the Pilot, Jayne doesn't do a very effective job of keeping Simon from running toward the cryochamber, and not for lack of trying.

I think it sort of makes sense that Simon would show his strength in Ariel because, to paraphrase Safe, he forgot how to be a surgeon before and now in his own environment, he remembers.

But in StP, no matter how he got River to Serenity, he GOT her there, and he jumps off the catwalk when Dobson grabs her--that's pretty much like jumping out a second-story window, which takes some nerve even if you're not agoraphobic. Simon *is* as we can see from Bushwhacked.

ASARIAN

Monday, January 28, 2008 5:14 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shinyseven2:

asarian said:

Speaking of Simon's confidence, a very telling scene, IMHO, is when Simon is fiddling with that neural imaging scanner [...] I can't imagine any other circumstance when Simon would get physical with Jayne and... win. :)

In Serenity the Pilot, Jayne doesn't do a very effective job of keeping Simon from running toward the cryochamber, and not for lack of trying.

Quite honestly, I think Jayne was hardly trying at all. I think curiosity got the better of him: like the rest of the crew, he simply wanted to see where this was going and pretty much let Simon go. Kinda like a Freudian slip, but then literally. :)

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

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