Serenity: Better Days Issue #3 Wednesday 5/14/2008 Told ya it was a Firefly/Serenity episode! Here be SPOILERS!

POSTED BY: Anonymous1
UPDATED: Friday, August 22, 2008 03:05
VIEWED: 19851
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ANONYMOUS1

Sunday, May 18, 2008 8:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:
Am I completely off base?

No, I thought Inara could very easily kill Mister Sanda when we saw her kraaak his neck.

And that is maybe another reason she thinks Mal did it. Because she would have. Because she knows the lengths she would have gone to protect her family. And she thinks Mal would do the same. And that is why he is standing in shock at the end. Because the woman he loves thinks he would do such a thing and thinks it is sweet.

When the graphic novel comes out later this year, we will see if any art mistakes are fixed. They fixed Mal's eyes in Serenity: Those Left Behind graphic novel.

Right now, I'm saying this IS a Firefly/Serenity episode. If it was on TV we would not be wondering what actor played the intruder. Or would we, maybe he would have been wearing a mask but the same outfit. Because maybe just like here, we are not supposed to know. We are supposed to wonder and try and figure it out and then it is revealed in a later episode that it was RIVER!

PLATONIST

Sunday, May 18, 2008 9:34 PM

Yeah, and it sounds to me that River probably knew Mal's intent and let the robbery unfold because she reads strong emotions the best, and nothing spins and evokes intent and emotions in Mal as much as Inara, as we see evidence of River's fade to Mal as Mal watches Inara's infamous vid in Serenity.

And that would be a nice tie into the movie's ending when she knows Mal is going to go into his slurpy love talk coming from his resolution with Inara in the corridor.

So Mal brokerages the deal and River follows thru?

ANONYMOUS1

Sunday, May 18, 2008 10:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:
So Mal brokerages the deal and River follows thru?

I don't think Mal would risk his crew and ship by brokering a deal. Better to leave town.

PLATONIST

Sunday, May 18, 2008 10:35 PM

I'm with Gwek on that one; I think Mal thought they would be off the ship busy on vacation.

Mal had a hand in the missing money, but ironically not for the reasons Inara thinks.
Just like Inara didn’t trip, did kiss, but not for the reasons Mal thinks.

ANONYMOUS1

Sunday, May 18, 2008 10:45 PM

Don't you think if Mal was going to stab the crew in the back, he would have had the guts to do it to their faces.

PLATONIST

Sunday, May 18, 2008 11:07 PM

Like I said I haven't read #3 yet, but I'm speculating that Mal used the money as he saw fit, in order to keep everyone safe. It is selfish and clearly a unilateral decision, but it comes out of love and not malice.

GWEK

Monday, May 19, 2008 3:32 AM

Spoilers ahead for those who haven't read #3... so you've been warned.

Mal's motives for getting rid of the money are pretty clear, and, in fact, are laid our throughout the miniseries.

In issue one, he's shocked by the amount of money--and on second reading, I realize it's NOT because the crew has finally hit it big, but because he's instinctively realizing that his little corner of the 'Verse is about to get blown up.

In issue two, while everyone else is living it up, what does Mal say? "Let's not forget who we are" (or something like that). He knows that money changes everything.

Also in issue two, when folks are discussing their fantasies, why does Mal get up and leave? Multiple reasons. One is that he's listening to folks leaving him behind. Not one person has a dream that involves Mal (well, except Inara, but that's before the money even shows up). Another is that he's is, as Inara will later call him on, already living his dream. Money helps everyone else live their dream, but destroys his.

So while Mal's actions seem to be surrounded by a little bit of murk, his motives seem pretty clear to me.

As for what happens exactly, I'm not saying it plays out this way, but let me throw this out:

--Crew hits it big; heads off for vacation.

--Mal, hearing folks fantasies, realizes that the money is going to destroy his family, so he contacts some two-bit criminals and arranges to have them steal the money.

--Mal and Zoe recognize that the Alliance is here for Zoe.

--Mal heads off to talk to Inara but is ambushed by Sanda.

--With Mal captured, Zoe plans to exchange herself.

--Sanda sends one guy to Serenity to keep an eye on things while the rest of his crew deals with the exchange.

--Simultaneously, Mal's thieves sneak onboard Serenity BUT ARE NEVER SEEN BY THE CREW OR THE READER/VIEWER. We only ever see them in the single panel where they escape. I'm positing that the bald man that River takes out is NOT one of the thieves at all.

--Big fight. Sanda, outnumbered and outgunned, backs down.

--Crew finds out they've been robbed.

--Inara calls Mal to task.

Now, I ain't saying that's how it happened, just that this is one possible way it COULD have gone down. While there are certainly discrepancies, there are no more or less discrepancies than with some other versions, and I think this particular iteration calls Mal's motives into question less than some other options.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

PLATONIST

Monday, May 19, 2008 5:35 AM

A possible scenario, Gwek, but to a viewer that would create dramatic inconsistencies with Mal's character. Mal is a big boy and not naive enough to believe or expect that he is to be a part of his crew's fantasy life. And we know he certainly doesn't want to be included in Jayne's. I can't see him staging a theft based on the possibility that Zoe and Wash leave Serenity to start a family that he's not a part of as Captain Uncle Mal. Sorry, that's getting a little freaking weird and a side of a character that I would never want to see. He knows you can't dictate others lives and control their desires. And it seems that he and Zoe were already separated after the war, and he lived through it, as some fans like to believe that he never would. And of course the two crew members that don't need or want the money (Book and Inara) are the ones who end up leaving, and we know how Mal reacts to that.

Plus, where would that leave the potential for other storylines, are we to always believe that anytime they hit it big Mal would sell them out, because he is to insecure to let others move on with their lives? Viewers would anticipate the outcome before the heists are in the planning stage.

To some degree I agree with you that Mal is uncomfortable with that amount of money and what it means for his little band of misfits so he takes the opportunity to get rid of Sanda by sending him into early retirement and unload the money at the same time. Now the plan may backfire and the original crew that hid the money may come for it and Sanda gets left in the dust, but that would be out of Mal's control and Sanda would still need to honor his side of the agreement, which is to let Mal and Zoe walk and leave Inara the frack alone. Mal's intentions would be still considered honorable as he is protecting the crew and his implied sweetie.

And at the ending, Inara wants to believe in the very best of Mal’s intentions just as he wants to be her hero, so I wouldn’t put much stock in her view point as being anything close to what really happened, and as long as she believes Mal to have done right he isn’t going to say anything to contradict it.

GWEK

Monday, May 19, 2008 6:34 AM

Quote:
A possible scenario, Gwek, but to a viewer that would create dramatic inconsistencies with Mal's character. Mal is a big boy and not naive enough to believe or expect that he is to be a part of his crew's fantasy life. And we know he certainly doesn't want to be included in Jayne's. I can't see him staging a theft based on the possibility that Zoe and Wash leave Serenity to start a family that he's not a part of as Captain Uncle Mal.

Yet that is essentially what he does (not literally just because of Wash and Zoe, but because of the whole "dream" falling apart).

Quote:
Sorry, that's getting a little freaking weird and a side of a character that I would never want to see.

Then I strongly recommend squinting your eyes really hard when reading issue 3 of BETTER DAYS, because I don't think there's much question as to why of Mal's actions, just the how of them. :)

Quote:
Plus, where would that leave the potential for other storylines, are we to always believe that anytime they hit it big Mal would sell them out, because he is to insecure to let others move on with their lives? Viewers would anticipate the outcome before the heists are in the planning stage.

That is an interesting, and possibly moot, question.

With FIREFLY no longer on the air, I think it's quite likely that we would have seen some form of the themes seen in BETTER DAYS, but it might not have been this particular variation.

Consider that a regular TV series produces approximately 22 episodes a year. One 3 issue miniseries (in the hands of Joss, anyway) is roughly equivalent to a single episode, so if Joss were producing monthly (and he's far from that), we'd be getting 4 episodes a year, which means that a single season would take 5.5 years for a single season.

Since Joss has stated that he had a 7-year plan for FIREFLY, I suspect that what we're getting from the comics are highlights of what he had in mind for the entire run. So, for example, it's possible that the idea of the crew hitting it rich might not have come up until, say, Season Five.

Quote:
And at the ending, Inara wants to believe in the very best of Mal’s intentions just as he wants to be her hero, so I wouldn’t put much stock in her view point as being anything close to what really happened, and as long as she believes Mal to have done right he isn’t going to say anything to contradict it.

I respectfully--yet completely--disagree.

Mal NEVER accepts the mantle of anything near to "hero" unless he's more than earned it. That's Jayne's department ("the hero of Canton"). Indeed, Mal often downplays his nature, and is often brutally honest with Inara. On the rare occassions that he does mislead her, it has to do with their feelings for one another, and nothing larger than that.

Thematically, much of BETTER DAYS is about fantasy and dreams, and while not all of them are honest, Mal is the ONLY one who's dreams we don't see (well, technically, Zoe, too, but she seems to agree with Wash's). Why don't we see Mal's fantasy? Because, as Inara says, "You're doing it. You get by and the crew stays together. You ger rich... then everything does change." And Mal's response: "This is where I am, Inara. Ain't a place of wishes."

This, really, is the final statement of the episode, and unless Joss and Brett have suddenly become unreliable narrators (like the crew over at LOST), then we have to accept what Mal and Inara are saying at face value because it works thematically and contextually.

As uncomfortable as it may make us about the motives of our captain, it's pretty plain to see, and I don't see much solid support for any legitimate alternative.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

PLATONIST

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 7:04 AM

SPOILERS!

SPOILERS!

SPOILERS!

Alright, most definitely agree that Mal had something to do with the stolen money. At this point I'm fairly certain. Inara calls him on it and he is unwilling to deny it. They both read each other dead on in that last scene. And, Mal doesn't beat around the bush in regards to Simon being in her shuttle. He goes from angry and jealous to realization and hidden concern in 3 frames flat. They swap secrets without giving too much away.

The when, how and by who of the robbery are purposely left ambiguous, but the intent on Mal's part is to keep his crew together, without the complications of the money. And even that seems to be fuzzy and possibly layered.

I wonder if he kept some for a rainy day.

And what is up with Simon and what does he know about Inara and when will Mal beat it out of him? Stay tune. I wish we had a whole season.

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